Other parties fault, I don't have insuruance. Also, doctors randomly calling?

[willpower102]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee.

Setting:
I was heading west on a congested road near campus in 92 honda civic, other party 01 mustang was heading east and turned to his left (north) towards his apt complex directly across my path. I braked hard and turned, but still hit his passenger side door and my nose kinda slid down towards his rear. (so more like 120degrees instead of 90)

Question 1:
I didn't have insurance at the time. Wrecked cited as fault of other party, who has full coverage. Regardless, will his liability pay for damage to my car? I know I'm a dumbass, I have insurance now. I hadn't had my car insured because I'd just had insurance on my bike until the weather got cold.

Question 1.1:
Just thought of this. Their ins has been calling me leaving messages. I'm going to call them back, but I was wondering if there is any etiquette involved, eg. anything I should look out for them saying or asking?

Question 2:
I keep getting calls from random companies asking if I want to get checked out by a hospital. What is this? Should I do this? Will I have to pay? I don't have health insurance b/c I'm a 25 yr old student. I wasn't offered an ambulance on the wrecked, although it dented up our cars, it wasn't too bad. I have nothing more than a sore neck, probably just from whiplash, (my belt was on) but I told the officer I was just shook up. I however get some ibuprofen off the other driver, lol.

Question 3:
Just thought of this too. Is there anyway to keep them from declaring my car totaled besides praying? lol. No really, I mean is there anyone I can ask? The damage isn't bad. Passenger bumper headlight, fender and hood are all shifted about an inch and the headlight is cracked, but works. I'm a student, this car is great and well maintained. I really would just rather keep the lil guy. The problem I see is that fair market value will prolly be between 1500 and 2000, and a between a body shop quote for labor and "new" parts the quote could probably run up to 1500. At what percent damage of FMV do they deem it totaled? I guess I could always just buy it back replace the parts and file for rebuilt. (super easy in tn) But I'd rather just get some money for the inconvenience and be on my way.

Ok. Off to read even more similar topics. If I find the answer to my own questions I'll post here. Otherwise, thanks in advance, you guys are awesome!

 

[racer72]

1. Your lack of insurance will not affect his liability for the accident. What you will also receive from the insurance company is a copy of a notification that they paid a claim to an uninsured motorist, the original will be sent to your state's DMV and will likely result in the suspension of your drivng priveliges.

2. Ambulance chasers. Tell them you had no insurance at the time of the accident, they will quit calling pretty quick.

3. Nope. A car that old won't need much damage to be considered totalled. You will probably be able to buy it back for a couple hundred bucks and keep the rest of the money.

 

[acmb05]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee.



Question 1.1:
Just thought of this. Their ins has been calling me leaving messages. I'm going to call them back, but I was wondering if there is any etiquette involved, eg. anything I should look out for them saying or asking?

Question 2:
I keep getting calls from random companies asking if I want to get checked out by a hospital. What is this? Should I do this? Will I have to pay? I don't have health insurance b/c I'm a 25 yr old student. I wasn't offered an ambulance on the wrecked, although it dented up our cars, it wasn't too bad. I have nothing more than a sore neck, probably just from whiplash, (my belt was on) but I told the officer I was just shook up. I however get some ibuprofen off the other driver, lol.

Question 3:
Just thought of this too. Is there anyway to keep them from declaring my car totaled besides praying? lol. No really, I mean is there anyone I can ask? The damage isn't bad. Passenger bumper headlight, fender and hood are all shifted about an inch and the headlight is cracked, but works. I'm a student, this car is great and well maintained. I really would just rather keep the lil guy. The problem I see is that fair market value will prolly be between 1500 and 2000, and a between a body shop quote for labor and "new" parts the quote could probably run up to 1500. At what percent damage of FMV do they deem it totaled? I guess I could always just buy it back replace the parts and file for rebuilt. (super easy in tn) But I'd rather just get some money for the inconvenience and be on my way.

