Insurance Co. won't pay for rental charges.

[Teablue]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

Hi,
My boyfriend and I were in a car accident on AUG 1, 2004. The other person who hit us was in fault and that was clearly stated on the police report. Nevertheless, his insurance co. was claiming only 80% of the charges saying that we were 20% in fault, for no reason. After a lot of phone calls they decided to pay 100% of the damage. So my bf took the car to the body shop and in the mean time rented a car for his daily needs. The body shop took a while to fix the car and by the time they were done the insurance co. had not payed for the damages yet. They refused to give the car back unless someone paid. After a while they paid part of the cost and asked my bf to pay a part of it and they would reimburse him later. That cost has not been reimbursed as of today and the insurance co. paid only 10 days of the rental car saying that that was the time that it should have taken the body shop te fix the car. These people are hard to get in touch with and also very unprofesional. They simply refuse to colaborate. We contacted a lawyer and he persued the case but the ins. co refuses to pay anything. The lawyer advised us to take this to a small claims court.
Is the ins. co suposed to pay for all the rental cost till the day that my bf got the car back from the body shop, or not? And, should we take this to a small claims court?
Thank you,

Tea.

 

[Lynx 36]

Quote: "Is the ins. co suposed to pay for all the rental cost till the day that my bf got the car back from the body shop, or not?"

No. If the body shop takes too long to repair the car the insurance company will not pay the full rental.

Quote: "And, should we take this to a small claims court?"

Let me get this straight. You hired an atty to settle a dispute on a car rental bill, correct? How much is the atty charging you f/ this? How much of the rental bill is in dispute? It seems you will pay more f/ the atty than you would pay f/ the rental. Lastly, you will lose this case and not only be out the rental, but also have a fat bill from an atty.

 

[bca]

Send them a bill for diminished value on top of what they have already paid. Use 20% of the damage amount. Maybe you can recoop your funds that way.

--bca

 

[Lynx 36]

Quote: "Send them a bill for diminished value on top of what they have already paid. Use 20% of the damage amount. Maybe you can recoop your funds that way."

They wouldn't pay that either.

 

[Teablue]

hi

Thank you for your replies!

But it doesn't make sense that they won't pay for the rental because my bf had nothing to do with the body shop. If they took longer to repair the car that would be an issue between the body shop and the insurance co. He would have had to rent for as long as his car was sitting in the shop, because he had no other car to take him to work or to places he needed to go. I haven't studied the law but it does not make any sense that he should be responsible for the time the shop took to repair his car.

Thanks, T.

 

[JeffA]

rental fees

Review your policy--usually there is a provision in the policy that you specifically pay for that sets a limit on the amount that the insurance company is obligated to pay for a rental and the amount of time that they will pay. It may also state that they are only obligated to pay for a reasonable time --to them the fact that the car was in there for more time was not reasonable--so they wont pay.

 

[stephenk]

is the body shop the one the other carrier sent you to for the repairs? If yes, then the carrier is responsible for all of the rental if their body shop takes longer than was expected to fix the car.

 

[Who's Liable?]

Thank you for your replies!

But it doesn't make sense that they won't pay for the rental because my bf had nothing to do with the body shop. If they took longer to repair the car that would be an issue between the body shop and the insurance co. He would have had to rent for as long as his car was sitting in the shop, because he had no other car to take him to work or to places he needed to go. I haven't studied the law but it does not make any sense that he should be responsible for the time the shop took to repair his car.

Thanks, T.

This is wrong... The insurance companies are only obligated to pay for 30 days worth of insurance... You just don't get a free car forever...

 

[Who's Liable?]

Thank you for your replies!

But it doesn't make sense that they won't pay for the rental because my bf had nothing to do with the body shop. If they took longer to repair the car that would be an issue between the body shop and the insurance co. He would have had to rent for as long as his car was sitting in the shop, because he had no other car to take him to work or to places he needed to go. I haven't studied the law but it does not make any sense that he should be responsible for the time the shop took to repair his car.

Thanks, T.

This is wrong... The insurance company is only obligated to pay for 30 days or rental car coverage... After that, it is all on you...

 

[stephenk]

This is wrong... The insurance company is only obligated to pay for 30 days or rental car coverage... After that, it is all on you...

That may be your opinion, but it has no legal basis.

If the carrier sent the poster to one of its body shops and the delay is caused by the body shop then the carrier has to pay for the rental until the car is fixed.

If the repairs were estimated to be fixed within 30 days and then upon starting the work additional damage is found putting the repairs past the original estimated time, the carrier has to pay for the rental.

Remember, the poster is having his car fixed by the other carrier. He is not obligated to be restricted by that carrier's rental coverage for their own insureds.