Car Accident Help

[Detailing by M]

Re: Car Accident Help

I think they blamed you partialy because it was after the turn and you had time to react. That's the only thing I can think of.
oh wait after looking at the pic again you were in the process of turning. Wow you got s*$ewed. Sue him in civil court you might win some money, but if your ok and can fix you car then maybe not

[greg0303]

Re: Car Accident Help

Update:
The other driver is 85% at fault for the accident, mainly because I did not look left when I was making a right turn... stupid but thats pretty much how it went down. I tried to push for him getting 90% but hey I'm still fine with 85

It's all about money. The other insurance company tries to pay less for their client's obvious mistake therefore they push for 15% discount.

New York State has the arbitrator board located in state capital, Albany, which deals with those stubborn situations.
Friend of mine got rear ended on Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, by a vehicle behind her which travelled either too fast or kept unsafe distance, and they tried to make her 20% responsible. The State arbitrator cut it to only 5%.

[jfelbab]

Re: Car Accident Help

The graphic depicts multiple lane roads. I think the driver making the left turn is required to turn into the left most lane first then, when clear, signal and move to the right hand lane if that was his destination. It appears he did not. His fault, IMO. Wondering why the other driver did not receive a citation at the very least for inattentive driving?

If it were me I'd have my car repaired under my insurance policy and let my insurance company subrogate payment from Geico. Do discuss this with your agent.

[heylookitskarl]

Re: Car Accident Help

It's all about money. The other insurance company tries to pay less for their client's obvious mistake therefore they push for 15% discount.

New York State has the arbitrator board located in state capital, Albany, which deals with those stubborn situations.
Friend of mine got rear ended on Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, by a vehicle behind her which travelled either too fast or kept unsafe distance, and they tried to make her 20% responsible. The State arbitrator cut it to only 5%.

First off, the person who was driving behind your friend should be 100% at fault, even if your friend stops short the person behind her should (theoretically) have a safe following distance to stop and not hit the car in front of him/ her. I got rear ended and I did not have to do ANYTHING they didnt even take a recording about what happened because the girl who hit me failed to control her vehicle or was not paying attention and got 100% of the liability.

The graphic depicts multiple lane roads. I think the driver making the left turn is required to turn into the left most lane first then, when clear, signal and move to the right hand lane if that was his destination. It appears he did not. His fault, IMO. Wondering why the other driver did not receive a citation at the very least for inattentive driving? Corret
If it were me I'd have my car repaired under my insurance policy and let my insurance company subrogate payment from Geico. Do discuss this with your agent.

^umm, I am still going through Geico (the other guys insurance company) because if I went through my insurance comapny I would have to pay $2500 in a deductible it would just make things more complicated on my end. I just want to get my car fixed

[jfelbab]

Re: Car Accident Help

...^umm, I am still going through Geico (the other guys insurance company) because if I went through my insurance company I would have to pay $2500 in a deductible it would just make things more complicated on my end. I just want to get my car fixed

Wow, that is an unusually high deductible, at least for me, but you should get that deductible fee back (or at least 85% of it) after the subrogation and you would likely have more choice of where to seek a repair and less hoops to jump through. I suspect Geico wants you to get a few repair estimates and will urge you to get your vehicle repaired at the lowest bid.

I got rear-ended at a stoplight a few years ago and the other driver had Geico. They wanted me to seek three bids for repair. I said no thanks and had my vehicle repaired at the best place I knew. At the time, my insurance company didn't charge the deductible and said if they were unsuccessful in the subrogation they would probably bill me the fee. Insurance companies deal with each other like this all the time and don't screw around with each other in the same manner they do with individuals because they know they can't get away with it. As it turned out, the other driver who ran into me was chatting (admitted to be arguing with his son) on his cellphone and didn't see the red light and cars stopped. He admitted fault to the police and was ticketed. This made things a lot simpler.

I also had a run-in with Allstate on a claim where their adjuster never showed up as scheduled, three weeks in a row, to estimate the damage. I followed this same course on that claim and was able to take my vehicle where I wanted immediately for repair. In both cases, this did not cost me a dime and did not alter my rates.

Just wanted to be sure you knew about this possibility. I'd be sure to ask your agent if that deductible fee was due immediately or after the subrogation.

You mentioned that Geico seems to think you should be 15% responsible. What does your insurance company think of this? According to the police report data and your description of the event, I don't see that you should be at all responsible.

I don't think you necessarily need to accept what Geico says as fact. Geico's goal is to limit what they pay. You are the customer of your insurance company and they want to see you get made whole and continue to be a happy premium payer. Your insurance company may have a more favorable view of the event. If you have not done so, visit with your agent and show him the police report. You have nothing to loose. I don't know how costly the repair will be, but you may not have to pay for 15% of the damages just because Geico thinks so.

Good luck. Dealing with insurance companies on claims is not always a pleasant experience.

[greg0303]

Re: Car Accident Help

+1
what Jim suggests above.

Let your insurance company get involved and try to reduce your 15% responsibility. Plus your vehicle will get fixed faster and in your chosen place.

