A garbage truck rear-ended my car (Los Angeles: insurance, lawyers, transfer)

[seraphita]

Several months ago, my car got rear-ended by a City of Los Angeles garbage truck. The truck driver was pretty clearly at fault, and I didn't get a ticket or anything, so I filed a claim with the city (with pictures and estimated costs) and thought the case would be resolved quickly.

After filing the claim, I received notice from the city that my claim was being processed, then didn't hear anything for a while. A month ago, I got a second letter informing me that my claim had been transferred from one government division to another. However, that was the last communication I received. I've never spoken to anyone and an adjuster has NOT come out to look at the car.

The problem is, I am moving soon and really need to get the wrecked car off my property, as the new place doesn't have room for it. But I'm worried that if I sell the car for scrap, the city will suddenly contact me demanding to see it so they can assess damages.

So at this point, I'm looking for advice on the following questions:
1. Is the city ever going to send an adjuster to look at the actual car, or do they make the determination solely based on the police report and pictures?
2. Is it cost-effective to hire an attorney if I'm only asking the city for a few thousand dollars (basically, the blue book value of my car)?

[yby1]

Have you contacted your insurance company about this?

[ccm123]

You should have your insurance company pursue your claim, that's what you pay them for.

[timtemtym]

In my case, my insurance company fixed my car and went after the police. I tried being nice about it and waiting for a month, but it was pointless to wait. Getting my insurance on it got everything wrapped up in 2 weeks.

[seraphita]

Thank you for the responses! The insurance company did file the original claim on my behalf, but I have since switched companies, so I don't know if they would continue to help me. Also, I didn't have collision insurance, so my own insurance wouldn't fix or replace the car.

[MordinSolus]

Switching insurance providers while a claim was still pending was a mistake. Your new provider can't help you and your old provider has less incentive to help you now. Your claim will probably remain unresolved.

[bpeeps]

Originally Posted by MordinSolus

Switching insurance providers while a claim was still pending was a mistake. Your new provider can't help you and your old provider has less incentive to help you now. Your claim will probably remain unresolved.

Seriously. Why would you switch providers?

[Ohky0815]

I had a garbage truck hit the front of my van. We did have to bother the city a bit to get it resolved quickly but it still took almost 2 months. All we had to do was go to 3 repair companies to get estimates and send them in to the city. They actually went with the highest and sent us a check. The police were called at the time of the wreck but we didnt need the report and no insurance companies were needed to be involved.

I would contact someone at the city and ask what is going on with your claim.

[thelopez2]

I got hit but a City vehicle.

The worse part is that it now shows up on my DMV record as an accident and I need to explain it and show the report when a future employer or insurance company brings it up.

Keep all of your paper work and accident report organized. If you can't figure out how to get the money yourself, there are people that will gladly share the money to do work for you. You can google auto accident adjusters or lawyers.

[timtemtym]

Why would you switch insurance before it got resolved? If they haven't had to pay a dime, they are not at all motivated to go after them to recoup the money.

I had a guy hit my car and drive off and luckily I have full insurance so mine paid for the repairs and then went after the other insurer. The person dropped that insurance the day after the accident, probably thinking they would get dropped anyways. They couldn't even contact the driver to ask questions so that insurance company paid everything for the repairs.

It was a very quick turnaround to get fixed and settled. Reason? My insurance was on the hook for my repairs and I had a police report that verified the fault of the other driver. If they hadn't had to pay a dime, and I had dropped them, I seriously doubt they would even return my phone calls.

And yes, I have been hit several times over the years by some really crappy Houston drivers. 1/3 of texans are uninsured and drivers have no real reason to stop at the scene of an accident and give information, there is almost no penalty in Texas. Very crappy state!!