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I know a person who recently was involved in a fender bender with another, illegally parked car. Basically, trying to back out of a parking space he scraped the bumper of the other car (parked perpendicular to theirs.) My friend left a note with his phone number, wanting to take responsibility for the damage. After trading messages with the owner of the other car, my friend spoke to the gentleman who was out of town on business. He said he would call my friend when he returned. He never did. Several months later, my friend received a call from a subrogation company stating that the owner of the other car filed and was paid a $1,900 insurance settlement for the alleged damage (which wasn't nearly that much). Now the subrogation company has been calling my friend trying to get his insurance info and telling them to pay the $1900. He hasn't given his info. My friend still wants to make good but believes the other gentleman wasn't truthful in his claim. How can my friend negotiate?

2007-12-27 08:42:58 · 5 answers · asked by noshame 1 in Politics & Government Law & Ethics

Does the fact that the other car was illegally parked have any relevance?

2007-12-27 08:44:30 · update #1

This happened in the state of California.

2007-12-27 08:45:29 · update #2

All the information the subrogation company has at this point is my friends name and phone number. My friend was the only witness and for all anyone knows, the damage could have been done with a shopping cart. Again, my friend wants to make good, but doesn't want to be taken for a ride.

2007-12-27 10:11:16 · update #3

Also, my friend has tried to negotiate (without admitting guilt) but the subrogation company seemed a little inflexible on payment terms and the amount. It just seems wrong when a person tries to be honest, but then gets taken advantage of. Is the fact that they don't have any witnesses or idea of how the damage was does act as a negotiating tool or is he playing with fire.? Could he just walk away or could they track him down?

2007-12-27 10:16:24 · update #4

5 answers

Your friend can attempt to negotiate and since he does not know the law lose his shorts or he can give them the insurance company information and let the professionals deal with the issue. If he does not give the information, they will just sue him for the damage and for operating without insurance. Once the case is settled in court his insurance company can deny his claim and he holds the bag for the entire amount.

He of course should also call his insurance company and give them all the information they need.

"Does the fact that the other car was illegally parked have any relevance?" - It MAY. It would depend on the other circumstances.

2007-12-27 08:50:35 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 0 0

The answers above have all correctly identified the situation - that the car your friend hit had its damages paid by its own insurance and that company is now pursuing the responsible party for reimbursement of those damages (and, likely, reimbursement of that owner's deductible).

Your friend has a couple of problems. First, it doesn't sound like he reported it to his insurance company. As a result, they didn't have a chance to see the damages and give their own estimate and settle with the owner, rather than being handed a bill for $1900. They may claim that this violates the notice provision under your friend's policy, which likely says that he must report an accident likely to give rise to a claim as soon as practicable. Some policies also tell you never to admit fault (here, I don't think there's a question on fault, so not as big a deal).

Unless your friend wants to pay the $1900 and not report it to his ins. co., then there aren't really any points for him to negotiate. If he has a $1000 deductible on his policy, he may well just want to pay it himself. Ultimately, he either needs to let his insurance company handle it (if they don't deny for late notice) or he should pay them. If they sue him, it would be in small claims court. They've got a paid invoice for $1900 and he has no evidence at all to defend himself. It's unfortunate, but he probably was wrong to assume that the other person would want to handle it on their own.

It stinks when you do the right thing, and actually leave a note (since no one seems to anymore) and then get hosed. As for the illegally parked thing, it likely doesn't make a difference since your friend knew the car was there - legal or not.

2007-12-27 09:22:40 · answer #2 · answered by lechisch 2 · 0 0

Well, what the other guy did is file with his insurance company, who sent an adjuster out to look at the car and they evaluated it as $1900. The fact that neither of you believe the damage is $1900 has nothing to do with it (recently, a study showed that cars going 6 mph, yes, 6, did over $3,000 worth of damage in "fender benders"). The insurance company is not going to pay out more than the damage is worth, which is why they use adjusters. When dealing with their own insured, as here, they probably paid for a 3rd party adjuster.

Your friend has already taken responsibility in writing, so trying to object at this point is a little late in the game. He took responsibility without knowing the amount or the blank check he was writing.

He should turn it over to his insurance. They will charge him the deductible, which he'll have to pay, and pay the balance. If he wants to avoid the possibility of being canceled, he can pay the whole thing himself.

There is really nothing to negotiate. The amount he owes is $1,900, unless he can prove fraud, which would be difficult at this point.

There are likely pictures of the damage taken by the adjuster. He might be able to get ahold of copies, and have his own person appraise the damage.

** Note: This is a general discussion of the subject matter of your question and not legal advice. Local laws or your particular situation may change the general rules. For a specific answer to your question you should consult legal counsel with whom you can discuss all the facts of your case. **

2007-12-27 09:00:39 · answer #3 · answered by scottclear 6 · 0 0

When a person takes out an auto insurance policy one of the terms of the policy gives complete permission to the insurance company to be his/her subrogee. OK, tacky insurance term -- what it means in English is that the insurance company pays the claim of its insured and then can legally go after the person who caused the damage -- that is subrogation. In the insurance industry it is considered standing in the shoes of your insured.

So, the Subrogation company is just doing the job of the insurance company that the owner of the parked car had an insurance contract with. Perfectly legal.

What your friend needs to do is to report this entire thing to his insurance company, including the name of the subrogation company. He should mention the issue about illegal parking, the note, everything no matter how tiny. These two insurance companies will then battle out who pays for what and how much is paid. This is what we pay insurance premiums for.

Your friend is confused because the insurance co of the parked car he hit farmed its claim out to a subrogation co. Some insurance companies do that, all acts by insurance companies are governed by state law.

2007-12-27 09:08:08 · answer #4 · answered by CatLaw 6 · 0 0

We were doing repairs at a facility with our welder. A spark flew into a crack and started a fire. We filed a claim with our carrier and found out that we had no fire insurance for a welder caused fire. We offered to fix building at no charge to the company or their insurance company. The facility decided not to have us do repairs even though we are a licensed general contractor. Can their insurance company come after us to pay for any or all of the cost to repair fire damage

2015-10-21 08:40:43 · answer #5 · answered by MICHAEL 1 · 0 0

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