Automobile accident insurance claims investigator bias question?

Question

A few days ago, I was stopped in rush hour traffic behind a semitruck that was hauling two big containers hitched behind it. I stopped far enough away from it that the driver would be able to see me behind him / her, as traffic was stop and crawl speeds. At one point the semitruck suddenly lurched a bit forward then began rolling backward toward me in my truck.
I thought it would stop, but as it continued rolling back toward me i began honking my horn to make sure driver was paying attention and would stop, but the semi backed all the way into me and pushed my truck back for another 2 seconds, even though i tried backing up & honking to avoid getting hit without hitting the people behind me.
I honked my horn again as the driver began to slowly drive away. He / she never stopped to make sure i was okay, apologize or exchange insurance info for legal reasons!
I got the plate on back of trailered rigs cargo on wheels (dont know what their called ), but was told by my insurance

I was told by my insurance company they will not cover me even if i am hit by someone else, even though I'm not at fault! Only if other driver is uninsured.
And they are being lazy about tracking down and getting reimbursment from the responsable party that hit me. Saying all they will do is write a letter to whoever the license plate is registered to, but if no reply from them they will not pursue it!
My insurance co sent claims inspector to me today, who took photos of my truck. Damage is not too bad, it was a slow speed impact & push.I have a 2001 Nissan frontier xe pickup truck. Bumper is gouged, little cracked, caves back if pushed. Drove home fine though, just a slight wobbly feeling.
Next day 1 rear tire was flat.
Claims inspector said no way tire could be connected to accident.
It does seem it would have happend right away, but timing is too close to assume. Are they paid to minimize damage estimates? What can i do if own insurance is being unhelpful like this?

I was told by my insurance company they will not cover me even if i am hit by someone else, even though I'm not at fault! Only if other driver is uninsured.
And they are being lazy about tracking down and getting reimbursment from the responsable party that hit me. Saying all they will do is write a letter to whoever the license plate is registered to, but if no reply from them they will not pursue it!
My insurance co sent claims inspector to me today, who took photos of my truck. Damage is not too bad, it was a slow speed impact & push.I have a 2001 Nissan frontier xe pickup truck. Bumper is gouged, little cracked, caves back if pushed. Drove home fine though, just a slight wobbly feeling.
Next day 1 rear tire was flat.
Claims inspector said no way tire could be connected to accident.
It does seem it would have happend right away, but timing is too close to assume. Are they paid to minimize damage estimates? What can i do if own insurance is being unhelpful like this?

I was told when i started my coverage with this company last month i would be covered if someone else hit me and it is not my fault. But now they are saying not, that would be collision coverage which i do not have.
I paid them money to have my back. If they are not willing to help their customers who are paying them money, when we are in an accident that is not our fault - even if they are under no "obligation" to help - to not do so shows a sad lack of decency, care, integrity & respect! Which of course means I will be dropping coverage with them and going with another insurance provider.
I should not be punished for being backed into by someone else who then drover away without even checking to see if i was okay!

I expect them to follow through on finding the person who IS responsable for running into me.
And when I spoke with the agent in person to start my policy - as I said - they told me i would be covered if I am hit but not at fault! Which is completely reasonable and fair to expect to be included as / in the most basic level of insurance coverage anyway. As we should not have to pay more when it is not our fault.

No it is not magical thinking to be able to prove this - their are traffic cameras where this accident happened. I have already contacted the dept Ive been told is in charge of these cameras, to hopefully have access to video footage of that location at that time to show what actually happened.

Curious how insurance agents can become so used to justifying their callous insensitivity & money hungry rationalizing of their lack of care that they believe their own rationale why they should attack & blame someone who was mislead & run into rather than being honest & decent

"It cracks me up how people are so quick to blame other people. You have no one here to blame but yourself. NO ONE forced you not to have collision coverage- you made the choice. But i guess its just SO much easier to blame them huh?

"insurance is always out to get you blah blah blah"- people like you make me sick and make my job a living hell. Ugh, grow up.. and read your policy.. and know your rights instead of blaming others."

Well, your callousness, heartlessness and greed is quite unappealing i would say.
I spoke with an attorney who specializes in automobile accidents & insurance claims about this. It is also his understanding that my coverage, which includes liability BI & PD, medical payment, UMBI & UMPD is in fact supposed to cover us when someone hits us and drives off like happened, when its not our fault. It was a hit and run by, from what ive learned - a truckdriver whose registration is not current. In hit & run I should be covered via UMBI & UMPD.

Answer 1

How on earth do you expect them to cover you if you dont pay for collision coverage? (which clearly you dont)

Theres not a clause in your insurance that says "if your not at fault.. we will magically take care of everything- even if you dont pay us for it!"

You CHOOSE not to have collision coverage.. and obviously the only coverage you DID get for your car is UMPD. This ONLY covers your car IF the car that hit you was at fault and uninsured.

So.. now your expecting them to perform miracles. Your expecting them to "SOMEHOW" magically prove that the other girl is at fault (and HOW ON EARTH do you expect this... if they dont admit to it and there are no witnesses?) What exactly do you want them to do for you? You want them to go to this drivers house and torture them until they confess? id LOVE to hear what you expect them to do here besides write a letter.

