›

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

In this Discussion

insurance

000000
edited March 2014
Last week a young fellow hit our car while we were at a red light. We exchanged info, got a witness phone number/name, and went on our way. I didn't file a police report, though I called, because Portland Police said it wasn't necessary if we weren't blocking traffic or having trouble getting the necessary info.

But now the kid is not answering calls from his insurance company, and a little internet research turns up he's a junkie with a baby and was recently arrested for child endangerment/under influence of drugs at 1:00 AM. Who's wandering around high with their baby at 1:00 AM in Petaluma? I'm not holding out hope for considerate cooperation.

WHAT TO DO? Will my car ever get fixed? It seems like the insurance company has no motivation to solve this case and shell out money. Should I file a police report a week later? Contact the witness to corroborate the report? Ugh. Fix it through my own insurance and get them to bully his insurance into paying? I'm going back to biking.

Comments

  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    your insurance company's job is to bully his insurance company into paying!
    god, insurance is such a racket
    what a disaster
    MAKE THEM DO THE BULLYING
  • 000000
    But if I get it fixed through my insurance I have to pay the deductible and I am not rich/able to wait around for that to maybe/maybe not come back to me.

    Insurance is so dumb.
  • flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
    I think your only option is to make your insurance take care of it for you. They SHOULD take care of it for you. It's their job. If you need a REAL BULLY who actually enjoys being a bully and is also really smart about insurance stuff, I could ask my dad (a retired insurance lawyer) to get involved. He might be into it.
  • ThickeningAgentThickeningAgent
    I don't understand. You have this persons insurance info and have been in touch with them? Are they not agreeing to pay for damages?
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    your insurance WANTS his insurance to pay, so they don't have to pay.
    This is literally what their job is.
    Are you sure it's just not taking forever? Because it definitely will take forever. But I think your insurance is definitely working on it/can be prodded into working on it, because it's how they make money off you without ever having to PAY you anything
  • 000000
    His insurance company called me last night and said that they couldn't get in touch with him in the last week. And of course they were cagey and when I said, "DUDE, I got rear-ended and I have witnesses" he insisted that that wasn't enough to prove anything. So that got me stressing on having not filed a police report at the time.

    But the guy seemed nice enough at the accident - we got all of his insurance info, but little personal info other than his name. No way to contact him directly. I was chilling in the car with the dog, who was having a cool doggy meltdown having been in the back of the car when we were hit, while Mike talked to dude.
  • UncleBoatShoes2011UncleBoatShoes2011
    These things just take a while.

    It took like 3 months for me to get paid from an accident a couple years ago.

    You don't have to pay your deductible if the other party is determined to be at fault.

    You can get your thing fixed now if you want on your own and just take the cash later.

  • 000000
    Having bought my first car in my late twenties, this is all so mysterious to me. Thanks guys.
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    Took like 3 years for Azure to get compensated for getting hit on her bike by some film guy working on some shitty film that probably cannot be named for insurance reasons but a couple scenes of which were filmed at YU.
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    Hm, thought I knew which film you were talking about, but the one I'm thinking of is a MASTERPIECE OF MODERN CINEMA.
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    Took my bro I think over a year to finally get paid for his car getting totaled but it did happen and then they ended up paying him SO much more than they should have. Like it was a 3 year old Prius and they paid him full market price. He was stoked. He bought a shitty car for $500 and put the rest in the damn bank.

    This was a true insurance success story, I don't think this happens every day, but I'm just saying

    it takes FOREVER to get the money but you will eventually get it, if all the docs are in order, etc.
  • 000000
    I Internet snooped and found where he lives and took pictures of the damage on his truck. Seriously creeping!
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    Wait, how did you take pictures of the damage on the internet? Is it already on Street View?!
  • 000000
    He lives 5 blocks from us. I drove over there!
  • 000000
    I may or may not be stalking.
  • ManInTheIvoryTowerManInTheIvoryTower
    Even though a police report may not be warranted, you can still file a DMV accident report. The sooner the better. It's required within 72 hours if more than $1500 damage, but better late than never. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/Pages/driverid/accidentreport.aspx
  • flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
    This is so crazy. I was under the impression that it is YOUR insurance company's job to just take this off your hands.
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    I was so confused because you mentioned Petaluma and I thought this happened in Petaluma. Now it all makes so much more sense!
  • 000000
    My insurance will help if I make the repairs through them and cough up my $1000 deductible, which I'm trying to avoid. Even tho I'd get it back eventually, cc debt/student loans/etc.
  • 000000
    Oh, a recent CA transplant!
Sign In or Register to comment.