still and all...this sux. It sounds like Krut is going to be carless for several months, at least....

 

Only if he chooses. Me... I'd have my policy cover it with high confidence I would get my deductible back.

And keep in mind, even if it's an Uninsured Motirist claim, there is still a deductible to pay.

 

Absolutely true.

Many years ago, I used to have coverage with Allstate. I got into a side-swipe incident with another driver in Washington DC ... basically, we both went straight from a light, where it was two lanes. On the other side of the light, it was still two lanes, but the center lines weren't painted (trust me, it was still the width of two lanes) for about 50 feet or so, and it was still two lanes (including painted lines) beyond that.

Well... this young lady (and her 3 friends) were in the left lane at the light. I was in the right lane. We both went one the green light, pretty much side-by-side. She started indicating to turn right. I saw her indicating, but I figured she would turn in behind me. Nope... she turned INTO me. When we pulled over to exchange insurance info, etc... she asked me if I had been drinking. ("Not a single drop" I said... and it was true). She claimed I tried to "drive around her". I told her it was a two lane road.

I tried to call the police to come to the scene, but DC police told me that if nobody was injured and both cars were drivable, that they would not dispatch.

So, insurance-wise, it ended up being my word against hers, and likely her 3 friends. Guess what - she was with Allstate too.

They ended up calling it a "non-fault", or "mutual fault" or whatever... which means I took the insurance hit. Bah.

Maybe I shouldn't have been honest and admitted I saw her turn signal in the statement, but the last time I checked, a turn signal does not guarantee the right-of-way, especially when you're already alongside another vehicle.

I never felt like Allstate made any real effort to fight for me, most likely because they were paying out either way.

It's a very good thing that different State Farm offices will argue over things. The only unfortunate scenario left is if both drivers are insured with the same SF office. That would be annoying. (but unlikely)

Here is the intersection I am talking about. We were on Florida Ave and crossed over Connecticut Ave headed South-West. Turn off the "labels" (on the Satellite button) if you can't see the actual street markings well enough. She was trying to make a right turn onto S St, from the left lane.

 

I got rear ended in DC by a pentagon marine rushing to work, not paying attention to the fact that it was raining. He said he'd make a deal, so we exchanged information and drove off. I called him later and he started doing the 'well i dont think I should have to replace your $1700 3 day old exhaust just because I rammed my car into it'. Called USAA, filed a claim, and gave them his contact info.

I got fixed, Soulfire got a repaired exhaust at a discount, and the Marine likely got bent which would serve him right, as it turned out later he didn't have insurance or a license and it wasn't his car, it was his fathers. :impatient

 

Aaaaahhh, the wonderful world of driving in D.C.

As pilot's say "The most dangerous part of flying is the drive to the airport"

 

Not sure how many years ago that was, Edge. But if that claim was today, your insurance company would not consider it an at-fault accident.

DC (and Maryland) are Contributory Negligence jurisdictions. That that means: If you are considered even 1% negligent in the accident, you can not collect a penny from the other driver's insurance company.

Therefore, if both parties contribute to the accident, each has their damage paid by their own insurance company and because no liability payments were made, it's not considered at fault and is not a surchargeable accident.

For the sake of contrast, Delaware and WV are Comparative Negligence states. That means, each party pays the respective percentage of damage that coincides with their negligence. So if you are 25 percent negligent, the other insurance company reimburses you for 75 percent of the damage to your car and your policy pays for 25% of the other person's damage. Of course, that means even if you're only 10 or even 1% negligent in the accident, you could still very well be surcharged for the accident (it's more complicated than that and gets into the amt of payout, any Accident Free Discounts you might have, etc).

It's nice to work in Contributory Negligence jurisdictions like I do... makes things easier. But from a fairness standpoint, I think most would agree that Comparative Negligence makes more sense.

 

I hope Kurt is luckier than I was a few years back when I got rear ended by a guy with his dad's car who had the same insurance I had: USAA.

It should have been a simple case a young driver hit me while stopped at the red light (he did not want to wait for the left signal to turn green). When I got out he cursed me out and took off. A secret service agent saw the whole thing and called the police but they never caught him. He also took his tag # . I called USAA with all info telling them that the other driver was probably a USAA member as well as I saw the blue deacal in the window and the USAA sticker, I even described the driver : race, age and hair do.

