FredRepr650
New Member
- 13
Hi there, I'm new to the forum and I need some help.
I was involved in a collision almost a year ago and I was not at fault. Police report stated the other individual was at fault. I made the mistake of letting the adjuster know it was my first ever collision and I didn't know how the process worked. Their insurance company said the driver was not cooperating and finally in the end they finally spoke to him. The insurance company stated that the driver WAS in fact insured. It was amazing to me that they could not determine weather the driver was insured or not until they spoke to him. Policies state who in fact is insured and who isn't. Because the driver was insured, I was not able to go through my insurance and use the unprotected motorist insurance portion to cover the accident.
I was very prompt and cooperative, I provided a police report, official estimate done by my insurance and pictures. Their insurance company refused to pay me, and in the process failed to resolve the claim in 40 days as per California law(took more than 80). The adjuster went as far as to say "Your insurance company can bill us if they want", that was insulting to me because he knew they wouldn't bill them because I had liability only. And all this nightmare because I didn't have full coverage, never again will I have liability only.
Now, here's my question, I took the owner and the driver of the car that hit me to small claims court and won, since they were in fact insured, doesn't their insurance company have the LEGAL OBLIGATION to pay me? Is there a law that states how much time they have from the time I turn in my paperwork to when they MUST pay me?
The adjuster is really pissing me off, seems like he plays all the tricks in the book in order to not pay me. I turned in my paperwork a week ago, he finally called yestarday when I was on the phone with my boss so I was unable to answer. I called about 20 times directly to his number throughout the day and no answer. Are you kidding me?!
Because I did not receive a call soon from the adjuster, I called twice this week and the reps told me "he was still looking at it", What exactly is there to look at? it's a very simply written document issued by the court which states that I won, it doesn't take a week to figure out what it says.
Can this insurance company still refuse to pay me even when I have clearly won in small claims court? What other BS can this sorry excuse for an adjuster throw at me in order to not pay me? This claim is approximately a grand and a half, I can imagine this being even worse of a nightmare if the claim was in the tens of thousands.
Is this a good example of a "bad faith" scenario? I have an excellent driving record with no tickets and this was the only accident I've ever been involved in(CHP determined I was not at fault), I also have no criminal record, does this adjuster really want to go all the way to court over this? Everything is in my favor........
Before anyone suggestes I should have my insurance deal with it I'd like to add that I had liability only and that my insurance company gave me the other insurance company's contact info and said that I had to deal with them directly and that I was on my own.
All help or sharing of personal experiences will be greatly appreciated. This is extremely frustrating and I am tired of this adjuster and his ridiculous games.
Thank you for listening.
I was involved in a collision almost a year ago and I was not at fault. Police report stated the other individual was at fault. I made the mistake of letting the adjuster know it was my first ever collision and I didn't know how the process worked. Their insurance company said the driver was not cooperating and finally in the end they finally spoke to him. The insurance company stated that the driver WAS in fact insured. It was amazing to me that they could not determine weather the driver was insured or not until they spoke to him. Policies state who in fact is insured and who isn't. Because the driver was insured, I was not able to go through my insurance and use the unprotected motorist insurance portion to cover the accident.
I was very prompt and cooperative, I provided a police report, official estimate done by my insurance and pictures. Their insurance company refused to pay me, and in the process failed to resolve the claim in 40 days as per California law(took more than 80). The adjuster went as far as to say "Your insurance company can bill us if they want", that was insulting to me because he knew they wouldn't bill them because I had liability only. And all this nightmare because I didn't have full coverage, never again will I have liability only.
Now, here's my question, I took the owner and the driver of the car that hit me to small claims court and won, since they were in fact insured, doesn't their insurance company have the LEGAL OBLIGATION to pay me? Is there a law that states how much time they have from the time I turn in my paperwork to when they MUST pay me?
The adjuster is really pissing me off, seems like he plays all the tricks in the book in order to not pay me. I turned in my paperwork a week ago, he finally called yestarday when I was on the phone with my boss so I was unable to answer. I called about 20 times directly to his number throughout the day and no answer. Are you kidding me?!
Because I did not receive a call soon from the adjuster, I called twice this week and the reps told me "he was still looking at it", What exactly is there to look at? it's a very simply written document issued by the court which states that I won, it doesn't take a week to figure out what it says.
Can this insurance company still refuse to pay me even when I have clearly won in small claims court? What other BS can this sorry excuse for an adjuster throw at me in order to not pay me? This claim is approximately a grand and a half, I can imagine this being even worse of a nightmare if the claim was in the tens of thousands.
Is this a good example of a "bad faith" scenario? I have an excellent driving record with no tickets and this was the only accident I've ever been involved in(CHP determined I was not at fault), I also have no criminal record, does this adjuster really want to go all the way to court over this? Everything is in my favor........
Before anyone suggestes I should have my insurance deal with it I'd like to add that I had liability only and that my insurance company gave me the other insurance company's contact info and said that I had to deal with them directly and that I was on my own.
All help or sharing of personal experiences will be greatly appreciated. This is extremely frustrating and I am tired of this adjuster and his ridiculous games.
Thank you for listening.
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