Got into an accident and the other drivers insurance won't pay

[blo0op]

ugh this brings up a bad memory that still gets me steamed. i was turning left on a left turn arrow. there are 2 turning lanes that turn left into the corresponding 2 lanes. i was in the right side of the left turning lane so of course i turn into the right lane of the perpendicular street. lady in SUV across the way decides to take a right and i almost crash into her. then she flicks me off like i was wrong. HELLO! i had a green turn arrow!

it pisses me off that she thought she was right when she was the dumb driver.

[schbusdrvr]

I don't have time to read all responses right now so I apologize if this has been covered.


In MI (not sure about your state, maybe you can search for it)...you are supposed to turn into your lane unless you will be making another turn shortly thereafter that requires you to be in the other lane.

For instance if I am turning right on a green...I should stay in the right lane unless I will be making a left hand turn onto another street very shortly after my right hand turn.

That unless takes away the whole "you have to stay in your lane when you turn" ruling since it's impossible to know what someone else has to do.


Also...a right on red is allowed when the traffic is clear. Their traffic wasn't clear.

Good luck.

[Grizzley]

Quote from buddy72192 : okay I got into an accident last week. I had a green arrow and when I went to make my left turn someone across from me made a right turn on red and we collided. My front right fender hit his left front fender. So I talked to his insurance which was Geico and now they send me a letter saying they won't pay because it was a 2 lane road I was turning onto and I should have stayed in the left lane? First off there are no lanes to make the turn, it's just plain tar, and secondly I thought that with a green arrow I could turn into either lane. So basically I'm wondering if I'm screwed or if I can win this case.

OP,

Geico is screwing with you. Get counsel from an attorney. He/she will tell you if you have a case or not.

I had the same thing happen, but with Allstate. It's amazing how cooperative insurance companies become, whenever an attorney and possible court filings enter the picture.

Edit: BTW, this thread is about Allstate, but there are posts about Geico's settlement practices.

[sdslick]

I also think you should consult with an attorney. How much was your damages? If you had lets say $2k worth of damages and you pay an attorney $200 to write a letter to geico, I am sure geico will bend over backwards to stay out of court. If you had like 7k damages then maybe geico will be more willing to go to court.

[handyguy]

Your insurance comp is supposed to defend you. That's why you pay them.

[accordboi11]

Quote from handyguy : Your insurance comp is supposed to defend you. That's why you pay them.

only if you purchase the right coverages!

[PiratesSayARRR]

Also OP keep pressuring Geico take their ass to court...or the driver of the other vehicle. Insurance companies are not in business to pay out claims they are in business to make money. I'm surprised that your insurance hasn't fought them more.

[accordboi11]

Quote from PiratesSayARRR : Also OP keep pressuring Geico take their ass to court...or the driver of the other vehicle. Insurance companies are not in business to pay out claims they are in business to make money. I'm surprised that your insurance hasn't fought them more.

her ins. co. might not be fighting because she may only have liability coverage and did not purchase the uninsured/underinured coverage.

[diveborg]

Quote from amythyst : I hate when people make turns like this... if there are two lanes, you turn left into the left lane, THEN merge to the right if you need to be in that lane. The person turning right on red does have to yield or stop, but can still proceed because you're expected to turn left into the left lane, not left into the right lane.

They still need to come to a complete stop because of the red light, then they can turn into the lane closest to them if no cars are coming.

[handyguy]

In Calif it''s 40 days to settle. So you have plenty of time.

[z2g]

Are ppl really serious about blaming the accident on the OP. Fyi, in most states, when you're making a left turn on a green arrow with two lanes available, you can go into either lane...at least in CA. Ppl making a righthand turn onto the same street must yield to that person since the other car has the green arrow and the person making the right has the red.

By the way, if the OP was truly partially at fault, why didn't he/she receive a ticket by the police on the scene. And, why did the police report that the accident was totally the other driver's fault?

[alimoni]

I'm pretty sure the OP is in MA, so the laws for the other states don't really matter, know what I mean. I'm not at work so I don't have the information I'm looking for, but, in MA, for personal injury, as long as OP was less than 51% at fault, the (more) at fault party's insurance company would pay the entire claim. Again, that's for personal injury in MA, but property damage should be the same.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage shouldn't come into play since, apparently, the other party has insurance, unless they don't have enough.

When reading the Driver handbook for MA, it states that when making a left turn to turn into the lane closest to you and to not swing out when making a left turn. It also shows diagrams about making a left turn and turning into the left lane.

In the OPs favor, the manual states that for drivers with left turn arrows, the other drivers should have a red light, which means the other party should have yielded.

I'd contact the department of insurance and file a complaint. It would provide the quickest resolution. Insurance companies HATE those complaints, even when they're in the right - cause the department statistics don't look at complaints by fault, they just look at the total number of complaints.

In any case, they need to decline to pay in writing, and specific the specific reason why they're not required to pay.

Hope that helps some.

Oh, and if the police didn't witness the accident, the police report is just a statement taken by police to record what they were told. It's not required to carry ANY weight by the insurance company. Basically, the insurance company's fault could be completely different from the person at fault listed on the police report. For example, a police report may state NO FAULT when weather is an issue (ice or snow, for example, in a one car accident where the driver slides into the railing and damages hit own car), but the insurance company will blame the driver for driving when the weather was bad, and fault the driver.

[wadew]

I hate accidents; I think you're going to have a hard time arguing this. You stated: My front right fender hit his left front fender. Therefore, there isn't really any way to tell who was their first. If your front had hit his fender, then it could be argued that he was already there in which case,even though you're not required to yield, you can't just run into them either. if his front had collided with your fender, then the reverse is true and your car was already there when he ran into you. However, since it seems as though somehow you sides came together, there is no way to tell who was where first -- hence the double fault. the other car could always argue that he stopped, and then turned, and you came speeding around, making your left turn and was going so fast that you overturned into his lane.
Good Luck cause I feel that this is going to get ugly especially if you can't get your insurance company to deal with theirs.