Posted on: 01-09-07 20:54:30
hi
I got an accident not at fault. ( have liablity insurance )
I reported colision centre. Called the insurance people.
Insurance person said that adjuster will call after weekend. I asked what about car rental .. they said rent a car and keep the receipt.
Anyone have experience how adjuster settle this ...mean how to negotiate with adjuster... ? Do they pay all the rental expenses or is there any limitation for car rental ?
thank you for your time.
Quote:
Originally posted by ihpatel
hi
I got an accident not at fault. ( have liablity insurance )
I reported colision centre. Called the insurance people.
Insurance person said that adjuster will call after weekend. I asked what about car rental .. they said rent a car and keep the receipt.
Anyone have experience how adjuster settle this ...mean how to negotiate with adjuster... ? Do they pay all the rental expenses or is there any limitation for car rental ?
thank you for your time.
Who determined that you are at "no fault"
There are fault determination rules and adjusters work as per that. These are listed on Finance Services of Ontario website. If you are at no fault then you you are not required to pay deductibles. Other party's insurance will cover all costs (all).
You need to negotiate with the adjusters if your car is total loss.
Hi,
Desi #1 is absolutely right. There are Fault Determination rules but sometimes there could be no clearly defined rule so in that event, the claim adjusters put 50-50. Remember, either you are ABSOLUTELY NO FAULT (0%) or at fault....does not matter whether 1% or 100%. The punishment is same. But you can always fight or appeal.
I am sharing my experience here. It might be helpful to you. Couple of years ago, January, mornning time, rush hours, my wife was driving and she stopped at a red light. It was extreme winter, -33 degrees windchill, car was complete stop, suddenly, we got hit from the back....there was a young driver....less than 25, driving GM truck, was trying to squeeze into the left lane as he had to take left turn from the light. Anyways, we exchanged the information. Unfortunately there was no witness....you see -33 degrees....who would bother to stop and become a witness.
I informed the insurance company, we had full coverage including endorsement 20 so we were given a rental car. We went to collision centre in the evening and reported to police. After few days, the adjuster called me and said that we were at 50% fault....I asked the reason and she said that the story from the other party is not matching with yours. The other party is saying that your car was moving and there are no witnesses so its gonna be 50-50. I disagreed with her but she said she can not do anything and my wife will have at fault accident on her record for 6 years and she was closing the file.
I wrote a 4 page letter, describing the whole situation and drawing the accident scene, to claims manager, cc to VP of the company, president of the company, Insurance bureau, Ombudsman, editor Toronto Star, CTV and one ethnic newspaper. I urged them to protect my interest as I was their client and have been paying premium for years regularly. I also mentioned that if need be I would go to the court where the other party and the claims adjuster will have to prove that I was telling a lie because the other party was just 21 years old, young, aggressive driver, driving a brand new GM truck and moreover it was some glass company's truck....etc..etc..etc..
I hand delivered the letter in the insurance company's office and mailed rest. Within 36 hours, I got a call from the VP of the company on my cell phone, assuring me to resolve the issue ASAP. Then the claims manager called me and after him, the claims supervisor. The very next day, claims supervisor called me again and told me that the other party is making 3-4 different stories so they believe that he was at fault and my wife will have a clean chit. I asked them to write me an apology letter mentioning the same thing that my wife had no fault. After 2 days, I got the letter in mail. Everything was settled.
I knew that it was not our fault because I have worked in the insurance industry so I know few rules but it might happen that even if you think it is not your fault, still it would be. Exceptions are always there.
You have mentioned in your post that you have only liability insurance (am I right?) and if it is proven that it was your fault, you are DONE!!
BTW, what had happened in your case?
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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto
Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK
Sanjeev, even if your car was moving, he had hit you at the rear of your vehcile. There is no exclusion if you are hit from behind except you are doing illegal lane change.
Yes I have only liability insurance.
Adjuster called today and then he confirmed with other party and story was the same so I was NOT AT FAULT as per adjuster and he agreed... only thing is because I had only liablity insurance, for rental car I had to take full insurance from rental people $19.99 from my pocket a day and they said they would not pay. Now car is at dealer and insrance guy is going tomorrow to check so right now enjoying new HONDA Civic 2007 for 19.99 a day....
Here I am lucky that other party did not change the story otherwise I would be stuck... what is your suggesiton...
- How to make solid case in the enent of accident. i.e. ( keep the picture camera all the time, ask any witness to sign ?
- Should I take full coverage ?
Quote:
Originally posted by ihpatel
Yes I have only liability insurance.
Adjuster called today and then he confirmed with other party and story was the same so I was NOT AT FAULT as per adjuster and he agreed... only thing is because I had only liablity insurance, for rental car I had to take full insurance from rental people $19.99 from my pocket a day and they said they would not pay. Now car is at dealer and insrance guy is going tomorrow to check so right now enjoying new HONDA Civic 2007 for 19.99 a day....
Here I am lucky that other party did not change the story otherwise I would be stuck... what is your suggesiton...
- How to make solid case in the enent of accident. i.e. ( keep the picture camera all the time, ask any witness to sign ?
- Should I take full coverage ?
Now a days, almost everybody has camera cell phones so even if you are not carrying digicam with you, at least capture the accident scene thru your cell phone. Try to get some witnesses like if you know that someone saw the accident, request them to give their contact information and ask them if need be, can they be contacted by insurance company or police?
As far full coverage, all depends how old is your car? If it is worth only few hundred dollars, then having full coverage is waste but if it is few thousands, then it may be wise to take full coverage with 300 to 500 deductible. You can also have liability plus fire/theft coverage. Collision coverage is not mandatory.
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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto
Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK
