Auto Insurance Claims: auto damage, collision repair industry, auto damage


Question
my wife was driving behind a semi truck. and the guy missed the entrance of where he was going, and all of a sudden he stopped and started backing up.  my wife started honking but the guy kept on backing up.  he hit the car and damaged the hood, bumper and grill.  she got the guys insurance information ,but we dont have insurance on the car. at first they told us that they didnt have to pay cause we didnt have insurance, but we told them that we didnt hit them.  the owner of the company said that his insurance required 3 estimates, so we got those. now he wants to come look at the car himself because he believes is to much money for the damages that were caused. are they trying to get out of paying for the damages, do they actually need more than one quote? what are our rights?  

Answer
Does your state not require insurance on all vehicles?

Your rights lie within the legal system, but only if you're prepared for the same judge to refer you to another court for driving with no insurance.

It sounds like the man is attempting to take care of things.   I doubt that he's actually filed a claim though as it would be the insurance company writing the estimate.  I'm not aware of any insurance companies that accept 3rd party estimates.Does he not have a right to see the car if he's being asked to pay for the damages?  How does he know that you're not trying to con him?  How does he know that you're not in the collision repair industry and had friends prepare the estimates?  It sounds like he may be taking care of this out of his own pocket so should'nt he have the same right to inspect the car that his insurance company would if they were to handle the claim?  In all fairness, if he decides not to file the claim and is able to verify the damage on the car matches the estimates, he should pay the middle estimate.  

It's also possible that you live in a state that does things completely different than the rest of us.

Good luck!