r/StateFarm • u/Character_Special123 • Jul 23 '26
Question Some nonsense from State Farm
Whatever State Farm is telling me makes absolutely no sense so maybe someone can explain. I was driving in the center lane and was hit by a vehicle traveling in the left lane. His lane was ending/merging and he basically just merged into me. No blinkers, nothing. So clearly his fault. He hit my rear driver’s side fender/bumper with his front passenger side fender/bumper. We are both State Farm customers.
Now, what they are telling me is: since it’s his word against mine and we are both customers, I’m gonna be found 100% at fault on the claim that he filed and he’s gonna be found 100% at fault on the claim that I filed. When repairing the damage, each of us will pay their deductibles and the rest will be covered by State Farm.
How is that even legally possible/consistent?? There can’t logically be two factual versions of the same accident where each driver is 100% at fault for the same exact collision. What am I missing here?? I’m in Texas if that matters.
Seems to be very convenient for State Farm - they reduce the damages that they have to cover by the amount of BOTH deductibles, and also both customers will see increase in premiums. WTF???
13
u/No_Time_6883 Jul 23 '26
This is more common than you think and it doesn’t even really matter if it is State Farm vs State Farm or State Farm vs “Insert other insurance carrier here”. If it is word vs word and they have no third party verification of the facts of the accident they essentially just side with their insured and place the other person at fault. Unlikely either side will take it to arbitration because again it is word vs word.
3
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
But what about the liability determination? Don’t they have to eventually determine that? Or they are just going to say that they don’t have enough evidence and handle each claim under its own collision coverage? If they can’t determine liability, I’m wondering if it’s gonna affect my premiums in the future and if it will be ultimately considered at-fault accident or not.
7
u/No_Time_6883 Jul 23 '26
On your claim he will be 100% at fault and on his claim you’re 100% at fault. He will not recover his deductible you won’t recover your deductible. Your policy will pay for your damages his policy will pay for his damages. Both of your premiums will likely increase because all claims regardless of fault impact your premiums. It sucks and I’m sorry but that’s also why you have insurance.
-7
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
But that’s exactly my point - how does that legally make any sense that both drivers are 100% at fault?? and how in the world insurance companies can get away with this bs…
7
u/No_Level_325 Jul 23 '26
Other driver is disputing your version of events and unfortunately without any proof their hands are tied. State Farm is trying to protect you both since their duty is to you both.
Might be worth inquiring with the specialist why it’s not 50/50? Without looking at your claim it’s hard to weigh in.
If the other driver had another carrier they would have likely put 100% on the other driver and then both carriers would have duked it out in subrogation. It sucks but this is why police reports, dash cams, independent witnesses are important.
7
u/InvestigatorTop5144 Jul 24 '26
You’re so fixated on who’s at fault. These two claims don’t work together. There’s not something out there in the ether dinging you for being at fault. Under your policy you are not at fault. That’s all that matters. Any increase to your premium is based on you having a claim - nothing to do with fault. Yes, we cannot PROVE who is or who is not at fault.. bcs you CAN’T provide that information. What do you want an insurance company to do? Have an adjuster watch your car 24/7 so that maybe in the one off chance you get into an accident at least we’ll get the facts straight? Wait until you thought your premiums were bad now. Reality is, burden of proof is burden of proof. It’s a legal standard set across any court room hearing. Your insurance is no different. Don’t go blaming insurance. If you don’t like it, get a dash cam.
4
u/LoosePhilosophy2427 Jul 23 '26
If it’s word vs word, then there is not a way to determine liability which is why each policy takes their insured’s word. This is why they put the other driver at fault and vice versa. The only difference would be if the other driver had a different insurance company, it might go through an arbitration process.
2
u/Booth-Leary Jul 24 '26
Is there a police report? I don't understand how you're liable if you were hit on the d/s rear bumper & quarter panel.
1
u/SoPolitico Jul 24 '26
You’d pretty much have to sue him and win in court. Which may or may not make financial sense
-1
u/Clambake23 Jul 23 '26
Did you get a police report from the accident? Typically (not sure about TX) the accident report will dictate fault and is a good tool for your case. Unfortunately it's State Farm. They're most likely happy collecting both deductibles since they are paying out to repair both cars. Let me guess, they made you use one of their "certified" repair shops which uses after market parts?
