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Yes the best thing is let your wrecked car sit until they agree to take care of the bill and for now rent a car and you should get a refund.Your own insurance is there to pay for uninsured motorist, Your own collision coverage is not for this.
I kept calling and it's now over! They authorized the repairs and rental car! This has been educational. I'm not too experienced with this process despite 30 years of driving (not many accidents). Thanks everyone!
My wife got into an accident with my new car several years ago and it was clearly the other person's fault. We were getting the run around from both the driver and their insurance company - State Farm.
I needed the vehicle so I took it to the dealership for repairs - we all know how much that costs. It turns out that just as State Farm was about to authorize repairs we discovered that the insurance information the driver gave us was not for the car he was driving. He was trying to protect his friend who own the car. Now after several weeks of dealing with State Farm, they told us they weren't the car's insurer, denied our claim and closed the case.
Back to dealing with the driver. The driver refused to give us the name or insurance information of the owner until we threatened a lawsuit. He finally relented. Guess who insured the car? State Farm! Different policy, same insurer. Back to dealing with State Farm.
After three months, I received a phone call which went like this:
State Farm: Good news, we just authorized your repairs! You can now take your car to either "Hole in the Wall Mechanic," "El Cheapo Auto Repair," or "Just Trust Us Body Shop."
Me: I've already had the car repaired three months ago at the dealership.
State Farm: That is not the way we do things. You have to take it to one of our authorized repair facilities.
Me: Let me get this straight. The persons you insure hit my new car, was clearly at fault, lied to both you and myself, violated the law and attempted to commit insurance fraud by giving us the wrong insurance information. This in turn took three months to resolve. Would you have rather I waited patiently for you to authorize repairs and rented a car during this time which you could have reimbursed us for as well?
State Farm: Fax us copies of the receipts to (800) bla-blah.
After faxing the receipts, I received a check shortly thereafter.
The guy who hit me blew a stop sign and pulled right out in front of me on a 50mph road. I t-boned him right on the driver's side. I had him use my cell phone to call them while he was in my car. He clearly told them that he was at fault.
So a few days later I got a call from the Funny guys and they tell me that it is a state law that accident claims are shared between the parties at fault and that they would pay 50% of my repairs. That was insurance fraud! There is no such law, and the idea of splitting the liability for an accident is something that a judge could rule on, but it isn't a law itself.
My sister in law worked at the Funny Farm and she accessed the file, and it clearly showed the phone call from their policy holder where he admitted it was all his fault.
I took the car to my friend who owns a body shop and he called me numerous times during the repair whenever the Funny guys would only authorize replacement parts. I had to constantly fight them and to remind them that they could put junk parts on their own policy holder's vehicles, but not mine. The thing to remember is that a lawsuit can be filed quickly because the upfront work isn't that much. And there's the expectation that the insurance company will finally do what they're supposed to do once their policyholder gets sued. So your atty doesn't have to spend lots of time with any research- just whip together a quick complaint and get it filed.
After running into all sorts of hassles, that's when I sued the other guy. Finally, the Funny Farm people were forced to do things correctly.
My body shop friend said that they were one of the worst companies that he has to deal with almost on a daily basis. They are a very unethical company.
wow...these insurance companies....and someone (who has thousands of posts here and very active in giving advice to others) recently asked me why would I listen to what CD posters say and not believe what insurance company is saying!!!
As someone who used to handle auto claims for Allstate I feel your pain. More than likely it's being handled by the express claims team. If it was a newer policy the SIU department will need to verify that the vehicle being driven was insured at the time of the loss. Then they will send an adjuster out to inspect your car. If your car is drivable they won't owe you a rental car until your car goes into the shop.
The SIU investigation is the slowest part of closing the claim. Ask them if it's a manual claim, you can count on at least an extra day or two. If you dissatisfied I'd consider using your own insurance and they can send a subrogation demand to Allstate for the money they paid out. I no longer work in auto claims or for Allstate. I wish you luck and if you have any questions feel free to email me.
