Guy smashed into the back of my car; now his insurance is trying to lowball!

Guy smashed into the back of my car; now his insurance is trying to lowball!

This is somewhat of a Rant so bare with me..

So about 2 weeks ago I was driving a friend of mines home bacause I didn't wasnt her walking/taking the bus back home after a night class. Half way there I stopped behind a line of cars behind a railroad crossing for a train moving through. Three seconds later I noticed in my rear view mirror a van coming toward me at and not stopping. With no escape route I just braced for impact.

So we pulled over, exchanged insurance information. He claimed his foot slipped of the brakes. His van was insured by his work (a large HVAC company I've heard of) so I thought everything would be taking cared of w/ no problems. Next day I get a call from their adjuster (some noname insurance co. "Speciality Risk Services"), She told me I was not at fault and I told her I'll bring my car to my body shop and fax over a estimate. The estimate were $1980 for OEM replacement of the rear bumper, rear body panel, paint and labor. She told me since the damage were over $1500 she has to send their own apprasier. So the guy came over to the body shop and did his estimate. Now he is claiming the damage to the rear body panel is prior damage and wont include it in the estimate. With non-OEM bumper, paint and labor his estimate were $890. That's over a grand less than my shop's estimate!!!

*The collision left me with a dented rear bumper, chipped paint, and a large gap between the trunk and the taillight due to the metal rear body panel behind the bumper being pushed in.*

Now I'm pissed but I remain calm while I called their insurance company I told them there were no previous damage and she told me she had already issued the check for $890 and if more is needed, I should have my bodyshop call the apprasier to do a updated inspection after they start working on the vehicle.

I went back to my bodyshop and they told me they told me the insuracne company is BSing me around and they couldn't begin work because once they touch my car than future estimates could be invalid. And I should call their insurance company's apprasier first and ask them why they arn't including the rear body panel in their estimate.

I did just that and I called them, they keep telling my "no, this was previous damage done by a bad repair." Well my car has been rear ended before 6+ yrs ago before I took ownership from my dad whom brought it to a somewhat crappy bodyshop. The work they did to restore the rear was not great but I can guarentee that huge gap between the trunk and taillight weren't there before! (you can see from previous pics I posted here)

Now I call my insurance company (AAA) and they told me since I only have liability coverage that there isn't much they can do. The will send over their own apprasier to take pics and do a estimate but thats all. And I'm still waiting for them to schedule the appointment to look at the car.

So now I'm stuck here, a week before finals having to deal with fuckin asshole insurance adjusters.. All I know is as it sits now I'm out $1000+, and a shit load of free time and patience for doing a nice thing for a friend. I'm not sure what else I can do so any advice would be appreciated.

That's f**king garbage, man. Sorry to hear that.

Threaten to sue the insurance adjuster for fraud. If they don't take your word for it, actually sue them. Larry H. Parker is a good law firm that will issue a good lawyer to fight those shifty insurance people.

Yea but, that will cost him even more money ^

Actually their insurance company would have to pay for my legal fees if I win. I'm hoping I dont have to escalate to that point but I will if I have to.

Most likely you will have to take legal action. They're thinking they can get away with lowballing you. Don't give them even the slightest reason to believe they can.

Here's what I'm thinking;
I will wait for my own insurance company to come up with the quote then fax it over to theirs. My buddy at the body shop told me I should ask to speak to the adjuster's supervisor first then if he/she is not willing to play ball I should threaten/take legal action at that point. I doubt they'll continue to BS me over a measily grand (to them, not to me) but we'll see.

But I really need to get school/finals handled first.. it's a really stressful time of the yr right now If anyone else ever dealed with this kind of BS lmk.

yes, go through your insurance. you'll get the correct amount, and your insurance will sue his.

If you think you can def win the case do it. If you can get your insurance to sue his, then thats even better.

dang that sux

The damage sounds like when I got rearended. Look anything like these pics?

SlowRolla's Accident Pics

Mine was about 1200 in damage, but I didnt get any additional estimates other than the shop his insurance recommended. I kinda regret that now. I hope everything works out for you, dont let them walk over ya man!

Sorry to hear about that ...... But they are correct in that case cause there was Prior damage and they can prove that the prior work was shitty..... The only thing in this case is to get a lawyer but like you said it cost money .... So the only thing you can do is take it to a cheap shop or do it yourself...... Either way you got screwed cause it was in a prior accident .... The problbay pulled up the info for your car cause All accidents are shared with insurance companies... Thats why he showed up.....

Noooo! Man, not THE Corolla!

Yes, I dealt with a situation exactly like this last year around the same time; some lady rear ended me when I was stopped at a red light waiting to exit out of a mall parking lot. I was the middle car. Although we chose not to go through the hassles of an insurance claim, dealing with a hostile a-hole husband and running back and forth between body shops for in-person quotes proved to be very stressful, I feel your pain.

All the advice I can offer you is to try your best to keep your cool and exercise patience, and hope that your insurance company comes through in the end for you. And if a resolution is not reached in your favor, then pursue a course of legal action as recommended by the others here. But it sounds as though you have your priorities set straight.

On a completely different note, I've waited a while to say this but your car has provided me with much inspiration for everything that I want to achieve with mine, both looks and performance wise. Hopefully, one day I'll get a chance to see it in person when it's all fixed up again.

Take care.

lilbit01: According to my insurance adjuster they are not able to do much because I only have liability coverage.

slo: yea man, my accident was just like that. Maybe a little less severe but the same items needs to be replaced/fixed.

Rincon: Even though the car has been in a prior accident, the car had been repaired. I believe it's the insurance company's job to pay to return my car to a pre-accident condition. When it was repaired previously, I know the rear body panel weren't bent inwards.

rayray: thanks bro. I appreciate the advice and the compliments! I'm just hoping for everything to work out

ah poop.

seriously, hire a lawyer, let him do your dirty work. get a rental car, sue them for the cost of repairs, the cost of the rental car and whatever "pain and suffering" you have been through with all the stress.

also, if the guy was in a company vehicle, you can technically sue the company to. and dont worry about the cost of the lawyers, if you win the case, their insurance will also pay for the lawyer.

yea, i'm most likely goina talk to a lawyer next week.. too much to deal with at school right now

pain and suffering is very hard to receive unless you actually sustained physical injury and can prove it.. just lettin ya kno

I can already tell you what he is gonna say ....... You dont have much of a case..... Cases like this where there is no injury to you they dont like to take cause there is no money .... So you have to come up with the money first for the Attorney .... Your best bet is to go to small claims court or get better insurance coverage......

When my truck got clipped a few months ago, the place I brought it too said they were going to put OEM parts on it cause it was a new car. but if it were older, they weren't obligated to put OEM parts on it, as they say.

Either way, no matter what type of car you have, you should always have full coverage as you never know when you may need it most. My sis had a 96 rolla before she got got the 07 and she had full coverage. You may trust yourself when driving, but you can't trust others or mother nature. Thats why its a wise thing to get full coverage.

yea but it don't make much sense to have full coverage on a car that is worth less than $3000. My 6 month liability only insurance cost is only $257 vs. like $400 on my 98 Corolla. And if the damage was over the value of the car they won't even fix it. Add the fact that an older car is less likely to be vandalized it is not worth the extra for full coverage.

the value in having full coverage comes when you accidentally hit someone else so you don't have to pay out of pocket. everyone says they are careful when they drive, but that is why they call them accidents.

Yea, liability covers me paying for damage to others if I have an accident. This is the minimum required in my state and what i have and everyone should have at least. Full coverage includes liability and collision which means they would repair my car also in a wreck so I don't pay out of pocket and comprehensive which means if someone broken in my car and stole something or vandalized it. My point is that since my car is so old and less likely to be vandalized since so many parts for my generation could be found in junkyards for cheap these days. Rental reimbruisement would be nice to have, but I can pay out of pocket for it from all the money I'll be saving insteading of choosing full coverage. This is how I see why full coverage is not for older cars, correct me if i'm wrong.

In this case this would mean nothing to OP since he wasn't at fault. so he's assed out unless the other insurance company comes up and pays for the whole bill.

This is why I stated its a good idea to have it. the OP wouldn't be worrying so much knowing things would be handled either with his company or the other insurance company.

This is also beneficial if you have a system, rims, etc. All the money put into the cars and not have this? Thats like saying you don't care if they steal your stuff cause you got all this money laying around to blow on new things. Thats good if you can blow your money like that but not everyone is in the same boat.

Again, not everyone is in the same boat. What if they chose to use the extra money to pay for school supplies, food to keep them alive if they dorm at school, gas money, a little spending money, etc. If money is used wisely then yes, getting a rental wouldn't be an issue. But if they don't use it wisely then they're assed out.

I personally would rather pay full coverage knowing I'm at ease should something happen. I rather pay a 250 or 500 deductible rather than a 1,000+ bill for repairs. But thats just me. BUT if you just have a beater that you don't give 2 shits about, then yes..liability is fine. Just make sure you have good medical insurance incase something happens and pray that you never get sued to the point where you want to shoot yourself to end the misery.

Thats the way I see it though. We will all think differently but thats just my personal thought on it.

yeah, you're right my car is my beater. It's a base model Corolla without power windows or any options. I secretly hope it dies but I know that I need another reliable economy car for work because I travel so much. I want to pick up a second car, but I know that I be wasting money because I don't have time to ride it and it would sit in the garage the whole time while I drive the Corolla. Until the 'Crapolla' dies, I mod it to add factory options to it; not performance and look fast stuff people here do.

Just a update:

After calling the insurance company repeatitly, leaving messages, sending past photos, sending my insurance company's estimate.. the adjuster finally decided their apprasier have made a mistake and covered the damages to the rear body panel in a suppliment! (The combine settlement ended up to be a couple hundred more than my insurance comany's estimate!) In the end I did not get a lawer nor threaten leagal action, all I did was use calm reason and respectfully told the adjuster the truth about what happened. So everything worked out.. even though it took a whole month and a half of headaches.

The car is currently at the shop and I am making a couple of new additions, pics to come soon! =)

Congratulations!!! Good things come to those who wait. Can't wait to see the Corolla in pristine condition again!

Good to hear that things worked out bro.

It will be interesting to see what you have in store for the car.

thanks for the support guys!