Auto Insurance Claims: Deductible, fault insurance, rental coverage

Question
QUESTION: My mother recently had a car accident where the other driver was at fault. She
has $1,000 deductible on her policy with State Farm. If she goes through State
Farm to handle the matter will she have to pay the $1,000 or will the at fault
driver's insurance cover her deductible?

ANSWER: Hi Rob,

If she goes through State Farm she will have to pay her deductible directly to the body shop when she picks up the vehicle. Also if her policy has rental coverage, it will have a daily and overall maximum.  After the repairs are finished State Farm will go to the at fault insurance company to get back the money they paid out as well as your mothers deductible and possibly will request any excess rental costs. This process could take up to several months depending on who the at fault insurance company is. It is also possible that you could contact the at-fault insurance company and ask them to forward your mother the deductible. In some cases they will do that as a courtesy. However, most insurance companies are not about courtesy.  Another option would be to put the entire claim through the at-fault insurance company.  Then there would be no deductible, they would cover the entire rental bill, etc..

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Since the at-fault insurance company is not being all that responsive, my mother has decided to go through State Farm and pay the deductible and other fees up front. If State Farm is not successful in getting the deductible and other fees back from the at-fault insurance company, would she still have the option of bringing in an attorney to go after the remaining money? Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions.

Answer
Hi Rob,

If the other person was obviously at fault, State Farm should have no problem getting the money back. However, it may take a while.

I doubt you would find a lawyer to to assist in this because there is simply not enough money involved. The lawyer would charge more than $1,000.00 to handle the case and you can not get back those fees.

Just be patient and all should work out fine.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh