Accident Investigation - other drivers story changed

Glowrdr

So last week, I was involved in an accident. At the scene of the accident, the other driver was all appologetic and admitted to the Deputy that responded that he did not see me. The Deputy also mentioned to both of us that it "was obviously his fault, but he was not going to issue a citation since it was clearly an accident"

Well, low and behold - a week later the guy is saying that I hit him so the insurance company denied my claim.

Pretty much the long and short of the story is that we were both traveling on a 4 lane highway. 2 lanes remained 35W, while 2 other lanes exited to MN Hwy 10. I was in lane 3 (left exit lane for 10), he was in lane 1 and needed to exit onto 10. He claims that I merged into the same lane as him. Well - there was no reason for me to leave my lane because I was exiting! Jackass!

Anyone ever have experience with a 50/50 claim? That's what the insurance is trying to settle for. They told me "based upon your story, we'd be inclined to deny any claim. But after talking to our driver, we are willing to pay 50%". So I say he hit me. He says we both hit each other. At no point was I changing lanes. In fact, I was in the correct lane for probably a good 3+ miles. I'd like to get camera information, but I dont know how much of that is recorded, and how much is strictly for monitoring traffic.

So without me turning the claim into my insurance, what options do I have? The reason I want to keep my insurance out of it, is mainly becuase I do not want to blindly hand off responsibility. I do not believe for a moment that they won't settle for 50% and just raise my rates. Also, between my $500 deductible and half of the damage ($1500 estimate) - I can't expect them to put too much effort into fighting for $250 which is really all my insurance would be on the hook for.

Grrr. I thought this was going to be nice and easy the way we were just shooting the breeze waiting for the cop to come. Guess not.

VR3

I think your main issue was not getting a citation from the cop... atleast if I am understanding everything correctly and now it is all he said she said bs...

I know this is no help... >_<

Polkersince85

Get a copy of the accident report from the Deputy's office. Never seen an accident without one. That will tell you what is and what ain't.

Glowrdr

I've got AAA, and it was State Farm for the other driver. I'd say if anything, I've got the smaller company of those 2. No pictures at the scene. We actually pulled off the highway onto the next County Road as not to get run over. lol

I called the Sheriffs office and the lady blew me off and said I needed to get a copy of the report because the officers job is to "write the report and move on" is what she told me. I'm almost thinking our accident was "odd" enough that he might recall certain details - but whether it would be enough to convince anyone if it came down to it is questionable. I realize that I probably wasn't his only call for the day.

I'll post back with the police report info. I've never seen one before, so I sure hope it's detailed. I was told over the phone though that it was only 1 page, and it would cost me a quarter.

dudeinaroom

All I can do is say good luck, and that really sucks.

gdb

Go to court, subpoena the deputy to testify as to what he stated at the scene, or, get his deposition stating the same.

mrbigbluelight

As Polker mentioned, they HAVE to file a police report if they respond to an accident.

Had a gal once try to blame me for an accident when she should have thanked me for not T-Boning her Saturn with my F150.

Took the local cop about 3 weeks to file his report ("He's working on it"), but in the report it correctly mentioned her failure to yield to traffic.

Hang in there, it should turn out okay.

george daniel

State farm is a PIA to deal with,,I have USAA,,,guy t-bones me recently,,gets citation,,accident report shows it's his fault(failing to yield),,SF denies claim,,utter BS,,my ins just fixed my car and went after SF,,if you ask me,these companies are all in bed together.Good luck.

ohskigod

a) what does the accident report say
b) if the other persons insurance is busting balls....put it in the hands of your insurance company.....its what you pay them for.

exalted512

Insurance agencies try to do this all the time. Get the accident report and go from there.

If I'm ever pulled over or get in an accident, my phone will be recording instantly. In Texas, that's perfectly legal, in other states, it depends. But it would've solved this instantly. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Good luck.
-Cody

EndersShadow

Hehehe, so I work for a insurance company (dealing with defense work for car accidents), so I can give you a bit of insight into this hopefully.

My wife was in a car accident. The fault was 100% on the other driver and even the Police Officer said that at the scene. The other lady calls her insurance and my wifes and of course changes the story (I wont bore you with details). My wife told the factual story to her insurance company and the other ladies. The other ladies insurance refused to pay the claim since according to their insured it was my wifes fault. Our insurance didnt want to do anything right away since there was a dispute as to liability.

