Why is State Farm insurance refusing to pay for my damages to my car, when their client hit me and kept going?
I was driving on the south bound lane of I-75 when I noticed a black SUV swerving into my lane. Before I knew it, he bumped the right side of my vehicle and forced me into the HOV lanes pillars. I immediately dialed 911 and told them what happened. I continued to follow the vehicle while telling him to pull over. Needless to say, he kept going and even old me no he was not going to stop. Well I took down his license plate number and gave it to the police dispatcher. My car was a wreck. It was covered in damages from the pillars. The police came out and took my report and cited the man with hit and run and a few other charges. I then took my car to a mechanics shop to get an estimate for his insurance company. Over a month later, I got in touch with his company and sent them a copy of the police report that I paid for. Now here is the thing. Since this was my only transportation, I took the car to be detailed with helped it look a lot better. I.e. removed the black marks and abrasions. His company came out ( a month later) and took pictures. I then get a call from his agent saying that they are not going to pay for my car because they did not see where his car impacted mine. His insurance company is State Farm. This has caused me a lot of grief. I am not seeking personal damages, like someone else would, I just want my car fixed. So what can I do now? Anyone please help me with this.
This is a difficult situation, but regardless the driver’s insurance company should cover your damages. You should’ve rented a vehicle to transport you places, for their liability coverage has to cover your expenses from that accident. If you took pictures then that would help you with the other person’s insurance company. See if you can get a signed statement from the mechanic that detailed your car stating the damages that were there.
The next step to take is you can file a complaint to your state’s Department of Insurance. What they will do is look at your case, get your side of the story, get their side of the story and determine what to do from there. Insurance companies will do ANYTHING to not pay a claim! Of course that’s their job, but paying for a claim means the company loses money, and they don’t want that! You should also consider a lawyer to help you in this case.
You did VERY well up to getting your car detailed. Next time, keep being persistant in calling the insurance company, so your claim can be handled quicker. Also, rent a car and keep your receipts of the car rental. Anything that you pay out of your pocket due to the accident HAS to be reimbursed by the insurance company or the driver. Also take photos for reference. Don’t blame yourself though. You should be able to get this resolved in your favor.
Good luck!
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Show them the police report.
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Call your insurance co and they will take care of it and recover their money from state farm.
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Unfortunately, you may have no recourse at this point. If you had (I know – "woulda, coulda, shoulda") taken photos of the damages before having it detailed and had the photos dated and initialed by the mechanic that gave you the estimate you would have had a much better chance at fighting this. You may still have some legal recourse through the individual since a police report was made and charges were filed. Good luck.
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This is a difficult situation, but regardless the driver’s insurance company should cover your damages. You should’ve rented a vehicle to transport you places, for their liability coverage has to cover your expenses from that accident. If you took pictures then that would help you with the other person’s insurance company. See if you can get a signed statement from the mechanic that detailed your car stating the damages that were there.
The next step to take is you can file a complaint to your state’s Department of Insurance. What they will do is look at your case, get your side of the story, get their side of the story and determine what to do from there. Insurance companies will do ANYTHING to not pay a claim! Of course that’s their job, but paying for a claim means the company loses money, and they don’t want that! You should also consider a lawyer to help you in this case.
You did VERY well up to getting your car detailed. Next time, keep being persistant in calling the insurance company, so your claim can be handled quicker. Also, rent a car and keep your receipts of the car rental. Anything that you pay out of your pocket due to the accident HAS to be reimbursed by the insurance company or the driver. Also take photos for reference. Don’t blame yourself though. You should be able to get this resolved in your favor.
Good luck!
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Insurance Agent in California.
most insurances will at first not want to pay for things.. it is the way things are.. you have to somewhat sue them to get them to pay for it…
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I guess by now you know not to have your car detailed when it has been involved in an accident. State Farm is suspicious because you did not take pictures and you had the car detailed. I would be also if I were their agent. Are you in a no fault state? Call your insurance company and let them repair your car. Your insurance company can work it out with State Farm.
State Farm sucks as an insurance company. When I was covered by them they would not repair my dash that got crushed in an accident. They paid for the body damage and I paid for the inside out of my pocket. I immediately changed companies because they train their agents to be dishonest.
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