[heylookitskarl]

Re: Car Accident Help

I am reliable for the 15% because of where the damage to the other car was (behind the passenger's side door)

Even my insurance company thought it was "descent" but I asked them to push for 90%
But nada so I guess I do not have a choice at this point.

I am going to go through Geico mainly because of the deductible (I am a 20 year old male and that is why it is so expensive)

I get my DA on thursday so after the repairs to my car are complete I will do a complete detail to the paint

[cardaddy]

Re: Car Accident Help

Karl,

WOW I'd hate to have that kind of deductable(s) on any of my cars. Whew! My daughter got into several scrapes while she was in collage, and got blamed for ALL of them. At $2500 per trip I'd be down $7500 now... not cool. OTOH I was paying at one time $3755 a year for her insurance, but only with a $250 deductable, and raising it to $1000 only saved like $200 a year so it really wasn't worth it. ;(

They will always look for a way to blame the younger driver, you can count on it. However in the diagram, and by your statement here, you say you hit him behind the passenger door. I can see where GIECO is wanting you to be on the hook for part of it. That doesn't mean that you *should* be though. Making the right turn with both of you at a 'green' then in this instance he was at fault. The claims adjuster will do anything and everything to get you to say something that can be twisted to say you didn't see this or you didn't see that and that's all it takes. Best thing is not say anything! I was turning, he hit me, period.

Shame you didn't tell them you had a crick in your neck or your leg was hurting etc. If they think you'll file a medical claim they'll sometimes pay a damage claim just to get you to sign the medical release. (FYI you have 2 years from the date of the accident to file a medical claim in most states.)

Right now GEICO (and everybody else for that matter that insures autos in NY, NJ etc) is getting HAMMERED. My wife has been with a nationwide insurance salvage auction for well over 30 years and they are shipping people and resources by the hundreds up there to handle the storm damage from Sandy. Last week they had a backlog of 11,000 cars waiting to be picked up!!!!!!! They already had 5500 in the system and more are coming in every day. She came home today showing me a private airport that they've leased (her company along with their biggest competitor) that has 2 runways. Both runways, all taxiways are packed with cars 4 deep in the middle and down both sides. The other company gets all the grassy areas and it's insane. GEICO is in deep trouble with payouts about now and we will ALL be paying more for insurance fairly shortly due to Sandy.

[thepanchmx]

You should also see when you have grren light they have red for turning if thats the case it is 100% his fault because he has to wait for green to do the turn.

[heylookitskarl]

Re: Car Accident Help

Karl,

WOW I'd hate to have that kind of deductable(s) on any of my cars. Whew! My daughter got into several scrapes while she was in collage, and got blamed for ALL of them. At $2500 per trip I'd be down $7500 now... not cool. OTOH I was paying at one time $3755 a year for her insurance, but only with a $250 deductable, and raising it to $1000 only saved like $200 a year so it really wasn't worth it. ;(
Yea thats what happens when I am a 20 year old dude

They will always look for a way to blame the younger driver, you can count on it. However in the diagram, and by your statement here, you say you hit him behind the passenger door. I can see where GIECO is wanting you to be on the hook for part of it. That doesn't mean that you *should* be though. Making the right turn with both of you at a 'green' then in this instance he was at fault. The claims adjuster will do anything and everything to get you to say something that can be twisted to say you didn't see this or you didn't see that and that's all it takes. Best thing is not say anything! I was turning, he hit me, period.
With me, I said I did not see the other guy because I was looking right to make a right turn. And thats what sunk me :/ they basically said that I should have looked left.

Shame you didn't tell them you had a crick in your neck or your leg was hurting etc. If they think you'll file a medical claim they'll sometimes pay a damage claim just to get you to sign the medical release. (FYI you have 2 years from the date of the accident to file a medical claim in most states.)

Right now GEICO (and everybody else for that matter that insures autos in NY, NJ etc) is getting HAMMERED. My wife has been with a nationwide insurance salvage auction for well over 30 years and they are shipping people and resources by the hundreds up there to handle the storm damage from Sandy. Last week they had a backlog of 11,000 cars waiting to be picked up!!!!!!! They already had 5500 in the system and more are coming in every day. She came home today showing me a private airport that they've leased (her company along with their biggest competitor) that has 2 runways. Both runways, all taxiways are packed with cars 4 deep in the middle and down both sides. The other company gets all the grassy areas and it's insane. GEICO is in deep trouble with payouts about now and we will ALL be paying more for insurance fairly shortly due to Sandy
Yea I bet, Im trying to find sandy and beat her up lol

You should also see when you have grren light they have red for turning if thats the case it is 100% his fault because he has to wait for green to do the turn.

Yea that side just has a green arrow, and goes away when my side gets a green light.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Car Accident Help

Unfortunately, unless you have witnesses, the insurance companies will assign a 50/50 liability on both you and the guy who collided with you. Without witnesses or an admission of liability from the other driver, your account of the accident will be considered "hear-say".