Sorry if this isn't directly MINI related, but we all need insurance.

My daughter was a parking when the van in front of her stopped. My daughter stopped about 6 feet behind the van. Then the van backed up, hitting her front bumper. Sounds pretty straight forward, except that the van was insured by Allstate. They're trying to weasel out of full responsibility by claiming that my daughter contributed to the accident basically by being there.

Their letter says:
"This decision was based on the fact that the driver of (name deleted) vehicle backed into your vehicle causing the collision. Your vehicle was six feet behind (name deleted) vehicle giving your driver time to take evasive action. The driver of your vehicle contributed to the accident by not taking proper evasive action and honking."

In fact, my daughter checked her rear-view, and couldn't back up because there were cars behind her. At that point she was hit, so there was nothing she could do. I tried explaining this to their claims person, but they won't budge. There's not a lot of money at stake here, but I plan on going to small claims court just because this seems so slimy.

Avoid Allstate (the slimy hands people)

 

brgfan, Hey sorry to hear about the problem. Why not let YOUR insurance company talk to Allstate??

 

I had them do something like that to me too, and I have allstate.

What happened in my case it was raining and i was approaching a stoplight. It turned yellow, I had about 2 hours to kill, so I slowed and stopped. BLAMO! old codger in a 96ish buick nails me! Doesn't do much damage but he hit me hard enough to bend my bumperette. Now if you know about jeeps those things are kinda tough, you have to whack them pretty hard to bed them, but when they bend they are toast.
So i get out look at the bumper and the old dude jumps out and starts screaming at me that i backed into him?!?! I said screw you old man and called the cops.

Cop shows up and the old guy tells him I don't have a license or insurance? Cop tells him to shut up and sit in his car. I think his exact words were "shut up, I don't care, go sit in your car till i need you"
Unfortunatly no tickets were issued :evil:

So i take it to alstate and start a claim, they tell me that even though i was rear ended at a red light and it was raining they have no way of telling who was at fault. Basically its partly my fault because i was stupid enought to own a car at that particular time. They say its he said he said and they can't do much, they paid the claim and made a not that i was at least 10% at fault for the accident Goofy bastards, I hope that old guy is miserable.

 

>>brgfan, Hey sorry to hear about the problem. Why not let YOUR insurance company talk to Allstate??

I don't want my daughter to have an accident on her record with our insurance company, just because someone didn't look before they backed up.

If I filed a claim she'd have a record of an accident and my insurance company would pay 10% of a claim that they should not have to pay.

 

If the moron was stoopid enuf to back into you, exactly which direction should you have taken "evasive" action in?? Up?? That's lame BS. Go to court Make them pay. Slimy b@$t@rd$! You got their letter admitting fault. Use it against them for a judgement. Your daughter is not guilty of contributory negligence. Jeeesh!

 

The "Good Hands People" have a reputation - take your money, deny your claim. With the risk of sounding like a salesman [I'm not], I recommend GEICO. When I've needed them in the past, the service has been fantastic; actual real, live people man their phones. The rates are good, too. Transfer your coverage and tell Allstate where to stick their 'hands'.

 

Hate to bring pain with this, but there are some insurance companies that are not worth their salt. That is one of them.

 

If your daughter did not cause the accident, then filing with your insurance company won't matter. Your daughter's accident won't show up as a claim. Your insurance won't go up. I was involved in a hit and run. I have allstate. I made a claim of course, got my car fully repaired, and it's not on my record because the accident was not my fault. If i was you I would definitely go thru your insurance otherwise the van's insurance will continue to take advantage of you and the situation.

 

>>If your daughter did not cause the accident, then filing with your insurance company won't matter. Your daughter's accident won't show up as a claim. Your insurance won't go up. I was involved in a hit and run. I have allstate. I made a claim of course, got my car fully repaired, and it's not on my record because the accident was not my fault. If i was you I would definitely go thru your insurance otherwise the van's insurance will continue to take advantage of you and the situation.

I expect that this kind of stuff happens between insurance companies all the time. Since there's not a lot of money at stake, my company would probably just cover me for the remainder, rather than spend time arguing with Allstate. But that's still wrong.

My time's cheap and I don't mind spending $22 to file in small claims court, and a service fee to have the suit delivered to Allstate's "Agent for service of process." Both expenses can be recovered as part of the settlement in California, if you win.

