Hello all,
I am based in California and this is regarding a auto insurance claim filed by another party.
A couple of months back, my wife got a surprise visit from a cop indicating someone had just reported a hit and run against her. Cop indicated he will have to arrest if she did not accompany him to the site immediately. She of course obliged and drove with him immediately to a strip mall which was the site she was just at. the other person was there and claimed he was parked in a spot. My wife backed into him and then drove off. There was some minor scratches but really nothing evidently visible at all. My wife was absolutely sure a rear-end did not happen otherwise she would have definitely stopped..therefore did not accept the charge. Cop strongly informed that he will have to arrest her if the other person presses charges (other guy started claiming neck pain and injury on the spot... as indicated above there was no visible scratch on his bumper and it was bizzare to see him claim severe injury to say the least). Anyway he did not press charges so the cop just facilitated insurance/DL exchange indicating the other party has up to a year to press charges from this incident. Other person filed a claim with our auto insurance policy later in the day.
Our Insurance adjuster/policy coordinator called us and took all the details. Within a day someone from insurance called us to give a preliminary report that something about the claim did not add up (they had gotten some images from their database from traffic stops/cameras...not sure how) but whatever minor scratches other party claimed seemed to be present earlier (even though not conclusive). Anyway insurance investigation continued and passed to their Special Investigations Unit. They took more pictures of both cars,,measurements etc.
- After 2 months we got a call from our insurance that after the "special investigation" they found no evidence the minor scratch or any damage on other party's vehicle was caused by our vehicle/via my wife the day the event occurred.
-However they indicated if they deny the other party's claim, he can now press charges and then we will be on our own to figure out Hit and run defence.
- Alternately insurance can pay just the auto claim (and not pay medical expenses). When we asked whether, if they did pay the claim, it would go in as a "Not at fault" claim the insurance person told us NO..it would be at fault. Which sounded very weird as she just said their detailed investigation found no fault! And why should we accept to pay the claim if the insurance company itself did not find any fault..wouldn't that be contradictory??
- Moreover, my query is why should we the insured be making any such determination as, in my understanding,the insurance experts with their lawyers/auto experts should be deciding the way forward. As long as I am concerned, they can pay the other party but mark it as not at fault (the auto damage claim was minimal.. around $500..as there obviously was hardly any damage to other car).
- Our bigger worry is getting into Hit and Run defense for what was very clearly no fault on my wife's part. We just seem to have been caught in a scam.
Any suggestions or comments on how to handle this going forward? Thanks in advance!
I am based in California and this is regarding a auto insurance claim filed by another party.
A couple of months back, my wife got a surprise visit from a cop indicating someone had just reported a hit and run against her. Cop indicated he will have to arrest if she did not accompany him to the site immediately. She of course obliged and drove with him immediately to a strip mall which was the site she was just at. the other person was there and claimed he was parked in a spot. My wife backed into him and then drove off. There was some minor scratches but really nothing evidently visible at all. My wife was absolutely sure a rear-end did not happen otherwise she would have definitely stopped..therefore did not accept the charge. Cop strongly informed that he will have to arrest her if the other person presses charges (other guy started claiming neck pain and injury on the spot... as indicated above there was no visible scratch on his bumper and it was bizzare to see him claim severe injury to say the least). Anyway he did not press charges so the cop just facilitated insurance/DL exchange indicating the other party has up to a year to press charges from this incident. Other person filed a claim with our auto insurance policy later in the day.
Our Insurance adjuster/policy coordinator called us and took all the details. Within a day someone from insurance called us to give a preliminary report that something about the claim did not add up (they had gotten some images from their database from traffic stops/cameras...not sure how) but whatever minor scratches other party claimed seemed to be present earlier (even though not conclusive). Anyway insurance investigation continued and passed to their Special Investigations Unit. They took more pictures of both cars,,measurements etc.
- After 2 months we got a call from our insurance that after the "special investigation" they found no evidence the minor scratch or any damage on other party's vehicle was caused by our vehicle/via my wife the day the event occurred.
-However they indicated if they deny the other party's claim, he can now press charges and then we will be on our own to figure out Hit and run defence.
- Alternately insurance can pay just the auto claim (and not pay medical expenses). When we asked whether, if they did pay the claim, it would go in as a "Not at fault" claim the insurance person told us NO..it would be at fault. Which sounded very weird as she just said their detailed investigation found no fault! And why should we accept to pay the claim if the insurance company itself did not find any fault..wouldn't that be contradictory??
- Moreover, my query is why should we the insured be making any such determination as, in my understanding,the insurance experts with their lawyers/auto experts should be deciding the way forward. As long as I am concerned, they can pay the other party but mark it as not at fault (the auto damage claim was minimal.. around $500..as there obviously was hardly any damage to other car).
- Our bigger worry is getting into Hit and Run defense for what was very clearly no fault on my wife's part. We just seem to have been caught in a scam.
Any suggestions or comments on how to handle this going forward? Thanks in advance!
