Another cool accident story, bro.

[CrusherCurtis]

Pics of damage?

[slaterd]

add it to the list if you like

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=223232

[Rsully70sev]

Update.

I met with him a few days ago at the scene of the crime, I was being lackadaisical over the holiday season and let it slip by. I went with my father, and he came with his- since his father owns the landscaping company.

His argument is that "I saw him trying to back up, and I tried to squeeze by him"...I explained the laws of physics, and if that were the case, there would be dents and scratches alongside my entire car. Since there was ONE point of impact, my car was clearly not in motion.

After he dropped that bullshit argument, he switched it around and tried saying I was driving in the middle of the road, and that what caused the accident. I once again owned him, explaining to him that his truck has a BED. This oversized long bed, clearly went into my side of the lane, and caused the accident. He denied it saying they have a great turning radius, so I told him straight up "I'm going to stand here, exactly where the point of impact was. If your truck bed doesn't cross over to my half of the road and strike me, I will walk away right now and you'll never hear another word."

Of course he didn't want to do it because he knew he would back right into me, so it was basically a pissing match the entire time. He offered to pay half, I told him to go fuck himself. Small claims just got filed, time to win another one.

[Cracked turn signal, scratches on front impact strips, and a small ding and scratch on the fender]

[01330i]

what's up with trying to help someone out and do them a favor and then getting fucked over for it? happens to me too all the time.

[BlackbirdM3]

Go after his insurance, assuming he has some. Don't bother with yours, they will do nothing for you but screw you. Ask me now I know. I got rear ended back in June and started with his insurance, then when they tried to total the car, I opened a claim with my insurance (AAA) thinking I had an agreed value policy, and even though I had been paying insurance on a car that was valued at $25k, they turned around and told me my car was worth $6800. This kicked off a 7 month long battle with my own insurance company that in the end has screwed me despite my proving they are a bunch of crooks, and hire crooks to low ball the values on cars, and when it gets to going to arbitration, odds are the umpire will split the difference. Then they will screw you some more with a "Salvage Reassessment fee, in my case they increased the value of the salvage 800% even though I and already paid the salvage fee ($280) before going to arbitration. Since the umpire only increased the value by 65%, the insurance made out like the thieves they are.

The moral of the story, fight the other guys insurance. Odds are they will still screw you, but at least you aren't being cut down by friendly fire from your own insurance company.

I'm sorry you got nailed, that sucks. I've never been at fault in an accident, but I've gotten smeared 4 times. Each time it was my car that had to be towed away and the other guy drove off. I hope you get this resolved.

Will

[nebulous123]

This is really simple. GO THROUGH INSURANCE. The second he admits that he was pulling out, he is AT FAULT. Look it up peoples, no matter if you drive into the back of a car pulling out, they are at fault.

Imagine the packing lot lanes are regular traffic streets, if anyone pulls out into the street and gets hit its automatically their fault. They have to enter in a safe manner, and if people are coming down the street or in this instance driving through the parking lot, they have to enter when its safe.

Plus you have a witness, which it would have been better if it wasn't a buddy sitting right next to you. But a witness is better than no witness.

Better yet, lets say for the sake of the situation you actually parked your car and left it where he hit you. Parked illegally. If he hit your car backing up, he is still liable!! As a driver you are suppose to exercise you safe driving techniques and should be aware of your surroundings.

The second he admits he was backing out, even if he says you ran into the back of him, they are gonna throw the law book at him and he will have to pay for the damages.

Also, unless the guy is trying to hand you cash at the moment, always call the police and at least call your insurance company first and get it on record. Generally the person that is at fault will never call their insurance company and tell them they "hit someone but it might have been the other persons fault."

Good luck

[nebulous123]

Go after his insurance, assuming he has some. Don't bother with yours, they will do nothing for you but screw you. Ask me now I know. I got rear ended back in June and started with his insurance, then when they tried to total the car, I opened a claim with my insurance (AAA) thinking I had an agreed value policy, and even though I had been paying insurance on a car that was valued at $25k, they turned around and told me my car was worth $6800. This kicked off a 7 month long battle with my own insurance company that in the end has screwed me despite my proving they are a bunch of crooks, and hire crooks to low ball the values on cars, and when it gets to going to arbitration, odds are the umpire will split the difference. Then they will screw you some more with a "Salvage Reassessment fee, in my case they increased the value of the salvage 800% even though I and already paid the salvage fee ($280) before going to arbitration. Since the umpire only increased the value by 65%, the insurance made out like the thieves they are.

The moral of the story, fight the other guys insurance. Odds are they will still screw you, but at least you aren't being cut down by friendly fire from your own insurance company.

I'm sorry you got nailed, that sucks. I've never been at fault in an accident, but I've gotten smeared 4 times. Each time it was my car that had to be towed away and the other guy drove off. I hope you get this resolved.

Will

Will,

As much as I am sorry that happened to you. Your insurance company completely "played by the rules." What they did is called subrogation. They substitute paying you back for the damages if the other insurance company won't pay or something. THATS a benefit of your insurance company, they are fighting for you to get you money it might take a while to get.

Also...the 6 or 7k is based on a market value that they have and live by. The reason your insurance company WOULDN'T give you more is because they would have to sue the other insurance company and the guy who hit you for the difference, which they would never get.

