r/InsuranceClaims

Location: Brooklyn, NY.

The Incident:

My late 90s Jeep Wrangler was hit while parked on a street in Brooklyn by a car. The driver stayed at the scene until the police arrived. I was not there. My Jeep was towed to a local repair shop. Because I only carry liability coverage, my insurance will not be covering or handling the damage to my Jeep directly.

The Situation & Complications:

Conflicting Vehicle Info: The police report lists the striking vehicle as a 2018. However, the VIN on the police report corresponds to a 2022 car owned by the same individual, which appears to be uninsured. Their insurance company confirmed the owner holds an active policy only for a 2017 car of the same make and model. They seem to own 2 of the same make and model but only 1 is insured and not the one involved in my accident.

Driver vs. Owner:

The driver was not the vehicle owner. I have the driver’s name and address from police report, but my insurance cannot search outside databases to check if the driver has personal insurance elsewhere. (They mentioned if I had his phone number, they could only check if he had an active policy with my insurance company).

Documentation:

I have photos of the striking vehicle and its license plate from the scene, as well as the police report.

Questions & Next Steps:

Are there other ways or databases to determine if this driver or vehicle has active insurance coverage?

Is issuing a formal demand letter to both the owner and driver my best next step? If so, should I include formal repair and towing quotes with it? Do I need to pay for repairs before sending the demand letter?

Any other ideas?

My main goal is to recover my repair and towing costs.

I was recently hit by another driver in Arizona. She was entirely at fault, acknowledged fault at the scene, and the responding officer also stated she was at fault. We both have Progressive.

My car is a 2013 Toyota Prius c with ~115,000 miles, no previous issues, and was in good condition. I still owe about $11,000 on the loan and do NOT have GAP insurance. (Stupid. I know. I thought I had it through the dealer but turns out I don’t)

Progressive is now saying they want to total my car based on photos without even doing an actual repair estimate. The body shop I took it to says the damage appears to be mainly the front bumper, right fender, and right headlight.

I want to fight the total-loss decision and have the car properly inspected/estimated before they total it. I’m worried that if they value it below my $11k loan balance, I’ll be stuck paying the difference.

My passenger was also injured. She had a migraine and whiplash after the accident and is now experiencing soreness. She called Progressive to report it, but they told her they had no questions for her and haven’t contacted her about the injury claim.

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with Progressive/AZ insurance and a total-loss dispute.
Can I push them to get an actual repair estimate before totaling the car? How can I challenge their valuation if they total it? And what should my passenger do regarding her injury claim?

For New Mexico the law defines “loss of use” as the “reasonable rental value of similar property during the period reasonably required for the repair of
the damaged property.” N.M.R.A., Rule 13-1818. However insurance company is stuck on basic $25 per day transportation. How would you interpret this? I’ve argued it has to be equivalent or at least the same class. Any advice or help appreciated.
Location: New Mexico

Question for car insurance pros: In early July, I was driving and heard a loud bang beneath my car. I didn't see what was in the road, but it had to have been something similar to a crowbar. There was no sign of damage. Three weeks later, as I'm driving, the car began to smoke, and all of the oil evacuated the car. The car told me to stop driving, and I pulled over as soon as possible. I had the car towed to the dealer and 2 weeks later found out the engine had seized. There was obvious damage to the oil filter housing, and the metal that the housing screws into was completely cracked. The technician had never seen anything like it, and we both agreed that the road debris caused the damage. I have collision coverage. Will this be covered, or will I be denied and end up with an at fault incident that raises my rates?

McGrath Acura in Chicago says it’s an act of God & I have to pay to fix it. Car is leased. Any attorneys want to put in their two cents?

Hi all,

I hired a van from Enteprise recently and had an issue with a wooden panel being broken. I had excess insurance, and that has rejected my claim, based on the fact that they offer van insurance and it was excluded from my policy.

I've looked through all the policy documents I was sent, and nowhere does it say that vans aren't covered, or non-accident based damage isn't covered, but they've rejected on those grounds.

When I emailed asking for where it listed those exlusions, they sent screenshots, but not documents of policy docs saying that, but that aren't mine.

Can I/should I continue to challenge them as the documents don't say either of these things? Any advice welcome!

If your car is already damaged that it's possibly totaled, you gotta engage insurance. Once insurance is involved, it's upto them to total or not.

You don't have any say in it. If you just want it for your piece of mind, it's very unreliable prediction.

Ok so I was in a wreck in June where my car was totaled the other party was at fault they gave me a offer on my car which was not enough to cover the what I owed so nvm that bit since then I hired a lawyer and been going to physical therapy I have about 14 visit tomorrow will be my 15 th I done 3 MRIs where 2 of them came back with c5-c6 disc herniation and c6-c7 bulging disc in my cerval and my shoulder has a mild joint enfusion I’m in pain still I’m homeless my kids haven even be able to start school because I cannot work dude to the pain that kicks in I’m 26 so I’m use to being mobile playing sport and just be able to do basic things like bend over and pick a box up I have be recommended to a orthopedic shoulder doctor and a neck and spine specialist with both visits are coming up but I told my lawyer this will be my last appointment due to me not even being able to find a place to live I have no cash flow I have no help it’s just me and my kids so I can’t go to treatment any longer so after then 2 evaluations I’m done my quest to anybody who has been threw this is am I messing up my case but stop at these next 2 appointments I have no choice I tried to get a 1500$ pre settlement loan my lawyer denied I would like to atleast take home 10,000 minimum even doe I feel as that’s like that’s bare minimum and my injuries are worth way more than that my lawyer says she can’t guarantee that I just feel as that’s bare minimum even doe I’m not gonna do nomore treatment can I still ask for the max policy without doing nomore treatment like steroids Injections because my kids need to get in schoo I’m really looking to take home 10,000 I feel as if that’s bare minimum the minimum policy where I’m at for bi is 30,000 so I was wondering is there still a chance I can get the max due the damages done to me I don’t wanna mess my case up but I also can continue months and months of treatment if the specialist recommend that

Location: Newark New Jersey

Hello , so I was involved in a car accident where I rear ended someone . We decided to handle it amongst ourselves without insurance big mistake .