The police were called (which you should always do NO MATTER WHAT), and my wife got a little buisness card with the report number. Once the police report came out, and verified my wifes story, it was all resolved with my wife getting no fault.

So wait for the police report (it can be up to 14 days depending on how busy they are), order a copy yourself if you can so you have it, read it and go from there.

Both companies will request a copy of that report and once it gets in if it tells the actual story differently then the situation will change.

Let me know if you want to talk a bit more off the forum about it and I can PM you my phone #

cstmar01

Polkersince85 wrote: »

Get a copy of the accident report from the Deputy's office. Never seen an accident without one. That will tell you what is and what ain't.

Bingo. he should have filed a report and if he sided with you and said he the driver was at fault then it should be in there. Also if the driver then states he never said that and still won't honor the claim you can always sue.

My dad got slammed into by a 17 year old girl when he was at a stop sign because she never stopped and was going 45 (in a 25). At first her insurance company only wanted to pay out a very little to my dad stating he was somewhat at fault for being there. HELLO he was at a stop sign, not moving. She failed to stop. duh.

well long story he sued and won easily but at first they wanted to try and play hardball and not do anything. Also they didn't want to cover his medical bills as he had to go through thearpy and all that. Insurance companies most of the time are just trying to pay out as little as they have to so any reason they can deny the claim they will.

Just might have to fight them a little.

codyc1ark

Eh, SF is going through some... 'issues' currently from what I understand. I'd keep on SF, they'll pay eventually. Sounds like a lazy officer to me, he didn't want to do the extra paperwork for the ticket to save him some time, and now it's **** up your end of the claim. I see this all the time. I'd make sure you are rated not - at - fault, if so, go ahead and let your insurance take care of everything, they'll subro it back to SF when everything is said and done on your end. Good luck.

Oh, BTW, how many days has it been? Sometimes it will take some time to get this sorted out.

Glowrdr

I think I've got this one in the bag. It happened on the 12th, so just over a week.

On the cops side of things - I almost think he did us a favor (at that time). The accident happened on the highway and we pulled off at the next exit. A local Sheriff came for the report, and kind of got this "oh ****" look in his eyes when we told him it happened on 35W and we pulled off. He said a State Patrol should be the one there, but that he wouldn't make us wait. Glad for that, but yeah - would have been better if he wouldn't have been nice and forgave the citation. Although, it was a nice gesture.

Got the PR, and it states "Unit 1 in lane 2, Unit 2 in lane 3. Unit 2 changed to lane #2 and struck Unit 1"

There are some additional directional and damage reports, but I sure hope that the officers account is all that is needed. Otherwise with the 35W mixup, and our conversations - I hope the Deputy recalls the incident (realizing I wasn't his only call of the week)

I'll keep you posted.

Oh - I called MnDot today, and they said no insurance or subpeona needed to collect traffic cam video. I told them the date, time frame and which 3 cameras I wanted video from. They said they'd get on it. Wow, that was easy. Did the system work for me? Only time will tell once I actually receive the video. lol

EndersShadow

Glowrdr wrote: »

I think I've got this one in the bag. It happened on the 12th, so just over a week.

On the cops side of things - I almost think he did us a favor (at that time). The accident happened on the highway and we pulled off at the next exit. A local Sheriff came for the report, and kind of got this "oh ****" look in his eyes when we told him it happened on 35W and we pulled off. He said a State Patrol should be the one there, but that he wouldn't make us wait. Glad for that, but yeah - would have been better if he wouldn't have been nice and forgave the citation. Although, it was a nice gesture.

Got the PR, and it states "Unit 1 in lane 2, Unit 2 in lane 3. Unit 2 changed to lane #2 and struck Unit 1"

There are some additional directional and damage reports, but I sure hope that the officers account is all that is needed. Otherwise with the 35W mixup, and our conversations - I hope the Deputy recalls the incident (realizing I wasn't his only call of the week)

I'll keep you posted.

Oh - I called MnDot today, and they said no insurance or subpeona needed to collect traffic cam video. I told them the date, time frame and which 3 cameras I wanted video from. They said they'd get on it. Wow, that was easy. Did the system work for me? Only time will tell once I actually receive the video. lol

LOL, as long as your car is identified as unit 1 you should be ok. You should be in the clear and not need the video (but I would get it as it never hurts to have it).

exalted512

It didn't happen unless we see video footage on Club Polk
-Cody

Glowrdr

I'll see what I can do about the vid. lol. Here is a teaser I guess. I don't know what's worse. The pushed in fender (you can kind of see it just in front of the tire) and door - or the fact that I've let my car turn Winter White.

