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

[BeeEss]

OP i have been in a slightly altered version of your situation. I was making a right turn (in a right lane with my right turn arrow on) and this guy behind me wants to go straight ahead, he either doesnt see my right turn arrow or doesnt slow down and so collides with my car's rear end.

By the time police comes on the spot, a few interesting things happen:
the girl (who was with the guy) tells me to pls not call police and she wld pay me all the repairs etc.
I was just thinking whther i shoudl believe her or not when this passerby calls the police.
WHen police arrive, they say a different story to the police! they tell that the girl was driving!!!! police asks me if i m sure if the guy was driving, would i say that in court or do i have any proof? well the only proof was my eyes so i refuse. they can state whatever they have to.
Then it gets worse. the girl had an expired DL and the guy probably had no driving license , he looked underage. the guys Dad arrives immediately and starts scolding him like hey i didnt allow you to drive my car, why did u take the keys etc.

They show the police some insurance copy of their car and the police reports this as their fault and apparently tells me their insurance will pay.
-------
story takes a turn for the worse. After a lot of back and forth, their insurance company finally tells me that their insurance policy was CANCELLED 10 days before the accident and so they cannot pay.
----------
my insurance company takes about couple of months to settle this issue and finally agree to settle my case.
I felt bad that my insurance company had to take the hit. The people who commited the offence walked away totally commitment free according to me because the police could not or did not verify that the insurance paper they were showing was still valid as of that date or not.
And thus my premium increased even when the police report said its not my fault.

Oh and the court sent me notices if i want to attend the court case as a witness because that guy wanted to prove he is not at fault and wont pay and all that !!
-------
So coming to your case, yeah one lesson learnt is take all the stuff from the companies in writing. WHat is that 1% nonsense they are telling you? can they send that to you in writing? or telling you over phone? once it comes in writing, then get it evaluated by a lawyer or even for cost sake , a law student /friend /paralegal.

Read your insurance clauses carefully once again

And yes i agree it was that persons fault 100% so fight all you can.

[Jakens84]

OP, I would still file the claim with your company. You may not have collision coverage, BUT you may have uninsured/underinsured coverage which may end up paying if the other company does not pay.

Plus, they represent you for cases like this and sometimes can FORCE the other company to pay.

I work in insurance and the 1% rule is BS.....unless they are saying you were 51% at fault due to the turn into the far lane (which, you shouldn't do )

[Melmo]

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.

Agree here too. Although this annoys the crap out of me because pulling out of my son's school I have to deal with this daily and the people turn so close to you and it scares the crap out of me.

[Melmo]

Quote from BeeEss : OP i have been in a slightly altered version of your situation. I was making a right turn (in a right lane with my right turn arrow on) and this guy behind me wants to go straight ahead, he either doesnt see my right turn arrow or doesnt slow down and so collides with my car's rear end. By the time police comes on the spot, a few interesting things happen: the girl (who was with the guy) tells me to pls not call police and she wld pay me all the repairs etc. I was just thinking whther i shoudl believe her or not when this passerby calls the police. WHen police arrive, they say a different story to the police! they tell that the girl was driving!!!! police asks me if i m sure if the guy was driving, would i say that in court or do i have any proof? well the only proof was my eyes so i refuse. they can state whatever they have to. Then it gets worse. the girl had an expired DL and the guy probably had no driving license , he looked underage. the guys Dad arrives immediately and starts scolding him like hey i didnt allow you to drive my car, why did u take the keys etc. They show the police some insurance copy of their car and the police reports this as their fault and apparently tells me their insurance will pay. ------- story takes a turn for the worse. After a lot of back and forth, their insurance company finally tells me that their insurance policy was CANCELLED 10 days before the accident and so they cannot pay. ---------- my insurance company takes about couple of months to settle this issue and finally agree to settle my case. I felt bad that my insurance company had to take the hit. The people who commited the offence walked away totally commitment free according to me because the police could not or did not verify that the insurance paper they were showing was still valid as of that date or not. And thus my premium increased even when the police report said its not my fault. Oh and the court sent me notices if i want to attend the court case as a witness because that guy wanted to prove he is not at fault and wont pay and all that !! -------.

wow...that sucks 0.0

[marg_fan]

For my edification, is there laws stating that when you turn onto a street that has two lanes you MUST chose the lane closest to where you made the turn? I think I've only seen that when you have multiple lanes turning the same direction and those generally have lanes marked in the intersection.

I thought it was a courtesy to other drivers rather than a legal requirement to chose the lane closest to where you made a turn. Either you have the legal right of way or you don't. There shouldn't be a gray area.

Or am I being naive?

[acesmuzic]

OP said there were no lanes, although with amethyst, Landers and others who said when there are lanes that you should turn into the left lane and then change if you need to be in the right.

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.

do you have a picture of this OP?

[shhaggy]

Quote from marg_fan : For my edification, is there laws stating that when you turn onto a street that has two lanes you MUST chose the lane closest to where you made the turn? I think I've only seen that when you have multiple lanes turning the same direction and those generally have lanes marked in the intersection. I thought it was a courtesy to other drivers rather than a legal requirement to chose the lane closest to where you made a turn. Either you have the legal right of way or you don't. There shouldn't be a gray area. Or am I being naive?

You're supposed to turn into the lane closest to you, anything less is called 'underturning'. Even if you're turning onto a street that's one wide lane, you're supposed to turn into the side closest to you. You'd get points off on a driving test if you made a left turn and didn't stay to the left of the road you turned onto as you completed the turn.