The driver denied the whole thing - found out from an MPD officer that he was involved in another accident a few hours later- and USAA did nothing to help me (never contacted the witness, never reviewed the Police report) and I ended up in paying the deductible and it was file as an Uninsured Motoritst claim limiting any medical and liability responsability. USAA has a good reputation and I was very happy with them for over 12 years but at that occasion they looked after their own interests not mine.

 

Today's update has me waiting for the State Farm adjuster to show up and approve the additional $1,000 supplemental - we're up to $9,300 worth of damage.

Estimating 2 weeks from today to finish my car and get me back on the road. Since I've hit my max on the insurance I told the body shop I was not pleased that my car has been there for more than two weeks with no significant progress and I've asked them to cover the remainder of my rental car.

They've agreed to "help" me out. I'll get something formal from them.

 

seems fair...

 

Thanks to my Australian Correspondent in Ashburn (Big_Davoc) I've been able to get some updated pictures sent to me. From what I can tell, it appears that the damage seems to be limited to surface areas and the radiator area and supports. Fortunately nothing major like the unibody subframe areas seem to be damaged.

For the truly goulish - the pictures follow:

 

Krutty, have they found the bastid yet? Any progress on your case?

 

Yeah, State Farm found the bastid because the bastid is also insured with State Farm...in Florida.

The bastid is denying involvement and the team handling krut's claim might be in a tight spot because he doesn't apparently own a silver Ferrari, he owns a silver Jag.

More to come.

 

ruh roh

 

in an odd twist of fate, I know the supposed driver of the silver Ferrari and 100% chance he does drive a silver F355. An old customer of mine...I called an old buddy and confirmed he still has it, still lives in this area, but has a business based out of FL, thus the FL tags and FL registration. Krutty and I compared notes and it's the same guy...perhaps the car is registered in his pop's name or something, but it's a shell game at that point.

 

Of course without a tag number on the police report I'm pretty much screwed.

 

Is there any way to find out if the miscreant owns a business and if so, whether his expensive toy is an asset of that business. I have some friends who handle insurance on expensive toys that way....

 

One final picture that I missed of the disassembly (note the MINI recoverymate) - spoke with the KrAshburn yesterday and they said they should have it done a week from this upcoming Monday or Tuesday. Progress.

 

yay!

 

But wasn't it already figured out that the guy was coming from a Ferrari dealership? Even if he doesn't 'own' a Ferrari, his name should be on some paperwork at the dealership proving that he was driving a Ferrari that day, and possibly proving it down to the point that he had it in his possession just minutes before the accident?

(And on a side note, Krut, glad you're getting the MINI back soon! Hopefully it'll be as good as new! Even with the damage that Sally's MINI took, you can not tell *at all* that it was ever involved in an accident. It looks and drives fine. Hope you have the same luck! )


-Paul!

 

krut said the Ferrari had Florida tags, it didn't belong to the dealership. This guy lives in Florida.

Personally, I think it might be a case of mistaken make and model of the car by both krut and the witness, since both said the car was silver and the Jag he owns is silver. But I can't prove that, of course.

 

No, they're not wrong (besides, a Jag looks nothing like a Ferrari). Kurt gave me the name and I know this guy. He indeed owns a silver Ferrari F355 that's registered in FL for tax purposes. He lives here, 100% chance. We did work on another car way back in '99. I called a buddy of mine to confirm he still owns the Ferrari and he also confirmed it has FL tags. This is no mistaken identity.

 

Okay, that sounds convincing enough.

I wish we could find a way to prove that, PGT. If we had the tag number off the Ferrari, we'd be in great shape. But without it, there is no clear evidence. He must have that Ferrari insured with another company because it's not insured with State Farm.

 

I am a firm believer in kharma - it will bite that driver in the butt someday. I personally am not going to lose sleep over the matter. At the end of the day, I have a independent witness statement and hopefully an understanding insurance team that will look favorably and will consider this a not-at-fault accident.

 

It wouldn't be hard for me to get an address and do a driveby to look for said car and get a plate. If it's that big a deal, PM me, as I'm going to edit this post

 

I assure you, that's the case. Either we do put a connection to this guy and his policy pays out, or it's considered a UM claim. Worst case, you're out the UM deductible of $250. But either way, not an at-fault loss for you.