Josh
Edit: Just realized you got everything ok'd. Even if you have existing questions feel free to email me.
My wife got into an accident with my new car several years ago and it was clearly the other person's fault. We were getting the run around from both the driver and their insurance company - State Farm.
I needed the vehicle so I took it to the dealership for repairs - we all know how much that costs. It turns out that just as State Farm was about to authorize repairs we discovered that the insurance information the driver gave us was not for the car he was driving. He was trying to protect his friend who own the car. Now after several weeks of dealing with State Farm, they told us they weren't the car's insurer, denied our claim and closed the case.
Back to dealing with the driver. The driver refused to give us the name or insurance information of the owner until we threatened a lawsuit. He finally relented. Guess who insured the car? State Farm! Different policy, same insurer. Back to dealing with State Farm.
After three months, I received a phone call which went like this:
State Farm: Good news, we just authorized your repairs! You can now take your car to either "Hole in the Wall Mechanic," "El Cheapo Auto Repair," or "Just Trust Us Body Shop."
Me: I've already had the car repaired three months ago at the dealership.
State Farm: That is not the way we do things. You have to take it to one of our authorized repair facilities.
Me: Let me get this straight. The persons you insure hit my new car, was clearly at fault, lied to both you and myself, violated the law and attempted to commit insurance fraud by giving us the wrong insurance information. This in turn took three months to resolve. Would you have rather I waited patiently for you to authorize repairs and rented a car during this time which you could have reimbursed us for as well?
State Farm: Fax us copies of the receipts to (800) bla-blah.
After faxing the receipts, I received a check shortly thereafter.
Just an FYI to everyone, no insurance company can force you whether the claimant or the insured to use a specific facility. They may recommend DRP shops but cannot force you to have the work done there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yousah
My situation was with the Funny Farm guys too!
The guy who hit me blew a stop sign and pulled right out in front of me on a 50mph road. I t-boned him right on the driver's side. I had him use my cell phone to call them while he was in my car. He clearly told them that he was at fault.
So a few days later I got a call from the Funny guys and they tell me that it is a state law that accident claims are shared between the parties at fault and that they would pay 50% of my repairs. That was insurance fraud! There is no such law, and the idea of splitting the liability for an accident is something that a judge could rule on, but it isn't a law itself.
My sister in law worked at the Funny Farm and she accessed the file, and it clearly showed the phone call from their policy holder where he admitted it was all his fault.
I took the car to my friend who owns a body shop and he called me numerous times during the repair whenever the Funny guys would only authorize replacement parts. I had to constantly fight them and to remind them that they could put junk parts on their own policy holder's vehicles, but not mine. The thing to remember is that a lawsuit can be filed quickly because the upfront work isn't that much. And there's the expectation that the insurance company will finally do what they're supposed to do once their policyholder gets sued. So your atty doesn't have to spend lots of time with any research- just whip together a quick complaint and get it filed.
After running into all sorts of hassles, that's when I sued the other guy. Finally, the Funny Farm people were forced to do things correctly.
My body shop friend said that they were one of the worst companies that he has to deal with almost on a daily basis. They are a very unethical company.
I think what your saying by replacement parts is re-manufactured parts? If so that's how it works, if you have a 2005 Honda Accord your not going to get a new bumper, the one you had is now 9 years old. You will get a refurbished one that is approved and subject to strict guidelines. They look the same and work the same. Insurance companies aren't out there to put you in a situation to make you better off then before. They are there to get you back to the point you were at before you experienced this life changing event. I've dealt with far too many people who think they're supposed to have new bumpers et cetera. Sorry!
I now work as a Property Catastrophe Adjuster for a large insurance company. Most people expect me to give them a brand new roof when there 20 year roof is 10 years old. I'll give you half considering you have half of the life used on the shingles.
wow...these insurance companies....and someone (who has thousands of posts here and very active in giving advice to others) recently asked me why would I listen to what CD posters say and not believe what insurance company is saying!!!
