I was in an accident on 290 yesterday morning, was hit from behind a knocked into the vehicle in front of me. The officer said I was not at fault, and I was able to drive my car away because the damage was mostly cosmetic on my trunk. I missed work yesterday and went to the doctor because I tweaked my back a little and missed today also. I was told by by a rep at Farmers (the person who wrecked into me insurance) who gave me a claim number and the name of adjuster that would be handling my case. They told me I would be recieving a call yesterday and as of today I have yet to talk to their adjuster even after leaving a voicemail message. Question is: What should I do? I have never been in a wreck before and don't really know the process. Most people tell me to lawyer up, but do I need to? Will I get the run around with Farmers if I don't? I would just let my insurance handle it, but I don't want to have to pay my deductable and I also don't have rent a car insurance so I was hoping that Farmers would provide me with one so I can get to work. Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.
Their insurance will call - just give it some more time.. I have dealt with crappier insurance companies than Farmers - they all call back -- eventually. Keep calling them periodically. There should not be a need for a lawyer unless you are injured and want to collect some $$$ for medical
You will bring your car to a dealer repair shop to get the estimate for the repair and his insurance company should cut you a check for it.
I recommend lawyering up if you are hurt, I know I would have gotten totally screwed if I hadn't. Just make sure you discuss your decisions with him though. I was tired of going to physical therapy every other day (it wasn't the therapy, that helped, it was making the time to go), so I just did the minimum. My accident was bad, got rolled over, but I was lucky to not get really hurt. I should have kept going though because the more I went, the more money I would have gotten out of the settlement. I don't want to be somebody who tries to capitalize on an accident, but our car was totaled and all we would have gotten was the blue book value, not even enough to pay off the note on the car. Anyways, lawyer up, I'm sure you can find somebody who won't charge you just to come in and see if their services will be required.
Not when I had already come to a stop behind the person in front of me. Thanks for the replies, I was on the phone with a rep that was giving me the run around and I told them maybe I should just get a lawyer and let them handle it - I then got a call back from the adjuster in literally 5 min and it was all taken care of.
Insurance companies don't pay off shop's walk in estimates unless the damage is only $200 or so. Farmer's has COD (Circle of Dependability) shops all over the city. Most times, the delay in carriers getting back with you is due to their insured. Unfortunately, w/o a police report in hand or the insured's statement/facts of loss, they can't approve your claim. Alot of at fault driver's are dumb, in that they think their carrier won't pay for at fault damages if they avoid calling in and giving said statement. All it does is delay the inevitable and cost their own carrier more money in back rental charges.
Yeah I've had an epic battle w/ Verizon over a measly $12. But on principle it really pissed me off and I've been talking w/ them for the past TWO WEEKS. It basically boiled down to a "yes you did/no I didn't" argument. Yesterday I told them I wanted the contact info of everyone I've spoken to over the past 2 weeks for the record in order to dispute the charges, then this morning I get a call that they want to credit my account after 30 seconds of talking. "You wanted contact info of our reps?" Yes "What's the problem?" I was being charged for stuff I don't even know how to do w/ my phone. "Ok, we'll credit your account" Thanks for wasting a few hours of my life over the past 2 weeks.
I heard that the law is that you must be able to see the person tires in front of you (I'm not saying Joshfast didn't do this) I thought if you rear end someone you are at fault, pretty much always. And you can always go after the person that directly rear ended you in a multiple car accident. Thats why I always leave a ton of room between me and a car in front of me when stopped, almost a car length.
If car B hits car A from behind, its pretty much always going to be B's fault. If C hits B, which then hits A, C is responsible for B and A. If B hits A first, then C hits B, B is responsible for A and C is responsible for B. I am not aware of any "tailgating laws" as usually, the term for one vehicle hitting another from behind is "failure to control speed".
I think this is the way it goes, but I am not a lawyer (yet) but for causation - he wouldn't have hit the car in front of him no matter how close he was, if the other car had not hit him. ergo, the one that hit him is completely at fault for both accidents.
Not sure where you are getting your information, but it is wrong. If there is some law on the books that says otherwise, then I've never heard of it and have never seen it applied in the adjusting world. BTW ..just so you don't think I'm talking out of my ass, I am a licensed adjuster in the state of Texas and have been in auto claims for almost 15 years. I handle claims on chain reaction accidents every day and I don't think I've ever seen the scenario you are talking about, as far as that law being applied in a liability situation.
