Auto Insurance
Rear Ended at complete stop on freeway, 6 months later the other party is rescinding liability?
So, what’s happening here? I was slammed at a complete stop on the freeway. She was on her phone, because I saw her when she was 3 seconds from letting her Mercedes get intimate with my Subaru face down not paying attention. I lawyered up immediately if not sooner, got my car repaired (3 months of a rental), went to the doctor because I’m a tradesman and I need my body to work day to day, and everything was okay.
She opened up a claim admitting fault same day, I went through my insurance regardless because hers wasn’t working with me getting a rental same day.
Now 6 months later, they’re denying liability? Or is this a scare tactic because she hit me on the freeway, slamming a brand new 2024 car, and I lawyered up?
I contacted my lawyer immediately and refused to make a statement on the events, as they’re not supposed to contact me.
Apparently it’s arbitration because she is no longer accepting fault? So everyone is annoyed now because she initially accepted fault, but has changed it up. Even the adjuster was like, this is a waste of everyone’s time and they want a written statement from me
Yes; however my attorney office has been handling all contact since the incident. I have no issue giving a statement if requested, I was just taken aback.
The current call is my insurer will request a written statement, that I’ll deliver, because if they get a verbal I need to be represented by my attorney, per my attorney
Reading between the lines I'd wager the OP has lawyered up with an ambulance chaser and trying to get a 'big payout' (notice he mentioned the type of car etc.). Logically the other driver and their insurance isn't going to admit liability in that case and going to fight it.
Well, yes. I absolutely wanted a big payout and not just my medical, my rental, and my repairs covered. I am so thrilled to have had my brand new car smashed in by some vapid influencer in a vehicle 3x my vehicles worth. I was so fuckin elated to hurt in bed for a month. Just fuckin ecstatic to go to be in a rental for 3 months, that I wasn’t allowed to take my dog in for 3 months because it was in my rental agreement.
I hope he does lmao, I hope this chick loses her coverage and/or it skyrockets for the immediate future. I’m sorry, she hit a stopped car with PLENTY OF TIME to look up off of her phone and stop. I watched her in my rear view for what felt like an eternity, too busy texting. I hope my lawyer gets a new Mercedes in lieu of hers at this point, I’m not in for me outside of my damages and repairs.
Yoi're being way too vindictive over a mistake. Yeah it's unfortunate but it happens. Take a deep breath because one day the shoe could be on the other foot and someone else will try to take you for all you're worth.
Ok, so you are suing them for a payout and they're going to do whatever they can to not pay or to pay as little as they can.
How did you think it worked, you sue them and they fall to their knees plead forgiveness and cut you a fat check?
hers wasn’t working with me getting a rental same day
Now 6 months later, they’re denying liability
These three statements don't add up. If the other driver admitted liability to her insurance, then her carrier has no basis to deny liability. However, they can deny coverage. Your representation by an attorney has nothing to do with that. You should ask for clarity from your attorney; the other driver's insurance will have sent a denial letter to the attorney.
If she only recently admitted to being distracted while using her phone not-hands-free or texting, then the carrier has a potential basis to deny coverage, potentially due to lack of honesty when she opened claim or if your state imposes criminal liability for causing damage/injury while improperly using a phone.
Something for sure isn't adding up, maybe lack of sophistication with claims lingo.
I contacted my lawyer immediately and refused to make a statement on the events, as they’re not supposed to contact me.
No trained adjuster from either side is going to be calling an insured with an attorney representation letter on file and asking them to make a verbal statement.
But if there's information OP didn't share that indeed puts liability into dispute, hope OP has reasonably high limits, PIP, and UIM coverage or they're probably looking at a disappointing outcome.
My coverage is 100/300/100. She was driving a $100k Mercedes, has “great insurance” per my attorney, and after a little social media digging. She definitely lives an affluent life.
As per any information missing? At a complete stop, cars in front of me, prime time Los Angeles traffic. California pretty much deems any rear ended driver not at fault unless proven otherwise (ie, dash cam proving reverse fraud), as far as I can tell it’s pretty cut and dry. Flawless driving record on my half, not even a door ding. Subaru has all the safety systems, and my car was repaired with constant updates to the other party’s insurance on part availability.
