If an insurance company denies your claim for an automobile accident how can you open a new claim?

Question

My boyfriend and I was making a left turn on a green arrow light and a car from the opposite direction hit us while attempting to make a right turn on red. There was no tickets given. We were hit on our front passenger side fender. The person who hit us had a witness and we had a witness. On the police report the investigator listed that we failed to yield while making a left turn on green and they failed to yield while making a right turn on red. What she would we do? We or now out of a vehicle b/c it was wrecked beyond repair and I have medical bills. He stilled was making pymnts on the car so his insurance company is just paying off his car. He also had GAP Insurance. His insurance company offered him 5,337 for 1999 Tahoe, which after fees came to be 4,000 and something is this appropriate? Now the 4,000 is going toward what was owed on the vehicle. Isn't the other persons insurance company liable? Please help me understand this I just want my life back to normal.

Also, the accident happened in Texas and we live in Louisiana. The other persons insurance company is Farmers.

We had a lawyer in Texas, but they were trying to get us to go to more doctors and everything " I guess trying to milk the cow" but I was not trying to do this. I was not in any pain anymore and wanted this to be over with. So they dropped us.

We had collision coverage. We had full coverage b/c it is required here when you are paying notes on a vehicle.

Answer 1

The other insurance is only responsible for the actual cash value of the vehicle, not your loan balance. If there is GAP insurance it should cover the difference b/w the ACV and the loan less late payments/fees.

The cop is right...you failed to yield. Just b/c you get a green arrow doesn't give you the option to just go enter an intersection w/o yielding to other cars that may already be in the intersection. You have to look first prior to entering, and even if it's clear, you still have a duty to maintain a proper lookout & take reasonable & prudent steps to avoid an accident, like honk, stop, etc. If I recall my Texas law correctly, it is a modified negligence state, which means if you are found 51% or more at fault for an accident you can not recover. If you're under the 51% threshold, you recover up to your negligent free percentage. Your failure to yield may reduce your overall settlement, both for your property damage and your injury claim.

If you have insurance go through your own insurance company...that's why you have it. Let the carriers hash it out b/w each other.

Answer 2

First, do you have liability on your car? Do you have collision coverage? These are things you need to look for. Also try calling customer service or your insurance agent. If your claim ended up at the state office where they recieved it from home office, find out if you had an adjuster. Ask them what happened. You have to have resources. Write down questions that you would like to ask . Make a point and don't hesitate. It's possible that you may not be able to reopen a claim. Sounds like the claimant (other vehicle) cause the accident. Whoever wrote this down is ignorant for saying you failed to yield. You had the green light. Try to fight for this somehow.

Answer 3

If you had a green turn arrow, you had right-of-way, the other guy failed to yield to you. The rule is: right turn on red after complete stop, and part of the complete stop part is to yield to whatever other traffic may have the green (i.e., right-of-way). The cop screwed up the report, but trying to get them to change the report is usually a waste of time.

Get a lawyer immediately. Most personal injury lawyers will take a case like this on contingency, where they get paid out of any settlement at the end.

You will need to get a lawyer in Texas, preferably in the same county the accident occurred in. Sometimes though, lawyers will be licensed in their home state and a neighboring state, so since Texas is next door you might find one like that in Louisiana.