Hit in the Rear. Options ?

[BobbyA]

Rear Ended. please help !!!!!

Hello Everyone (Indianapolis, Indiana)

I am a independent contractor, courier and today I decided to use my backup car, 2007 Kia Rio5 (269,000) miles. It does run good, well it used too.

This morning,After I made a delivery I pulled out onto a main Street(86th St) and as I'm driving along out of nowhere this 2004 grandam Rams me really hard in the rear.

This kid hit me so hard, he pushed me at least 15 yards or so down the highway. I am really sore. Both cars are driveable.

After I pull into a parking lot, the kid jumps out and says I thought you was going to move over . I immediately called my agent, and progressive. I filed the claim while I was on phone in front of this guy.

We swapped all info, he was in his girlfriends car and his girlfriends brother is who has insurance on the grand am. Also the other party has progressive also, so we both are insured through progressive. I didn't call police. I prob should have.

I've talked to progressive claims Dept several times today . I only have liability on my back up car and a claims rep said a claim would have to be started through the other partys policy.

My car really isn't worth much, but it does have significant damage in the rear. My hatchback won't latch and my gas tank has a small leak.

A few questions
1.What kind of timeframe am I looking at to get this resolved?
2.Any chance the adjuster will just write it off as a total loss ? My car will need New Rear Bumper Rear panels, New hatchback, new gas tank,New muffler.
3. Will I have the choice of getting car repaired or just taking the money ? I would rather just get another vehicle.

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Can someone please help me with this

 

[pfg1]

I'm not a p/c guy or an adjuster, but I recently had a deer collision claim and it wasn't the amount of damage it sounds like you have... it was still over $2k. My gut feeling, given that its 10yrs old w high mileage, its likely that your car will be totaled. I can't imagine it being worth alot.

 

[xrac]

If you have a fuel tank leak the car should not be driven. Sounds like the car may be totaled. I would not be optimistic about how this turns out since you only have liability and no police report. Don't be surprised if you get nothing. I had a friend in a similar circumstance and Progressive wouldn't do anything. They said both parties were at fault and since he only had liability he didn't have an insurance company to go after the other side and the loss was not great enough to hire and attorney. If that happens your only recourse is court. As a last resort could talk to a personal injury attorney about the soreness!!! How this turns out depends upon what the other driver tells the insurance company.

 

[VolAgent]

Hopefully this ends well.

1. It depends on how quickly the other driver admits fault. Once that is settled, then it is just a matter of estimating and completing repairs or totaling out the vehicle. Assuming there is coverage. If there is no coverage, then you are dealing with UIM/UM which may slow things done.
2. I'd be shocked if they didn't. A leaking fuel tank is going to expensive. Not that a fuel tank is expensive, but repairing it and everything that stood between it and the bumper. With that many miles and 10 years old, I can't imagine it is worth more than a few thousand. I would expect the vehicle to be totaled.
3. Yes, you can always just take the money and not repair the vehicle. I have done that a few times. Get whatever I can out of the dealership for the vehicle and use the insurance check as a down payment.

A vehicle with a leaking fuel tank is not drive-able. It is a huge safety hazard. You are just begging to be pulled over by any cop that encounters you, not to mention the risk to your own health. Gasoline fumes are flammable and poisonous. If you can smell it and can continue to smell it over time, you are damaging your body.

Did the other driver admit fault to Progressive while you were there?

Who owned the car, the driver's girlfriend or the brother of the girlfriend? The owner needs to have given him permission, otherwise coverage may not be extended. The brother may not be aware and may not have given the driver permission to use the vehicle. There are a lot of ways this could end up where the driver had no coverage. If the driver has no coverage, then your UIM/UM will come into play.

 

[xrac]

The big danger from the fuel tank is fire and/or explosion.

 

[djs]

As a courier, Progressive will not cover it based on your policy. Well, they wouldn't anyway since its only liability.

You were rear-ended. The kids insurance may cover if he was truly a permissive user on the car. I lost track of who owns the car vs who has insurance and why he was driving it. Those things can always be fun to untangle.

