Got rear ended. Insurance company is trying to rescind the drivers policy to not pay out

[jobinseattle]

Finally got in contact with the insurance adjuster for the guy who hit my car’s insurance, and he said that they are waiting for him to provide “documentation” and that if he doesn’t, they will rescind his policy and thus not pay out on my claim.

Is there anything I can do in this situation? I don’t have full coverage so I’d prefer not to have to pay out of pocket to get it repaired.

It seems to me like they reviewed the damage and decided it was either totaled or just too expensive for their liking, so they’d rather try and rescind the guys policy and refund him instead.

I don’t have much faith in this dude to provide whatever “documentation” they need.

Should I get a repair quote myself? At least then I would know if it’s worth going to court or something (which I have no idea if it would be worth while anyways).

Thanks.

 

[gklee]

@jobinseattle He either had coverage or he didn’t. If he lied on the application and his company is wanting documentation, I can understand why they are apprehensive. It could also be a situation of where his policy lapsed and he tried to reinstate it after the accident. The issue could be if the driver is excluded from the policy. Not sure of the exact reason. The insurance company is not trying to get out of paying, they are just making sure they are liable. They are only liable if the policy is active on the day of the incident and no exclusions are preventing them from paying. If they are liable, then they will pay accordingly.

 

[jobinseattle]

@gklee So that’s what I read, was that they will try and see if he lied about something and use that to rescind the policy.

 

[gklee]

@jobinseattle Well stop reading(lol). I’m a licensed agent in TX and the insurance company is just verifying that they are liable and depending on the state, how liable they are. Could be 50/50, 70/30 or 100%. This is just them doing their investigation. If things are too slow you can always go through your insurance company and they will attempt to subrogate the money back. Without seeing the other drivers policy, we have no idea of what the holdup is.

 

[jobinseattle]

@gklee Understood, thanks. I’m supposed to hear back on Thursday with basically a yay or nay based on if this dude sends them what they are asking for

 

[thewordiswisdom]

@jobinseattle No you cannot. Either the person had coverage or they didn't. If they had coverage and violence terms of the policy, the coverage will be denied. Nothing you do can change either fact.

 

[jobinseattle]

@thewordiswisdom What kind of documentation would they need in this case though? The only thing I can think of is maybe he wasn’t paying.

 

[waro]

@jobinseattle Tons of potential things. The most common is a person driving that is not on the policy. This usually isn't a big deal for most companies but if they were a resident relative then it's a big deal because they were required to be on the policy. That's just one example. Another may be that their car was new, many insurance companies will extend coverage from your old car to a new one for a certain amount of time after you bought it and they need the bill of sale to see if it was within that timeframe.

They didn't look at your estimate and decide to try to avoid coverage though, I can guarantee you that.

 

[thewordiswisdom]

@jobinseattle I don't know. I don't know what the coverage issue is. But until he reolves that to their satisfaction, they're not paying.

 

[jobinseattle]

@thewordiswisdom Yeah I gotcha I was just curious.

This is my first time dealing with this stuff but if I just end up fixing it myself it’s not a big deal. As long as it’s not totaled lol

 

[great_depression]

@jobinseattle Have your insurance company subrogate on your behalf.

 

[mjb048]

@jobinseattle A very important distinction is regardless of if they are covered by their insurance policy, they are still personally liable for your damages if they are at-fault. It’s not a get out of jail free card to cause an accident with an invalid insurance policy. You always have the right to sue the driver (or usually owner, depending on state) and be awarded for your damages

The fact that it’s gotten difficult already suggests it’s smarter to use your own collision coverage rather than wait for them to settle it out of your control internally and pay you out

 

[jobinseattle]

@mjb048 My vehicle is paid off so if his insurance doesn’t come through then yeah I can sue otherwise I’m fixing it myself.