Car insurance won't pay out

So the wife was driving up a city street. 2 lanes moving in the same direction, she's in the left... The right lane is ending, signs say merge over etc etc... There's traffic, c so there going pretty slow...I guess the woman to her right just figured she'd be let in and just kept driving to the left and drove into our car... Seems all pretty simple... Her fault... But her insurance is saying otherwise... Next move? No police was called because it was a minor accident but there is damage.

 

Unless a police report is taken an accident didn't happen.

 

How bad is the damage? Have you filed a claim with your insurance? If the damage is over your deductible, do so. Many people will say, by principle, they shouldn't have to file a claim against their own insurance for something that isn't their fault and I agree with that. However, your carrier will pay to have your car fixed, minus your deductible, and then it will be your carriers job to go after the other carrier for reimbursement (this is called subrogation) and if they win you will get your deductible back.

 

Agree, with no police report stating the other driver was at fault insurance won’t just payout. At best you might hope for a reduced payment based “shared liability”. At least that was my experience in NY with an incident my wife was involved in. In that case there was a police report, other driver was obviously at fault but she concierge officer not to write her a ticket since she would have had her license suspended. Both insurance companies viewed it as shared fault since no ticket was written showing fault.

 

Yet another reason there's a dashcam in any vehicle I operate.

 

You have no claim against her insurance company.

Now you get to decide if you pursue a claim against her in civil court.

Or claim on your own like @omatter34 says.

 

And watch out for a counterclaim.

 

I don't know if this is limited to just North Augusta, but a few months ago, I was heading into downtown NA and a couple of pit bulls got out of their yard and ran out in front of my car. Couldn't slow enough to keep from hitting them. They had minor injuries, my bumper was killed. Dogs were uninsured (owner paid anyway) and there were no other vehicles involved, so I didn't call the police. Decided I should at least have a record of the events just in case. They had a form that can be filled out post accident to record the info. Might not hold up in court, but if the other driver doesn't have it, your word might carry a bit more weight.

 

If she didn't get pics immediately after the incident, you will have a very steep hill to climb.

I was backing out of a parking spot one day and as I began to drive forward, this lady backed out of her spot and railed into the side of my 4Runner.
The only thing that saved me from 50/50 fault are the pics I snapped showing exactly where both vehicles were.
In that incident, there wasn't a police report and I was paid in full for repairs.

 

Trailer hitch > than the FedEx truck.

FedEx driver nailed me couple weeks ago and lost the battle with my hitch.

 

In some States it is illegal to drive with a ball mount and no trailer because of the increase in damage it can cause.

 

Probably too late on this one, but you don't have to call the cops to the scene to file a report - especially if they're unlikely to come. You can just go to the dept within a reasonable amount of time and file there.

 

Cite?

 

how would that help if someone merged into your side door? dash cams are only good for what's in front of your car

 

If the car isn't in front of you, and seen by the camera, and something smashes into your side, there is a very good chance you are ahead of it. (meaning they moved into you) Cameras also record sound, and how your vehicle gets moved by an impact.

I was recently hit from behind. The camera did not see the vehicle that hit me. But, I still had the impact recorded and how it moved my vehicle. The 19 year old punk said I was hit at 2-3 mph. This, after informing me his dad was a lawyer. And then not wanting to call the police. LOL. I made sure he was written a ticket just because he was a douche. And he hit me, when he wasn't paying attention after he stopped behind me at a red light. And it was more than 2-3 mph.

 

i thought the rule was calling police is discouraged if the damage is not that big...that will be on me (and she wont be happy) i told her thats the way it was. we only have liability on the car so ours wont fix it. this is insane given the circumstances - her lane was literally ending in a curb when she came over and hit our car.

 

I understand having liability only to save $, but the comprehensive coverage isn't very expensive, and would have covered this. Collision coverage covers when you (the driver) hit something. Comprehensive covers all the other weirdness, like this event, fire, theft, etc.

You could consider filing a small claims suit, but it'll be the other driver's word against your wife's.

If there is damage, always file a police report. Check your state law, but here in Illinois, you have 24 hours to go to the local police (where the incident happened) and file a report. That can be used to spur the insurance co into action.

After being burned once many years back, I also write down a narrative of any incident as soon as I can (within an hour or two) while it is fresh in my mind, and all the times, locations, statements and actions are still in my short-term memory. Today, I also take pics of the incident to document. I was sued by a couple after a fender-bender once, and my written narrative caused the suit to be tossed, as it was contemporaneously produced (within an hour), stuck to facts, statements, and observations (without opinions), and the other people had nothing but uncorroborated statements.

 

Yeah, but then I guess very few accidents happen in Los Angeles. Fuckers won’t even show up unless someone is seriously injured, or city property is damaged.

Why are you dealing with her insurance directly anyway? Call your insurance company, tell them what happened and let them handle that shit. That’s why you pay them. They have much better and more lawyers than you if need be also.

 

Does it work that way if the car is only covered for liability?

 

The rule in my state. (actually a law) is that any accident on public roadway requires a call to the police, for a report to be generated. Now, depending on the conditions/type of accident etc, they may say to wait for an officer, or just exchange info and stop by the police station later to sort it all out.