Glowrdr

Oh.. and here is the "official" recreation. lol - I never knew my Infiniti was 3 times the size of an Accord.

Glowrdr

Greetings Mr. Williams. Unfortunately the camera feed is a short duration loop stored for about 3 to 4 days and then it writes over itself. So I cannot pull any video from 12/13.

That answers that question. Oh well. Think I'm still safe Enders?

EndersShadow

Glowrdr wrote: »

Greetings Mr. Williams. Unfortunately the camera feed is a short duration loop stored for about 3 to 4 days and then it writes over itself. So I cannot pull any video from 12/13.

That answers that question. Oh well. Think I'm still safe Enders?

Personally if the police report is on your side and it is, you should have much more negotiating power. I would call his insurance company, fax them over and copy of the report and see what they want to do. I also wouldn't hesitate to get your insurance involved as the other person might have already called it in for you.

I figure the fact that I pay insurance on my car means I turn things in when there are accidents. You never know if the frame itself might have twisted, your axels bent, etc (unless your skilled in that area, which I am not). Better to be safe than get hit with a big related repair bill later on.

codyc1ark

ES, as always, provides good info. The police report should be all you need. Even though the picture is rough, I would be led to believe that the damage is cosmetic. Thankfully for you, SF adjusters are normally well trained. If it were me, let SF handle the claim and use one of their shops so you have a warranty, that way there will never be any what if's. Feel free to pm me as well if you have any questions about your estimate.

Glowrdr

Victory is Mine! New fender, drivers door skin, and bumper. I paid to have a new grill installed, and to have the hood repainted. From the doors up, this is a completely newly refinished car. Loving it, because it's in better shape than when I bought it - so its' basically a new car again for me. (It's a 2007 Infiniti G35, with 134k miles on it.. was due for a repaint)

EndersShadow

So I take it they paid up?

Upstatemax

Nice!

I had an old lady merge into me years ago... She pulled the same crap and her insurance tried to back out.

Got the police report and faxed it right to them. Got a call 20 minutes later with an approval to fix my car.

It's nice to beat out a POS liar.

Glowrdr

Yep, all was paid in the end. Thankfully the police report was all that was needed.

Nothing against Hyundai's - but man... was I glad to give back that Sonata.

dudeinaroom

Awesome!!!!!

nguyendot

Great to hear man. Earlier this year an elderly woman backed into my 09 CTS at the Goodwill and tried to blame it on me. I was stopped, and laying on the horn the entire time to get her to stop. She got out said I should have honked, moved out of the way, and it's totally not her fault. My wife works for Farmers as a liability adjuster so I just let her handle the talking. Old woman was so mean to us, then called the cops on us (private property...). After that she went inside and told everyone we hit her car and are now harassing her, so they all gave us the stink eye. I let her rant to the people inside then grabbed the manager and asked if we could see the surveillance video. Old woman didn't know it was all caught on tape. I looked at it and clearly she backed up AFTER I did, but since I saw her coming I stopped and honked for the longest time, before/during/after. She didn't believe us. So the cop came, and was annoyed we called him to private property for an accident. The wife told him that the old woman called, we were just prepping him for her horrible attitude. He told us he couldn't really do anything, and wouldn't even come look at the video. After that he went to talk to her and she was horrible to him. He came back and was like... "you know what, she was mean... I think I'll look at that video now". We all went inside and looked at it, and he told her she clearly was at fault and needed to drop the attitude.
She didn't believe him even after reviewing the film. The manager was nice and told us we could come get a copy of the video later when they exported it. The cop was so upset at the woman he gave us his phone # and badge #.
I got a call from my insurance company a few days later - she filed against me. Funny story since I filed against her. She told them a BS story and they were defending her on it. I emailed the video to them and not 5 minutes later they called me to accept 100% fault and would be paying for my bumper damage. I was pretty upset, but I kept my cool. In the end it worked out, but it'd be nicer if people who can't handle their vehicles were off the road entirely.

dfretwell

Similar thing happened to me a year ago. I'm sure to get witness phone numbers now to prove my case.