whose problem is it?

Question

Today, my wife was in our minivan & ice flew off the top (we cleared as much as we could) & broke a windshield behind her. Info exchanged & not hurt. The guy says he's ok with us just paying for the repairs & not having to go through the insurance. But I heard bad stories of that, like they come back & try to sue.

I called our insurance (just to ask, b/c I dont want our rates to go up if avoidable) & they said that sounds like a comprehensive claim & his company should pay. I dont want to stiff the guy, since it did come off our van & we want to be responsible for what we are responsible for, & dont want to get taken advantage of either since we are trying to do right. But that didnt sound right that we are not to pay anything & its his problem.

Any advice would be great!

My wife just called & said the repair shop also needs to fix part of the roof. He has MAIF (Maryland Auto Insurance Fund) insurance. Now I feel we should get our insurance in it b/c I am not getting a good feeling about it. He got all that done in less than an hour from the accident. Not that its not possible, but just funny.

Is this a thing where we (or the insurance) pays & our rates go up, or will they not charge us for this? I know it came off our van, but there are places on a van roof that you just cant reach!

This happened in Maryland.

Answer 1

OK, this would be a PROPERY DAMAGE LIABILITY claim for you, and if your insurance company pays out over the surcharge threshhold in your state (which varies, but is usually between $1,000 and $2,000), you WILL get a surcharge on your policy, and the accident WILL count against you.

From his point of view, it IS a comprehensive claim, however, just like if your tire kicked up a stone that cracked his windshield, case law is against you - your failure to clear the ice off the top of the car, and the easily forseeable event that it would . . . FALL OFF, makes it very likely you'd lose a suit.

ON THE OTHER HAND, he must have been tailgating, otherwise the ice would have crashed to the street before his car got there. If he had kept a proper distance, this wouldn't have happened.

So if it were me, I'd let your insurance company handle it, and not pay out of pocket on it. Because if you START paying out of pocket, then you might have to CONTINUE paying out of pocket. And odds are, if he's with the state fund, he likely doesn't HAVE comprehensive coverage, so he WOULD have to sue you in court in order to win, if your insurance company doesn't ante up right away - which is 50/50, as I see it.

So the short answer is - right now it's his problem. Let him make it yours, just report it to your company "for notice only" and see what happens.

Answer 2

Call the Maryland Insurance Administration at 1(800)492-6116 and speak with an investigator in Property and Casualty. He or she will be able to advise you according to what the law (and his MAIF policy) requires.

Answer 3

i wouldn't report it to my insurance company. this is a comp loss. if wants to try and get your company to pay, he has your info and can call and set the claim up himself. if it is a comp loss your company will send him a letter telling him they are not responsible and to file under his insurance. if they find you were to blame, your company should set up a claim and let you know they have done so. you need to go through the insurance companies because it sounds like hes wanting to get more involved into this than he let you know.

Answer 4

if you do decide to just pay to have it fixed and not go through the insurance companies, get him to sign a waiver that he will not sue. get some paperwork on it. you can probably draw it up yourself but make sure the owner of the vehicle signs it.

Answer 5

You need to turn it in to your insurance agent and let them handle it. That is what you pay premiums for! They will also handle any legal issues that may be associated with the incident.

Answer 6

dont do anything without someones help, im sure they would come back and sue, sounds fishy.