[dodgestang]

As usual, they win.

You may recal. On March 14th I was teeboned by a waste management truck a few miles from my house. I wasn't hurt and my truck since it is a tank, only recieved minor damage.

So I had a witness, who supported my claim he ran a stop sign. A police report stating he ran a stop sign and failure to yeild right of way. Nothing else in the report.

So now after months, Gallagher Basset has graciously offered my an 80% settlement since they have devined magically that I was speeding.

I just got back from the police station, and talked to the cop. He said they called and wanted an accident reconstruction and refused. He told them it obviously the truck drivers fault. So they have a picture of my skid marks and 'estiamted' the skid I left to be 90 foot from the start to the end. I told that to the cop, and he laughed and siad I didn't leave a 90 foot skid mark.

Gallagher Basse, using straight line calculations, say I was obviously doing 42-45 MPH. To which I responded simply "Excuse me moron, it wasn't a straight line skid the truck spun me 180 degrees so even if your estiamte was accurate, the truck would have only travelled 45-50 feet past the accident which according to your straighline math puts my speed at 30-34 MPH per your calculator."

So they got all silent and stopped responding. Then they counter with, we hold to our conclusion that this accident is only 80% our fault. We have tabled our offer and it is only valid for 3 days after that we will make no payment, goodbye"

I hate f'in insurance companies. I called up my lawyer and he said I am screwed. Even if I got in front of a judge, since I live in a state that can assign % of blame, he would just read the comlaint and rule in favor of the insurance company regardless of the actual facts and circumstances.

So here I am, only getting an 80% payout for something that wasn't my fault. There is something wrong with this world. If I hadn't been a nice guy, and had the police officer issue a ticket when he asked if I wanted him to, I would have leverage. If I hadn't been in such control of my car I would have received major damage and been injured, but since I wasn't they are using the little know "last chance" law which says they can claim 80% if the driver didn't take every precaution to avoid collision......even though I was actually in the on coming lane when hit becuase I was swerving to avoid the impact. ugh

Next time I'm just gonna let the a$$holes hit me.

::

 

[68_302]

Man, you've had some rough luck this week. Sorry to hear about it.

 

[Aronj66]

I agree Insurance companies Really Suck.. Be glad u weren't injured cuz then the mess with insurance companies gets really bad..

AJ

 

[Guest]

Is this your insurance company or the insurer for the truck that hit you?

The threat to pay you nothing if you don't accept their offer is bunk. The claim will just remain open if you don't and there is NOTHING an insurance company hates more than open claims.

I'm not a lawyer and even though I work for an insurance company, I'm not an adjuster. Still, if it were me, I would tell them to stuff the 80% offer and sit tight. I'm not telling you to ignore your lawyer, but I do believe you still have some options.

 

[autoxsteve]

Well, at least you can go home at night, look in the mirror and say "I did the right thing today." I deal with the same situations (people lying, or stretching thr truth to cover their asses) all the time. I know in my heart that I have done the correct thing and can sleep confortably with it.

What does the 20% work out to be? 1 or 2k? Forget about it. You are ok and the issue is apparently history. Get back to wrenchin on your Mustang!

 

[dodgestang]

This is Waste Managements Insurance company, not mine.
I talked to mine and they pretty much said the same things as my lawyer based on MD laws. Its so nice to know that the people we elect enact laws to screw the people that elected them.

 

[amartin725]

I've heard similar stories and have been involed in similar situations. Insurance companies seem to have their own rules to live by and you're at their mercy. You wonder what they get paid for. The best thing to do was to claim hurt and go to the hospital on a back board, then proceeed from there. Hire a lawyer and let the games play out. Sadly, it's the only real way to make sure you get justice ($$).

For instance, someone cut across in front of me and I hit the brakes to stop and ended up hitting just behind their door. They took a chance and gunned it to cross 4 lanes during extremely heavy traffic. I was in the 4th lane and hit them. Even though they cut across traffic, I was determined to be 100% my fault because (1), they were more than 3/4 across the intersection and (2) I hit the back half of their car. My arguement was that if I didn't try to avoid the accident (1) both cars would have been completely totaled (2) there whould be at least one dead body. It fell on deaf ears.

Fast forward 10 years, different state, different insurance rules, I was taking a left hand turn across 2 lanes on a yellow. The person coming the other way slowed to stop for the light, then thought twice and gunned it while not looking. I was less than 1/3 into his lane before I saw and stopped. He made no attempt to stop as he was too busy looking at the light, came through the intersection at full throttle and destroyed both cars. He admitted to everything, but because I was in his lane, my insurance company said I was at fault. They gladly gave me the green light to fight the case myself. My comments back to her can't be repeated here :: I took it on the chin because my car was worth essentially nothing and it would have cost more in court/lawyers fees than my increased rates over 4 years.

Al

 

[egnorant]

I have always maintained that one of the unwritten rules of insurance claims is that they (Insurance companys)
will ALWAYS try to get you to settle for less or even not pursue. It is a cheap tactic that saves them mucho money.
Delays and threats of no payment is everyday fare for them. Don't sign anything or cash any check they may sent you.
I am the sort that has spent $300.00 when offered $200.00 less than I felt was proper.
Failure to issue a ticket was the officers decision, not yours.
Polite registered letters documenting your claim first, itemize claim with everything.
Maintain that you are to be covered for your actual costs as it was their clients fault.
If you call their offices, be mean. The instant you fail to here that they are not covering your losses,
ask for their boss. Personal visit to their local insurance office and polite use of their phones to call the executive officers
of their company have wonderful results. Local agents are usually polite and accomodating.
Imagine if you didn't drive your car for a week and tried to send them a percentage of the payment!
Maybe I'm just a harda$$!
Bruce (TX)
P.S. My Dad and older brother.....Insurance agents!

