Does State Farm have to reimburse my rental when their driver was at fault?

Question

I got into an accident that was the other drivers fault. He is insured by State Farm and they will be handling it. However, they will not pay for my rental which I have had since the accident two weeks ago. They said that they dont pay for the rental prior to them determining who is liable and this wasn't until recently because the other driver was dodging State Farms calls and not giving them a statement. What can I do to get my rental reimbursed from State Farm??? Dont they have to reimburse the rental since their driver's actions rendered my vehicle non-driveable??

Answer 1

By law, this is what State Farm is responsible for:

For safely driveable vehicles: they owe from the day the repairs started (not when you gave it to the shop) until the day the shop called & told you your vehicle was ready for pickup.

For vehicles that ARE NOT safely driveable: they owe from day one until the shop calls & says your vehicle is ready for pick up.

In the event of a total loss, the above (driveable or not) plus 2 days following the first offer of settlement.

They are responsible for a comparable rental to your own vehicle (value, not size of car). They are not responsible for gas, mileage charges, or insurance charges.

It doesn't matter when they accepted liability, once accepted, the above applies.

Answer 2

Do they have to? No, probably not, though some states may have laws regarding this.

Will they? Probably, if you hassle them enough about it.

You don't have to agree with any settlement offer they give you. You can decline to accept a settlement offer. After declining it a few times, they'll likely give in and pay for the rental. They usually want to settle as quickly as possible, and avoid court if they can. If the vehicle is totalled, they should also pay for a reasonable amount of time to find a replacement car (a couple days to a week) after the settlement.

Also, just an FYI, when they do settle with you, they will want to record a conversation with you and ask you if you had or have any injuries from the accident along with other questions. If you were not injured, DO NOT tell them "no"!! Tell them something like "none that I know of" or "nothing that is apparent right now". They can use it against you later if an injury does appear from the accident, and you told them no, you don't have any injuries.
If you were injured, would be best to go ahead and contact an attorney anyway.

Answer 3

I had the same thing happen to me. I got into an accident with other drivers fault and she was insured by state farm. the police said it was her fault. So state farm got me a rental the next day and paid for the whole thing until I got my car back from the shop. even if it's not under other drivers' policy they have to get you a rental because it wasn't your fault. Since it wasn't your fault. you don't even have to file a claim with your insurance company.

Answer 4

Someone ran into me when I was in a rental car. Once you have the persons info and insurance - turn it over to the rental agency and let them sort it out. The rental co's. insurance company will call you and get a report. It is very doubtful that the other party will pay for your rental unless you get a lawyer regarding injuries, time lost and expenses due to the accident. Although it would not hurt to ask the rental agency about this one...

Answer 5

I hate dealing with insurance companies. You'd think they'd have to cover it.

I was in an accident last year (not my fault). I could not rent a car until they got everything approved...which took two weeks. It was that long before they approved of repairs to my van! See, the driver had been driving someone else's car and there was much wrangling over whose insurance company (hers or the car's owner's) had to pony up money for my repairs.

You probably could get a lawyer.

Answer 6

If the other party is indeed found liable then State Farm should reinburse you a reasonable rental amount for the entire time your vehicle is being repaired. They are correct when they told you that they need to conclude their investigation before they can proceed with any claims payments.

Answer 7

No legally they don't have to.. Because if you get a rental veh prior to them giving you the approval they can deny it.. You can always go back, and file with your inurance for rental coverage if you have it on your policy...

Oh, and in response to a comment above. The accident would be under COLLISION, not COMP....

Answer 8

i had a similar accident and they said they didn't authorize it but paid me back for it anyway. what do they expect you to do?? walk everywhere for weeks?? if you have a police report that clearly states who was at fault (rear-ended, someone ran a light, etc), tell them you have a report that clearly supports your case and that you'll get a lawyer on it. i got rear-ended and had a police report where the other driver got cited by the cop for "driver inattention" and his insurance company still had to 'investigate' for weeks on end!

don't give up. get your rental money back.


and next time get comprehensive and let your insurance company deal with them...i'll never get liability-only again.

Answer 9

Isn't the rental cost usually handled through your own insurance company?

Answer 10

They should pay for it but only if your vehicle was not driveable from the time of the accident and only if you did not carry collision coverage of your own. If you waited for them to investigate and chose not to use your own coverage, which is an option you have always had, then they probably won't pay for it.