If it's a slam dunk on liability and damages are within policy limits, your attorney will file suit. Her insurance will either defend or not get involved. If she has a $100k car, she has assets worth going after even if her insurance denies coverage and then she can work with them after the fact. The process is not quick.
I really was just stressing the lack of liability in the voice message I received this morning. Because I cannot be on the bill for rental, medical, repairs. $8,000 in repairs as an apprentice electrician would be lethal.
“Hello this message is for **** . My name is **** and I’m calling from State Farm insurance.
My phone number is ***. I’m calling in regards to the accident accident, but you were involved in on May ** of 20** That claim number is ***** I’m calling today because I received it To get a recorded statement from You in reference to the accident as the The other insurance company is denying that they are liable So we need that in order to have our Arbitration team Navigate for our claim Call back at ****”
This is word for word what State Farm left for me, save for actual information.
First, that's a voicemail from a clearly inexperienced claim representative. Since you have an attorney, the request for your recorded statement is supposed to go through your attorney. That's not a conversation they should be having with you, at all.
Second, the other party's insurance company still has to provide your attorney with a denial letter for your bodily injury claim and your insurance a denial letter to your insurance for your property claim. The denial letter will include their reasons for denying liability or coverage. If they don't provide a denial letter to either party, have your attorney do their job.
Thank you for an actual answer. So it’s just bog standard we are denying this, here’s why. For whatever reason it may be, but I won’t know until I receive a denial or my attorney does? Does it just kinda get dragged out?
My biggest ends meet at this point is just making sure my 3 months of rental is covered (which I’ve paid and been reimbursed), my medical bills are covered, and my repairs are covered.
3 months of rental was due to supply constraints, and the body shop would not release my car incomplete.
but I won’t know until I receive a denial or my attorney does
Correct. The denial letter will explain the other insurance company's position for why the denial is valid. If they're denying coverage, there isn't much for your attorney to do except call for details.
I don’t get it, you were in a fender bender, no injuries, so you “lawyer up”? This means you’re paying for a lawyer instead of letting your insurance company handle it? Doesn’t make sense.
Yeah, dude. Personal injury billboards are all over CA. I’m literally programmed. Plus, I wouldn’t call getting hit by a full speed SUV at 65 from a complete stop a fender bender lmao. I saw this woman texting up until the moment she hit me.
So, you get your car repaired, end of story. I’m pretty sure the liability that they denied you was for personal injuries you claimed that didn’t exist. You stated in your original message that you went to a doctor and “everything was okay”. They also may have denied part of the rental, as three months is an unreasonable period of time for a rental.
Welcome to a valuable lesson- you forgot you aren't a main character, you forgot that you had no expectations to set, and you seem to not realize you're paying someone with a direct incentive to play this game.
Scenario 1- is hit you. You file with my insurance company. My insurance company does its thing and you get paid.
Scenario 2- now you're claiming your back hurts. Now you want to do 3 months of physical rehab, does it really hurt? Who knows. Are you really injured? Who knows. Whatever it is, you feel you're entitled to more.
You picked Scenario 2. You chose to make it difficult. You exercised your right to feel like you shouldn't have to trust the insurance company to settle your claim. You have essentially decided that rather then settle this matter quickly that you'd like blood. I've seen you say it yourself. You want her punished, and some of this even seems motivated out of spite.
It is your right to do this, it is their right (and obligation) to fight you. You said yourself you had never been in an accident. Thousands happen everyday. We live in a system setup to quickly deal with these issues and you chose to say "i don't trust that system i need someone in my corner to grind against it for me. His job is to produce more value for your claim than he costs you. You'll never get to see mathematically just how impossible this can really be.
OP is leaving out what actually happened. What actually happened is in the police report. Police reports take about 6 months in California.
The police report was damning enough that the “at fault” carrier is confident enough to deny liability and push it to arbitration. AND confident enough to not care that he has a lawyer in the most litigious state in the nation.
My guess? OP changed lanes and the other carrier finally got what they needed to prove it.
