Problem dealing with Progressive Auto Insurance

[b2bailey]

More than a month ago, my sister's car was slightly damaged when another driver turned into her car. (That car had a stop sign, she didn't.) Exchanged info, other driver has P.I.

Sis contacted her agent. Together they called Progressive. It was confirmed other driver had already contacted them and filed claim. BUT... "They need to contact their insured to obtain a recorded message of him accepting fault."

Recently, sis left a phone message with PI asking for update. Yesterday they finally called her back to say -- "No, they haven't received response from their client, and have sent him a letter. Go ahead and file claim through her agent."
She asked what would happen if he never responds and they said they would deny the claim.

Say what?
I'm feeling outraged on her behalf.

 

[easyrider]

More than a month ago, my sister's car was slightly damaged when another driver turned into her car. (That car had a stop sign, she didn't.) Exchanged info, other driver has P.I.

Sis contacted her agent. Together they called Progressive. It was confirmed other driver had already contacted them and filed claim. BUT... "They need to contact their insured to obtain a recorded message of him accepting fault."

Recently, sis left a phone message with PI asking for update. Yesterday they finally called her back to say -- "No, they haven't received response from their client, and have sent him a letter. Go ahead and file claim through her agent."
She asked what would happen if he never responds and they said they would deny the claim.

Say what?
I'm feeling outraged on her behalf.

This why you wait for an officer to file a report.

Bill

 

[VacationForever]

Did they have a police report? It helps if there was. Here is the processs for filing for a claim and it does not matter who is at fault:
- Contact your own insurance company to open a claim, providing the other party's information and give your side of the story as to how it happened.
- It is the insurance company's responsibility to contact the other party's insurance.
- In the meantime, go and get the car repaired and you will only be responsible for the deductible.
- If your insurance company is successful in getting the other insurance company to accept that the other party was at fault, you get back your deductible, otherwise you will end up with an "at fault" claim. If the other person is at fault, your insurance claim history will remain clean, otherwise you may experience an increase in insurance premium next go around.

 

[b2bailey]

Sis has a $500 deductible. How is this fair?
A lack of response from their client -- they will dismiss claim?
Since he already filed report with his insurance, gave accurate details, how can they dismiss/deny claim?

 

[VacationForever]

It may take time but the 2 insurance companies will talk to each other because her insurance company will not want to pay for the collision if they can help it. There is also a mediator if the 2 insurance companies cannot come to agreement as to who is at fault. Her mistake was to contact PI. NEVER call the other party's insurance, ALWAYS deal with your own insurance.

 

[dioxide45]

Sis has a $500 deductible. How is this fair?
A lack of response from their client -- they will dismiss claim?
Since he already filed report with his insurance, gave accurate details, how can they dismiss/deny claim?

Even if she works through her own insurance company, if the other company pays she won't have to pay the deductible that applies to her policy. This happened to me several years ago. SOmeone backed into me at the LSJ drive through and pushed me into the car behind me. The other driver's insurance paid for damages for both my car and the vehicle behind me, not deductible. Though I did pay the repair show to fix something else wrong with my trunk at the same time they were fixing the back bumper.

 

[callwill]

More than a month ago, my sister's car was slightly damaged when another driver turned into her car. (That car had a stop sign, she didn't.) Exchanged info, other driver has P.I.

Sis contacted her agent. Together they called Progressive. It was confirmed other driver had already contacted them and filed claim. BUT... "They need to contact their insured to obtain a recorded message of him accepting fault."

Recently, sis left a phone message with PI asking for update. Yesterday they finally called her back to say -- "No, they haven't received response from their client, and have sent him a letter. Go ahead and file claim through her agent."
She asked what would happen if he never responds and they said they would deny the claim.

Say what?
I'm feeling outraged on her behalf.

In New York you can complete an accident report yourself and must be done in order to file an insurance claim. It is better to have the police come to make sure all is on the up and up. If the state she is in has a form for the accident report, she should obtain one and file it ASAP. She should make copies, one for the local PD, one for herself, one for the state dmv and one for the other parties insurance company. She should request notice of delivery on that one. The other party hopes that via stonewalling it will all go away...

 

[b2bailey]

This why you wait for an officer to file a report.

Bill

I was just talking with sis about this post --
I mentioned filing of police report.
It was only then I learned the other driver called 911 --
they asked him "Anyone hurt?"
No.
"Is car still drivable?"
Yes.
"Okay, just exchange info."
Bye.

 

[b2bailey]

In New York you can complete an accident report yourself and must be done in order to file an insurance claim. It is better to have the police come to make sure all is on the up and up. If the state she is in has a form for the accident report, she should obtain one and file it ASAP. She should make copies, one for the local PD, one for herself, one for the state dmv and one for the other parties insurance company. She should request notice of delivery on that one. The other party hopes that via stonewalling it will all go away...

