Got hit by a van today.

[NightRider]

Thanks everyone for the info. Thank you Nightrider for the ride there. Sorry to hear you ran out of gas but I took the pain killers and was knocked out and tired all day. The insurance guy called me and set me up with a Kia rent a car from Enterprise. They picked me up at noon and then I took the car back home. Good news the medical adjustor called and they are paying for my ER visit. They are also paying for the day and half off of work I missed. He is stopping by my house to give me the check. It was $800 and that is a lot since I only thought I was going to get maybe $400. They asked if I wanted more money but I said no since I felt bad they were giving me twice as much.

The insurance guy said not to file a police report and that they would handle everything. The chase security filed a report and had my witness do a report as well. I got a copy of it and the insurance guy got it as well. He said since on private property they take the report as official since both parties sign it.

The claim adjustor is guying to check out my stang tomorrow and let me know If they will write me a check or they will have it fixed.

Bad news -- My car is not paid off and if the amount is not $14000 then I will be in a bind. I am going to talk to the insurance guy and if it is totaled have them give me the amount I owe the bank. It seems fair of me to ask for that much since the accident happened. So I will not be making any money off of this and hopefully they give me the full amount I owe the bank for the car.

Good news. This means if it is totaled then I can get a cheap car and buy another motorcycle. I'm going to get a car that my insurance will be cheap so no more sports car for me.

Haha, not a problem man. Just glad your ok. Errr, 14k still owed on the car? Ouch.

Glad you got 800$, that's pretty sweet. Let us know what they decide man. Hoping for the best, you need to be able to keep up on that ride.

[Mr Anderson]

Haha, not a problem man. Just glad your ok. Errr, 14k still owed on the car? Ouch.

Glad you got 800$, that's pretty sweet. Let us know what they decide man. Hoping for the best, you need to be able to keep up on that ride.

Thanks pm sent.

I bought the car last year for 21000 and I have paid a lot on it but as you know value on cars drop a lot. I have put 26000 miles on it as well. I will let you guys know what the claim adjustor says tomorrow. I will ask them to give me a payoff check for the bank if it is totaled. I took some more meds so I am going back to sleep. I am fine and nothing bad happened and no x-rays were needed. The meds help and I am not in any more pain.

[NightRider]

Thanks pm sent.

I bought the car last year for 21000 and I have paid a lot on it but as you know value on cars drop a lot. I have put 26000 miles on it as well. I will let you guys know what the claim adjustor says tomorrow. I will ask them to give me a payoff check for the bank if it is totaled. I took some more meds so I am going back to sleep. I am fine and nothing bad happened and no x-rays were needed. The meds help and I am not in any more pain.

Good to know buddy, let us know what happens. Rest up.

[wnaplay]

Sucks man. Glad to see your alright.

[|SnOmAn|]

They might not give you all of the money for the car. The value of the car drops as soon as you drive it off the lot. They have a thing down in Florida called Gap Insurance. It is tacked on to your car payment but it covers any losses if insurance doesn't give the full amount in situations like this. I had it on my car since there were a lot of theft where I worked and it was a brand new car. Hopefully you get it all so you aren't in the hole on something you don't have.

[Tony07R6]

Mr. A, you seem like a very nice guy, but don't be a push-over for this insurance company. They will try and bend you over any chance they get. They're being nice right now to try and head off any personal injury suit you may be considering. Under no circumstances should you sign off on anything with them just yet. If they don't fully payoff your stang (if its totaled), just remember head and neck injuries pay well...... you can come out ahead.

[Cypress]

Don't be nice about this. It's not like you're taking directly out of their pockets, right? Gap insurance is here in Ohio too but it doesn't sound like you have it. Try to get whatever you can out of them, at least the what is left to pay it off or the blue-book value, whatever is more. As far as injuries go, unless they settle out of court you won't get any money for a long while, could be years, but I doubt that is going to happen. On a brighter side, at least you can get that bike that you wanted. You might want to wait until next riding season so that you can pay off some debts and/or save since there isn't too many riding days left.

[V4junkie]

there isn't too many riding days left.

Spoken like a true squid

[skillz]

glad your ok!! i was thinking about you on my ride in to work this morning as the lady in front of me was putting on mascara & the person beside me was too much into their bacon egg & cheese biscuit to notice the light had changed. i went ahead and took the back roads with less traffic into chase this morning. i wasn't even gonna fool with those people.

[dmagicglock]

Mr. A, you seem like a very nice guy, but don't be a push-over for this insurance company. They will try and bend you over any chance they get. They're being nice right now to try and head off any personal injury suit you may be considering. Under no circumstances should you sign off on anything with them just yet. If they don't fully payoff your stang (if its totaled), just remember head and neck injuries pay well...... you can come out ahead.

True story, they probably cut you a check super quick so you would cash it and relieve them of any future liability for future damages or pain caused from this accident. $800 might seem like a lot, but I'd wait and see what kind of money they give you for your mustang before you cash that check or before you sign a legal waiver for them. As silly as it may sound, that "injury" can prove to be financial leverage if they try and lowball you on the cost to fix/total out your mustang.

They are insurance "adjusters" its their job to pay you as little as legally possible for damages, just keep that in mind. They actually make bonuses on keeping their claim payouts low.

[Cypress]

Spoken like a true squid

I hate you.

[buildit]

I can also add from my accident this summer a new trick that they pull. Reguardless of what the police say (other driver was sited) the offenders insurance company can declare that their client was only 50%, 75% 90% at fault and therefore only refund you that percent of your deductible. You can imagine how pissed I was to get a check for $375 out of a $500 deductible because they decided I was 25% at fault! Yes, I am fighting it since I wasn't the one who pulled across 3 lanes of traffic.

[Cypress]

glad your ok!! i was thinking about you on my ride in to work this morning as the lady in front of me was putting on mascara & the person beside me was too much into their bacon egg & cheese biscuit to notice the light had changed. i went ahead and took the back roads with less traffic into chase this morning. i wasn't even gonna fool with those people.

[dmagicglock]

I can also add from my accident this summer a new trick that they pull. Reguardless of what the police say (other driver was sited) the offenders insurance company can declare that their client was only 50%, 75% 90% at fault and therefore only refund you that percent of your deductible. You can imagine how pissed I was to get a check for $375 out of a $500 deductible because they decided I was 25% at fault! Yes, I am fighting it since I wasn't the one who pulled across 3 lanes of traffic.

I had that happen to me a few years ago. A chick ran a stop sign (I didn't have a stop sign on my road way) and pulled in front of me, I even honked and slammed on my brakes. They determined I was 20% at fault because of "comparative negligence" I looked up some good information on it, and complained to a supervisor and threatened to take them to arbitration where they would spend more money in legal representation than if they just paid me out the 100%. They then paid the 100% and gave me a few days for loss of use on my vehicle. Btw, comparative negligence is only legally binding if they take you to arbitration and its found in their favor, the insurance company can assign whatever they want, but unless you agree to it, its not binding.

[kawi kid]

[Mr Anderson]

My car was not totaled. The value was $12000 and the total damage was $7100. Its going to take 2 weeks for them to fix it. The cheap insurance company is using aftermarket part and used parts. They said that it had to have under 15000 miles for actual ford parts. Nothing I could do about it but The Ford body shop said if I did not like anything they would make the insurance adjustor pay for newer parts. The airbags were used and I am going to call make sure they install a new airbag system and try not to use the old one.

Medical adjustor called and I told him I did not want to sign anything yet. I am going to sign after I get my car back and a checkup visit to my doctor. So it will be 2 weeks before I sign off on that. My insurance agent said that they will probably offer me more money since I was holding out.

Me ---- The pain in my neck seems to be gone and my ears are very sensitive now. It hurts to talk on the cell phone after a while and I get a headache. I want know til a week for now but I feel fine. No more headaches and pain but who knows It might show up. The crappy thing is I work at call center and I am going to ask my boss to take me off the phones for a day.

[Disclaimer]

My car was not totaled. The value was $12000 and the total damage was $7100. Its going to take 2 weeks for them to fix it. The cheap insurance company is using aftermarket part and used parts. They said that it had to have under 15000 miles for actual ford parts. Nothing I could do about it but The Ford body shop said if I did not like anything they would make the insurance adjustor pay for newer parts. The airbags were used and I am going to call make sure they install a new airbag system and try not to use the old one.

Bullshit - make them buy OE parts. Another one of the PIITB moves on the insurance company. Unacceptable.

Medical adjustor called and I told him I did not want to sign anything yet. I am going to sign after I get my car back and a checkup visit to my doctor. So it will be 2 weeks before I sign off on that. My insurance agent said that they will probably offer me more money since I was holding out.

You pass the reading comprehension test given in this thread.

Me ---- The pain in my neck seems to be gone and my ears are very sensitive now. It hurts to talk on the cell phone after a while and I get a headache. I want know til a week for now but I feel fine. No more headaches and pain but who knows It might show up. The crappy thing is I work at call center and I am going to ask my boss to take me off the phones for a day.

Sucks, get better.

[Mr Anderson]

Bullshit - make them buy OE parts. Another one of the PIITB moves on the insurance company. Unacceptable.

You pass the reading comprehension test given in this thread.

Sucks, get better.

I was not on this site today and I called my insurance agent. He is the one who told me about not signing the paper for the medical claim. Thanks everyone for the heads up. Sorry about not getting on as much. Sorry about missing bike night. I'm afraid to ride my ninja right now. Thanks Jrmmiii.

"Bullshit - make them buy OE parts. Another one of the PIITB moves on the insurance company. Unacceptable."

I tried but I could do nothing about it. My insurance agent said that is the way insurance companies work. I get a lifetime warranty on my car now lol.

[rick37]

yes make them use oem parts its your car, its your right to have a say as to what goes on your car, As for after market parts I believe that it will reduce the value of the car. Who will be doing the work on the stang. I had a friend who got in a wreck last winter and it was some of the worse body work I have seen,He is still having issues with it.

Just be carefull and you know your car better than anyone and if it was me when the work is done go over it with a fine tooth comb and make sure everthing is right,Some body shops get kick backs for taking short cuts.

[InyaAzz]

DO NOT TAKE THEIR MONEY!! DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING! They are trying to bend you over right now. Throwing you a few hundred dollars is MUCH cheaper than you suing them and getting MUCH more. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SHIT!!!

[Disclaimer]

As for after market parts I believe that it will reduce the value of the car.

...

Some body shops get kick backs for taking short cuts.

Bingo. A log fell off a logging truck around a turn and a 1500lb log bashed right into the wheel of my parents '96 Impala SS.

IIRC, they got OE parts, and were still able to successfully fight the insurance company for additional monies due to a new law that says you can sue to recover the amount of "lost value" in a vehicle due to an accident on the books. I can't find the Ohio law exactly, but here is an article that explains the premise:

Diminution of Value to Your Vehicle Following an Automobile Accident

Edit: Hey Look, I found some really good reading regarding Ohio "Diminution of Property Value"

http://www.cbalaw.org/_files/publications/lawyers-quarterly/Diminution%20in%20Property%20Value%20After%20Rakich.pdf

http://www.safecollisionrepairs.com/diminished-value/ohio.html

Seriously, accept nothing less than OE, factory parts and a trusted bodyshop or dealership (preferrably) to fix this and stand behind their work.

Edited September 3, 2009 by JRMMiii

[buildit]

I may be overly paranoid but for the reasons of disclosure, I would not post anything here concerning the nature of your health with particulars. You'd be surprised what lawyers can dig up on a person from the web. If you state you're okay here they can use it in court as evidence that you are falsely acting injured. (I know this because my GF's son {14yo} got hit with info from his facebook page in court.)

Take care and be smarter than they are.

[Mr Anderson]

Bingo. A log fell off a logging truck around a turn and a 1500lb log bashed right into the wheel of my parents '96 Impala SS.

IIRC, they got OE parts, and were still able to successfully fight the insurance company for additional monies due to a new law that says you can sue to recover the amount of "lost value" in a vehicle due to an accident on the books. I can't find the Ohio law exactly, but here is an article that explains the premise:

Diminution of Value to Your Vehicle Following an Automobile Accident

Edit: Hey Look, I found some really good reading regarding Ohio "Diminution of Property Value"

http://www.cbalaw.org/_files/publications/lawyers-quarterly/Diminution%20in%20Property%20Value%20After%20Rakich.pdf

http://www.safecollisionrepairs.com/diminished-value/ohio.html

Seriously, accept nothing less than OE, factory parts and a trusted bodyshop or dealership (preferrably) to fix this and stand behind their work.

Thanks what do I need to do? Who should I call the claims adjustor? Do I tell them that I want money for the diminished value claim for my car value loss.

[Mr Anderson]

I may be overly paranoid but for the reasons of disclosure, I would not post anything here concerning the nature of your health with particulars. You'd be surprised what lawyers can dig up on a person from the web. If you state you're okay here they can use it in court as evidence that you are falsely acting injured. (I know this because my GF's son {14yo} got hit with info from his facebook page in court.)

Take care and be smarter than they are.

Thanks.

[Disclaimer]

Hellz yea, tell them you're going to speak with a lawyer / looking into filing a DV (Diminished Value) claim.

See what they say.

This whole "insurance game" is all a big bluff on who is the biggest bullshitter. All you need to do is show them you're cognizant of the law and your legal rights, and they'll pony up. Otherwise, you take it in the ass like most people who don't have the time, knowledge, understanding, ability, or any combination thereof to fight with the insurance company.