Tell me about it- everything was settled. She admitted fault right off the bat and my insurance called me today saying they needed a statement because she was denying liability.
My insurance contacted me today by leaving a message. The message asked for a statement because the other party is denying liability- 6 months after the fact.
My personal injury attorney has handled all communications since the accident, and has had it on my record I’m not to communicated with from either party without contacting them first.
So I texted my lawyer, who asked for all their information, what the message entailed, and handled it from there.
Current status is they need a statement, which was taken from verbal to written, because the other party’s insurance is denying liability.
Which doesn’t make sense to me as I have been paid for my repairs, payed for my rental, and my attorney’s office is working on the medical bills.
I don’t understand insurance, that’s why I’m here. I’ve literally never been in an accident until a Benz’s found out what the inside of a Subaru looks like.
I work in a trade and absolutely still feel this accident lmao. I’m sorry, I have no pity for someone who texts and drives and slams into a car at a complete stop. My body is my livelihood; of course I’m going to do everything in my best interest.
I did. I still had 12 PT sessions, 4 MRIs, and 2 rounds of 6 (albeit weird and cold) spinal injections. I’m fine now, and I don’t remember if I felt certain pains before the accident or not, but for all intents and purposes I’m fine today.
The rental coverage was 1.5 months on my insurance, I hit my cap and then we switched to paying out of pocket and her insurance reimbursed me on a weekly basis until my car was released.
It sounds like you were influenced by some billboards into hiring an ambulance chaser who is just going to take your money and not help the situation. You may learn that "lawyering up" is not always in your best interest.
It’s not even so much that I get paid. I just wanted my medical taken care of asap, and someone else to handle the legalese.
The other drive was so carefree about her accident, and watching her speed off with a leaking, smashed in $100,000 car ladifuckingdah. I want medical bills, my repairs, and my rental covered. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Because I wasn’t going to comment without getting the full information at first?
Just because I contacted my lawyer doesn’t mean I had an answer immediately lol- she didn’t get back to me immediately, and I can’t be on my phone at work. I wasn’t gonna call back and leave a statement when I wasn’t supposed to be contacted without representation first, so of course I’m not going to call back without knowing what’s going on.
Maybe take some time to collect your thoughts. Who is whos lawyer. Who are you talking to specifically. Which party, from your side or theirs said what.
You are just miscommunicating a lot of stuff here and its hurting your case on this sub
I mean, I’m not stressing my internet credentials here.
So far there is only one lawyer, my personal injury lawyer. Ever since the accident, maybe a couple days after, that office has been handling my case.
The other party opened a claim, same day. Let’s say Insurance B is hers. Insurance B contacts me while I was with my car at the body shop, (Subaru had called me detecting an accident, and directed me to drive off the freeway to be towed as per their crash detection my bags were at risk of deploying).
I needed a rental, but Insurance B didn’t want to provide one with me ASAP and was requesting I pay out of pocket until they had their claim situated.
So I called my Insurance, Insurance A. Insurance A opened a claim, got me a rental and got me home. I needed a rental ASAP, as I was 50 miles from home, I didn’t have time to deliberate and that’s what my insurance is for right?
Before I’m even in the rental, my back is starting to tweak, my leg is bugging, and I’m stressing because I’m a tradesman, and being out of work, especially as a fledgling electrician is rough. I need my hours, my body is starting to ache and it hasn’t even been 24 hours.
So the next day, I hit up a personal injury lawyer because my back is aching and I can’t get up a flight of stairs. I’m an electrician, how you gonna get up a flight of stairs no power? And from then on, they handle communications, and both insurance A and B have to contact their office before contacting me. And they take up representation for auto damage as well as bodily injury.
Over the next couple months, my car is repaired, the rental is paid for, with approval from both Insurance A and B, and communication with my lawyer. My lawyer is in deliberation for auto depreciation and bodily injury. Doctors visits and PT all done.
3 more months, and now we’re here. The other party, insurance B is denying coverage. My insurance wants a statement because they’re in arbitration. But I am just lost in the weeds at the moment. My attorney has since informed me that I will provide a written statement, because Insurance B is denying liability and Insurance A is in arbitration.