Don't disbelieve the insurance company, just be careful to understand everything they tell you. I brought the car in to the body shop because I thought they had finished the investigation. What they had said was their driver was liable. They didn't tell me that there was more investigating to be done to be sure that their policy actually covered his vehicle. I should have waited, but being inexperienced, I misunderstood what they were saying. The only thing I can fault Allstate with here is how long it took to complete this simple investigation. According to some here, it wasn't that long, but to me it "felt" like too long. I'm just glad it all worked out.
I think what your saying by replacement parts is re-manufactured parts? If so that's how it works, if you have a 2005 Honda Accord your not going to get a new bumper, the one you had is now 9 years old.
You wonder why your industry has the reputation of a toilet bowl. Yes, that is what eventually happened- I did get new parts on my car because it was not my choice to be hit by the other company's insured driver. And its not your decision to tell me how my car is going to be fixed. I will tell the insurance company how my car is going to be fixed unless its my insurance who is paying for the repairs and I've agreed to terms other than new parts.
They can screw over their own policyholder, but when someone blows a stop sign and slams into my car then I'm not going to sit back and watch as used parts get put back onto my car. A better idea is to put really cheap parts onto the car of your insured drivers who are at fault in an accident and use the savings to properly repair the car of the driver they slammed into.
Insofar as a rental car, I will sue for one every time someone else is at fault in an accident. It's not up to you to decide whether or not I have to drive a dangerous car.
I can't emphasize enough to everyone that it is very inexpensive to start a lawsuit against the other party as soon as you start getting played as a fool by the insurance company on the other side. That usually happens on the same day that the accident occurs. It also usually starts with all sorts of fraudulent comments whereby they'll tell you what the 'law' is as if though they are judge and jury.
Start with a lawsuit and that'll quickly force the insurance company to make a decision over whether or not to spend thousands of dollars in defense fees for a case that they will likely lose- THEN, pay for the proper repairs on top of that.
Also, take your car to wherever you want to get it fixed. Stay in daily contact with the repair shop so that you can know as soon as the insurance company tries to rip you off- which will probably be the first second that the adjuster opens his mouth.
Finally, don't accept any delays. I'm assuming that you actually need your car for transportation and that's why you bought one in the first place. The insurance company needs to provide that immediately. If not, then call the other party at their place of work, constantly, until they pay for it out of their pocket. This idea of 'waiting' for the other party's insurance company based upon their schedule is BS. I know it's a little different than whey they show in their TV commercials but the entire insurance company is nothing more that an industry who puts smiling faces on TV only to then train their employees how to NOT pay out on claims. Don't fall for it.
After reading all of this, I'm even more happy with my insurance company.
After what was at the time a probable total loss accident (it is now officially a total loss) a week ago, I did not have the other drivers information, the other driver was at fault, but I was taken off scene by ambulance before I could talk to anyone, so the LEO did it all. He gave us a case number so we could get the police report, but that would take a couple of days, as it was over the weekend.
Because of that, and due to recommendations of others, we contacted our own insurance company to seek their advice. They immediately informed me of all my rights in the situation and strongly recommended opening a claim with them for the time being, then letting the responsible party take over when known.
They got me into a rental car the same day, began the total loss investigation on my vehicle and informed me of my personal injury protection coverage and how that works in the state of TX.
Once the responsible party was known, I gave all information to my insurance company, they contacted the other company, who accepted liability more or less as soon as they read the police report, my company then told me that they had made the arrangements to subrogate with the other ins company, in other words: They would handle everything regarding my car for me, then bill the other insurance company once they finished. The only thing I have to file with the other insurance company (within 2 years) is my medical/pain & suffering claim, I've only had a 5 minute conversation with the responsible parties agent, outside of that, it's been exclusively my own company.
I have been assured several times that them helping me will NOT affect my premium, as I will be listed as not at fault in their system.
I love my insurance company, they've been nothing but amazing.
I'm sorry the OP's experience was not the same and that they did not receive much guidance and aid from their own insurance either.
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