Liability Claim Help

[Tim223]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey (Accident happened in California)

I was in a fender bender accicdent in California driving a rental car. I did not take the liability insurance from the rental company as I was under the assumption that my credit card covered this. I do not own a car; therefore I do not have any auto insurance. Of course now I realize that my credit card only covers collision on the rental vehicle and does not provide any liability coverage.

So I was in an accident. Police were called; no citations were issued. No one was injured. Info was exchanged and we went on our way. I talked with the other drivers insurance agent and explained the accident. The insurance company is claiming I am liable for the accident so they have sent me a letter requesting payment for repairs to the other vehicle. No documentation of repairs was included. Just a lump sum.

What are my rights in respect to getting a copy of the repair bill ? Also shouldnt I have had the option to get estimates from more than 1 place to fix the other vehicle ?

How should I proceed ? Should I hire a lawyer to try and settle the claim with the other insurance co ? This is what my own insurance co would have done had I actually had insurance.

It seems to me that I was found liable by another insurance company and asked to pay an amount to fix their client's vehicle with no documentation other than a letter requesting payment.

 

[JustAPal00]

You haven't been found guilty of anything yet. That will happen when you go to court. Were you at fault?? If so, I suggest you try to settle as soon as possible, before the expenses start to add up! It's fair to ask for an itemized bill, but odds are that the other drivers insurance has already fixed the vehicle and is coming after you for their expenses!

 

[alnorth]

Justapal pretty much answered this question, I just had to comment because this just boggles the mind:

I did not take the liability insurance from the rental company as I was under the assumption that my credit card covered this.

So... lets say you slam into a minivan full of people and cause $2 million of bodily injury. Did you really think your credit card was going to pay for that?

 

[racer72]

You haven't been found guilty of anything yet.

This has absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, to do with the OP's dealing with the other party's insurance company. You are confusing the possible criminal aspects of the accident with the civil aspects.

As far as the estimates to repair the damages. Most if not all larger insurance companies do the estimates in house, they do not rely in estimates given by body shops. You have no rights to a copy of the repair bill, the insurance company has no legal obligation to you at all. You only need a lawyer if you feel you were not responsible for the accident. You will be wasting money otherwise. If you had insurance and were at fault, your insurance company would pay the bill.

It seems to me that I was found liable by another insurance company and asked to pay an amount to fix their client's vehicle with no documentation other than a letter requesting payment.

That's the risk you took driving uninsured. Failure to pay the bill in a timely manner could result in the insurance company notifying the state of California that you were driving uninsured, California will suspend your driving priveliges, New Jersey will reciprocate based on the laws as a member of the Non Resident Violator's Compact (California is not a member but reports certain violations, license suspensions is one) and besides losing your driver's license, you will have a large ticket in California to pay and will be required to carry auto insurance with an SR22 filing, even if you do not own a vehicle.

 

[JustAPal00]

This has absolutely nothing, nada, zilch, to do with the OP's dealing with the other party's insurance company. You are confusing the possible criminal aspects of the accident with the civil aspects.

As far as the estimates to repair the damages. Most if not all larger insurance companies do the estimates in house, they do not rely in estimates given by body shops. You have no rights to a copy of the repair bill, the insurance company has no legal obligation to you at all. You only need a lawyer if you feel you were not responsible for the accident. You will be wasting money otherwise. If you had insurance and were at fault, your insurance company would pay the bill.


That's the risk you took driving uninsured. Failure to pay the bill in a timely manner could result in the insurance company notifying the state of California that you were driving uninsured, California will suspend your driving priveliges, New Jersey will reciprocate based on the laws as a member of the Non Resident Violator's Compact (California is not a member but reports certain violations, license suspensions is one) and besides losing your driver's license, you will have a large ticket in California to pay and will be required to carry auto insurance with an SR22 filing, even if you do not own a vehicle.

Now I understand why people "Quote" so much on here! The OP's original post said "Guilty" instead of "Liable". Now I have you accusing me of confusing things, when the OP editing his post is what confused you!

 

[racer72]

Now I understand why people "Quote" so much on here! The OP's original post said "Guilty" instead of "Liable". Now I have you accusing me of confusing things, when the OP editing his post is what confused you!

No, I think you are confused. No where in the OP's original post does he use the word guilty. His post has not been edited. Posts in these forum can be edited for up to 5 minutes without a "post edited by" tag being applied. You obviously did not reply in this 5 minute window.

 

[JustAPal00]

No, I think you are confused. No where in the OP's original post does he use the word guilty. His post has not been edited. Posts in these forum can be edited for up to 5 minutes without a "post edited by" tag being applied. You obviously did not reply in this 5 minute window.

I didn't know about the five minutes, but when I first read it the post said "guilty" where the word "Liable" is now. I guess I read it durring the first five minutes, before he changed it! As far as "all larger insurance companies do the estimates in house, they do not rely in estimates given by body shops. " This is totaly incorrect! You can have whoever you want fix your car, even if your own company is fixing it. Most companies have repair shops that are on their "approved list", and if you use them all you are responsable for is the deductable. The company will pay the shop directly! Also the "Non Resident Violator's Compact" is set up for "non-resident violators receiving citations, and their failure to appear or otherwise failure to comply with outstanding moving traffic summons.
The compact allows participating jurisdictions to inform each other's motor vehicle administrations when a resident of one jurisdiction did not comply with the citation’s terms.