The stonewalling part -- apparently at Progressive this works.

 

[callwill]

The stonewalling part -- apparently at Progressive this works.

Anybody can file a claim. They have to have evidence it happened and evidence that their insured was at fault.

 

[easyrider]

I was just talking with sis about this post --
I mentioned filing of police report.
It was only then I learned the other driver called 911 --
they asked him "Anyone hurt?"
No.
"Is car still drivable?"
Yes.
"Okay, just exchange info."
Bye.

Where I live the law still shows up when called. What does Progressive recomend when the law will not write a report ? Maybe a video ?

Bill

 

[davidvel]

What callwill says is correct. They will not pay their claim unless they confirm their insured is at fault. We're there any witnesses? If not it's one person's word against the other. Your only recourse would be to sue the other driver in small claims court, and see who the judge believes.

 

[davidvel]

Where I live the law still shows up when called. What does Progressive recomend when the law will not write a report ? Maybe a video ?

Bill

Progressive represents the other driver not the sister. They are not just going to take sister's word. Their insured may have already claimed sister was at fault. It happens every day.

 

[davidvel]

As to police report, many agencies don't do them unless serious injury. Family member was recently rear ended, police (3 of them) came to scene but refused to write a report. Liability was clear and multiple witnesses, so we were lucky.

If you are in an accident, take lots of photos and even video at scene, showing vehicles, discussing what happened on video and even other driver comments. Get info from witnesses. If you're not at fault.

 

[easyrider]

Progressive represents the other driver not the sister. They are not just going to take sister's word. Their insured may have already claimed sister was at fault. It happens every day.

Yes, I get that. I have a dash cam on my Jeep to video some of the places and trails I like. It might be better to have one in the daily driver to document accidents. idk.

Bill

 

[susieq]

I was just talking with sis about this post --
I mentioned filing of police report.
It was only then I learned the other driver called 911 --
they asked him "Anyone hurt?"
No.
"Is car still drivable?"
Yes.
"Okay, just exchange info."
Bye.

This has got to be on the Police Log then - even a recording................ 911 is a recorded line. have her inform her insurance co. of that, balls in their court now.

 

[DrQ]

This is where the quality of your sister's insurance company comes into play.

Years ago, I got hit on the side of my car by an idiot making a wide left turn in a double turn lane while I was standing still. He was driving a RAM truck, apparently he took it as a directive rather than a noun. He begged me not to involve insurance and he would pay for repairs. I didn't bite.

I called his insurance company to file a claim and of course, he denied responsibility (I guess my car moves SIDEWAYS into his FRONT bumper, yeah - sure )

I filed a claim with my insurance company, USAA, to get my car repaired. I thoroughly documented the incident with pictures from google earth of the intersection along with pictures from my phone in the car to prove that it was a double turn intersection. I drew the vehicles on the google earth picture to show that it was impossible for me to be cutting into his lane. Based on the damage on the two vehicles, if that were the case, I would be heading across our two lanes and into the oncoming lanes.

I wrote up a word document, describing the event which incorporated the damage pictures, pictures of his DL, his Insurance card and my diagrams with analysis. I converted it into a PDF and presented it to both insurance companies.

At 18 months, I was getting ready to file a complaint against him in small claims for my deductible, but low and behold, in the mail was a check for my deductible from the subrogation claim from his insurance company.

 

[DrQ]

What callwill says is correct. They will not pay their claim unless they confirm their insured is at fault. We're there any witnesses? If not it's one person's word against the other. Your only recourse would be to sue the other driver in small claims court, and see who the judge believes.

This is not for the faint of heart. You will be Pro Se and Progressive will respond with lawyers and could petition to move the case to to another court where procedure and the rules of evidence are complex.

The advantage though, is that if their insured will not give a statement, they have no evidence. If they lie, they can risk perjury.

 

[VacationForever]

I have always submitted claims directly to my insurance company and let them handle the case, including a nasty one, which resulted in subprogation and I got my deductible back 6 months later. This is fairly long but one that I would never forget.

