Question for you car insurance savvy people

[Mystic-SVT]

My dad was involved in a car accident november 19th (17 days ago), he was at a stop light waiting to turn left when an 18 wheeler hit him and two others. My dads truck (Nissan Frontier), a late '00s GMC Denali, and a Dodge Caliber were totaled in the wreck.

Every passenger and driver went to the hospital with the exception of the 18 wheeler driver. My dad was the one with the least amount of injuries, the other people were in BAD shape especially the guys in the dodge caliber.

I made the claim for him Monday 21st and got a call from the agent that was going to be handling the claim that same afternoon. She told me they just needed to get all the statements from everyone in the wreck and they would be out to inspect the vehicles, etc, etc. I was told to expect a call the next day (tuesday).

Wednesday comes around and no call so I decide to call to her to get an update on when they were coming out to look at the truck. She tells me they are doing an investigation as to whether there is going to be enough coverage to pay for all the damages and hospital bills for everyone. Thanksgiving rolls around and I wait for a call to be made by tuesday/wednesday. I call the claims agent back on wednesday and get her voicemail. I call the 1-800 number to try to get some info as to what is taking so long.

I get a call today from the new agent that has been assigned to the case. She tells me that they are still doing an investigation as to what they are going to cover if they even cover anything. Supposedly the trucking company canceled their policy the day before the wreck so there might not be any coverage at all. She told me to file a claim with my dads insurance company which I already did. He didn't have full coverage on his truck, just his other vehicles so the only thing my dad's insurance will cover are his hospital bills.

Now my question is, what possibly could be taking them so long to investigate that 17 days later they can't give us a definite answer as to if they're going to cover this wreck or not. Should my dad just go ahead and get a lawyer to go ahead and handle this case, or should he wait to hear what the trucking company's insurance is going to do?

Sorry for the long post guys

-Esteban

 

[RDJ]

Hire a lawyer, have all communications go through HIM.

 

[AAG]

They told you its a coverage issue. That takes time to confirm if they will afford coverage or not. 9/10 they are going to deny coverage, start lawyering up and sue the company who owns the 18 wheeler.

 

[F8LBITEva]

damn what a shitty situation. good luck

 

[adtp337]

They told you its a coverage issue. That takes time to confirm if they will afford coverage or not. 9/10 they are going to deny coverage, start lawyering up and sue the company who owns the 18 wheeler.

Agreed. They may also be having trouble getting a statement from the driver of the 18-wheeler as they are notoriously difficult to deal with. If they are going to afford coverage they have to figure out who's going to get what cause by the sounds of it there probably will be a cvg limits issue.

 

[4u 2 nv]

Hire a lawyer, have all communications go through HIM.

X 11-teen

 

[Mystic-SVT]

Well I talked to my dad and it looks like we'll be hiring a lawyer.

 

[brucesvt]

good luck and keep us posted on the situation. hope everything goes well

 

[Jefe]

A lawyer is the last thing anyone should ever need or want in a car accident. Your insurance company can provide a lawyer for you from your insurance policy(unless you have "Joe Blow" Insurance). If they are going to cover the Injury portion of the claim, that means they will subrogating the Trucking Co's Insurance policy. That means they will be talking anyways. At the very minimum your Insurance Agent can force the other company to come to a decision...if you have an Insurance Agent

If there is coverage, it takes less than 5 minutes for them to approve the coverage for the claim and proceed with statements. When theres no coverage, it can take a while because they need to be absolutely certain there was no coverage on the date the accident occured. It could be because of a non-payment issue on the trucking companies end, the Insurance Co cancelled them for some reason, or because the insured requested the policy be cancelled(new insurance, company out of business, etc). Numerous scenarios come into play, most of which shouldnt take more than a few business days.

Considering you have a non-working vehicle and some injuries, I would of been calling every single day until I had a for sure answer. If possible I would of also gotten contact info for the other parties that were damaged/injured so you could all be going after them at the same time.

Did he get the drivers name or the name of the trucking company? Did he get a police report? At this point you need an answer from the insurance company. The key to getting claims handled is threatening adverse action. They need to solve claims in a reasonable amount of time and in this case time is just about up, especially if they are still trying to determine if their is coverage. Theres something fishy going on between the Ins Co and the Trucking Co

 

[ionahead]

Good call on the lawyer. You should also ask your provider if your car insurance will go up, just so you’re prepared. And if you feel like the lawyer and the insurance provider aren’t doing right by you, file an appeal with your State Insurance Commissioner.

 

[candy3369]

I am a claims adjuster, but it's for homeowner's, so I don't deal with auto policies...but I will try to help you the best I can!

In NC, which has waaaaay different auto laws than pretty much any other state, you have uninsured motorists coverage that is automatic on your policy. It is typically policy limits as your liability. For your auto policy to cover, they have to prove the other person in fact does not have liability coverage. Now I'm thinking, and I could be wrong, but I'm thinking uninsured motorists also has coverage for vehicles, here it is $100 ded. Again, it has to be proven they are in fact uninsured.

