Help!!!!!

[ayshabell]

ARIZONA - I was in a collision on 6-25-08. We were hit by a truck and hit 3 other cars as a result (no major injuries thank God). Anyway, the truck who hit us is at fault for the entire accident and my insurance is not taking any fault.

We had a 2008 Chevy Cobalt (with GAP insurance) and my insurance company totaled the car. Here is my dilemma. We were not at fault for the accident and it was our only car. Therefore we are renting a car on our own dime.

I contacted a lawyer b/c I feel the at-fault party should be responsible for providing a rental to us while this situation is getting taken care of. I cannot purchase another car right now b/c the new loan is still on my credit report. The lawyer's only concern has been getting us to a chiropractor and has not even asked the at-fault insurance company about our rental reimbursement. As a matter of fact the lawyer has told me that the insurance company may not have enough coverage to cover my rental. When I first sought legal coverage all I wanted was my rental covered! I made that very clear up front. However, they have not done what they assured me they could do.

Will I have to pay the lawyer if I drop them? Per the contract their pay comes from the at-fault insurance company.

[ecmst12]

Let the lawyer handle your injury claim. You can handle the property damage on your own. The situation is you have 4 damaged cars and a limited amount of money on the policy to cover them. The minimum coverage for PD in AZ is 10k. Your totalled car alone was probably worth more then that, so you can hope that it was not a minimum policy. The adjuster is going to have to wait for the final bills to come in for ALL the cars and ALL the rentals before they can figure out whether there is enough money to cover everything and if not, it will be divided according to the percentage of the total costs incurred for each claimant.

So basically you are going to have to pay out of pocket for now. Get a receipt when you take it back and send it in to the at-fault insurance company and hope for the best. It will take a while for them to get all the bills in so don't expect it to be quick. And be aware that they will only likely cover the rental for 3-5 days after your total loss settlement is paid out, so don't stay in it too long.