Auto Insurance Claims: Other Persons Insurance Not Accepting Liability, civil court cases, light intersection

Question
Webfoot,

   I live in Florida was hit by a woman who made a left turn into my car at a green light intersection.  She was issued a violation by the police officer but is contesting the charges with her insurance company, Geico.  I have minimum coverage with Liberty Mutual.  Geico is saying that b/c she is contesting the charges, they have not yet assumed liability.  
   My car was totaled and I just picked up a rental car for $19.99 a day (the Geico rate) with the promise that Geico will reimburse me.  I don't know what action I should take next to get my car rental paid for and money to buy a new car.  I received no personal injuries.
   Also, their adjuster told me that the yard it was towed to will only hold it for a week and then it starts charging me.  She said I should pay for it to be towed again and take it to my driveway.  The car is a total loss.
   What should I do?
Thank you very much,
Peter

Answer
Hello Peter,
This does sound like a very frustrating situation.

One misconception about insurance is that the companies will always pay for expenses "up front" based upon the claim presented.  There are a few things to keep in mind; especially when you are filing a claim against someone else's policy.  

The insurance company has a legal duty, which is owed to their insured, to fully investigate any claim before deciding on liability or issuing any payments.  This may include obtaining recorded or written statements from all parties, including witnesses, review of the police report, a physical inspection of all vehicles involved and in some cases an accident scene investigation.  

A police report alone does not decide liability.  You see, a driving infraction and civil liability are two completely different things.  I've seen many civil court cases involving disputed liability where the traffic charges were not even admissible as evidence.  The reason is that it goes to hearsay.  The officer did not witness the accident.  The officer issued a citation based only on what he was told at the scene and the letter of the law.  The citation is really only a formal summons to appear before a judge where the facts will be further explored.  Most cops operate by the rule of "if in doubt, write a citation" and let the courts figure it out.  The insurance adjuster's consideration of the police report is to get a mapped image of what may have happened and nothing more.

In deciding liability, especially in this type of accident, there are other factors to be considered.  One is called "last clear chance".  Who had the last opportunity to avoid a collision?  This may be determined the areas of damage on the vehicles, the lane in which the impact occurred, skid marks (yes even cars with ABS leave marks) etc.  

I'm not telling you this to suggest that you won't prevail, but am only illustrating the insurance adjuster's duties in properly investigating a claim.  Unless there are some unusual extenuating circumstances, there is a good chance that they will accept all or partial liability in a left turn accident.  

During this investigation period, the insurance company has no duty to make any payments to you or to promise any type of "absolute" reimbursements.  Any future payments will only be based on their accepting liability and in the mean time, you have a legal duty to minimize the expenses of your claim.  They have likely referred to this as "mitigating your damages".  As there is disputed liability, I would recommend that you follow their advice and have the vehicle moved to a storage free location.  If the insurance company chooses to follow the letter of the law, they will not owe for the future storage that incurs if you refuse to mitigate your damages.  If liability is accepted, then they will reimburse you for all towing and storage charges up to the point that they advised you to move the vehicle.

As far as rental, I would recommend that you do what you need to do, but keep the rental charges reasonable. If you need a rental to get to work, then rent a car.  That is mitigating your damages. Again, if they accept liability, you'll be reimbursed for this as well.  

Though it may seem that the process is taking forever, you may just need to exercise patience and hopefully they will make their liability decision within the next few days.   

I wish you the best of luck in this situation.  If you have a moment, I would also love to have your feedback.  If you have any other questions, please feel free to post them.