I was driving out the office complex after a long day. At the entrance/exit of the compound, it had room for 2 cars, one for in and out. The car in front of me had taken up the left lane to exit (which would have been for cars to enter). I drove up to the stop line of the exit lane. Based on where he was, I thought he had wanted to turn right (one way/divided street) and then quickly get the left lane for a left or u-turn. When traffic was clear, I edged out by no more than 2 to 3 feet but he started to make a sharp right turn, in which I kept honking at him. He did not stop and instead turned straight into my car. Fortunately, my front light was broken and parts of it had fallen onto the road/car park exit, and was close the the middle of the entrance/exit. This was relevant because it showed that I did not try to squeeze to the right of his car, but instead he was in the left lane. We went back into the parking lot. His car was badly damaged on the right side. He shouted at me and yelled at me to get out of my car, appearing to want to beat me up. I feared for my life, locked my car door and called the police. I had also called my husband who was sick at home that I was terrified of this driver and he drove out to be with me immediately. In the meantime, the driver found a passer-by and asked if the person was willing to be a witness and the person said ok and this guy took down his particulars. Police came, took a full report, took pictures of my broken headlight on the road and information of the witness from the other driver. He was yelling and shouting the whole time while the police was there that the accident was caused by me.

I reported to my insurance company, who at first glance thought I was in the wrong. I was interviewed twice and they said they were waiting for the police record. 6 months later I got back my deductible, after they had undergone subprogation. I looked up the police report and it was very detailed, including where my headlight was found, in the middle of the entrance/exit of the parking lot. His car had an out of state license plate and from the report, it showed that it was owned by a woman. No one wins in an accident but I was relieved. I felt that I could have avoided the accident if I had been less tired and simply stayed behind his car the whole time until he drove out.

 

[davidvel]

This is not for the faint of heart. You will be Pro Se and Progressive will respond with lawyers and could petition to move the case to to another court where procedure and the rules of evidence are complex.

The advantage though, is that if their insured will not give a statement, they have no evidence. If they lie, they can risk perjury.

In California lawyers are not allowed in small claims court. Other driver would have to show up. If defendant loses, they can appeal to Superior Court, with lawyer, but procedural rules would not change.

In any event, this is really the only recourse if Progressive won't pay the deductible.

 

[stmartinfan]

Dealing with car accidents is no fun. My daughter recently tboned another car that turned right in front of her. Police were called and their official report confirmed that the other driver had turned without having right of way. Our Insurance, USAA, provided rental car immediately and got body shop to pull car from impound lot where it had been towed, but still waiting for decision on totaling. We filed official report with USAA that described accident in language similar to police report. Then we got letter from other drivers insurance agent…a brand we're not familiar with, asking my daughter to call and give them a statement. We have not responded. Can't think of a reason they need more info, given police report, and don't want to give them some opportunity to try to change the description. Figure we'll let our insurance deal with them.

Two weeks after accident, daughter Is still dealing with concussion symptoms.

 

[Luanne]

My daughter's car was hit, or scraped, while parked in the carport at her apartment. The person who did it left a note. Strangely enough, he works for Allstate. She reported it to her insurance company, State Farm, and I thought they would take care of the whole thing. Oh no, she had to contact Allstate as well. The body shop wouldn't do an estimate or start work until Allstate okayed it. She did get them to pay the deductible and whole thing was taken care of pretty quickly, but I was surprised at how much of the work she had to do.

 

[geist1223]

This why you wait for an officer to file a report.

Bill

Many Police Departments no longer respond to non-injury traffic accidents.

 

[geist1223]

Just over 2 years ago we were stopped due to traffic in Patti's Subaru Forester. Ford Truck slammed into our rear. He admitted fault to His Insurance company Company State Farm right after the accident. They were horrible to deal with. The car only had to 62,000 miles on it. They claimed it had 82,000 on it and tried to really low ball us. I offered to have our insurance company USAA send them a copy of the picture of the odometer USAA took the day after the accident. They said no. We finally gave up arguing about anything with them and let USAA deal with it. USAA paid us several thousand more than State Farm offered for the total of the vehicle. Then USAA went after them for everything. It happened on a Saturday. State Farm set up a replacement rental to be picked up Monday. When we showed up. It had been cancelled by State Farm. After about an hour of telephoning State Farm it turned out they had decided our car was driveable and cancelled the Rental. Why did they decide it was driveable because they over heard me (Patti was on Fone with State Farm) talking to the tow truck drive about going to our House. We were going to our House to off load about $2,000 property from the car before it went to an unsecured lot for the weekend. I love USAA.

 

[VacationForever]

My daughter's car was hit, or scraped, while parked in the carport at her apartment. The person who did it left a note. Strangely enough, he works for Allstate. She reported it to her insurance company, State Farm, and I thought they would take care of the whole thing. Oh no, she had to contact Allstate as well. The body shop wouldn't do an estimate or start work until Allstate okayed it. She did get them to pay the deductible and whole thing was taken care of pretty quickly, but I was surprised at how much of the work she had to do.

This is surprising. I have had 3 claims todate and each time my insurance company did the legwork, all of them I was not at fault. The only one that we had to pay the deductible for was for a hit and run in a parking lot last year - we found our car damaged, and there was no note left by the offending driver, and of all places, at our very exclusive country club parking lot.