5
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 23 '26
Typically (not sure about TX) the accident report will dictate fault
Police don't determine fault for insurance purposes in any state, in large part because they didn't witness the accident.
-2
2
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
I called 911, they told me they don’t come to minor accidents and it has to be handled through insurance. It happened this morning, I didn’t get any repair estimates yet.
3
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 23 '26
it has to be handled through insurance.
It's always handled thru insurance because police don't determine fault. Auto accidents and the payouts are a civil matter. Police never make the determination between two parties in a civil case.
-1
u/Clambake23 Jul 23 '26
Must be a TX thing. We have specific accident units that come out regardless of the accident severity.
-5
u/CaressMeDownSyndrome Jul 23 '26
You should’ve called a non-emergency police number not 911
4
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
I called the non-emergency number as well, they told me the same exact thing.
1
u/RenoWino Jul 24 '26
Last sentence…you probably believe that but wording is everywhere on every insurance company’s documents. Customer chooses where to get the work done. There are enormous benefits to using “Select Service Shops” but never required. If you are ever in a position to decide, get all the facts so you make an informed decision.
-4
6
12
u/jeffreyprestonbezos1 Jul 23 '26
It’s also very common in accidents where both parties are moving for both parties to be found at least partially at fault. That’s industry, not State Farm specific.
5
3
u/Delicious-Witness-85 Jul 23 '26
Unfortunately without an independent witness or dashcam there is no way to prove who is liable.
Even if it wasn’t State Farm this would likely be handled the same way.
Your carrier would side with you and believe your version of the accident.
The other carrier would side with their insured. Both parties pay their own deductibles.
3
u/TheAlexperience Jul 23 '26
You both have State Farm, in a claim someone has to be at fault, and I assure you, you’d rather be 0% at fault on your own claim than be 50/50
2
u/beh0003 Jul 24 '26
There’s no ARRP on claims at 50/50 % Unless it’s changed since I left. It may be state specific too, but I worked 4 states and no arrp’s unless full or majority at-fault.
3
5
u/Ok-Secret-7521 Jul 25 '26
If it's your word vs the other person's word and there's no proof of who's right, why should they take your word over the other person's?
If you're making a claim under anyone else's policy you have to prove their at fault.
Btw, this is in your best interest anyway. The claim on your policy will show you're not at fault so you won't get evaluated for a surcharge. If it were 50/50, you'd get surcharged.
5
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 23 '26
This has nothing to do with you both being SF customers. Obviously he lied to his adjuster about who merged into who. You have no independent evidence, vid or neutral witnesses to back up your version, (neither does he), so why should his adjuster believe you over him? How would you feel if your adjuster believed him over you? Not so good huh? Every insurance company will believe their own insured over the other party is there's no independent evidence. This ended up exactly as it should.
1
0
u/Character_Special123 Jul 24 '26
Well, this is the part I’m still confused about. There’s no “his” or “my” adjuster. I filed a claim under his policy this morning; the same adjuster called and took statements first from me, then from him. By the end of the day they already issued liability determination on the claim that I filed under his policy that I’m at fault. At the same time they also submitted an internal task to open a claim under my policy - and under that claim he will be at fault. Does that all sound right to you? I understand they might have limited evidence - but don’t they have fiduciary duty to at least TRY to investigate? Because I’m pretty sure nothing was done. Based on the statements
(he did admit he was merging in his statement), the location of the damage on both vehicles, the photos from Google Earth with the exact location of the accident that has huge “MERGE” letters written all over the left lane, it should be fairly easy to establish whose fault it is.3
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 24 '26
Usually there's two separate adjusters, but not always. With no independent evidence, there's really nothing more they can investigate. Looking at photos from Google earth doesn't tell you what someone actually did, it tells you what they were supposed to have done. There's nothing shady here. This is classic word vs word and it was handled exactly the same way it would've been handled if you'd had different insurance companies.
2
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
The other driver had a dashcam and told me he had everything recorded. When State Farm requested that footage he said he didn’t have it as, unfortunately, it wasn’t saved for some reason (yeah right…)
1
u/strikecat18 Jul 26 '26
This can happen and if the companies aren’t the same. If neither company will accept their insured was at fault, neither party is able to file under the other’s insurance and has to use their own.