Generally insurance companies will only insure to a certain value given the type of car it is. After a certain amount they require at least pictures or an inspection to confirm its value. Lets say on a good day your car would be "worth" 25k, not sellable @ 25k but worth it. They look at cars that sold in your quality range and base the value off that. Also let say you have a special steering wheel or BBS RS rims or whatever the average insurance company will not take that into account. They look at the car as a whole, and BBS RS rims are in the same category as TRC1's...premium wheels (aftermarket).

Best thing I ever did was work for an insurance company for a little while, got licensed which requires learning everything inside and out. While it may seem "unfair," after what I learned first hand, you need to call up your insurance company and cover your ass. You can call them whenever you want and ask them about your policy and specific situations. Generally they will transfer you to the claims department for legal reasons and probably put a note on your account. But they will answer your question as best they can, and you can actually hold them liable assuming exactly what you discussed happened and they backed out or something.

[Vtec?lol]

damn. people suck.

[Kershaw]

yep. this kind of shit has happened so often to me.

so damn often.

[BlackbirdM3]

Will,

As much as I am sorry that happened to you. Your insurance company completely "played by the rules." What they did is called subrogation. They substitute paying you back for the damages if the other insurance company won't pay or something. THATS a benefit of your insurance company, they are fighting for you to get you money it might take a while to get.

Also...the 6 or 7k is based on a market value that they have and live by. The reason your insurance company WOULDN'T give you more is because they would have to sue the other insurance company and the guy who hit you for the difference, which they would never get.

Generally insurance companies will only insure to a certain value given the type of car it is. After a certain amount they require at least pictures or an inspection to confirm its value. Lets say on a good day your car would be "worth" 25k, not sellable @ 25k but worth it. They look at cars that sold in your quality range and base the value off that. Also let say you have a special steering wheel or BBS RS rims or whatever the average insurance company will not take that into account. They look at the car as a whole, and BBS RS rims are in the same category as TRC1's...premium wheels (aftermarket).

Best thing I ever did was work for an insurance company for a little while, got licensed which requires learning everything inside and out. While it may seem "unfair," after what I learned first hand, you need to call up your insurance company and cover your ass. You can call them whenever you want and ask them about your policy and specific situations. Generally they will transfer you to the claims department for legal reasons and probably put a note on your account. But they will answer your question as best they can, and you can actually hold them liable assuming exactly what you discussed happened and they backed out or something.

My insurance company flat out hung me out to dry. I had the car appraised at $18500. There were no similar cars for sale in the country at the time and the closest comparable car in the state did sell to the first person to show up with $ for the full asking price of $25400. The insurance company found some low life (who my appraiser trained) to appraise the car, he said it was worth $7200 and was in very poor condition before the accident. To make matters worse, the guy who signed his name to the appraisal never even looked at the car personally. He had someone else do the appraisal and just signed his name to it. The appraisal was so far off base you would think he was talking about another car. There were obvious errors all through the thing. He made a fantastic case for the car being in a #3 "good condition" and then turned around and called it a "#4 poor condition car" to make matters worse, he low balled his own sources on the value. You cant even tell me that this car was in "Overall poor condition and shows poorly"


Incediently they made a total of 640 US Spec Alfa Romeo 1750 GTVs in 1969, there are less than 200 left. I have documentation from Alfa on those production #s. It was a rust free, 3 owner car with 85000 miles on it. Mostly original. The real fair market value on the car was $17500 to $32000 depending on where you look. I had all the documentation, I proved it was worth at least what my appraiser (who works for Goodings, RM Auctions, Sothebys ect) said it was. I flat out got screwed. My mistake was opening a claim with my own insurance company. AAA will never get another cent of my money ever again. I have since switched to Farmers, they have an agreed value policy that allows me to drive the car.

Will

[CabbE30]

Sub'd, You always have these long threads that pop up like months later, "oh yeah!"

[Thizzelle]

F people and hitting your car, I've avoided so many accidents by just flooring it out of the place, seemed like you where stuck. People drive like dumb fucks and don't know the laws just hope nobody hits my M3, I'd probbaly go ape shit on the person and then cry in the streets.

[BlackbirdM3]

F people and hitting your car, I've avoided so many accidents by just flooring it out of the place, seemed like you where stuck. People drive like dumb fucks and don't know the laws just hope nobody hits my M3, I'd probbaly go ape shit on the person and then cry in the streets.

I agree. In my case, my Alfa just wasn't fast enough to go 0 to fast enough to get out of the way. I dumped the clutch and floored it likely lessening the damage, but I might have been going 3-5 mph on impact. Because of the way the guy hit me, I was on a one way trip into a ditch.

I can't tell you how many times a day I catch myself thinking "Learn how to drive jackass." as I see someone doing something stupid.

Will

[Jean]

Will - could you or did you ask for another appraiser? AAA usually is pretty good, surprising you had such bad luck?

[BlackbirdM3]

Will - could you or did you ask for another appraiser? AAA usually is pretty good, surprising you had such bad luck?

Oh yes, and I was flat out told to get lost. I had several appraisals done on the car and all of them stated that it was a rare car and prices for them can't be pulled out of a book. In all of last year there was one and only one non rusty US Spec '69 GTV sold, and it was my friends for $25400. My car drove better, and was more original. The other 3 cars that came up were rusty projects that sold for about $5000 all needing a full restoration and lots of rust fixed.

Insurance companies are out to screw everyone they can. They will do everything they can to benefit from your loss, and will not do the right thing unless you are injured. Even then they will do as little as possible. To make sure your car gets fixed and not totaled for an absurdly low amount, get it appraised. Who cares if its not done, and only looks half decent. If you have done any real work to the car it is the only way to cover your ass. Even so, it might not be enough.

Will