Also, in NC, if someone's policy cancels for non pay, the state actually enforces the policy a certain number of days past the expiration date. I remember we paid for a wrecked motorcycle where the policy had cancelled, I know that one had a lien, so it may have been an issue where legally we had to provide covg for the lienholder past the non pay date-typically only a few days.

Also, if there is no other policy, there is no subrogating. In short, either your uninsured motorists covers it, or the trucker has coverage and he covers it, then if it becomes a limits issue, you may have underinsured covg. That's the way it works in NC, but I'm pretty sure some states do not require you buy un/underinsured motorists.

Last thing, and this is probably a long shot considering there is a wreck, but if it cancelled for non pay, they may be able to get it reinstated within so many days of cancellation.

 

[RDJ]

this is awesomely good stuff. for someone in north carolina. did you notice that he is in Texas?

I am a claims adjuster, but it's for homeowner's, so I don't deal with auto policies...but I will try to help you the best I can!

In NC, which has waaaaay different auto laws than pretty much any other state, you have uninsured motorists coverage that is automatic on your policy. It is typically policy limits as your liability. For your auto policy to cover, they have to prove the other person in fact does not have liability coverage. Now I'm thinking, and I could be wrong, but I'm thinking uninsured motorists also has coverage for vehicles, here it is $100 ded. Again, it has to be proven they are in fact uninsured.

Also, in NC, if someone's policy cancels for non pay, the state actually enforces the policy a certain number of days past the expiration date. I remember we paid for a wrecked motorcycle where the policy had cancelled, I know that one had a lien, so it may have been an issue where legally we had to provide covg for the lienholder past the non pay date-typically only a few days.

Also, if there is no other policy, there is no subrogating. In short, either your uninsured motorists covers it, or the trucker has coverage and he covers it, then if it becomes a limits issue, you may have underinsured covg. That's the way it works in NC, but I'm pretty sure some states do not require you buy un/underinsured motorists.

Last thing, and this is probably a long shot considering there is a wreck, but if it cancelled for non pay, they may be able to get it reinstated within so many days of cancellation.

 

[Jefe]

In NC you have uninsured motorists coverage that is automatic on your policy.

Its not an option? Didn't know it was required in any state. Only BI/PD is required here. A signature accepting or rejecting coverage is required here and in almost all states

Now I'm thinking, and I could be wrong, but I'm thinking uninsured motorists also has coverage for vehicles, here it is $100 ded. Again, it has to be proven they are in fact uninsured.

Some state have UM/UIM Property Damage. Usually a set limit like your Property Damage coverage. Ranges from $10k to $1mil. No fault states cover it under Collision

Also, if there is no other policy, there is no subrogating. In short, either your uninsured motorists covers it, or the trucker has coverage and he covers it, then if it becomes a limits issue, you may have underinsured covg. That's the way it works in NC, but I'm pretty sure some states do not require you buy un/underinsured motorists.

The other option is going after the driver personally. But that usually involves lawyers and a lovely time in court

Now I'm thinking, and I could be wrong, but I'm Last thing, and this is probably a long shot considering there is a wreck, but if it cancelled for non pay, they may be able to get it reinstated within so many days of cancellation.

Ive never seen a company reinstate a policy just to cover a claim. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot :lol:

 

[candy3369]

this is awesomely good stuff. for someone in north carolina. did you notice that he is in Texas?

Obviously I saw he was in TX, did you not see where I put "in NC which has way different laws than any other state"?

I have never seen them reinstate a policy to cover a claim either, but I have seen insurance companies do LOTS of strange things! Like paying for a totaled motorcycle after it cancelled for non pay because it had a lien! As far as the UM/UIM property damage, again that's automatic here. I don't know TX auto policies, but I can't imagine if UM/UIM is not mandatory, that you can buy it without buying UM/UIM PD....again....I have seen insurance companies do many strange things though!

My guess is, if the trucking company actually cancelled the policy instead of it lapsing, they have another policy floating around that op doesn't know about.

 

[RDJ]

considering you spent half a page telling him how it works in north carolina, no it was not obvious that you saw he was in TX. and yes I did see where you put "in NC which has way ..... blah blah" but then proceeded write a bunch of stuff that is irrelevant in TX.

Obviously I saw he was in TX, did you not see where I put "in NC which has way different laws than any other state"?

I have never seen them reinstate a policy to cover a claim either, but I have seen insurance companies do LOTS of strange things! Like paying for a totaled motorcycle after it cancelled for non pay because it had a lien! As far as the UM/UIM property damage, again that's automatic here. I don't know TX auto policies, but I can't imagine if UM/UIM is not mandatory, that you can buy it without buying UM/UIM PD....again....I have seen insurance companies do many strange things though!

My guess is, if the trucking company actually cancelled the policy instead of it lapsing, they have another policy floating around that op doesn't know about.

 

[Jefe]

Must of missed some medications today...

Mystic keep us updated on this