I would assume the car is a total. That kind of mileage and that age, it doesn't take much for the repairs to exceed the value of the car. If it has a gas leak there has to be pretty significant damage.

Timeline: This can be a bit sticky. Their coverage will have to do a coverage determination. This can take 1 day to 30 days to whatever. Usually it will be 2-3 days. They also will have to do a fault determination. This will be talking to you and to the other driver and perhaps looking at both cars. Police reports rarely matter in these cases, I wouldn't worry about that. Fault determinations usually take 2-3 days (can take MUCH longer) if they can get hold of the individuals and is frequently done at the same time as the coverage determination.

Then, if they decide they insured the at fault party, then they will look at the car to determine the damage and the outcome. If they decide to total it (sort of a formality, but they have to do it officially) then they need to value the car. Figure 3-7 days for this.

In the meantime, they will pay for a rental car, after fault is determined. They will also reimburse you for a rental car for the time it takes to determine fault, if they decide the other driver is at fault.

To answer your question about time, a week on the short end, 30 days on the normal longer end (again, can be MUCH longer), with 15-20 days sort of an average thing.

In cases like this, the insurance company simply writes a check. They don't care what you do with it. If you owe the bank some money on the car, the bank will care and the insurance company will write the check to the bank and you for the 2 of you to sort out (i.e., pay off the loan).

Its normal to be sore after this type of accident. Much sorer the day after. Don't hesitate to go see a doctor if you need to. This will be covered as well.

Dan

P.S. As a courier, your policy will exclude coverage unless you have an endorsement on your policy to allow this. Most courier services (Lyft, Uber, Amazon, etc) provide coverage while on the app. There are big gaping holes in this but your personal coverage effectively turns off when you start the app for the service. Not just Progressive, they all do.

 

[BobbyA]

Update
this caims lady I'm dealing with just called and said they are still trying to get in contact with the driver. Apparently the car he was driving was his girlfriends brothers and the driver was not on the policy. She mentioned​ something about progressive may not be able to fix my car or take care of any damages.

My policy is a business policy and my courier company is listed on my policy

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Update
this caims lady I'm dealing with just called and said they are still trying to get in contact with the driver. Apparently the car he was driving was his girlfriends brothers and the driver was not on the policy. She mentioned​ something about progressive may not be able to fix my car or take care of any damages.

My policy is a business policy and my courier company is listed on my policy

Immediately after accident I called progressive with driver right beside me. He didn't admit fault
though. I also mentioned getting a Accident Attorney

 

[VolAgent]

Update
this caims lady I'm dealing with just called and said they are still trying to get in contact with the driver. Apparently the car he was driving was his girlfriends brothers and the driver was not on the policy. She mentioned​ something about progressive may not be able to fix my car or take care of any damages.

My policy is a business policy and my courier company is listed on my policy

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Immediately after accident I called progressive with driver right beside me. He didn't admit fault
though. I also mentioned getting a Accident Attorney

Glad to hear that the policy was properly written, that definitely avoids one problem.

Does your policy include UM/UIM? Assuming they find him at fault, they you may be able to file under that.

I had a feeling he was not covered.

 

[BobbyA]

I called my Agent, he has been in the biz 30 years. I said your not going to believe what this silly claims lady called and told me !!!!
After I told him what she said he said she is wrong. He said that I do have the UMUIM. He said prob what will happen is progressive will pay my damages under the UMUIM. so they can recoup some of their money back. And they will go after the girlfriend and the driver. What a mess my agent lighting a fire under this claims lady butt. He is calling someone he knows above her.

 

[xrac]

I called my Agent, he has been in the biz 30 years. I said your not going to believe what this silly claims lady called and told me !!!!
After I told him what she said he said she is wrong. He said that I do have the UMUIM. He said prob what will happen is progressive will pay my damages under the UMUIM. so they can recoup some of their money back. And they will go after the girlfriend and the driver. What a mess my agent lighting a fire under this claims lady butt. He is calling someone he knows above her.

Maybe because you UMUIM and have other coverage with Progressive this will turn out o.k. but I have seen stuff like this wind up not paying.