Auto Insurance Claims: Dealing with med. bills and ins. claims after accident, diminished value claim, bill kaiser

Question
I was rear ended while at a stop light on Sunday night, 11/21/2010. I was driving and my boyfriend was in the passengers seat. The other driver and I exchanged ins. info but did not file a report with the police dept. I filed a claim with my ins. (Farmer's) as soon as I got home, I asked if they would be contacting state farm (the other driver's ins.) and they said no that I needed to file another claim with them. So as soon as i got off the phone with farmer's I called state farm. After filing both claims we decided to go to the ER to be checked out because both my BF and I were having back, neck, head aches and pains. The next day I contacted state farm to ask them who I need to bill my medical expenses to and they said that they do not pay for third party medical and that my ins. should pay, if they don't then i need to bill Kaiser. I contacted Farmer's and they cover each person in my vehicle for up to $2000. My BF and I are going to the chiropractor because of our back aches and my head aches caused by the accident. I need to know who is going to pay if it goes over $2,000 for each of us. I keep hearing from everyone that the other ins. needs to pay for everything because their driver was at fault. Farmer's is asking a deductible of $500 to repair my vehicle, my agent explained that I would be receiving the money back once they settled things with state farm but how long will that take? Is it easier to stay with my ins. and pay the $500 for now or only pursue state farm?  Also, I would like to know how much is fair to settle on pain and suffering? Will the medical bills be added to that amount or do I have to take out of pain and suffering to pay any outstanding med. bills? And will I need a diminished value claim? It was only my vehicle's bumper but will it be on file that it had an accident? My family keeps advising me not to speak to sate farm and that farmer's should be dealing with them, not me. I feel I should not have to pay for ANYTHING since it was not my fault. I wouldn't have needed to go to the ER or the chiropractor if the other driver had not hit my car.   Oh and another thing, I had to contact state farm to get a rental, farmer's never told me anything about it even though i mentioned many times that i have no way to get to work. Something doesn't seem right, I don't feel like my ins. is fighting for me.

Answer
Hi Coni,

Unfortunately, things don't always work the way you think they should.

If you go through Farmers you will have to pay your deductible amount to the body shop when you pick up your vehicle. Farmers will then go through a process called subrogation where they submit all of their documentation to State Farm for reimbursement. Once Farmers is reimbursed they will send you a check for your deductible. That process can take from several weeks to several months.

As for your medical bills. The at fault parties insurance company does not pay your medical bills as they are incurred. You need to submit those to your auto insurance and once that runs out you submit those to your private medical insurance. Then once all of your medical treatment in complete and you are released from the doctor, you will need to create a demand package to submit to State Farm. In your demand package will need to be all of your medical bills, doctors notes, documentation of any lost wages. In your demand letter you will outline what happened, what your injuries were, the type of treatment you had and the total costs. Then you will demand an amount of money you want to settle the claim. Generally you should start with 3 times the total of the medical bills.  You should also look at a website www.collisionwizard.com .It will help you organize all of your information, develope a demand package and will even provide the value of your claim. Once you submit all this informnation to State Farm it can take several weeks to several months to achieve a settlement. If at anytime you do not feel you are being treated fairly, seek the advice of an attorney.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh