Car accident damages

[thombos]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

Dear forum,

a week ago I was rear-ended while stopped in traffic and subsequently pushed into another stopped vehicle. The driver of the vehicle that rear-ended me left the scene on foot before the police showed up. I was transported from the scene by ambulance (I'm feeling better now, no open injuries or broken bones). I have a few questions now resulting from this.

1. The car was in my wifes name only, but we mutually use it for mutual benefit. My insurance sent me a form "double affidavit of bailment" for us to sign. I feel I should not sign this, as its simply not true what is stated in the form.
2. My jacket seems to have been left behind at the scene of the accident (it didn't come in the ambulance with me and when I asked for my stuff, I was told by the EMS "don't worry it will all be taken care of" and is not with my car now). My insurance says its not covered, so I'm SOL?
3. My car was basically brand new. The tow operator hired by the state police to remove my vehicle threw my rear bumper and all sorts of oily other debris into the rear seats of my car, at least thats were it is now when I saw my car in the lot. The seats are real leather, if there is resulting interior stains etc. is this going to be covered by the insurance as part of the accident?

Thank you very much for your help,
Thombos

PS: I'm talking to my insurance because I know next to nothing about the owners or drivers of the vehicle that hit me. All I have is a make and plate..... its sitting in the same lot as my car and nobody has shown any interest in it yet.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

Dear forum,

a week ago I was rear-ended while stopped in traffic and subsequently pushed into another stopped vehicle. The driver of the vehicle that rear-ended me left the scene on foot before the police showed up. I was transported from the scene by ambulance (I'm feeling better now, no open injuries or broken bones). I have a few questions now resulting from this.

1. The car was in my wifes name only, but we mutually use it for mutual benefit. My insurance sent me a form "double affidavit of bailment" for us to sign. I feel I should not sign this, as its simply not true what is stated in the form.
2. My jacket seems to have been left behind at the scene of the accident (it didn't come in the ambulance with me and when I asked for my stuff, I was told by the EMS "don't worry it will all be taken care of" and is not with my car now). My insurance says its not covered, so I'm SOL?
3. My car was basically brand new. The tow operator hired by the state police to remove my vehicle threw my rear bumper and all sorts of oily other debris into the rear seats of my car, at least thats were it is now when I saw my car in the lot. The seats are real leather, if there is resulting interior stains etc. is this going to be covered by the insurance as part of the accident?

Thank you very much for your help,
Thombos

PS: I'm talking to my insurance because I know next to nothing about the owners or drivers of the vehicle that hit me. All I have is a make and plate..... its sitting in the same lot as my car and nobody has shown any interest in it yet.

1) We don't know what the form even says. If you have questions, you should ask them of the insurance company and your attorney (if you feel it necessary).
2) Ask your insurance company...but I don't think this will be covered.
3) Ask your insurance company.

 

[thombos]

Thanks for the quick reply,

My insurance is ignoring written questions about the form and on the phone says I ought to sign it. The form is two affidavits one for me one for my wife, basically on my side saying that I used my wifes car without her controlling or directing me to do so and I did so for my sole benefit and not hers. Her affidavit says the same from her perspective. Since this is a family car and she almost always rides in it with me and I was on "family business" while this happened, so I don't think the affidavit is "true".

For 2. I think its not fair at all, but I realize US law is not about fairness. I was not at fault at all in this situation and find it unacceptable to suffer this loss as result of someone possibly comitting a crime.

For 3. I'll ask.

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[Zigner]

Thanks for the quick reply,

My insurance is ignoring written questions about the form and on the phone says I ought to sign it. The form is two affidavits one for me one for my wife, basically on my side saying that I used my wifes car without her controlling or directing me to do so and I did so for my sole benefit and not hers. Her affidavit says the same from her perspective. Since this is a family car and she almost always rides in it with me and I was on "family business" while this happened, so I don't think the affidavit is "true".

For 2. I think its not fair at all, but I realize US law is not about fairness. I was not at fault at all in this situation and find it unacceptable to suffer this loss as result of someone possibly comitting a crime.

For 3. I'll ask.

Thanks,
Thomas

You're going to want to work your way up at the insurance company to get answers about the affidavit. The problem with the jacket is that your jacket wasn't "lost" as a result of the accident. Your jacket was "lost" as a result of somebody's negligence after the accident. Again, double check with your insurance, as it *might* be covered.

 

[thombos]

Thank you for all your advice,

will try this on Monday. The adjuster of the insurance of the at-fault vehicle never talked to me and the adjuster of insurance has also gone "quiet" on my questions. I'm compiling a list of all receipts of all costs created so far that are related to the property damage to the car. Also my car has been sitting at the body shop for a week now, waiting for an appraisal on a "supplement" and it looks like the car will not be ready before I leave the country for several weeks at the end of this month. This will result in storage charges etc., which should also be covered by the insurance or the at-fault party, so I don't want to close out anything yet. In addition I have a few uber rides, postages, police report fees to the DMV, new child seat, etc. etc. so costs just keep adding up. So do you think it makes sense to send an intermediate demand letter to start getting reimbursed for stuff, or wait till the end? There will also be several tousand dollars in medical bills, but those will take a while to come in.

Thanks,
Thombos

 

[adjusterjack]

Thombos, did you post this on another website?

I could swear that I provided some comments but I don't see them now.

As for your latest paragraph.

Also my car has been sitting at the body shop for a week now, waiting for an appraisal on a "supplement" and it looks like the car will not be ready before I leave the country for several weeks at the end of this month. This will result in storage charges etc., which should also be covered by the insurance or the at-fault party,

Not entirely. The insurance company won't cover storage charges that you incur just because you leave the country. You will have to pay for that period yourself. You'll need to arrange to have somebody pick up the car for you if it's ready while you are gone or arrange for the shop to hold it for you at no charge. Otherwise, get set for a big bill when you get back.

so I don't want to close out anything yet. In addition I have a few uber rides, postages, police report fees to the DMV, new child seat, etc. etc. so costs just keep adding up. So do you think it makes sense to send an intermediate demand letter to start getting reimbursed for stuff, or wait till the end?

