Claim Time with Farmers

[AutoInsuranceExperts]

Although liability (fault) appears clear, it is not unusual at all to have the other driver change their story and report to their insurance company that you were at fault. Trust me, happens all of the time.

In terms of a rental, I suggest being cautious in any case if you don't have rental coverage. If you pile up a rental bill/cost prior to liability being accepted, you could be left holding the bag. If the other driver has changed their story and their insurance company needs to investigate, they don't owe you rental reimbursement until their investigation is complete.

I have seen many claims like this and, even after accepting liability, the other insurance company may not pay ALL of your rental if they claim you did not make an attempt to mitigate or control that cost. I know it sounds crazy, but if you work claims long enough, you see it all and not much surprises you!

Tips for future accidents, of which I hope you don't experience:

• Keep a camera (your phone will do) with you and take a picture of the damaged cars at rest immediately following if safe to do so
• Find a witness and get their info
• Get the police officers name and phone #

Good luck to you!

 

[rudy323]

If I were your agent, I wouldn't try and give you a technical answer or suggest that you SHOULD have purchased more insurance, I would refer you to a collision repair shop that gives you a free loaner car

They will jump at the chance to fix your car

 

[djs]

But.... they usually only provide a rental car while your car is being repaired. This means waiting till a fault determination is completed so the work can be done.

Dan

 

[Guest]

But.... they usually only provide a rental car while your car is being repaired. This means waiting till a fault determination is completed so the work can be done.

Dan

They offered me a rental on Monday when I talked with them, guess being rearended getting off the freeway, really hard to dispute that, They are coming out tomorrow to look at the car.

 

[djs]

They offered me a rental on Monday when I talked with them, guess being rearended getting off the freeway, really hard to dispute that, They are coming out tomorrow to look at the car.

Yes, but....
My response was based on getting a rental car from the body shop. Not sure about your area, but the body shops around here, if you can pry a rental car out of them, will only allow you to have it while your car is being repaired, not beforehand. And yes, some body shops here do offer loaner cars, not all, but some.

Your response is based on the other parties insurance already accepting liability. If they had not talked to their insured yet, they would not offer a rental car yet.

Dan

 

[Guest]

Yes, but....
My response was based on getting a rental car from the body shop. Not sure about your area, but the body shops around here, if you can pry a rental car out of them, will only allow you to have it while your car is being repaired, not beforehand. And yes, some body shops here do offer loaner cars, not all, but some.

Your response is based on the other parties insurance already accepting liability. If they had not talked to their insured yet, they would not offer a rental car yet.

Dan

Agree, was just updating you in the status of mine, hopefully, when they talk to the driver of yours, it will speed things up...

 

[VolAgent]

They offered me a rental on Monday when I talked with them, guess being rearended getting off the freeway, really hard to dispute that, They are coming out tomorrow to look at the car.

You'd think the same about a woman turning left across your lane of traffic.

I had to go get the police report myself for them. I can't wait to see how long they drag this out.

And yes Dan, I do understand their position. The fact that they are rude, uncaring and do not return phone calls is what really pisses me off about it. Based on how the adjuster acts, you'd think it was my fault. Never once has he expressed any sympathy at the accident, not even in a generic way that wouldn't accept responsibility. They have some system to upload documents, but for some reason it wouldn't go through. Still couldn't get a hold of him to find out how to get them the police report so I found an email I could send it to.

Here it is Thursday morning, and nothing. He even had the nerve to ask me what I did to avoid the accident. She turned in front of me, it was her responsibility to ensure it was clear before turning, not mine. Also it is a busy city street, there was no lane to go into to avoid her.

 

[djs]

Rude and uncaring have no excuses. This is why I would NEVER be an adjuster, I don't have the patience to deal with it. Unfortunately, many adjusters still do the job without the patience.

Not sure what you mean by 'nothing', they obviously have had a conversation with you but it sounds like they haven't completed either the liability determination or the coverage determination yet.

My suggestion is to work with your agent and see if he can make a call or 2 to the Farmers adjuster. I've done this with my insureds, doesn't always help, but usually does. They know the agent knows what is supposed to happen.

Dan

 

[VolAgent]

Rude and uncaring have no excuses. This is why I would NEVER be an adjuster, I don't have the patience to deal with it. Unfortunately, many adjusters still do the job without the patience.

Not sure what you mean by 'nothing', they obviously have had a conversation with you but it sounds like they haven't completed either the liability determination or the coverage determination yet.

My suggestion is to work with your agent and see if he can make a call or 2 to the Farmers adjuster. I've done this with my insureds, doesn't always help, but usually does. They know the agent knows what is supposed to happen.

Dan

I don't use Farmers, that was the other person. On that car, I don't have comp or collision, just liability. It is an older car and I didn't see the point. With two cars it wasn't a big deal, except my wife damaged the bumper on the SUV again and I was going to fix it without filing a claim.

I didn't talk to the agent, but one of his people at State Farm, she didn't seem to want to help too much as there was no collision so I could file with them.

And by nothing, I mean we had one conversation where I told him what happened. Took two days to make that call happen. I've left him some messages since about the police report.

I know his job isn't easy, but if you are a jerk I'm not going to go out of my way to be nice either.

 

[rudy323]

Think of it this way, the adjuster's bonuses and performance is tied into how much he gets paid;
A) hes rude and mean to you and you just accept a lower settlement just to get it over with
B) His job is to minimize his company's payouts

And him asking if there was anything you could do is a rouse to get you to start admitting things so that he can take some liability off of his company, always give the textbook correct answer to their questions

Heres some trivia? "what did you do the avoid the accident"

A) NOTHING HE RAN INTO ME(5% your fault)
B) I honked to let him know he was merging into my lane(100% not your fault)