Accident advice needed

I'd tell them to put their offer in writing, signed, dated, on company letterhead, with the exact reason for their refusal to pay 100% on the damages. Or else pay off in full. I'll bet they won't be willing to put it in writing.

 

I don't know what to do about the insurance company. But here's an idea, from recent experience:

My mom's old Caddy was totalled in Jan, as we (I was driving) crossed an intersection an 18yr old blew a stop sign and hit our car by the right front wheel. A lady pulled right over and said she was a witness and that he ran the sign - and that she'd file a police report if necessary. The kid tried to deny he didn't give us right of way. So, we called the cops.

Then we turned up the pressure on the kid saying he was 18, going to get ROASTED on his insurance and a ticket from the cops, but if he'd pay for the repairs cash (or buy the car for it's used bluebook, which was less than the repairs) we'd call off the police and settle it w/o insurance. Called his father, who eventually agreed to pay (we got the son to sign a contract right there accepting liability); after checking out the car with a mechanic buddy of his later in the week they just paid us the bluebook and took the car. Interestingly enough, when the cops arrived and we said we'd settle it privately, they were relieved they didn't have to handle it and said, "yeah, at only 18 he'd get *screwed* by the ins. co's, and the demerit points from a ticket..." and then drove off. It worked out well for us, as we were trying to get rid of it and probably couldn't get bluebook for it otherwise.

So, perhaps your friend could offer to the other side to drop the insurance companies from the matter and they just pay up in cash -- I'm sure if they're even 90% at fault their insurance will leap in premiums more than $1800 over the next 3-5 years.

 

Wow, I never heard of a claim like that before. Almost sounds like a stunt FARMERS would pull. What insurance company is she dealing with? Keep sure to tell your friend that by law, she has the right to have it fix at any shop of her choice, not the insurance companies. Get three estimates for the job, remember it’s an estimate of repair, not the final cost of repair. Most likely a supplement payment for the extra work. I had too many insurance companies that wanted to cheat me on this. Check with your rights with the Insurance Act in your state, this is one of the best tools I can recommend. Good luck & give them Hell.

 

From what I understand, insurance companies do this all the time. My Mom was in a really bad accident a bunch of years back, and it was 100% the other drivers fault (she plowed into the side of my Mom's car after attempting an illegal turn). There were a number of injuries to my Mom, but the insurance company said that there was an 80-20 fault. Didn't matter much anyway, as everything got paid and there was compensation for the injuries, but yeah, it's pretty ridiculous.

I think they claim something to the effect of "well, even though the other driver did something ILLEGAL to cause the accident, you had a 20% chance of avoiding the accident." Insurance companies are such scam artists.

 

i assume it is not in NJ since NJ is a no-fault state. I have also not heard of apportioning claims based on fault, the whole purpose of insurance is for when people make mistakes and damage property

 

I can ask for more details, but that's exactly what was described to my Mom at the time. It was in NJ. We were floored when we heard it.

Edit: As mentioned earlier, everything did get paid for. I think the fault might have been used for assessing "insurance points."

 

Please disregard my last two posts. I just talked to my Mom, it wasn't an insurance company thing... when the cop was writing the report, he said that there was a 20% chance she could have avoided it, and that's where the 80-20 fault came into play. She had it a little mixed up at first, because that fault was a factor that influenced the payout of the insurance companies.

You're absolutely correct.