Auto Insurance Claims: Arbitration-Court, arbitration court, accident on sunday

Question
QUESTION: My husband and I were in a car accident on Sunday. A man had stopped at a stop sign and then pulled out in front of us when we were only about a car length away from him. My husband swerved to miss him, but the side of the road was nothing but ice. We slid over an embankment, hit a tree, went through a fence and into the side of a brick building. The police gave the guy a ticket and listed us on the police report as a non contributing factor to the wreck. Apparently the guy only has $10,000 worth of coverage and the damages are a lot more than that. So his insurance company told my husband we had to use our insurance because they didn't have enough to cover it. When I called them today they told me the same thing, but I told them I needed to know if they were going to accept liability or not, whether they have enough to cover it or not. He said it didn't matter what they did because we still have to use our insurance. It does matter because if they accept liability my under insured coverage takes it but if they don't my collision does. Then he told me he didn't have a copy of the police report, but I faxed a copy on Tuesday. Amazingly he "found" it when I told him that. So now he says he has to finish his investigation before he can tell me anything. The way it sounds they had no intention on doing an investigation at all and was just going to let my insurance cover it. I found out I can file a complaint with the Insurance Commissioner, but how long should I give them before I do that? My insurance has already stated that they intend on taking it to arbitration if they do not accept liability. If arbitration decides they don't have to pay is there anything else I can do to try to get my money? How will arbitration decide what to do if my insurance says it is his fault since he got the ticket and admitted it was and with the police report but his insurance still says it's not his fault?

ANSWER: Hi Callie,

Although I understand why you are worried, you are worrying too much. You should file the claim with your insurance company as soon as possible. When you do, tell them that the other party has been found at fault and demand that this be handled as an uninsured motorist claim. Your statement and the police report will be sufficient to establish fault.

I'm not sure how old your car is or what it's value is, however, you should be aware that you are also ientitled to be paid for the diminished value of your vehicle after the repairs. This could be thousands of dollars. Depending on the state you live in, you may be able to collect diminished value from your uninsured motorist coverage or you may have to invoke your first right of recovery to the at-fault party's insurance company. However this needs to be done rather quickly. For more information about diminished value visit www.collisionclaims.com which is the website for Collision Claim Associates, Inc. Or you can call them at 1-866-438-6938.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

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

QUESTION: We filed the claim the day it happened that's how I found out about his insurance and mine is handling it. Mine says they will go to arbitration to get the money back, but I don't know much about that process. The other persons insurance gets hateful when we call (because they won't call us), and they keep lying about why they haven't done their investigation yet. When talked to them last week the guy said he didn't have the police report, I told him we faced it to him and he said oh right I see it and told me he would look it over through the week end and talk to his supervisor Tuesday and let us know something. When my husband called Tuesday he told my husband he had just gotten the police report. He always really hateful and tells us it doesn't matter what they do because our insurance had to handle it since the other guy didn't have enough coverage anyway. They seem to have no intention of doing anything and just leaving us to deal with it. Should I file a complaint? Will my insurance still go up if arbitration finds for our side? How much does it usually go up for an accident? I live in WV. Thanks a lot by the way. :)

Answer
Hi Callie,

As I said before, you are worrying too much. The other insurance comapny does not have to do anything or even talk to you. Your insurnace company will pay for the repairs and then that will go to the other insurance company for reimbursement. That process could take several months.

If you were not at fault, there will be no affect on your policy. They can not raise your rates. Just let your insurance company handle everything. Do not contact the other insurance company any more. Just let your insurance company handle it all. That is what you pay them for.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh