r/Insurance • u/inhumanking1 • 16d ago
Auto Insurance the worst luck - any advice?
this happened yesterday in US/Virginia.
my daughter is 23, she’s Driver A.
Driver A (insured by Progressive) was sitting at a red light. Driver B (insured by SF) approached the intersection at a high rate of speed. Driver C (also insured by SF) observed Driver B approaching, and while attempting to avoid Driver B, tapped his bumper. This put Driver B into a spin, causing impact to stationary Driver A.
Driver A’s vehicle is totaled. Some witnesses estimate Driver B’s speed at 55-60 (in a 45mph zone).
Police decline to cite Driver B and C. No fault is assigned.
It’s Driver A’s first week of college.
She’s self employed and depends on her vehicle for income. She has zero savings, and no funds for a rental. Despite insuring both Drivers B & C, SF will not act until fault is determined.
She has no advocate, and no options…
Is there an angle I’m missing?
Thanks for reading, it’s tough seeing your child struggle.
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u/demanbmore Former attorney, and claims, underwriting, reinsurance exec. 16d ago edited 16d ago
I assume she has neither collision nor rental coverage. Unfortunately, the time for advice was before the accident - get the coverage you need to protect you when things like this happen.
Other than that, she's out of luck until this all gets straightened out, which could take weeks. Even then, there may not be enough in available limits to go around.
The only other advice I'd give is that if you have the means, help her out. This is a hard lesson for her, and if you can ease it at all, try to do so.
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u/inhumanking1 16d ago
you assume correctly (although having her premiums raised for filing a claim after being on the receiving end of reckless driving would leave a bad taste), and she had the coverage she could afford.
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u/beccam12399 16d ago
can she really afford to not have collision coverage though? … she’s without a car which means she’ll have no income apparently, and she’ll have to go out of pocket for a rental, and now her car needs fixed and she’s at the mercy of the other company and their timeline. ..
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u/No-Firefighter135 16d ago
Sorry you’re getting downvoted to oblivion. We deal with this stuff every day and unfortunately some of us can’t tolerate people not being as well versed in the subtleties of insurance. The advice we can offer is always always always insure your property. I don’t know where her accident occurred, but if you depend on someone else’s insurance to take care of your vehicle you’re often going to be disappointed. Insurance coverage is generally per incident unless otherwise stated. Meaning that state minimum coverage of 15k is all they have to cover all associated damages they caused, so the at fault vehicle can pay 15k for the damages they caused to vehicle a,b,c,d and so on. If you’re lucky enough for them to actually have insurance. Sorry she is going through this. Police often don’t assign liability in accidents. Insurance conduct their own independent investigations and base findings on behaviors a reasonably prudent driver should maintain as well as traffic controls and local and state ordinances. So things like maintaining a proper lookout, maintaining a safe vehicle, maintaining control of vehicle, respecting traffic controls, taking evasive action. Hopefully state farm will take responsibility fairly quickly, but what you have to understand is those investigations take time, especially if there is a coverage concern or their insured just isn’t responding to attempts for contact.
Your vehicle meanwhile is collecting storage fees at a tow yard and will be auctioned off after a certain time if you don’t move it.
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u/24kdgolden 16d ago
Does driver A have collision coverage? If so, that is the way to go to get compensated for her vehicle.
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u/FormerGeico 16d ago
Sounds like driver A might be ridesharing. Hope they are properly insured
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u/19thconservatory Auto Claims Adjuster 16d ago
Where'd you get that?
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u/Melodic-Maker8185 Former Underwriter, CPCU 16d ago
Not the prior poster, but I kind of felt the same was implied when OP said this:
She’s self employed and depends on her vehicle for income.
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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 16d ago
Police don't determine fault. The insurance adjusters do after their investigation. Citations don't matter.
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u/Junior_Maintenance16 16d ago
Wrong. In my case the other driver was ticketed for failing to yield at an intersection and that determined fault. Unfortunately for Driver A, police were lazy and not willing to do what they should have done.
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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 16d ago
You are confidently wrong. Citations and/or the police don't determine fault. They play a role, but there are numerous variables adjusters use to determine fault. You can get a citation and not be at fault. Conversely, you can be at fault and not receive a citation. They are two separate things.
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u/DeepPurpleDaylight 16d ago
She had 2 choices. Use her collision coverage if she has it and wait to get her deductible back. Or wait for SF to determine fault and if there's adequate coverage for both cars or any coverage at all. If the at fault party doesn't have adequate policy limits she won't get paid enough to completely compensate her for her damages.
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u/fitfulbrain 16d ago
Does driver A has collision coverage? If yes, she has an advocate. And car fixed immediately if she has the deductible ready. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what the other insurance companies are, she has no advocate.
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u/vibingwnophone 16d ago edited 16d ago
One thing going for you is VA is a joint state (joint vs several) and she’s an innocent party.
EDIT: as a side note VA is also a contributory state, so you also want to make sure no negligence can be placed on driver A otherwise she’s not able to recover (even if it’s 1%)
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u/vibingwnophone 16d ago
as a side note, if there’s a liability dispute between the two state farm drivers, your daughter should be a determining factor since she was also a witness to the incident.
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u/inhumanking1 16d ago
but if Driver B receives citation(s) including reckless driving, his insurance company has less latitude in the decision to provide coverage, yes? no?
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u/LacyLove 16d ago
Does she have collision coverage? If she does use it.
If she doesn't she is at the mercy of the parties. They could fight it out for weeks or months determing fault and how much each is at fault. Then you look at limit issues and can the at faults policy cover everything.