Fender Bender Rant

[Lawrence]

<Begin rant>

I was in a parking lot with the wife?s FJ, hit the brakes a little too hard, and some guy grazed the rear bumper as he tried to swoop around me. The damage to the FJ is minimal, the rear passenger plastic corner piece paint is scratched a little. The damage to his BMW is worse, his front driver?s side fender has a huge dent in it and he claims it is from the accident. Mind you this was a 1-2 mph snafu.

Anyway, we exchanged insurance info and went on our way. Now he called my insurance and said that he was parked and that I had the FJ in reverse and hit him, he heard a noise and came out of the store. Yeah right. I told them that the guy?s version didn?t make sense, that if I had backed into him, for one my parking sensor would have beeped like crazy, and two I would have hit the front or rear of his car, not the side fender. I told them, bottom line is that I have rear damage, he has front damage.

Anyway, my insurance agent is the lamest, as they told me it sounds like it?s a 50/50 and to work it out with him outside the claim, blah, blah, blah. Makes me wonder if State Farm is really on my side? Mind you, it's the same company who didn't do squat when my wife was rear ended at 40 mph while sitting at a light not too long ago. Where has customer service gone?

<End rant>

[speaceman]

That sucks. I'd be ****ed if my insurance co didn't take my side of things.

I have to say that Farmers is a bit more expensive, but I've never been treated anything but right in the couple of fender benders I have over the last couple of years.

[TJeeper]

I am having a hard time visualizing how you were supposed to have backed up into his front fender if he was in a parking space.

It is because of people like him I got a camera with my latest cell phone. I didn't want one (I like simple things) but I have seen too many instances where people will outright lie to get out of their situation. Now I don't trust anyone.

Good luck resolving it.

[Robert J. Yates]

Go beyond your insurance rep and deal directly with the claims office of your insurance company. At this point...it sounds to me like the yuppie f*ck in the Bimmer is also likely to sue you and that right there is why you have insurance and why its in your insurance company's interest to step up right up front and get on your side.

[DanB98TJ]

Know anyone that works at the shopping center? It's a longshot, but maybe they have access to the security camera tapes.

Insurance companies are a joke, but they're a required joke. My dad had someone run into him after he backed out of a parking space - he was completely stopped and the other person hit his truck, but they pulled the same crap with him.

[Lawrence]

Thanks for the responses. No security cameras and it gets worse.

I just called the claims office and they told me what he reported. I told her my version and told her where the damage was. She said that she found it strange that I seemed nonechalant about the situation b/c I was saying where the damage was instead of how it happened. I told her there was no reason for me to be mad at her, I was just reporting the facts, hence the calm attitude. I also told her I didn't have the answers to all her questions. I was driving down the aisle, hit the brakes, and felt/heard something, period. All I know is that I got hit, she kept asking me what he was doing and I told her I had no idea, so she said it didn't make sense. She couldn't visualize where he was (front-side-back), then I got a little assertive and told her "in the back lady, I just told you I have rear damage and he has front damage".

She also questioned why I wouldn't want my car fixed and I told her that I only have scratches, nothing broken, nothing bent. So I turned it around and asked her what the procedure was to get the vehicle fixed. She said I would be responsible for my $500 deductible. I said, exactly the reason why I don't need it to be fixed under insurance, it is far less than that to buy the plastic clip online.

So she said she will call him to let him know my version and that he can have his insurance company take care of it. She said he might sue us if he decides to go further, but that State Farm wouldn't help us with that. Seems like they are not helping me at all.

[Art Welch]

Originally posted by Lawrence
She said he might sue us if he decides to go further, but that State Farm wouldn't help us with that. Seems like they are not helping me at all.

She is either incredibly misinformed or a very poor communicator. If your policy was in force at the time of the accident and you are an authorized driver of the vehicle they absolutely must and will defend your interests at least up to the limits of the policy.

You should call back and ask to speak with her supervisor.

[Lawrence]

I called someone else and reported my conversation with her to tell them how dissatisfied I was about it. We'll see what happens, and I'll deal with it when I come back from vacation. Off to the airport, now

[Robert J. Yates]

I don't understand....rear end accidents are usually the fault of the rear ender, not the rear endee

[Jeff Weston]

I just can't believe you're describing the same insurance company that I've had nothing but exemplary service with, from the agent all the way through claims. Hopefully, somebody will come to their senses quick over there and it is just a miscommunication.

Unfortunately, there are opportunistic a-holes out there always looking for something for nothing. In January, my 9 month pregnant wife gave a car a love tap. She was stopped at a light about 5 feet from the car in front of her, looked down briefly and somehow rolled into the car in front of her. Being only 100 yards from my office, I came over to see the "damage". Our car had zippo and their bumper had a little blue paint on the bumper from our license plate. At worst, I'm guessing $100 at a body shop and a little elbow grease would've taken care of it.

The story gets real interesting, however, when two of the three occupants are complaining about sore necks. I basically said F-you, talk to my insurance company if you want to play that game. I'm not sure if or how it was settled, but last I heard from my agent, State Farm was investigating them for fraud.

Tell State Farm your story Lawrence and stay out of the way. They are liable for your defense and to pay any damages ... even if the other guy is trying to stick it to you.

[VancoPBS]

If you have seen how Lawrence likes to stop his vehicles you'd all be 100% sure it is his fault. Good thing he wasn't driving the jeep. I feel sorry for the other guy.

[Lawrence]

Just before leaving for the airport, I called my agent back and told them about the conversation with the claims rep. I finally had someone halfway intelligent who said she would look into it. We'll see when we get back;

When it rains, it pours. We left for a trip to Europe for some time off and a wedding, and we arrived without a suitcase... It has been over a week and the airlines still can't find anything

[Rockjeep]

This is long
You think that auto insurance is a pain, try coarse of construction insurance. When I was building my house, my contractor had a worked that fell off my roof. This was saturday the day of panamint valley days. I was helping with the raffle when I got the call. Because of the bad cell coverage, all I could hear was your house and fire trucks. loaded the jeep and made it from camp to big bear in a little over 2 hours. Come to find out that he was fired that friday afternoon for being drunk on the job. Saturday morning at 8:00am a worker found him at my house lying in the dirt. He said he was drunk and wanted to sleep it off. He layed there all day. 7 pm my neighbor found him still laying there, and called 911. When he got to the hospital at 7:30pm he was still way above the legal limit. He had a broken pelvis, ribs, and punctured lung. Later he claimed he had fallen from the roof. Was a big hassle and osha camed and investigated it, but they had nevered gotten the reports from the hospital from up here only the down the hill ones. Once they got the ones up here any claims he had, even if they were legit were gone because he was drunk. They later found his truck crashed in the trees down the street. His girl friend helped him move to my house to make the claim. The insurance rep was going to just pay him, but the work of another saved my butt.