The other morning my girlfriend (Carey) was driving her kids to school. An old lady lost control of her car after getting t-boned by someone running a red light and veered into oncoming traffic full speed.
Carey’s car, slowing down while approaching the intersection to make a left turn, was that oncoming traffic. Her '97 Volvo 850 was hit head-on, pushed backwards about 40 feet and is now quite the mess. Carey and her kids seem to have been unharmed, thankfully.
The car that t-boned the old lady was apparently stolen. Driver fled the scene and ditched the car a few blocks farther down the street.
Carey’s being told by the old lady’s insurance that they’re not willing to pay for anything because they don’t feel their policy holder is at fault. The red-light-running, t-boning car thief hasn’t been found, and even if/when he is he’s not likely to have money or insurance of his own to clean up his mess.
We didn’t have collision on the Volvo because, well, it’s a 97.
Shop that towed the car wants $350 for towing and storage costs before they’ll release it. AAA won’t tow it for free because it’s not registered to me, so even if we store it in the garage we’ll still have to pay more to have it towed here.
So… What to do? Pay to spring the car, let it take up space, and get a lawyer to pursue a claim against the car that hit her? Abandon hope of a successful claim and let the towing company keep the car to cover towing/storage? Other ideas?
Good luck. I’ve been reading up on this one since I wasn’t sure and her insurance company probably has grounds to deny liability.
I think user fourseasonsandles is an insurance adjuster (or at least in the insurance industry). Maybe PM him for advice. He’s had the best advice about insurance issues I’ve seen posted on NYSpeed in other insurance threads.
I was involved in a three car accident once where a car rear-ended a car who rear-ended me [while I was rear ending my gf, jk]. The guy who hit me (middle guy) was responsible for all my damage, then he had to go after the guy whom rear-ended him.
(I know there is a lot of rear ending in this story.)
The owner of the t-boning car told her insurance company that the car was stolen, but according to the police there’s no actual evidence of theft and their report doesn’t even mention the possibility of theft. Officer thinks they left the scene because the car’s registration was expired.
So now that it’s been established that they’re lying about it being stolen, I think the insurance hassles will soon be sorted. We’ll pursue it with the insurance of the car that hit Carey and they can worry about recovering from T-Boner.
Good luck with that. His girlfriend didn’t have collision on the car so her insurance has no stake in this property damage accident. The only way I see the girlfriends insurance going after either of the other insurance companies is if they were stuck paying for the damages.
That’s called fraud, and lying about things hurting when they don’t is the reason why insurance companies have state-wide increases and your rates go up…lol
Your GF’s policy should have Underinsured/Un-Insured Motorist coverage. This is used when the other person’s policy doesnt have enough to pay for all the damages, or in this case when its a hit-an-run… If all else fail with this older woman’s policy not paying out then your GF policy should be able to pay for the damages.
I’m only in Homeowners Insurance though… So don’t quote me
Ok, insurance lady came back with a retardedly low offer. Less than half of the car’s NADA value and less than a third of KBB price… Because they found one in CT and another in NH with 40k more miles at fire sale prices. Almost certainly have significant problems if they’re offered at fractions of ‘good condition’ prices.
Look up a '97 Volvo 850 GLT with touring and winter packages, then put a brand new battery in and slap on new winter tires with a single season on them. Not a spec of rust, great condition mechanically, never any problems. And we’re supposed to replace it with the cheapest random, rusty, run-down, falling-apart piece of shit they can find on Craigslist?
Carey told her that she didn’t agree with their appraisal so the insurance lady said she’d escalate it to someone else on their side.
What are the options at this point?
I’m inclined to take over dealing with these clowns because they’re clearly trying to take advantage of “some silly girl”. Would they have to deal with me instead of Carey if she requests that they do so?
do craigslist posting really account for car value these days? seems NADA prices are the best bet… what is the insurance company? dont post if you dont want to
