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Yesterday I had a car accident at A three way intersection with no stop light or stop signs, I was making a left turn onto side street. There were two lanes of traffic to cross. Traffic was heavy. The SUV in the outside lane let me pass. The inside lane looked clear so I slowly crept across the line into that lane when a car suddenly appeared....going fast. I immediately applied brakes. The driver of the car was engrossed in conversation, cell phone to her ear, driving with one hand, never saw me. She brushed my grill and her left fender practically fell off. Neither of us were injured. She apologised to me repeatedly. Police came and wrote report. She was driving with suspended license and was cited for it. Officer declared that I was at fault because of failure to yield but he did not cite me. Talking on cell phone is legal in the state where incident happened. My insurance company, Gieco, declared I was at fault also....despite the fact that she was driving with suspended license. I phoned Gieco while at the scene. They told me I could offer to pay for her damages if I wanted to avoid an increase in my rates. They offered to phone her to ask if she would allow me to arrange for her car to be fixed. She refused stating that she needed rental car too and wanted to work with my insurance company. They phoned her while we were still at the scene. I wish they had waited to call her.....it would have given me time to calm down and realise that I actually did want to deal with her damages.
Anyway, that is water over the dam. Some of my friends are advising me talk with a lawyer. .....because it seems unfair that I am at fault since she was driving with suspended license. Gieco told me she could have been drunk, smoking weed, using cocaine, and texting and it would still be my fault because she had right of way.Has anyone ever been involved with anything like this? I have been involved in two other small accidents....neither of those was my fault.....over thirty years ago so they are not on my record anyway. This is the first time I have ever been in an accident that is my fault.i have no moving violations either. Gieco is already talking about raising my rates. I will be shopping tomorrow for a different company.
But mainly my question is.....should I accept that I am to blame or seek legal help to avoid being responsible for her damages?
Legal representation will cost you to start a lawsuit a minimum of $5000.00 plus expenses. Since you made the illegal left turn I doubt any lawyer will take up a case for you. It doesn't matter if the other party had a suspended license. In the eyes of the law 2 wrongs do not make a right.
As far as an increase for your insurance, your accident will go into a national data base pool where all insurance companies have access to it and determine your premium from that. So changing insurance carriers will probably not benefit you at all. And some may reject you outright.
Chalk it up to experience and be more careful in the future.
Legal representation will cost you to start a lawsuit a minimum of $5000.00 plus expenses. Since you made the illegal left turn I doubt any lawyer will take up a case for you. It doesn't matter if the other party had a suspended license. In the eyes of the law 2 wrongs do not make a right.
As far as an increase for your insurance, your accident will go into a national data base pool where all insurance companies have access to it and determine your premium from that. So changing insurance carriers will probably not benefit you at all. And some may reject you outright.
Chalk it up to experience and be more careful in the future.
This was my thinking too....just wanted to check with others before too much time passes. I appreciate your input. Thanks.
A lawyer will not do anything in this case. She had the right of way, end of story. Let your insurance handle her claim. Your rates may increase, but it's better than bringing on a lawsuit (which is what will happen if they deny her claim).
Her driving with suspended license does not clear you from being at fault. You liable for yours. She's liable for hers. Lawyers are expensive if YOU were at fault. Let it go. And change from Geico, it's on the list of most expensive insurances.
Her driving with suspended license does not clear you from being at fault. You liable for yours. She's liable for hers. Lawyers are expensive if YOU were at fault. Let it go. And change from Geico, it's on the list of most expensive insurances.
Really? For me they were cheaper than anyone else. They have taken VERY good care of me with 2 claims Ive had to make, suggested some changes to my policy that provided me better coverage, and saved me a few bucks, so I don't think that's too bad!
If your description of the event is accurate, we are basically talking about a fender bender with a couple thousand in damages.
Your premiums might go up a little, but it is not like you had a multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars event.
Be patient, let your insurance company deal with it, and then see how/if it impacts your premiums.
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