$200 from insurance company, cost more than 700 to fix!!?

My best friend was in a car accident a little over a week ago. He was driving to work early in the morning, slid on ice, and almost went off the road. A can came up from behind him, couldn't stop and hit him, pushing him into a ditch. The man got out of his car, apologized, said he tried to stop. The officer came along, asked if he had any injuries and if he thinks there is damage to the front of the car. He then called a wrecker, to have him pulled out of the ditch ($75). The officer determined that noone was at fault, the accident was due to bad weather.

We obtained a copy of the police report, and it states that he was in the ditch before the car rear ended him! The officer must have been going by what the other guy said, as he did not get asked his side.

The other guys insurance is now refusing to pay for the front end damage, only for the rear bumper. They gave a check for $200, when the lowest estimate he got was more than 700!

Does this sound right to anyone?
Additional Details
The insurance company told him that the guy had first told them that he slid into him and pushed him into the ditch, then changed his story to he hit him after he was already in the ditch (my guess is th guy obtained a copy of the police report too, and decided to go with the story).

The other guys insurance company recorded my friends statement. A relative of his said he should have NEVER allowed them to record. Does it matter? He didnt see why it would matter.

Any advice would be appreciated..

dodgefreak55

take it to small claims court

Phil M

Yes it does sound right. If the other gentleman was not liable for his front end damage, why should they pay it? According to the police report the guy who rear-ended your friend was not responsible for the front-end damage so why should they pay it?

She can file on her own insurance to get the front end fixed if she so desires.

Just because its an accident doesn't mean someone else should pay for it.

This is what the insurance company knows 1) their client rear-ended another person 2) the police report (unbiased supposedly) states the front-end damage is not due to the rear-end accident 3) their driver was at fault for rear-ending another driver.

So they pay out damages for the rear-end damage, and they do not pay out for damage that was not caused by their insured (due to the police report).

There really isn't anything wrong with the insurance company in this one, and believe me they are wrong in many, many instances.

The issue you have is with the police report, not the insurance company.

Oh and this is all paid out from the other drivers Liability coverage, not collision. Thats for damages you incur yourself in an accident that is your fault.

Marc

Have your insurance company contact that of the guy that hit you. They should be responsible for the damage to the front as well as the tow from the ditch.

Queen B

have your friend call HIS insurance company and see if they will offer any help to him. Thats BS and we can all see it, but unfortunately the cop seems to not have any common sense when looking at an aciident scene. mosr ethan likely the guys ins company is gonna pay for his rea damage and not front end, and that will be the end of it unless your friend wants to try and pursue in court, where he will most likley loose and end up having spent a lot of his own money for nothing. take it as lesson learned about making sure your side of the report is in there

Papa Smurf

whoa! thats really bad. it sounds suspicious that he only crashed into your friend after your friend was already in the ditch

Fordman

The problem arises from the police report. See if your friend can get an ammended report. If the car was in the ditch before he was hit, then I can see why his insurance isn't going to pay for the front end damage.

Good luck.

curious george

Depends on what state he lives in if it is no fault or not. It should be the drivers fault who slid into him pushing him into the ditch, if that's how it happened. That should be coverend under collision coverage.

googie

Isn't that a good reason to make sure that you are adequately covered with insurance? A lesson is to be learned here.If one gets himself into any auto accident, get the full facts from each party and be sure that your side of the story is true and properly documented in the police report. It doesn't cost but a little time which could save many headaches in the future.

berlytea

all together now--RIPPED OFF.

â™¥ Uwish â™¥

A recorded statement is secured so that no one can go back and change their story as to what happened in the accident.

Ask the insurance company for a copy of their estimate and a list of shops that can repair his car for the $200. If they cannot provide to you, I would suggest filing a complaint with the department of insurance for whatever state you live in.

As far as if he was in the ditch before or after he was hit from behind, sounds like that is word vs word, and with no witnesses, the company will favor their persons word over your friends. Sorry, just how it works.

Hope this helps

Jay B

No its not right...you need say this....if your friend was already in the ditch, and the guy hit him in the rear bumper...then the guy that hit him would also have been in the ditch if your friend was in the ditch "before" he got hit...clearly the guy wasn't in the ditch....thus he definitely hit your friend before he was in the ditch....most likely this reasoning will not work b/c insurance companies don't operate via reason...but get your friend to call and talk to an agent about 15 or 20 minutes before one of their offices close on friday afternoon...most close at 5 p.m. or so....If your friend will stay on the phone and constantly just keep reiterating his point but in a very nice way, eventually it will be time for the insurance people to go home and they will start to get frustrated...they will try to tell him there is nothing they can do and to have a nice day...but he needs to be like "oh so your just going to hang up on me??? please let me speak to your manager!!" Eventually they will buckle b/c they want to go home and carry on with their lives....I did this when I got screwed out of about 500 also and they gave in...they can't hang up on you unless your rude...also if they tell him he will have to call "so and so" on monday, he just needs to say "no thanks, I would rather handle this now, I will not be available next week"...He just has to be persistent...It is annoying but I would rather be annoying for an hour or so and get my $500 than let them trample over me just b/c they think they can...Good Luck

UCANTCME

NO IT DOESN'T.

1. TALK WITH YOUR INSURANCE AGENT FIRST.

2. CHECK WITH THE BOARD OF INSURANCE WHICH IS ON LINE AND SEE IF THEY CAN HELP YOU.

$Sun King$

Have your friend call his insurance company and ask them to tell the other insurance company that your friend is feeling a bit of whiplash coming on.

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