How do you speed up insurance co?

[Dreman]

On October 27th, a girl in a Mazda rear-ended our Trac. The damage wasn't severe, but it wouldn't start afterwards. The body shop we had it towed to still has it three weeks later, and Allstate is still deciding whether to pay for it or not. The body shop thinks a new battery is all it needs to get going (it will jump off, but won't start with the battery), but they won't touch it until someone agrees to pay for it. They've given us a loaner to drive until we get our truck back, but it's getting old driving a '94 Blazer when you had a Sport Trac.



So far the first two weeks were spent waiting for the police report to come out, so we could prove liability, since the driver of the other car (Allstate's insured) would not answer their calls. When we finally got the police report, I e-mailed it to an Allstate rep. When I called the next day, I was told it is better to send it through the fax, so I faxed it. That was yesterday, and today another rep. says it's still not in their system, and I should have put the claim number on each page, so I faxed it again! On top of all that, now it's almost three weeks, and the insured finally talked to Allstate, and says they weren't at fault! The police report clearly states they rear-ended us, and they got the ticket for "failure to control speed".



My question is this: should I call our insurance co. and see if they can help speed things along? I haven't called them yet since they wouldn't need to do anything. I haven't replaced the battery so that Allstate couldn't claim I "changed" something and they weren't liable.

 

[Richard Kolb]

Yes, call your insurance company and let them fight it out with allstate. I will always go through mine, it usually means I have to pay my deductible up front but when it isn't my fault I get reimbursed later. It's worth paying the money up front to have people that I'm paying for insurance take care of the problem rather then having people who are getting paid by the other group do it.

 

[TomT]

That's where it helps to have a good agent. One time someone hit my wife and their insurance was procrastinating. Called my agent and he had my company go ahead and pay for it and then dealt with the other company himself.

 

[A1cntrler]

Why do you need to replace the battery??? Sounds like you need to hit the "reset fuel pump switch". Usually the fuel pump shuts down in colisions to prevent the pump from spraying fuel everywhere.. Check the owners manual for the exact location, but it might be in the pass. side floorboard dash area. Just a small switch...

 

[Dreman]

Switch was pressed by tow truck driver to no effect. It won't even turn over, much less try to start. No fuel needed to turn over.



We're insured with Geico, so no local agent.

 

[Todd Z]

Do you have full coverage? or collision??

Here in NY I drove to my Insurances inspection body shop, and got a check, dropped it off to my body shop was fixed in 1 week....

You hit any body in the rear in NY your 100% at fault,.....



Don't know IF the laws are different by you, But call geico's 1800 number, Remind them of the green gecko they have and they should be pushing the claim for you...



Todd Z

 

[EddieS'04]

If the police report states her fault. Threaten them with a lawyer before you tell your agent. Years ago state farm droped me for 3 accidents in one year. None my fault, all paid by the other persons insurance. My insurance didnot have to pay out anything. When I asked my agent why I was droped, he told me to only report to them, what you have to. They make a record of everything you tell them. Your fault or not....

 

[Dreman]

I went ahead and called Geico to see if they could help speed the process up for us. I didn't see any reason to call our insurance co. before unless we had a problem with their ins. co., and I guess we are having a problem. We'll see what they come up with.



Also, it was definitely their fault. Our copy of the police report shows they rear-ended us, and they got the ticket. Geico rep. says they are at fault if they hit us. Texas is not a no-fault state, so one insurance co. will carry full load of their customer's expenses (less their deductible) if their customer is at fault.

 

[Ron N]

Dreman,this may or maynot help you,but it is the sight for the Texas insurance board.It will tellyou your rights as an auto insurance holder and where to contact if you are having trouble._Ron

 

[Gypsy me]

first if you faxed it you have proof they got it if the fax transmittle says "fax OK"



The other thing is like the others said....you call your agent and tell him/her what is going on. I'd go by way of your agent. If the police report states she is at fault. they will go after her to pay everything you paid of pocket and for repairs.



I really hate with insurance companies try to jerk people around. Just remember her insurance company is working for HER. I'd also tell her insurance company you are going to file a complaint with the State then National insurance commission. That probably would get the led out of their tush!:angry:

 

[CountyMounty]

Your insurance company should do ALL the work that is what you pay them for. You should not have to communicate with the other insurance company, the body shop, the wrecker etc at all if you do not want to. You may have to motivate your company a little but remind them how much you pay them. I dont know if it is the same in all states but here the officer does not determine fault but rather reports just the facts, the insurance companies fight over fault. Also here we (in theory) only have 5 days to complete the accident report, it gets sent to the state and the report is actually available to you or your insurance company for dowload online. I have done hundreds of accident reports and I tell every "victim" in an accident the same thing, make your insurance company do their job that is what you pay them for. They may try to get you to get the police report, dont, tell them to do it they can call the department just as well as you can, also report copies here coast $10 to $15 so they should pay for that. FYI rear end accidents are almost always found to be the fault of the person in the rear. There are very few exceptions, I had a friend rear end a car that was a drunk driver at about 1am and the car had no lights on at the time he hit it. The insurance companies fought over it but ultimately his paid, the theory was that he must have been driving to fast or not paying attention or he would have seen the vehicle anyway.



Bottom line is you pay them to do that work, the accident should not be made more stressful by the aftermath. They should cover the damages immediately and then continue the fight with the other company especially if you have full coverage on your vehicle because they will have to pay either way.