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My insurance company is not fighting for me

dioxide45

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Are you working through your local agent or have you been assigned a claims adjuster at the corporate level?
 

melissy123

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Are you working through your local agent or have you been assigned a claims adjuster at the corporate level?

I have been using the word agent, but I'm dealing with the Allstate claims adjuster we've been assigned.
 

Talent312

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When my DW was hit by a guy named "Parton" near Dollywood in Tennessee, the cop said he couldn't tell who was at fault, even though there was only one logical way the back-left of her car could've been crumpled. Allstate went the extra mile.

After paying our claim, the Allstate claims adjuster, to his credit, investigated and submitted it to arbitration. GEICO tried to deny fault, but eventually we won and got a check covering the deductible.

.
 

davidvel

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I don't know any police agency, including the CHP, that will not respond to a hit and run. As to "police reports", many agencies will not come out to the scene for property damage only accidents, or it depends on the workload. Most agencies, however, will take what's called a "counter report" where you go to the station.

As noted by other posters, the police report itself is not the pertinent evidence. Its the underlying witness statement that counts. You can get names and statements from witnesses without the police, although admittedly its more difficult.

I know you're upset that the insurance company is not fighting for you, but it's not really reasonable. They have no obligation to do so. Allstate is "notorius" in the industry for caring for their own interests. They make their own decisions as to when they feel it makes business sense to subrogate. Its pretty rare to do so in disputed property claims.
 

VacationForever

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Remember that police report is only as good as the police officer writing it. In my 2 incidents listed above, the first one reported inaccurately and became a detriment in which we had to go to court to reverse it. In the second, the police report was useful. At the end of the day, it still boils down to one needing to fight for what is right/fair for yourself.
 

melissy123

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I have Allstate. The other person has State Farm.

Thanks everyone for letting me vent. The police department in SLO gave me some good advice, "let it go." They pointed out that she could also come up with her own version of fleeing... that she was looking for a good spot to pull over. I guess they've seen everything.
 

davidvel

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I have Allstate. The other person has State Farm.

Thanks everyone for letting me vent. The police department in SLO gave me some good advice, "let it go." They pointed out that she could also come up with her own version of fleeing... that she was looking for a good spot to pull over. I guess they've seen everything.
Good advice indeed. Its $500.
 

WinniWoman

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My husband works for Allstate in auto claims. And was an adjuster.

In fact, he does arbitration and diminished value and all that exciting stuff. When he gets home tonight, if he has time I am going to have him read this thread to get his input.

(FYI- there are a lot of changes going down at Allstate- one is auto adjusters being let go and drive-ins being closed across the country. Now you will be required to just take pics with your mobile device or digital camera and send them on their merry way to Allstate and also be reimbursed electronically. And all the other insurance companies are going to follow suit.)

I was in an accident last year where I was stopped at a light and the guy behind me crashed into me (Probably on his cell phone). Called the police and they came right away. The guy admitted hitting me. Pretty obvious. I never filed a claim with Allstate. Just contacted State Farm- his insurance company.

Brought my car to the approved shop and got it fixed and never laid out a dime.
 

Phydeaux

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Got hit/sideswiped by a 93 year old driver on our way home from daughter's graduation a week ago. The 93 year old driver then tried to flee the scene of the accident after hitting us. We then maneuvered the car in front of her and motioned her to pull over. (We took pictures of her rear license plate as she was trying to drive away and pictures of our car in front of her when the cars are stopped to back this up). While videotaping the damage to the cars on the side of the road, she admits she wasn't looking and apologizes for hitting us.

Of course, by the time I call her insurance company to file a claim, she claims now that we hit her and we are at fault. So now filing a claim with our insurance company to negotiate with her company.

What really bothers me is the attitude of MY insurance company. "Oh, it's a he said/she said story so we can't prove it's her fault." "Oh, you have videos. Well that doesn't really prove anything." "Oh I don't have the email for the other insurance company so I don't know how I can send them the video and pictures." "Oh we can go to arbitration if they still continue to deny but this sort of claim won't get accepted by arbitration usually."

My insurance will pay for my damage but I have a $500 deductible which will come out of my pocket. So that bothers me. But what really bothers me is that my insurance company doesn't seem at all interested in pursuing the other company for compensation so that I'm not out of pocket.

Thanks for letting me vent. Any adicice or thoughts?

Yes.

Next time call the police & file a report.

Second, good luck fighting this. Insurance companies are NOT in the business of joyously writing out checks to it's customers.

Last, after this is settled, FIRE your insurance company and find a different one.