 

[JeffTepper]

First, what's the amount in dispute (20% of what dollar figure)? If it's large enough to go after (in your opinion) but still within the small claims court jusrisdiction amount, consider filing a suit against the driver of the waste management truck and Waste Management. Waste Management's insurance company will then have to send the claim out to their lawyers and the cost to fight your claim will likely exceed the amount in dispute. At some point hopefully some bright bulb will realize that it makes good business sense to give you the full value of your claim rather than incur legal fees in an amount in excess of the disputeed amount just fighting your claim. It doesn't always work out this way but if this is a battle you chose to fight take a shot at it.

 

[JSHarvey]

I feel your pain, just know it could have been a lot worse. My sister got in an accident over a year ago on an inter-state highway when a @!#)&%^[email protected]%_%[email protected] idiot did a U-turn through an emergency vehicle turn-around. The guy was in a big commercial truck, pulling an illegally flagged load (it was long steel drilling pipes that hung way over the end of the trailor and which were not flagged) the ends of the pipes and trailor swung out into the oncoming traffic (blocking the lanes) when the genius tried to do the u-turn!

It nearly killed my sister, currently she has had about 20 operations, has lost bones and joints in her arm/elbow, hip and leg, and has to have had skin and bone grafts. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 million in doctor, hospital and rehabilitation bills to date, and we are looking at several more operations and continued mobility problems.

The insurance company cited a Utah law that says if a driver "could have" avoided the accident (regardless of fault) the individual who caused the accident has NO liability. We finally settled out of court for about $750,000! We are now negoiating with doctors and hospitals in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy for her! Arrgh! This is what "tort reform" gets you, victims just having to "eat" the bill!

 

[dodgestang]

This is all small claims stuff.
I agreed to settle for a payment just over $500.
Its the priciple of the matter that sickens me.
If i had been an a$$hole from the start and said yes when the police officer asked if I wanted a citation issued, I would get a full payment, (yes he asked, this is a very small country town....he pulled up my report and there was only 10 reports since then in his excel spreadsheet, freindly quiet small town vrs big city insurance) but because I'm a nice guy, I've lost again.

Its no wonder we live in a country were personal responsiblity is non-existant.

I tried to look at it from their perspectives and my lawyer made it clear to me why they will never settle out 100%...becasue then I can bring an additional law suit against them and they have no defense. I explained to them that I knew why they were being a$$holes (yes I did say that) and that I didn't care about future litigations or how they dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's all I wanted my estiamte amount.

I am just so damn frustrated by it all, it would cost me more in personal time (at my hourly rate) to file a suit than it is worth and they know that. So they just bend you over.

Maybe I will start a political career and bend them over one day, but for now, I just want to move on. Some many things seem to going wrong at once I feel like Johnpro. ::

 

[DEL65]

Please note that an insurance adjustor's primary job is to protect the company assets. WM is probably putting heat on GB to play tough, because ultimately it is WM's $. I suspect they are self-insured. The claim $ payout affects the rates for the following year. They cannot close your file just because you won't accept their offer. I suggest you document all your conversations in writing. In CA it is illegal for a carrier to negotiate in bad faith. Complain to the Dept. of Insurance. How about small claims court? You have an excellent chance there. Good luck and "Fight the Power!"

 

[theboogins]

CAll the local insurance commissioner's office and ask them what to do.

J. Boggs

 

[Mal]

Not all insurance companies are bad.You can collect from your own company less a collision deductible and let the companies go to inter company arbitration to settle the dispute.You can also write a letter of complaint to the department of insurance in your state and tell them your complaint and see if they can determine if the company did not follow the state regulations.Remember everything is todays world in negoatable and perhaps see if you can compromise and get 85 or 90%.Most states are comparative neglience and unless you are parked or rear ended and have a witness you will not voluntarilary get 100%.

 

[GypsyR]

That just sucks. Insurance companies are... oh, forget it. Don't even let me get started. I could fill a page or two. Just read my favorite quote below instead.

 

[Lemondrop]

When the appraiser called and started that squak you should have told him .... "You know it's a good thing you called , I was wondering what to do about these dizzy spells and headaches Ive been having since the crash ..... do you have any advice for me ?"
Case closed , name your price .

 

[johnpro]

Some many things seem to going wrong at once I feel like Johnpro.

Other than Steph's '69 eating 2 coils in a week (tach was frying them), Steph's '69 overheating the other day, and the new window regulator in my '66 failing the other day (can't lock the car now ), everything's been going just fine around here ::

 

[johnpro]

I feel for you, buddy. My insurance company is still fighting with the truck driver's insurance that crunched my daughter's car on the way to Knotts. If they can finally get payment from the trucker's insurance, I'll get my $500 deductible back. My insurance company told me this could take up to 3 years to resolve.

In my case, it was the trucker that lied to the a$$hole cops that responded. The trucker admitted fault to me and my daughter, and I witnessed the whole thing. The cops won't take my story into account "because I'm not impartial", and basically are taking the truck driver's story over my daughter's that she somehow managed to drive the car sideways into the truck that "did nothing wrong".

It's not just the insurance companies that are a scam and a PIA, it's the lamo law enforcement in many cases ... at least here in California. ::

 

[dodgestang]

I hear you.
There was a witness in my accident.
She waited for a few minutes but had to pick her kids up at school, so she gave me her name and phone number and left.
I gave it to the cop, and he didn't even right in the police report. So when I asked the insurance company if they called the witness, they were like "what witness" and said that they won't be calling any "witness" that I suddenly produce out of nowhere.