You guys crack me up...seriously The police report is a guideline...the officers were NOT witnesses to the accident. The report is therefore heresy and a guideline of the basic stories as told by both parties and the opinion of the officers. It still boils down to your word vs. the other person unless there is a 3rd unrelated party who witnessed the loss. I wouldn't rack up a large rental bill unless the other insurance company accepts liability or your own insurance company promises to pay for your rental. I say this because if the other company denies liability you are on your own for the rental bill...you must mitigate your own damages. Personally I would go through your own company to pay for the car and have them subrogate the other company, it'll get settled a lot faster. Each insurance company can make it's own decision and if it is not 100% favorable to you then you can have your company take it to arbitration, which takes about 3 months from the filing date, or you can hire an attorney and litigate it which will take way over a year. Just keep calling the other company a couple times a week until they make their decision, get a copy of the police report and send it to them, it's faster than them ordering it and would probably sway their decision in your favor.

And as for the "not a good move sherlock" reply re: my screw the lawyer post...umm...OK. Do you work for an insurance company and have you handled hundred of injury settlements like I have. We give NO more money to people with attorneys vs. people who handle it themselves. Every injury has a certain dollar range that it is worth, determined by various means, an atty. won't get you more money, they only end up taking a lot of what you are owed. Think before you post, seriously.

 

the report might be heresay, but having an officer who is trained in spotting someone on drugs say that she's on drugs, as well as having this lady tell the cops she took Soma one hour before and that she also takes Percocet is not.

on a standard amount for given injuries...ha! they try low-balling first. that seems to be policy with too many companies. those that fight for themselves get more than those who do not.

i don't think this will be a fight when they see the damage and read the full report. i'm guessing i just got the canned response that they give before they get all the facts. It does piss me off that the lady that hit me is not owning up to her actions, though.

 

[QUOTE=Vanos954,Jun 2 2005, 04:55 PM]And as for the "not a good move sherlock" reply re: my screw the lawyer post...umm...OK.

 

ouch and sorry that happend. good luck with everything.

 

turns out that their insurance company did not have the police report. i gave that to them this morning.

also, they are recommending my car not be repaired. they have not accepted liability yet, but that should be soon.

I plan to ask:
$20800: kbb retail value for 2001 w/ 55k with cd changer
$600 for exhaust
$550 for my unused warranty
$800 for the optional honda body pieces
$500 for dealer fees that I'll pay on a new car
$1395 sales tax on it all at 6%
$24645 total

 

1st send a nice letter to the Honda engineer in charge of crumple zones. That probably did more for you than money ever will. Stay cool, be persistent, don't sign a settlement till the day you go to court. I think it is the responsibility of the following driver to stop. If she was in fact on a med that inhibits your ability to operate a heavy machinery (get a copy of the directions for Soma and Percoset) thats a big plus in your favor. Utilize your insurance company's lawyers instead of buying one as suggested above. You may not recoup everything for your S2000 but you can more than make up for it in medical bills, pain and suffering, Future loss of mobility. Document everything!
Good luck.

 

Dude, if they try to repair the car, please get some new rear tires and check your tire pressure.

Glad you're okay.

 

the rear tires were perfect before the accident. they both still had 80%+ tread left and wore perfect. the pic is a little deceptive on their condition as they are dirty and the camera sucks. they're only 3 months old.

they won't be repairing the car because of frame damage. thank god. they have not made an official proclamation of liability because I only gave them the police report (saying she's DUI) yesterday. I talked to some cops yeserday and they told me that it can somtimes take weeks for the DUI charge to be official.

I got a packet from their insurer for my injury claim yesterday. they want my whole medical history as well as how much money I make. The latter is none of their business and the former will be only what is relevant. I'll give all that to my insurer and have them filter out what they don't want me saying.

 

They're likely asking for medical history to try to find some prior medical condition that might contribute to the symptoms that you had. My wife went through a similar scenario when we got rear ended a long time ago, and the insurance company tried to claim that my wife's whiplash was a pre-existing condition.

The request for income might be for demographic analysis of claims. It also might be used to trigger an investigation for insurance fraud if you were unemployed or had minimal income. It would not be surprising to find that their payout to you could be influenced by how much money you make.

 

...or it might be to determine how much to pay for any missed work. just thought of that. My income is not really high, but it's more than enough to rule out desperation for cash.

i have kidney failure and peripheral neuropathy that requires me to take methodone for the pain. I want to keep that part from them lest they try to say that I was also under the influence and thus contributed to the accident. I have clearance from my doctor to drive and I only take it before bed, anyway; I just don't need the hassle.

I also got the damage estimate in the mail today...$12,500. That's with them using non-honda collision parts, too, which would not fly with me. It's totalled; now I just have to wring out at least kbb retail and other legitimate costs (title, dealer fees, sales tax, plates) from them.