Quote from BeeEss : OP i have been in a slightly altered version of your situation. I was making a right turn (in a right lane with my right turn arrow on) and this guy behind me wants to go straight ahead, he either doesnt see my right turn arrow or doesnt slow down and so collides with my car's rear end. By the time police comes on the spot, a few interesting things happen: the girl (who was with the guy) tells me to pls not call police and she wld pay me all the repairs etc. I was just thinking whther i shoudl believe her or not when this passerby calls the police. WHen police arrive, they say a different story to the police! they tell that the girl was driving!!!! police asks me if i m sure if the guy was driving, would i say that in court or do i have any proof? well the only proof was my eyes so i refuse. they can state whatever they have to. Then it gets worse. the girl had an expired DL and the guy probably had no driving license , he looked underage. the guys Dad arrives immediately and starts scolding him like hey i didnt allow you to drive my car, why did u take the keys etc. They show the police some insurance copy of their car and the police reports this as their fault and apparently tells me their insurance will pay. ------- story takes a turn for the worse. After a lot of back and forth, their insurance company finally tells me that their insurance policy was CANCELLED 10 days before the accident and so they cannot pay. ---------- my insurance company takes about couple of months to settle this issue and finally agree to settle my case. I felt bad that my insurance company had to take the hit. The people who commited the offence walked away totally commitment free according to me because the police could not or did not verify that the insurance paper they were showing was still valid as of that date or not. And thus my premium increased even when the police report said its not my fault. Oh and the court sent me notices if i want to attend the court case as a witness because that guy wanted to prove he is not at fault and wont pay and all that !! ------- So coming to your case, yeah one lesson learnt is take all the stuff from the companies in writing. WHat is that 1% nonsense they are telling you? can they send that to you in writing? or telling you over phone? once it comes in writing, then get it evaluated by a lawyer or even for cost sake , a law student /friend /paralegal. Read your insurance clauses carefully once again And yes i agree it was that persons fault 100% so fight all you can.

You should have sued them rather than file a claim with your insurance.

[Zoe Moon]

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.

This part is a little confusing. Are you saying there was only one lane or that there were no markings in the intersection to indicate which lane to turn into. I'm thinking it's the latter. That wouldn't matter. In drivers ED, you're taught to turn into the lane closest to you. What would matter however is that you had a green arrow and the person who turned right did not. They are only supposed to make a right turn after stopping and checking for oncoming traffic, which he didn't do. Because of this, which lane you turned into is irrelevant.

Was there anything the report to indicate that you were at fault in any way, shape or form?

[shhaggy]

OP has two options that could help. Either sue the driver or his insurance company, which will obviously cost money for a lawyer, or engage the help of your own insurance company. While you're not covered for damaged, they will act as an advocate for you with the other insurance company. It's a lot easier for them to push around a guy trying to file a claim than another insurance company that knows what they're doing.

[marg_fan]

Quote from shhaggy : You're supposed to turn into the lane closest to you, anything less is called 'underturning'. Even if you're turning onto a street that's one wide lane, you're supposed to turn into the side closest to you. You'd get points off on a driving test if you made a left turn and didn't stay to the left of the road you turned onto as you completed the turn.

But is it a legal requirement?

I do follow that guideline as a courtesy to other drivers but many (ok most) drivers here do not. I never assume they will even when I have the right of way.

[rayzac]

Quote from shhaggy : You should have sued them rather than file a claim with your insurance.

Regardless of who they said was driving, the responsibility is at the hands of the registered owner of the car.

[redmaxx]

Quote from marg_fan : But is it a legal requirement?

Yes. But since it sounds like this accident occurred in the intersection, it doesn't matter. The other driver had a red light and is not allowed to pull out because the other car was so close as to present a hazard.

Quote from rayzac : Regardless of who they said was driving, the responsibility is at the hands of the registered owner of the car.

I thought that's what your insurance was for. If I'm hit by an uninsured/underinsured driver, my insurance will attempt to sue the person responsible. I'm paying for them to represent me and go after anyone else at fault.

[rayzac]

For IL:

http://www.sos.state.il.us/public...ml#turning

Right Turns:
Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, emergency vehicles and other vehicles in the intersection.

Left Turns:
Complete the turn into the lane closest to you going in your intended direction.

So based on that, I would say both parties are at fault. Would be a toss up who would win in a lawsuit IMO.

[metoday]

Quote from Melmo : Although this annoys the crap out of me because pulling out of my son's school I have to deal with this daily and the people turn so close to you and it scares the crap out of me.

I agree. It annoys me when people turn right on red when I'm turning left on green. It does not take very long for a few cars to go through their green light so wait your farking turn.

Quote from marg_fan : For my edification, is there laws stating that when you turn onto a street that has two lanes you MUST chose the lane closest to where you made the turn? I think I've only seen that when you have multiple lanes turning the same direction and those generally have lanes marked in the intersection. I thought it was a courtesy to other drivers rather than a legal requirement to chose the lane closest to where you made a turn. Either you have the legal right of way or you don't. There shouldn't be a gray area. Or am I being naive?

Yes, it is a law (at least where I live), though if you ask me to provide links, I'm not going to because 1. I'm too tired and 2. this isn't the podium.

[TomJames]

My boss was just mentioning that he had been pulled over for doing exactly what the OP did. The police had setup a sting as I guess they had two others pulled over at that time as well.

Sorry to say it, but the OP was at fault just as much as the other driver.