Auto Insurance Claims: Other Insurance is screwing me over after accident, time college student, witness name

Question
Hey Richard,

first off I want to thank you for looking at my question and it really means a lot to have an expert in field to help. I am a full time college student already working to pay off my own education and I feel I am being taken advantage of by State Farm.

A few months ago I was involved in a car accident in a small 2-way street. Car A (Me) was going straight, while the lady--Car B was parked on the curb next to my lane. Out of nowhere Car B turns into my lane without looking or yielding and I end up colliding into her left driver's door. This is all in front of a 3-way stop sign intersection in front of an elementary school.

I run out, ask if she's okay and the old lady instantly comes out yelling at me "f****** stupid teenager, learn how to drive..." blah blah. So I ignore her, and start to take pictures. Front, rear, ...etc. an old chinese pedestrian walks by and warns me to hurry and take pictures. I ask if he can be a witness, but he quickly walks away. ...This is my first car accident so I'm still pretty flustered.

I notice the the crossing guard and she says, "You're definitely right! That lady didn't yield...I saw the whole thing." Of course the bitch runs    over and starts saying, "HE WAS SPEEDING." More bs. I really wish I had just called the cops and had them take down this information. I take down the witness' name (she denies me of her phone or address, but tells me she works for the school). I feel pretty good, it was a minor car accident, and I'm obviously the winner here... or so I thought...

Now I have ONE-WAY AAA insurance. I call my insurance and make my claim with all the pictures and they tell me I shouldn't have a problem and that this should be an obvious win. They check my car and conclude that the damages amount to about $1,550. So I wait... wait for her to submit a claim so that their insurance State Farm can decide who's fault it is and pay appropriate damages. At this point we can't contact the witness...

Fast forward 40 days later (The other party has a right to 40 days before they make their claim)...

After much calling and hassling State Farm they call back and tell me it is MY FAULT. They said I could have avoided the accident when I clearly could not! They also stated the other party said, "she was at a complete stop and I had drove into her...driver's door." This is complete crap, HER CAR WAS NOT EVEN ENTIRELY IN THE STREET... I even have a picture showing her car halfway across the sold white parking line.

So I try to contact my witness... I actually go to the school and ask for her, but they say out of confidentiality they can't release her information. So I go to the police department, and what are the chances... the police man knows the crossing guard! it's her neighbor! So I'm able to contact the witness, basically plead her to make a statement to insurance and the case is re-opened! Now it's been about 3 months and wow, just got a reply back saying that it is STILL 100% my fault.

I really don't know what to do at this point, and I'm at a complete loss right now. So any advice would definitely help!

Thank you so much for your time and I'm so sorry it was such a long post!

Thank you,
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

Unfortunately, there is not much I can advise you to do . It appears you have done everything you can. I have to assume since you only breifly mentioned your insurance that you do nto have collision coverage. If you do have collision coverage then you should file the claim with your insurance company and then let them fight it out with Statae Farm.

If you do not have collision coverage and your claim has been denied by State Farm then the only thing you can do is to file a law suit in small claims court against the woman that caused the collision. If you can convince a judge that you were not at fault and that the woman was at fault then State Farm is the one that will have to pay your claim.

If you decide to go that route, you should seek the advice of an attorney or at least research the process by visiting www.nolo.com and look up small claims court.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh