i got into a car accident, insurance company refuses to pay?
i got into a car accident last week, an old lady hit tried to change lanes into my lane, didn't see me and hit me. i got her driver's license information and she said she would let her insurance company handle it.
i report the accident to my insurance company and i get a call today and they are refusing to pay. it turns out that the old lady claims that i was at fault for the accident. what should i do now?
Update:so when i was at the accident, i called the local police and a highway patrol officer just asked me if anyone was hurt or anything and if the cars were still drivable. i said no one was hurt and the cars were both still drivable. the officer told me to just exchange information and go home. so now i have no police report and her insurance company says there's nothing i can do. any suggestions?
Comments
You have two options
1. If you have it use your own collision coverage and then you company will fight it out with the other company regarding who is at-fault.
2. If you do not have collision coverage there is one long shot option. In many accidents the physical damages to the cars can indicate who did what and who is at-fault. Of course, it's been a week and now you won't have access to the other persons car.
BTW, if they don't send one soon call the other company and tell them you want a written denial letter explaining why they denied the claim. That might give you some ideas on how to pick apart their denial if you truly are not at-fault.
Goo Luck
My insurance company (Progressive) gave me an 800 number and on it it says to call them IMMEDIATELY after an accident. Now I'm not saying you should have blocked traffic, but I think I would have pulled into the nearest parking lot and called them. They would have come out and look at my car, listened to my story and took it from there. I know this doesn't help you now, but in the future you might consider doing this.
Get a copy of the police report and take that to your insurance company.
It's important you get in front of the other driver's claim - for some reason, they tend to believe the person they hear from first. Since that isn't you, you're going to have to win with documentation. If you don't have that, then it's on you.
Get a police report.