What is the name of your state? SD
Hello! I've been battling with an insurance adjuster for damages done to my car that my daugther, 17 at the time, was driving. She attempted to park into a parking space in the Sioux Falls, SD Empire Mall parking lot. She was traveling well below the posted speed limit as she was preparing to turn into the space and was also traveling in the correct direction as indicated by arrows in the lane between the spaces. The party that hit her vehicle was parked in an space directly in front of the empty space or in the parking area across from the one she was driving. The other party pulled forward out of the space through the empty space that my daughter was attempting to park. The party indicated to my daughter that she was in a hurry for an appointment so couldn't stay to call the police. She gave my daughter her phone number and insurance information and left. My daughter called me and I told her to call the police right away to report. The police came and pretty much indicated to her that it wasn't necessary to get them involved as it was in a private parking lot!! We assumed that they filed a report.
I received an estimate for the damage which was around $760. I spoke with the other party and told her that I was sending the estimate to her insurance agent. She indicated she would follow up to make sure it was taken care of on her end. Approximately 2 weeks later I received a letter from their insurance adjuster indicating that I needed to fill out an accident claim from my daughter's viewpoint. I wrote back indicating that there was a police report that could give him that information. He sent his form back indicating that there was not a police report, which is typical in a case as such, and we needed to fill out the form. So we filled out the information and drew a diagram of the layout of the parking lot indicating the scenario of the accident.
We received a letter back with an offer of 70% of the claim....as his insured was 70% responsible and my daughter 30% responsible as the accident could have been avoided by both parties?? I don't know what my daughter could've done to have avoided it...as I indicated she was almost to a stop as she was turning into the space. Furthermore, the other party was clearly exiting in an improper manner as to the layout of the parking lot due to the one-way directional lanes. She would've needed to turn towards the direction of traffic to exit the lot.
I wrote the adjuster back to tell him I was not willing to settle for 70% and if necessary would get an attorney involved. He wrote back that his offer would stand and that his insured's statement was that she was pulling out of her parking space rather than cutting across the parking lot as I indicated.
I've been working on gathering information for a small claim. I would need to travel 50 + miles to file in Sioux Falls, where the accident happenned. Just wondering if my case is clearly substantial or if I should bend and take the 70% offer? The insurance company is out of the Minneapolis area...200 + miles from Sioux Falls, as well as the insured is from southern MN...175 miles away. I find it hard to believe that the insured is going to want to mess with court for that distance. I would guess that they're probably not even aware of this outstanding issue.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!What is the name of your state?
Hello! I've been battling with an insurance adjuster for damages done to my car that my daugther, 17 at the time, was driving. She attempted to park into a parking space in the Sioux Falls, SD Empire Mall parking lot. She was traveling well below the posted speed limit as she was preparing to turn into the space and was also traveling in the correct direction as indicated by arrows in the lane between the spaces. The party that hit her vehicle was parked in an space directly in front of the empty space or in the parking area across from the one she was driving. The other party pulled forward out of the space through the empty space that my daughter was attempting to park. The party indicated to my daughter that she was in a hurry for an appointment so couldn't stay to call the police. She gave my daughter her phone number and insurance information and left. My daughter called me and I told her to call the police right away to report. The police came and pretty much indicated to her that it wasn't necessary to get them involved as it was in a private parking lot!! We assumed that they filed a report.
I received an estimate for the damage which was around $760. I spoke with the other party and told her that I was sending the estimate to her insurance agent. She indicated she would follow up to make sure it was taken care of on her end. Approximately 2 weeks later I received a letter from their insurance adjuster indicating that I needed to fill out an accident claim from my daughter's viewpoint. I wrote back indicating that there was a police report that could give him that information. He sent his form back indicating that there was not a police report, which is typical in a case as such, and we needed to fill out the form. So we filled out the information and drew a diagram of the layout of the parking lot indicating the scenario of the accident.
We received a letter back with an offer of 70% of the claim....as his insured was 70% responsible and my daughter 30% responsible as the accident could have been avoided by both parties?? I don't know what my daughter could've done to have avoided it...as I indicated she was almost to a stop as she was turning into the space. Furthermore, the other party was clearly exiting in an improper manner as to the layout of the parking lot due to the one-way directional lanes. She would've needed to turn towards the direction of traffic to exit the lot.
I wrote the adjuster back to tell him I was not willing to settle for 70% and if necessary would get an attorney involved. He wrote back that his offer would stand and that his insured's statement was that she was pulling out of her parking space rather than cutting across the parking lot as I indicated.
I've been working on gathering information for a small claim. I would need to travel 50 + miles to file in Sioux Falls, where the accident happenned. Just wondering if my case is clearly substantial or if I should bend and take the 70% offer? The insurance company is out of the Minneapolis area...200 + miles from Sioux Falls, as well as the insured is from southern MN...175 miles away. I find it hard to believe that the insured is going to want to mess with court for that distance. I would guess that they're probably not even aware of this outstanding issue.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!What is the name of your state?