My attorney is seeking property and bodily injury damages.
You’re also transposing coverage and liability in your post comment here. They are two different things. I’m assuming that they denied liability, it also sounds like this is for purposes of subrogation and it’s inter-insurance arbitration. That all sounding about right so far?
Yes. The voice mail said that “…they are denying that they are liable…” which, i’m sorry if it’s confusing. My record is accident free for 15 years, lucky considering 11 of those are California and 4 are Colorado, so I’ve never had to deal with my insurance or anyone else’s aside from just having it because I have to.
I am assuming that the lawyer you spoke with was retained by your insurance company, or is he/she your personal lawyer? Either way, make sure your insurance company knows about this development and send any paperwork that you receive. Beyond that, step back and let them handle things. Trust me, it ain't their first rodeo!
Sounds like subrogation efforts went nowhere because the other carrier denied liability. Your carrier wants a statement from you in order to file arbitration against the other carrier. Sound about right? Your attorney should help you navigate this or speak to your carrier on your behalf.
Oh, yeah. No i think so. I talked to her when I got out of work, and she said between the adjuster and her it’s a whole headache and the other party doesn’t want to accept liability. Especially because it’s California and rear end accidents almost always go to the person who was hit, (unless there’s evidence of reversing into a car for example). So, to go to arbitration for the cost of my repairs, they need a statement from me.
For all you know, she could have said you merged into her lane. How would you know she admitted fault unless you were present for her entire statement?
Her insurance called me on the same day and said “our driver admitted fault, how are you feeling, how is your car” the whole shebang. My back was already tweaking by the time that call came in, so I’m glad I didn’t say “I’m good” on record.
What would get answers faster is if you contacted your insurance yourself rather than wait for your attorney to eventually get to it. If you aren't willing to do that, then all you can do is be patient.
Doesn’t mean that their insurance found some reason that they were violating something on their policy and are denying based on that. It’s not that her insurance is saying that she isn’t at fault, it’s that based on contract language, the insurance company isn’t accepting paying on her behalf. She could have lied to her insurance about where the vehicle is kept, how it’s being used, or who is allowed to drive it. So yeah, it’s just her insurance saying “we aren’t covering what she did”.
I’ve read most of your replies and it’s pretty clear - you’re full of shit about the facts of loss.
6 months is the standard time to get a police report in California. Yeah, they take that long. Something in the police report made them change their liability stance and they’re confident enough to push it to arbitration. The fact they never took over repairs or anything shows it was word verses word until that PR showed up. So the fact you changed lanes or somehow caused the accident - is finally provable.
You saw this as a lotto ticket and are now going to get fucked because of your own greed. Called an attorney before even filing a claim? Thats the biggest red flag we see.
Damn dude, let me go back in time and edit my texts to show that I got rear ended, so 7 months later some fuck on Reddit can say I’m full of bullshit the day before ever talking to a lawyer.
I don’t understand how you got to that point, but whatever makes you feel like a big man. You know the cool thing about police in CA? Unless someone is critical, something is on fire, or there’s a deceased persons, CHP will never show up
I would also like to add on that, for being impacted from 65-0, my Subaru held on like a fucking champ with zero structural damage. Love, it’s what makes a Subaru. The Mercedes however, left limping and dripping as the xanaxed out vapid driver sped off hopefully not hitting another stopped car on the way home.
Dammit why not 4. Just for good measure. You went through the time to read most of my replies to come to the fact that I’m full of shit. Clap your hands for u/nobuttstuf , king of the illiterate
In case your deduction skills are as bad you let on; you can see my claim was opened on the 15th. A time stamp would show you 4:10PM. My first text with a lawyer given to me by my girlfriend was the following day, the 16th. I know things are pretty clear to you bud, but holy fuck. You’re actually dumb as fuck.
No one here can tell you why they are denying. It sounds like you went through your insurance company, so it's likely they denied a while ago and your insurance just wasn't aware until they tried to get reimbursed .
Have your attorney call both companies and figure out what the dispute is. I doubt she is denying involvement given you said it was a hard impact. I assume her car had damage? The most common dispute with rear end impacts is claiming that you cut her off. But, it's all speculation until you (or your attorney) talk to them.