I had Zelle’s this individual money noted for car repairs after he showed me a quote given by a body shop on the 7 of July. After all the damage for both cars were estimated I realized it was way too much and decided to go the insurance route .

Fast forward he is consistently telling me once the process is over he’ll return the money and so I give him the benefit of the doubt over text messages. About a month and half passes by and still
Nothing after repeated attempts. He claims the autobody is filing a reclaim on July 14 , it is now August 18 and I Confirmed with Geico that no reclaim supplementary check request was recieved from the body shop nor him . The claim was actually closed . Everyone I reach out it’s just vague answers “ once it’s processed I’ll return the money “ so now I’m at the point where I have text messages between me and him saying he’ll return the money the Zelle payment with the note intended for car repairs, and written confirmation from Geico that states no other repayment is even on file and the claim is closed .

My question is do I have enough grounds to file a small claims . I live in New Jersey and although I know I may not receive my money back i just can’t let this go without trying to involve legal enforcement .

Hi ,
I was sitting in my room and doing my work, all of sudden cops knocked my door and said your car is hit by a amazon truck and i immediately went down the front bumper cane off and head lights pulled off it looks like a nightmare to me its 2015 nissam maxima .The amazon manager called me and said we are sorry its our mistake we already informed our insurance company they gona contact you . Now i dont know what to do because i dont have insurance will it become a problem they are estimating too low for total loss i spent it like 8k for the car and brought it 3 months back now it happend they are saying the value is 5k can any one help me from this?

Okay so I was in a car accident and was found at fault. My insurance was canceled the day before, unexpectedly after miscommunication on the insurance company’s behalf. I was told to pay by a certain date and setting up a claim after the accident, I was informed that the date was incorrect and I didn’t have insurance starting the previous date of the accident. It’s been a few months since and I just received a notice in the mail from a collection company, billing me for $10k. I’m confused as to what to do from here, as it was straight to a collection agency and nothing has been communicated since the date of the accident. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? I’m just super confused on what to do.

Is it normal for a roofing company to ask upfront for a portion than insurance pays the rest along with me paying the deductible?

Not sure why my last post got deleted?

Looking for some help/guidance as I am currently fighting with my insurance to cover a stupid mistake I made by adding DEF to my diesel tank 😣
On July 20th I mistakenly added about 1/2 gallon of DEF into my fuel tank in my 2024 Diesel Tahoe before I realized my mistake. This normally wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if my car hadn’t been running at the time. But alas, with 90° heat I left the car running for the AC.
I called State Farm right away, got my car towed to our local dealership and filed a claim for repairs. The dealership has noted damage to the fuel system due to the vehicle running when the DEF was added. They are recommending a full replacement of the fuel system.

Problem #1- State Farm does not have an adjuster in our area due to it being “rural” so we are using Snapsheet to determine damages/repairs. Snapsheet bases their estimates on photos only- nobody has come out to look at the vehicle/damages in person from State Farm.

Problem #2- Snapsheet has no idea what DEF in fuel even looks like from what I can gather- and they are saying there are hints of “wear and tear” in the fuel so now they have hired a 3rd party in Texas (mind you we are in CA) to send a fuel sample to (which as of writing this I do not know if the dealership still has a physical fuel sample since the car has been there for almost a month now)

Problem #3- Snapsheet directed the dealership to flush the tank and fuel system last week (against the mechanics recommendation) so even if they could have gotten a fuel sample from the vehicle still they definitely can’t now.

Problem #4- Whoever is dealing with our claim at Snapsheet obviously does not understand how internal combustion engines work or how computer systems will detect something other than fuel in the system. They are now thinking the dealership is being dishonest about the DEF because the computer system states “water in fuel” meaning a foreign substance that is not fuel- not that it is actually water!

I’m at a loss and panicking that our claim is going to be denied due to the incompetence of the adjusters at Snapsheet. We cannot afford to pay out of pocket for this repair at this time and I don’t know what to do. Do we have any recourse if the claim is denied due to Snapsheet mishandling the claim, directing the dealership to flush the system, and not understanding the problem?

Also, please keep unkind comments to yourselves, I know I messed up greatly. I don’t need anyone saying I’m trying to scam insurance- it was an honesty mistake, trust me I would WAY rather be driving my car than these rental cars. I do have comprehensive coverage on the vehicle and our SF Agent said he would be shocked if it got denied because he has seen this covered before.

I was in a car accident in January of last year. I was at fault, and unfortunately, my insurance had expired at the time of the accident.
Nobody contacted me about paying for the damages until about a week ago, when I received a letter from T.L. Thompson & Associates. They’re trying to collect around $11,500 on behalf of State Farm for the damages from the accident.
I’m planning to contact T.L. Thompson and work out a payment plan with them.
My main concern is my credit. Can T.L. Thompson report this to Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion as a collection account? Or is an insurance subrogation claim from a car accident treated differently from regular consumer debt?
Has anyone dealt with something similar?