Good luck.
 

presley

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The police/highway patrol do not want to be bothered with accidents unless there is severe injury. There are too many accidents every day for them to deal with them. However, you can still walk into the station and say you want to file a report. They cannot refuse to take a report. They may not like doing it and they may encourage you to not file one, but that is there job and you are paying their salary. They have to take a report if you insist on making one. They don't have to come to you or your accident, though.

My daughter was hit and her car was totaled last year. Her car had no value, so it was easy to total it. The other driver claimed it was her fault, but my daughter took lots of pictures of the damage and our insurance said after looking at the pictures, they were ruling it was 100% the other driver's fault. Since it was a worthless car to begin with and my daughter wasn't injured enough to seek medical help, that was the end of that, but since you are in California, you may want to look into Wawanesa. We've been really happy with them for 25 years. I always reshop my insurance every couple years and I never find any that I'd switch to.
 

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Re: $500 in damages needs to be reported to DMV in California.

First, I'm surprised the dollar amount hasn't risen in the over 25 years since I last reported an accident.

Second, we learned the hard way that it does not pay to be helpful to someone hitting you. I was the victim of a "swoop and squat" scam a few miles from our drapery store while driving a signed vehicle. After I slid into the squatting vehicle (streets were wet from earler rain), said vehicle being stuffed with six passengers collected off a street corner and having a back bumper that was already purposefully partially detached, I was hit from the rear by a guy in a borrowed corvette. While I dealt with the scammers, Cliff did the legwork for finding a used bumper for my Nissan Access and someone who could do the work for $3-400 all total. The guy that hit us then wouldn't pay, so we filed with DMV. When they called and said "he said it was less than $500", I said it was when we tried to do him a favor and track down used parts, but I have an estimate for $875 from the dealer, DMV went away and the guy never paid us and never got a mark on his driving record. So much for trying to be helpful.
 

melissy123

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VacationForever, glad you came out on the winning side

Presley, like others had said, even with the police report, if there's no "independent" witnesses, the police report is still only my version of the story and thus worthless. And who's going to find witnesses on the freeway, even in stop and go traffic.

MPULIA is right about the drive-in centers being shut down. Allstate just wants us to take photos and send that in. We asked for someone to look at the car but so far nothing. I had asked the Adjustor that wouldn't you think you could independently verify who hit who from the damage to the car? Nope. They're not interested in looking at our car. We are taking the car today to a Toyota-blessed body shop for the estimate.

I honestly think if this were to happen again, I would call the police and say I'm not sure if the other party was injured. Something similar happened to a friend, with the added bonus that the other driver then sent letters to her from an attorney, claiming medical damages. Of course, she then referred those to her insurance company, but there's always that fear that you will be held personally liable.

CLiffaith, we will go to AAA today and get the DMV forms and file there. Our local AAA office handles a lot of the DMV paperwork.
 

melissy123

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The footnote to this story is that two days after graduation, on the drive south, we almost got rammed by a car going over 70 mph and crossing diagonally across the four lanes of the freeway. (We were going 70. I think this car was doing 90. At least.) Luckily hubby, already on alert I guess after this fenderbender, saw the car coming from his side, and swerved hard to the right to avoid getting hit. And then amazingly there was no one in the right lane that hubby hit after he swerved into that lane. Now that would have been a major accident if we got hit. Was wondering if we were somehow targeted because the other driver could see the damage to the side of the car or it was just a random idiot.
 

presley

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I honestly think if this were to happen again, I would call the police and say I'm not sure if the other party was injured.
A lot of injuries like whiplash and back issues show up later. Even things like chronic headaches can come a week or more later. I had a friend who was diagnosed with epilepsy from a car accident and it took a good couple months for her to get the diagnosis because she was only have headaches and petite mal seizures. She just looked like she was spacing out for a few seconds, but she was having seizures. It's really unfortunate that California has too many accidents to deal with.

At any rate, I hope things go as smoothly for you as possible. Whenever I pass a crash (which is just about every day in southern California), I say a quick prayer that everything goes as smoothly as possible for all involved. Accidents are such a pain and I remember the surge of stress I'd get whenever I had to fill something out or deal with phone calls from my own accident 20 years ago.
 

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I'm pretty lucky, have never had to file a claim on auto insurance. I guess I thought I would have to pay the deductible, just as with home claims. I don't understand why that is an issue, how one could expect to NOT pay deductible?
 

VacationForever

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I'm pretty lucky, have never had to file a claim on auto insurance. I guess I thought I would have to pay the deductible, just as with home claims. I don't understand why that is an issue, how one could expect to NOT pay deductible?

