Question About Filing a 5 Month Old Claim.

[Guest]

I had a client call me today about an accident she had 5 months ago.

In December she was rear ended at a stop light by a college student. She said they didn't notice any damage on their vehicle, but the other car was heavily damaged. My client was in a pickup with a trailer hitch, which is what damaged the at-fault's car. They swapped numbers and went on their way. Never notified insurance.

This weekend my client bought a trailer. When they tried to hook it up to the pickup they couldn't do it. They got under the truck and the hitch had been pushed in and bent under the frame. It wasn't noticeable unless you crawled under the truck. It is going to cost $500 to replace.

My client called me today to tell me of the situation. She wasn't comfortable calling the at-fault since she told her at the scene not to worry about it. I told her I'd do it for her. She gave me the number and I called. The girl told me she was insured with Allstate, but wouldn't give any policy number. She also mentioned that the insurance was in her sister-in-law's name and wouldn't tell me the name.

So what should I do here? I don't have the policy number, police report, or anything but a phone number for the at-fault. Will Allstate honor a claim from 5 months ago? I've never had a situation like this and I'm afraid that the at-fault is going to make this as difficult as possible.

Anyone ever had this situation?

 

[scagnt83]

I had a client call me today about an accident she had 5 months ago.

In December she was rear ended at a stop light by a college student. She said they didn't notice any damage on their vehicle, but the other car was heavily damaged. My client was in a pickup with a trailer hitch, which is what damaged the at-fault's car. They swapped numbers and went on their way. Never notified insurance.

This weekend my client bought a trailer. When they tried to hook it up to the pickup they couldn't do it. They got under the truck and the hitch had been pushed in and bent under the frame. It wasn't noticeable unless you crawled under the truck. It is going to cost $500 to replace.

My client called me today to tell me of the situation. She wasn't comfortable calling the at-fault since she told her at the scene not to worry about it. I told her I'd do it for her. She gave me the number and I called. The girl told me she was insured with Allstate, but wouldn't give any policy number. She also mentioned that the insurance was in her sister-in-law's name and wouldn't tell me the name.

So what should I do here? I don't have the policy number, police report, or anything but a phone number for the at-fault. Will Allstate honor a claim from 5 months ago? I've never had a situation like this and I'm afraid that the at-fault is going to make this as difficult as possible.

Anyone ever had this situation?

They didnt even get the license plate?

Im not a P&C agent, but I do know that it is illegal to refuse to give insurance info... no matter when it is requested for an accident.

I would call them back and inform them that if they dont give you the policy info, you will be giving their number to the police and the police will be contacting them about their illegal refusal to give insurance info.

If that doesnt scare them into it, contact the police and give them the info.

I wouldnt be mean, but I would be very direct with them.

 

[benk622]

No way AllState pays a claim here. With the amount of time that passed and not having a police report there is no way they would even open a third party claim. The at-fault party not cooperating will make it even harder.

You can sue them and see if they notify at that point, though I'm not sure its worth the time.

I think your client is just out the $500 and count it as a learning experience. She should of gotten the police out there for a report. Even if she doesn't plan on putting in a claim having the report will be a huge help down the line if something like this happens.

 

[Guest]

No way AllState pays a claim here. With the amount of time that passed and not having a police report there is no way they would even open a third party claim. The at-fault party not cooperating will make it even harder.

You can sue them and see if they notify at that point, though I'm not sure its worth the time.

I think your client is just out the $500 and count it as a learning experience. She should of gotten the police out there for a report. Even if she doesn't plan on putting in a claim having the report will be a huge help down the line if something like this happens.

Thanks for the reply. You pretty much have the same thoughts as I do on it. I'll continue to work with the client and call Allstate to file a claim, but I do think it will end up being a $500 lesson.

I was just curious if any other P&C agent had ever ran across anything similar.

 

[Accelerated]

No documentation of the incident, no statements from either driver, no photos of the scene, just a "yeah it happened, and we did not report the loss, but 150 days later, we want to"? On a homeowners policy, it would be a lot easier.

It would really depend on whether the other driver admits fault in a recorded statement. If they do, there you go. If they change the story even a little, and make it say, a "no fault" type story (where both insured's contributed to the loss), it will just be a lesson for your insured.