It cracks me up how people are so quick to blame other people. You have no one here to blame but yourself. NO ONE forced you not to have collision coverage- you made the choice. But i guess its just SO much easier to blame them huh?

"insurance is always out to get you blah blah blah"- people like you make me sick and make my job a living hell. Ugh, grow up.. and read your policy.. and know your rights instead of blaming others.

Answer 2

"I paid them money to have my back". No you didn't.

You did not pay for collision coverage. Therefore, they can not pay to fix your car. It's not that they are lazy - its just that you did not purchase the coverage. Without collision coverage - they don't "have a dog in this fight". They can't act like an attorney and represent you.

Depending on the state law - there may be legal restrictions on what information they can give you. They may not be allowed to run that tag and give that information to you (possible privacy act violation).

As long as the insurance company has not made a payment (and since you don't have collision they can't) - the have NO LEGAL STANDING to track down the other vehicle. IE: they can't do it.

If you don't want to do it yourself (because you are too lazy to do the work so you would rather whine that someone else should do it for you) then hire a PI to do it for you. However, you will have to pay for that out of pocket. The other insurance company will not pay for that.



To get the tag tracked down - call the police department that has jurisdiction over the area where the collision happened. You will probably have to meet the office at the location where the incident happened. Tell them what happened and give a description and give them the tag number. The police department may be able to run the plate and put that information on the police report. They are going to have better information than what the insurance company could get.

If the other party is located - you will have to have a police report to file a claim. If a hit and run vehicle meets the definition of an Uninsured Motorist claim - you have to have a police report in order to file an uninsured motorist claim against your own policy.

Here is the problem you will run into if the trailer is located - you will say he hit you - he will say he did not. Most likely there is no damage to the trailer. You will have to prove that the tractor trailer hit you. Without an independent witness that could be difficult.

So stop being lazy yourself - get off your fanny - call the police and see if a police report can be taken and the pd can run the plate. Then you take that information and call the company that owns the vehicle.

Answer 3

If you didn't buy collision coverage, you have no coverage for your company to pay you for damages to your vehicle. You in essence told your company that you would pay for any collision damages to your own vehicle. You were probably told that if you have a not at fault accident, you should be paid for your car by the other vehicle's insurance. Most people hear what they want to hear when talking to the insurance agent/company. They would have told you too that you would have to file with the other person's insurance company yourself. They do not go after the other insurance company unless they paid you for your damages & need to collect that money back. Since they didn't pay you, they don't subrogate. You have the license plate & you will have to be the one to go after the at fault party to collect for damages. You have to report it to the police department. You have to call the trucking company with the license plate number & tell them that you were hit by their driver & want to collect for your damages. Trucking companies are tough to collect from. They will probably ask for the police report for proof. You may have to sue them in small claims court to collect your damages. Be prepared to prove what happened.
This is not the insurance company's fault for not chasing the trucking company for your damages, you didn't buy the coverage for them to do so.
If you purchased the exact same policy from ANY company the answer would be exactly the same, sorry. You will have to chase down the at fault party & their insurance & hope they will pay or you will have to pay for the damages yourself. This is the chance you take when you don't buy collision coverage.


Edit****UMBI & UMPD coverage depends on your state - some states laws say to collect, the at fault party must be identified & it must be proven they have no insurance (NJ is example of this - you MUST have collision coverage if it is just a hit & run accident to be paid for damages to your car). Some states just say that the coverage also applies if the hit & run driver is unknown (VT is an example). In NH the UMPD ONLY applies if the at fault party is identified & if they ARE insured by a company that has become insolvent. If they are NOT insured this coverage does NOT apply. Since you did not identify your state, there is no way to give you an exact answer.
Also, since you have some information about the other vehicle, they ARE identified so in order to collect UMPD, you have to find out that they are uninsured. Many trucking companies are self-insured, which is not uninsured. Just because the registration is not current, also does not mean they are uninsured.
You were very accusatory in your question so you got back what you put out there. If you gave your insurance agent the same attitude, they are not going to go out of their way to help you. They will only do what they are legally obligated to do, no more. The agent does not have to help you in this matter, because you didn't purchase the collision coverage. They can certainly advise YOU how to proceed, if they choose to. They can tell you what you need to do if you didn't know but they can't do it for you. You have to do the legwork yourself. The agent can help you file the uninsured motorist claim if indeed the trucking company is uninsured. But is not up to the company or the agent to find out, that is up to you.
Ever hear the phrase you get more flies with honey than vinegar?

Answer 4

Do you have collision coverage on your policy? If you don't have collision coverage, or if you have limited collision coverage, you didn't BUY them to track down the other guy.

If you can't file a claim under your own policy for the damages, they have NO obligation - OR RIGHT - to try to subrogate on your behalf. That's the law.

Call your agent. They should be explaining this.

Answer 5

You chose not to purchase collision coverage so you could save money.
Game over -- stop whining.