If the other party is at fault, then the other insurance pays for your deductible.
 

geekette

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If the other party is at fault, then the other insurance pays for your deductible.
Seriously?!? Then if I were a long time customer of this ins co I would be gone, they should float my butt and get it out of the other company if I'd had no claims. I can understand the potato is way too small for a giant company to care about tho, since it's not their money.

Dang, too bad I couldn't get it out of the hail or lightning that zapped my elec box and put holes in the roof, it was definitely their fault.

Meanwhile, can't you send an official-looking letter to the person that hit you requesting the deductible? Might not work, but worth a shot. Sometimes guilt can get people to do things they would not otherwise. Maybe she feels bad and that little nudge gets her to fix it.

I would otherwise let it go. Life is expensive and inconvenient, this is just another in long line.
 

Luanne

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Re: $500 in damages needs to be reported to DMV in California.
According to the DMV website the amount is now $1000, raised recently from $750.

"If you are involved in a vehicle accident that occurred in California, you must report it to DMV if:

  • There was property damage of more than $1,000 ($750 for accidents prior to January 1, 2017) or
  • Anyone was injured (no matter how minor) or
  • Anyone was killed."
 

VacationForever

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Seriously?!? Then if I were a long time customer of this ins co I would be gone, they should float my butt and get it out of the other company if I'd had no claims. I can understand the potato is way too small for a giant company to care about tho, since it's not their money.

Dang, too bad I couldn't get it out of the hail or lightning that zapped my elec box and put holes in the roof, it was definitely their fault.

Meanwhile, can't you send an official-looking letter to the person that hit you requesting the deductible? Might not work, but worth a shot. Sometimes guilt can get people to do things they would not otherwise. Maybe she feels bad and that little nudge gets her to fix it.

I would otherwise let it go. Life is expensive and inconvenient, this is just another in long line.

It is not just the deductible. If the repair to OP's car is for $2K, Allstate pays $1.5K and OP pays $500. If the other party is at fault, the other insurance pays the full $2k.
 

geekette

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It is not just the deductible. If the repair to OP's car is for $2K, Allstate pays $1.5K and OP pays $500. If the other party is at fault, the other insurance pays the full $2k.
I'm still limited to 500, tho, right? I mean, For that Incident, not talking about how high they jack my rates later.

I am dumping AAA home owners since they blamed sump backup on me. Yeah, that's right, I secretly flooded my basement, because who doesn't want more moisture down there? I won't give them another chance to not help me when I need them. Insurance is required, paying claims isn't. I am totally in the wrong line of work...
 

VacationForever

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I'm still limited to 500, tho, right? I mean, For that Incident, not talking about how high they jack my rates later.

I am dumping AAA home owners since they blamed sump backup on me. Yeah, that's right, I secretly flooded my basement, because who doesn't want more moisture down there? I won't give them another chance to not help me when I need them. Insurance is required, paying claims isn't. I am totally in the wrong line of work...

Sorry to hear about your trouble with Homeowner insurance. With the case of OP, yes she is limited to the deductible. But she really cannot simply write to the other insurer to get her $500 back. It is a case of both insurers getting together to decide who is in the right or wrong. Most auto insurance companies, from my experience, far prefer to just pay directly for the damages + insurer coughing up the deductible because subrogation is a labor intensive and "troublesome" process.
 

davidvel

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If the other party is at fault, then the other insurance pays for your deductible.

Sorry to hear about your trouble with Homeowner insurance. With the case of OP, yes she is limited to the deductible. But she really cannot simply write to the other insurer to get her $500 back. It is a case of both insurers getting together to decide who is in the right or wrong. Most auto insurance companies, from my experience, far prefer to just pay directly for the damages + insurer coughing up the deductible because subrogation is a labor intensive and "troublesome" process.
Yes, the second post (above) is more accurate. It is not as simple as "If the other party is at fault..." In OP's case the other driver is now claiming they were not at fault, so if the insurance companies disagree, a determination by a third party must be made. This is either through inter-company arbitration (if an agreement is in place between the insurers), or by a Court if the company or insured sues to get back what they paid.
 

VacationForever

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In the case of my son's accident, alot was at stake. The other car's passenger was put on a neck brace, went on a stretcher into an ambulance. The car was in our name. If the wrong police report was accepted, the other party could get an injury lawyer to sue my son and us. Right on the get-go, the police was after my son... the first words out of the police mouth to my son were "Were you on your cell phone?" My son had forgotten his cell phone and left it at home. The next question was "Was the sun in your eyes?"

I try not to think it was racial profiling that caused him to write up a totally made up report, but it crossed my mind alot. When the witness showed up in court, she approached us and told us that she was extremely busy with her work but she had to show up in court to testify because the police report was all wrong.
 
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