Ok. Off to read even more similar topics. If I find the answer to my own questions I'll post here. Otherwise, thanks in advance, you guys are awesome!

1. They are going to ask you all about the accident and then want to send you a form to sign and return stating you accept a certain amount and will not sue later on. If you truly do just want the car fixed tell them the truth and that you have just a small amount of pain in your neck. They may offer you a little more for pain and suffering, not much but a little. You really should have at least went to your doctor and gotten checked out.

2. Greedy lawyers, All they want to do is send you to their doctor so they can get a report saying how bad you are injured and sue the other insurance company.

3. If they declare it totaled you can buy it back if you wish, however even though it is easy to get a salvage title here the fees they are going to charge and the hoops you have to go threw to re title it is really not worth it. Also you will never get more than a couple hundred bucks for it if you ever want to sell it.

 

[willpower102]

1. They are going to ask you all about the accident and then want to send you a form to sign and return stating you accept a certain amount and will not sue later on. If you truly do just want the car fixed tell them the truth and that you have just a small amount of pain in your neck. They may offer you a little more for pain and suffering, not much but a little. You really should have at least went to your doctor and gotten checked out.

2. Greedy lawyers, All they want to do is send you to their doctor so they can get a report saying how bad you are injured and sue the other insurance company.

3. If they declare it totaled you can buy it back if you wish, however even though it is easy to get a salvage title here the fees they are going to charge and the hoops you have to go threw to re title it is really not worth it. Also you will never get more than a couple hundred bucks for it if you ever want to sell it.

Under what grounds would you actually pursue a lawsuit like that? Throughout my life I've heard of people saying things like, "Yeah they offered me $X but I sued and got 10 times that amount!" It seems wrong unless there's a damn good reason, but I wonder if it's just a natural part of the way insurance systems are setup. I mean, if they have a HUGE policy does it actually hurt anyone? (yeah, i know, I'm starting to sound greedy now.)

Re-titling it here really is easy. I bought my bike salvage and sent in a notarized form with all the ebay and junkyard receipts for parts, plus before and after pics, something like an affidavit of not using stolen parts, and 65 bucks. Had a title and rebuilt frame sticker in two weeks.

Thanks for the clarification guys! I guess I'll call their insurance company monday and go from there. I guess I'll start looking on craigslist for a car too.

 

[acmb05]

Under what grounds would you actually pursue a lawsuit like that? Throughout my life I've heard of people saying things like, "Yeah they offered me $X but I sued and got 10 times that amount!" It seems wrong unless there's a damn good reason, but I wonder if it's just a natural part of the way insurance systems are setup. I mean, if they have a HUGE policy does it actually hurt anyone? (yeah, i know, I'm starting to sound greedy now.)

Because there are some unscrupulous lawyers out there who look at nothing but the bottom dollar and how much they can get of it. They have doctors on retainer who will pretty much say whatever they need to. So you go to them and they say you have whiplash and will not be able to work or do much of anything for 6 months. Now your lawyer goes to insurance company and says this and they plan on sueing for 100,000 dollars.

Of course the insurance company eventually comes back with a counter offer and you settle for a little less after negotiations.

They do not want to go to court because it cost them more to fight it than it does to settle.

And yes it hurts every one because that is the reason insurance is so high now.

 

[acmb05]

Re-titling it here really is easy. I bought my bike salvage and sent in a notarized form with all the ebay and junkyard receipts for parts, plus before and after pics, something like an affidavit of not using stolen parts, and 65 bucks. Had a title and rebuilt frame sticker in two weeks.

Thanks for the clarification guys! I guess I'll call their insurance company monday and go from there. I guess I'll start looking on craigslist for a car too.

Just to much of a pain in the arse for me to deal with. I ended up just junking a car recently for that very reason.

 

[ecmst12]

Passenger bumper headlight, fender and hood are all shifted about an inch

That sounds like frame damage...if your car is old and not worth much, it's unlikely it won't be totalled. Sorry But you probably don't WANT the car back with that kind of damage.