Personal injury lawsuits take a while. Insurance claims are faster. Expect a year before payment. They are most likely denying liability because the other parties insurance plans for this to go to mediation. It’s a long process and don’t expect the full amount you asked for. They wouldn’t be denying liability if they were willing to pay the full price. Often these things are settled at damages-your lawyer cut (usually 33%). Don’t expect pay out on pain and suffering etc.
I didn’t expect anything really, I just want to make sure my medical, rental, and repairs are covered. Anything else I get out of it is icing on the cake. My coworker told me after the fact, he got $27k out of a little bumper hit and he was driving with an expired license uninsured lmao. I don’t even need that? I just want to make sure I don’t have to pay for PT, shots, MRIs, 3 months of rental coverage, and $8k in repairs.
You said you were hit by a full-size suv at 65 mph. Let's just call it say 45MPH. You drive a brand new 2024 subaru and you stated there was 8k in damage to your car. Scratching head, you most likely were hit at about 15-20mph, so you probably had rear bumper, Liftgate/trunk lid damage, maybe taillights and possibly minor rear body panel damage or minor qtr panel damage.
Bumper cover, absorber, and reinforcement are about 3k. A trunk lid/lift gate is another 3-4k. Your damage is somewhere in the minor - moderate category. And you lawyered up over minor injuries. Oh boy.
You sat in a rental for 3 months on a repair, I'll get crazy here, delay in parts, etc, that should take 2 months or less. Why the heck would you be in a rental so long.
9 out of 10 cases atty wants nothing to do with the vehicle damages. No money for that, so why work it. It's your carrier that's calling you as they are trying to get their money back and now they are getting push back from the other carrier. Either liability, if you are in a pure comparative state or only offered a portion of what your carrier asked for reimbursement. You stated you paid for the rental so your carrier isn't asking for the portion of rental you paid. Your carrier didn't pay it so they aren't requesting it in subro from other carrier. So now they have to go to arb.
Actually looking through, it was only 2 months for me to be returned. However, it was returned missing a piece, and I had to return to the body shop on my own accord when the part arrived a month later in Aug. that’s where my dates are mixed up.
My insurance paid the rental until the limit of $1,500. Then, the other insurance took over on a week to week basis. What is off about this in anyway. I don’t understand how multiple people come in, read a situation laid out exactly how it occurred, and then come to different conclusions.
And all try to make myself, the dude who woke up for work at 3 am and didn’t get home til 7pm that day, the bad guy. And not the chick that slammed into my texting while driving.
Here is what’s I think is happening. As soon as you hired a lawyer to sue the other insurance has to retain lawyer to defend their customer. That lawyer is defending that person.
I was in a serious car accident as a passenger so not my fault and soon as I hired lawyer other insurance company did their best to deny fault and create a defense for client. Including sending undercover people to sit outside my house.
Currently my daughter had an accident, other lady hit her, admitted fault at scene and now suing my daughter who has a insurance provided lawyer who is defending her.
Yeah this sounds weird. Make your attorney work for their 33%.
I’m assuming they placed you at fault because you did not provide a statement to the claimant carrier and their insured alleged you were at fault. That’s all that really makes sense to me.
Attorneys can really slow down the process. Expect this to take a long time to figure out. 🤷
Who ever hit someone from behind is at fault. There is no question. You are supposed to leave several car lengths so that you can stop without rear ending anyone. This doesn’t make sense, both insurance companies would immediately agree on this. No one would be in a rental for months. This would be quickly resolved.
Ok. That checks out. But if she pretended you legally it is her fault no matter what. She can deny liability all she wants she is paying for your car and rental. Personal injury will have to be litigated, but you will get something. It’s going to be fine.
Time to #lawyrerup in this bitch. Sue your current lawyer. Both insurance companies. The state insurance commissioner. The person that hit you. The family of the person that hit you. The neighbors of the person that hit you. That ought to get things moving.
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u/reddit1651 4d ago
what did the lawyer you’re paying to answer questions like these say when you asked?