VeeshanVault

My car got totalled Friday night. I had gotten about a block from my house and was going straight through a fresh green light and this little girl decided to take a left turn directly into me. Airbags went off, engine was smoking, horn wouldn't stop, my flip phone was snapped completely in half and the Mountain Dew in the cupholder was all over us. Physically we were immediately ok but we blocked a major intersection for about 45 minutes because the cars had to be towed. The other driver wrote down her age as 16 1/2, which I thought was sort of funny. Cops cited her at the scene and then I took myself to the ER to get checked over. Some abrasions from the airbag on my arm, bruises on both knees from the front console being pushed back, a large contusion on my wrist, deep tissue bruising on my chest from the seatbelt, my left jaw feels like its out of socket, a bruise on the bridge of my nose from my glasses and my back is twinging when I stand or twist. My passenger broke a rib and bruised his knees but is otherwise ok. And all this happened the day before James was supposed to leave for Vegas. And since it was on a weekend the adjuster won't be able to look at it until tomorrow so I have no rental car to get me to work. Bastards!

Her Insurance has to pay for your rental... tell em you want it now

Ouch, At least everyone is safe and relatively unharmed.

Sorry to hear about your car.

That really sucks, glad you actually could walk from the accident. Not many people are that fortunate. Did it do anything to the girl that hit you, or just minor bumps and bruises? And yea, contact her insurance company, it was her fault so they have to pay for your rental car, and you can get it when you're ready for it

Pisser. 16 1/2 is kind of humorous. I wonder at what age she will stop pretending she is older.

Just another statistic as to why I believe < 18 shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Sorry to hear about the accident, but you sound okay - good enough to post on here at least. Get as much as you possibly can out of that girl and her insurance. Slap the parents for letting her out on a Friday night too.

a_guide wrote:my back is twinging when I stand or twist.

I smell a lawsuit. But seriously.. get that looked at, the spine is not something to fuck about with.

I got rear-ended when I was 16. My back was a little sore but I was young and really didn't think about it. I am now 31 and have a pretty bad back and am on a first name basis at the chiropractors. I am pretty sure it all stemmed from that accident. Definitely get that shit documented.

my mom had a herinated disk in her neck once and it caused brusing on her spine and stuff and shes wearing in her one arm now from it ... make sure you get spine shit checked out

Deward wrote:I got rear-ended when I was 16. My back was a little sore but I was young and really didn't think about it. I am now 31 and have a pretty bad back and am on a first name basis at the chiropractors. I am pretty sure it all stemmed from that accident. Definitely get that shit documented.

i used to work with a woman who had the exact same thing happen to her. ~10 years after a car accident she was having to get cortizone shots in her back as a temporary fix until she could have surgury. her doctor told her that it's pretty common for a back injury to take that long to progress into a serious problem. :(

Rellix wrote:Get as much as you possibly can out of that girl and her insurance. Slap the parents for letting her out on a Friday night too.

when i got rear ended by a teenage guy in 2001, i didn't sue. their insurance fixed my car and paid for my hospital visit, that was enough for me. i was very sympathetic to the kid's situation though; back when i was in high school i fell asleep at the wheel after a thirteen hour saturday shift and caused an accident. lucky for me, the guy i hit was nice enough to let me off the hook, so i figured i'd return the favor to somebody else.

that's shitty timing on your accident, though. right before your move! i really hope your back feels better soon. :(

I can't believe no one is taking advantage of all the "when I was rear ended" comments

Rellix wrote:Get as much as you possibly can out of that girl and her insurance. Slap the parents for letting her out on a Friday night too.

You can only get back to where you were before the accident. The "items" that can be included in this amount are limited by state laws. You may be able to sue for items down to even lawn care depending on the situation. I wouldn't ever suggest to anyone to "get as much as you possibly can" simply because you risk the potential for being called on fraud if you try to get too much.

There is a little word in the insurance industry called "indemnify." This means they will put you back to where you were before the accident. You are not entitled to a cent more than what the actual damages are (medical bills can count towards the damages). I definitely recommend finding out about all of the damage to your bodies as soon as possible. Make sure that in any statements to either claims adjuster (your company or hers) you mention EVERYthing. If something turns out to be just a sore spot rather than a definite injury, they will not be able to come back later and say that you did not mention it.

Boogahz wrote:

Rellix wrote:Get as much as you possibly can out of that girl and her insurance. Slap the parents for letting her out on a Friday night too.

You can only get back to where you were before the accident. The "items" that can be included in this amount are limited by state laws. You may be able to sue for items down to even lawn care depending on the situation. I wouldn't ever suggest to anyone to "get as much as you possibly can" simply because you risk the potential for being called on fraud if you try to get too much.