In the end, I believe they will be held responsible for this, as they should be. In the process they will have generated a lot of expenses and overhead that would not have been there, if they had just stepped up and handled this right in the first place.

Avoid Allstate (the slimy hands people)

 

thanks for the warning. and yeah, that does sound really slimy.

 

Most insurance companies suck. I don't know of too many claims that have gone through where people didn't have to fight with them. Back in 98 I asked my local allstate agent for a qoute on my brand new tacoma.He said the couldn't give me a policy because I had put larger tires on it and it was a liability.Allstate,geico,and progressive are the ones I would suggest staying away from.

 

On the local morning news, a school crossing guard was hit by a car. I expect that, if the driver had Allstate, the accident was 10% the fault of the crossing guard for not running fast enough to get out of the way.

 

I also had an insurqance company chisel me like this. I was rear ended and the ins. company said I was partly at fault for braking. (Had I not done so I would have hit the car in front!) They docked 10% off the claim and sent a check for the remainder stating that the action of cashing the check was an agreement to 100% settlement.

This was a scummy move because my car was not drivable legally (no rear lights) and to try to get the extra 10% I would have to enter into a legal battle that could take months.

Did you get a police report? If you did then that would state who is to blame. If you did not then unfortunately there are certain things that are open to interpretation. Even witnesses are of little value without the Police report.

My advice would be to fight with them for a few weeks and maybe even get a friendly Lawyer to type a letter on their letterhead of intent to sue for mental duress or the like. If you have no satisfaction in a couple of weeks, chalk it up to experience and get a Police report next time.

 

>>I also had an insurqance company chisel me like this. I was rear ended and the ins. company said I was partly at fault for braking. (Had I not done so I would have hit the car in front!) They docked 10% off the claim and sent a check for the remainder stating that the action of cashing the check was an agreement to 100% settlement.
>>
>>This was a scummy move because my car was not drivable legally (no rear lights) and to try to get the extra 10% I would have to enter into a legal battle that could take months.

10% seems to be the standard amount that they try to walk away from. Imagine how much they save if they only ever pay 90% of their claims. I wish I could only pay 90% of my premiums on the basis that every accident I have will be at least 10% someone else's fault.

I wish there was a way to shine more light on this slimy practice of theirs.

The damage to my car is only cosmetic. I haven't cashed their 90% check, and won't until this is settled. I've got lots of time, and my time is cheaper than theirs. This is not only slimy, but stupid on their part. They're going to spend more responding to this issue, than if they'd done the right thing to begin with.

 

Let's be sure and let this company know how we feel about this practice. By reducing there potential future buisness by 10%.

 

>>On the local morning news, a school crossing guard was hit by a car. I expect that, if the driver had Allstate, the accident was 10% the fault of the crossing guard for not running fast enough to get out of the way.

LOL!!

I hate insurance companies. Necessary evil. You pay out the you know what and then they don't want to pay when you need them.

 

In some jurisdictions, there still exists the "last clear chance" doctrine of assigning negligent liability to the individual with the last clear chance to avoid the accident. This is old antiquated law, but its still best to check with a local attorney to see if it exists where the accident occured. I'll admit it sounds pretty slimy on Allstate's part. Maybe a little consultation with the attorney might result in a letter to Allstate that could move things along for you.

 

>>In some jurisdictions, there still exists the "last clear chance" doctrine of assigning negligent liability to the individual with the last clear chance to avoid the accident. This is old antiquated law, but its still best to check with a local attorney to see if it exists where the accident occured. I'll admit it sounds pretty slimy on Allstate's part. Maybe a little consultation with the attorney might result in a letter to Allstate that could move things along for you.

Yes, I think that applies in California, and its not a completely bogus concept, but I think its being improperly used to avoid responsibility and save a few bucks. I don't think its a valid argument when the 'other driver' didn't really have any chance (let alone a 'clear' chance) to avoid the accident.

After spending a fair amount of time calmly talking to the Allstate adjuster, and her supervisor, I think my best course is just to file my suit in small claims. I've done the research, and just have to make sure my daughter is willing to go with to tell her side of the story. Its not expensive, and less trouble than continuing to talk to a brick wall.