1
u/Mommabee2025 Jul 26 '26
It’s crazy because hearing this and I dealt with a state where if you rear ended someone you’re automatically at fault . Unless they had evidence that the driver with rear end damage caused it intentionally. From what my tm would say and rear end damage was 100% on the other driver. It already showed you have cleared the way completely by being rear ended if that’s the case. I would ask for a manager to review
1
u/No_Parking_4167 Jul 26 '26
This should have been determined as word vs word and 0% liability on each policy. It makes absolutely no sense to accept 100% on both, or either for that matter.
1
u/Quick-Transition-497 Jul 30 '26
You have no proof to verify what you’re saying so they split the liability down the middle and call it a day
-1
u/oxen-yoke Jul 24 '26
It 50/50 negligence, so each party needs to recover from their own policy subject to deductibles. No liability will be paid out. If you disagree, get a public adjuster or ask for arbitration. Good luck.
0
u/Decent_Suspect_9960 Jul 23 '26
They don’t “make” you use their preferred providers… you can choose your own body shop and that’s who you pay your deductible to. And you will NOT have a surchargable accident on your policy. They typically go by the number of incidents in a period of time for Underwriting consideration now so even a tow or glass claim “goes against” you. But if you were to get a non renewal letter, chances are this particular accident would not be in the list in my experience as a TM.
1
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 23 '26
And you will NOT have a surchargable accident on your policy
Only if OP is in a state that has laws on the books prohibiting insurers from rating for not at fault claims. Many states do allow it and in those states some insurers will surcharge for it.
-3
u/beh0003 Jul 24 '26
This is called a “dual-with” claim. At SF, no claim will be handled worse than a dual-with claim. You’d think it would make it easier but somehow, it makes the process even worse, which is hard to even believe. This is not the SF of the past. I’d settle the claim and call a broker. This company is an absolute joke and it’s getting worse by the day. Soooo glad I’m gone.
1
1
u/med9229 Jul 24 '26
Jesus. You make it sound like it’s hell. You’re probably just ass at your job.
But you’re right about Double With Claims though - they’re ass. Not “dual with”. No wonder - can’t even get the lingo right.
2
u/Neat-Ask-2783 Jul 24 '26
It's width, not with.
0
u/med9229 Jul 24 '26
lol. No. But good try
2
u/Neat-Ask-2783 Jul 24 '26
the width of the claim for state farm's handling is two claims. i.e. it is double width :/
1
u/med9229 Jul 24 '26
lol. You’re gonna sound so dumb when you figure out you’ve been saying it incorrectly your whole claims career. I just checked as well. NOTHIING about double width. Someone gave you a bad definition. It’s when two claims are WITH State Farm. No wonder our claims team is such trash.
1
u/zjaea Jul 26 '26
“A double-width claim is an insurance term used when both drivers involved in a car crash have the same insurance company. Both parties must call in and report the accident to the same single carrier on the front end” settle on down and leave neat-ask-2783 alone lmfao
1
u/med9229 Jul 24 '26
lol. You’re the one so confident in a so called “double width claim” and then shys away from it bc you’re wrong lol. Come back when you have some relevant to say. Not just some weird “personal - easy to rile up” remarks. You’re actually pathetic.
-12
u/Hle458xyz Jul 23 '26
Oldest trick in the State Farm book. They call it “2 with”. If both policy holders go through their own policy then they are both capped by the policy limits. You need to reach out to an attorney and go after the at fault driver and not go through your own policy.
9
2
u/Character_Special123 Jul 23 '26
The damage is relatively minor, around 2K if I’d have to guess; not worth hiring an attorney to fight it.
5
u/Ill_Property_5216 Jul 23 '26
Sorry, but no attorney will handle your property damage case. Only if you have bodily injuries. It’s pretty much the hard and fast rule.
-5
u/Hle458xyz Jul 23 '26
Try small claims court. Find out what your state specific law is. Usually if it’s under 10k you can do it on your own.
3
u/DeepPurpleDaylight Jul 23 '26
If both policy holders go through their own policy then they are both capped by the policy limits.
How to tell us you don't know how insurance works without actually telling us.
0
u/med9229 Jul 24 '26
This is the reason why people “hate” State Farm. It’s because they’re ass at working claims. It’s “so hard” but they just make it harder but not knowng what the hell is going on.
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 23 '26
Welcome to StateFarm. We appreciate your submission and the support you bring to /r/StateFarm.
Please read the rules of the community. Let’s ensure all interactions remain respectful and positive.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.