Liability insurance companies don't pay claimants "as you go" they pay when all the costs are quantified at the end of the claim.

There will also be several tousand dollars in medical bills, but those will take a while to come in.

Same with an injury settlement. You don't settle until you are fully recovered or have reached maximum medical improvement and your claim can be quantified.

 

[thombos]

Thank you adjusterjack. This is the only legal thread I have on this. I have posted in a Ford forum to see what I have to look out for in the repair of the car. As it stands, as soon as the body shop is done patching it up and I'm back I'm going to trade it in at the dealer for a new car. It's only 6 months old with a few thousand miles on it. And given the extensive damage to the car I'm not comfortable driving my family around in it anymore, nor am I convinced that the car is going to be reliable.
The trip out of the country has been planned and booked months before the accident. I told the body shop and insurance from the start about it. The whole thing is a massive inconvenience and not my fault at all, so I don't think I should be responsible for secondary charges resulting from it, nor should my family have to cancel their trip because of it. I don't want to get into the complications of having a stranger pick up the car and have something go wrong there....

I work hard for every Dollar I have, and I know not everything is fair in this country, but I don't see why I should suffer a single dollar loss because some drunk guy without drivers license crashes into my car. Since I have a personal aversion against people who drink and drive and put my and other peoples families in harms way, I have all intention to make sure the guy never does this again. Also the person who carelessly provided him with a car, risking other peoples lives should be punished and also be liable for my property damage, injuries and inconvenience and that of the owners and occupants of the third car involved in the crash.

Thombos

 

[HighwayMan]

The trip out of the country has been planned and booked months before the accident. I told the body shop and insurance from the start about it.

I don't think that's particularly relevant. It's not the other party's fault that you can't pick up the car when it's ready. As was explained to you - that's on you.

 

[thombos]

This is interesting. I'm not debating that you are right, but for my own education, what is the legal principle behind that? Its the other party's fault that it needs to be picked up in the first place, its also the other parties fault for driving with a revoked license, which made the whole insurance thing a mess and delayed my car repair for even more days. Do the consequences of the other party's fault go only 1 or 2 layers deep?

Edited: I know I'm supposed to mitigate damages, i.e. pickup the car as fast as possible. But that cannot include me cancelling our trip. I can look into hiring someone to pick up the car, which I would view as mitigating the damage, but I would want to be reimbursed for that action, naturally.

 

[latigo]

You must be a quick healer considering that you suffered personal injuries to the tune of "thousands of dollars of incurred medical bills" and yet they are not interfering with your planned trip out of the country.

Not to mention that with all your petty squawking about everything except the kitchen sink nothing has been said about loss of income.

 

[thombos]

You must be a quick healer considering that you suffered personal injuries to the tune of "thousands of dollars of incurred medical bills" and yet they are not interfering with your planned trip out of the country.

Not to mention that with all your petty squawking about everything except the kitchen sink nothing has been said about loss of income.

So far none of the doctors said that I will not be able to travel. It will definitely diminish the quality of the trip if some of the symptoms I'm experiencing persist in three weeks when I leave. As for the the accrued price, I have a good idea what the price of the diagnostic workup I had so far is. I do not consider myself "petty". I have been screwed in the past in similar situations, basically because I didn't have the means to do much but to accept what was given/done to me. This time around, especially considering that this was no "accident" I'm not willing to take **** and just eat whatever costs are created by that person. Yes I'm angry and I have every right to be angry. I lost about 1 week of work, but I'm back to work despite being told to rest up. Since my employer hasn't indicated that I won't be paid for the missed week, I have not suffered any losses there.

Thombos

 

[jamesvigil]

You have to ask your insurance agent about what is covered in your car insurance. You have to hire car accident lawyer who can guide you in a better way.

 

[thombos]

Following up from my old thread. The car, in the end, took over two months to fix, way past my trip. My neck pain persists until this day. But what brings me back here is that the car keeps having a variety of problems, and now at just 20000 miles, the transmission gave out. There are also issues with the electronics and the steering column. Although the car is supposed to have a warranty up to 3 years/36000 miles, Ford says the accident voided the warranty on those parts because the defects are clearly due to the accident. Its currently sitting in the shop and doesn't drive anymore. If this is due to the accident, I should not be paying for it. Also, I don't see exactly why Ford says the warranty on those parts is void after the insurance made me "whole again" last year. Obviously, it's not entirely "whole" now as things are breaking way too early on this car and the warranty is voided.
Do I have a case for going back to the insurance again and reopen the claim (I have contacted the insurance already in an attempt to do so)?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[justalayman]

Has the dealer explained how the accident has caused the malfunctioning transmission or the steering shaft issues and electrical issues?

 

[thombos]

Not yet. They just called Friday night to tell me that this was obvious accident-related damage and that they now want to be paid by me. Until I received the call, I was under the impression that this was covered by warranty and that's what they led me to believe when they took my car. They haven't mentioned in the call whether they now also want to be paid for the loaner I have been driving for over a week now.
I never mentioned the accident to them, so they must have found something. This dealer wasn't involved in fixing it after the accident. The electrical issues were previously looked at by a different Ford dealer, who made no fuzz about the accident but also didn't fix the issue as it was intermittent.

I'm hoping to have my insurance deal with the dealer now. Either its accident-related damage that the insurance ought to cover or its covered by warranty. Shouldn't be neither, but as usual, I might be overly naive and optimistic here.