There is a little word in the insurance industry called "indemnify." This means they will put you back to where you were before the accident. You are not entitled to a cent more than what the actual damages are (medical bills can count towards the damages). I definitely recommend finding out about all of the damage to your bodies as soon as possible. Make sure that in any statements to either claims adjuster (your company or hers) you mention EVERYthing. If something turns out to be just a sore spot rather than a definite injury, they will not be able to come back later and say that you did not mention it.

I think you guys misunderstood me . What I meant by my "get as much as you possibly can" statement was to milk as much as you could from the girl legally. I'm fully aware that there's only so much covered in accidents through insurance.

But I'm still serious about the slapping.

what's up fellow utahn. shitty drivers here, eh? where was the accident?

Thanks for the sympathy and advice all.

I have more questions though, am I being wronged here? I call her insurance company today and find out no one has filed a claim on their end. I do so and am told it would be another 24-48 hours for the adjuster to contact me. I insist that is unacceptable and am given her ph# and call her after an hour or so to give her time to investigate a bit. She then tells me she has to verify some info with her driver and I have to supply her with their ph#, but she will call me back.

3 and a half hours later I haven't heard anything so I call and leave a vm. 10 minutes later I leave another, 15 minutes later I leave another one and a little vividly I express my frustration. In 5 minutes she calls me back to tell me that she has spoken to the mother but won't accept liability until she talks to the driver and refuses to set me up with a rental car until the girl calls her back. Policy-wise I understand that but I have already been without a vehicle for almost 72 hours. Is it reasonable to expect furthar compensation for the time I was left stranded? Is there something else I should be doing to encourage them to get cracking? I am super frustrated and not terribly experienced at what is reasonable to insist upon in these situations and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also I am seeing a chiropractor, I don't want to take any chances with my back!

And to nobody. it happened on 3200 W 9000S, I was heading N on 32nd and she was heading S trying to turn E onto 90th.

You can start the claim through your insurance as well. Let THEM act as the middle-man in dealing with the other company. It is very normal to have them make you wait until they can speak to the other party involved. The fastest way (if you have the right coverages) is to contact your company and have them set up rental through your policy and they will subrogate it back from the other person's Liability coverage. There is a lot more to it, and I will post more when I get home from work. This is too close to what I do for a living to go into much detail.

That is total BS.

1. Get a copy of the police report and fax it to her insurance company.
2. Get YOUR insurance comany involved. They will deal with her insurance company.

Who was her insurance company ?

3 words...
GET A LAWYER

They are a pain to have on retainer but in times like this they are worth EVERY penny.
I guarantee that will speed things along very nicely.

There is no need to jump in and get a lawyer 2-3 days after an accident. Those commercials that come on mid-morning to get a lawyer to recover from an accident don't tell you anything about how it should be done. Neither company has to pay out immediately. Some companies will pay quick for vehicle repairs and then drag out the medical to make sure they have paid everything (so more bills don't continue to show up long after the accident). It is very common (read, pretty much always) for any company to want to get statements from both parties in an accident before guaranteeing any payout. This is where you put all of those commercials that state things about quick and easy claims to the test.

You can always start your medical bills off being paid by your Personal Injury Protection (no fault coverage which is required in Utah).

Personal injury protection (PIP) is also required. This coverage is the "no fault" section of your auto policy. In the event of an accident, it helps pay for your economic costs (like medical expenses and loss of wages), regardless of who was at fault.

*Note* Loss of wages may not be paid simply because the vehicle is a total loss. It might only be paid if the lost wages are due to injuries.

Your rental can be done through starting the claim on your policy if you have Rental Reimbursement on your policy in one way or another. With most companies, it is a separate coverage you have to have purchased prior to the accident. Some companies may include it automatically through your Collision coverage.

I can't remember if Utah has any Un/Underinsured Motorist Property Damage (UM/UIMPD) coverage, which can sometimes be used to pay for a rental vehicle as well. If your vehicle is a total loss, and it was worth more than the state minimum (and they have the minimum coverage of 15,000 for Property Damage), then you may try filing a suit to get the rest of the value (or it may come from UM/UIMPD). The whole process can take some time, and I think it's set at 90 days for recovery in some states (this might just be for medical though).

one call, that's all!

Epp, sounds nasty, glad you're still grand

If you have a phone, you have a lawyer.

a_guide wrote: Also I am seeing a chiropractor, I don't want to take any chances with my back!

Should really see an orthopedist.. chiro is just advanced massage.

Yeah, I don't recommend seeing a chiropractor first either.

I had a bad car accident a year ago on the 21 of this month. I pulled out of the street my girlfriend lives on, and this kid came around the corner going 60 in a 35. He pushed me about 20 feet sideways up hill (hit right on my drivers door). I went to the chiropractor after that 3 times a week for 6 months probably, and it did help a lot, but as soon as you stop going it goes back to where it was. And I won't speak for anyone else, but I don't plan on going to the chiro 3 times a week, or even 1 time for that matter, for the rest of my life.