 

[moburkes]

If the vehicle is salvaged, you'll have a difficult time getting insurance on it. Insurance companies don't like salvage-titled vehicles.

Oh, and had you had auto insurance with medical benefits, you wouldn't have needed health insurance for this situation. By the way, health insurance through college is CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[willpower102]

I understand, and it would have been nice, but comprehensive premiums are far too expensive, and school insurance isn't really that cheap. (roughly 100 a month) I make about about 500 a month, so an extra couple thousand out of pocket a year is just not feasible.

Regardless, if I don't feel they are adequately reimbursing me, eg. enough to purchase an equivalent vehicle should I then pursue a lawsuit?

 

[ecmst12]

You are not entitled to the cost to replace your vehicle. You are entiteld for the value of your vehicle, in the condition it was in immediately prior to the accident.

 

[moburkes]

I understand, and it would have been nice, but comprehensive premiums are far too expensive, and school insurance isn't really that cheap. (roughly 100 a month) I make about about 500 a month, so an extra couple thousand out of pocket a year is just not feasible.

Regardless, if I don't feel they are adequately reimbursing me, eg. enough to purchase an equivalent vehicle should I then pursue a lawsuit?

Comprehensive premiums wouldn't have paid for your vehicle in the situation. Only collision coverage would have paid for the damage to your vehicle due to an accident. In any case, it is NOT expensive on an old car. If it is, then you need to shop around.

 

[ecmst12]

Med Pay is usually cheap also.

 

[moburkes]

Med Pay is usually cheap also.

Always cheap. Good catch.

 

[willpower102]

You are not entitled to the cost to replace your vehicle. You are entiteld for the value of your vehicle, in the condition it was in immediately prior to the accident.

I'm not sure if you mis-understood me, or if I'm not fully understanding. (Which, I admit, could easily be the case.)

Shouldn't fair market value be at least similar, if not equivalent, to the price of purchasing the same vehicle?

For example, many years ago a lady turned in front of me and totaled my honda prelude. At that time, I knew even less about insurance than I do now. The company offered me 1500$ and, when I complained, said that it was based off of their own database, which was based off local classifieds and autotrader.com, among other sources. I showed him local classifieds, as well as autotrader, and explained to him that there was no way I could get one for under 2500. They just didn't exist in good running condition. After a week he finally called me back to offer 1900 and, since I had another vehicle at the time, I reluctantly accepted.

So, then I read these other posts on here where people say the process works like, they offer, you counter-offer, they deny, you sue, they offer higher settlement, you settle. Is this true? Does that make more sense why I asked the question?

Comprehensive premiums wouldn't have paid for your vehicle in the situation. Only collision coverage would have paid for the damage to your vehicle due to an accident.

...if the accident was my fault. I guess I wasn't clear enough about that either. I was responding to you saying I should have had medical payments. For some reason, I was under the impression that they were part of comprehensive and would be quite well out of my price range.

After seeing the two posts previous to this one I scratched my head and went to check the policy. I didnt' realize that medical payments were a separate addon. So I stand corrected. And they are surprisingly cheap.

geico motorcycle insurance:
*prices are per year
500 1000 2000
$21.00 $33.00 $64.00

Actually, I will probably add the max on both my bike and my car.

If I understand correctly, this will cover me up to 2000$ in medical bills? That's actually not much really... not even enough for a night in the emergency room. What's the difference between this and the other parties Bodily Injury Liability?

 

[ecmst12]

Med Pay pays your medical bills directly, BI does not. Med Pay also pays regardless of fault. And 2k covers more then you think, since it's usually at contracted rates with your insurance company. It won't cover an inpatient hospital stay, but it will cover an ER visit, and follow ups, and a decent number of PT or Chiro sessions. If you do not have health insurance, it's a must, and even if you DO, I still recommend it.