MrsNoelm6/19/2010m
New member
- Feb 28, 2009
- 4
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I was involved in an accident Tues. afternoon. Some guy ran a red light, hit me, and spun me around to hit him again. I left the scene (with the cop's permission) before getting a copy of the police report, because the cop was going to wait around an hour or 2 for the guy's wife to bring an updated insurance card. I was on my lunch break from work, not in any pain, and decided to go back to work. I didn't think to ask the cop what the other guy was being cited for, if anything.
My insurance agent spoke to the other driver the evening of the accident, and he said that he'd already made the claim with his insurance, so they told me that I had to wait til I heard from his adjuster. My agent said that the other driver seemed like a very nice and reasonable guy. Close to 5 pm on Wed. I hadn't heard anything from an adjuster, and called my agent to let her know. She said she'd call the other driver. On Thurs afternoon I get another call from my agent. She tells me that she's left repeated messages for the other driver that have gone unreturned, AND that she thinks he's ignoring her because at first his phone would ring a few times before going to voicemail whereas more recently it was ringing only one time before going to voicemail. My husband and I started to think that something fishy was going on, and went ahead and had her file a claim with OUR insurance, just to get the ball rolling a bit.
Around noon today, I hadn't heard anything from MY adjuster. My agent told me that as long as the claim was made by 5 pm yesterday (which it was) I'd hear from the adjuster no later than today, so I just figured that MY adjuster is busy because of the holiday. (Can totally understand that right now, and I know that a LOT of adjusters work out of their homes.) I decided to take matters into my own hands to an extent.
I have the other driver's "supposed" insurance information (the info that was on his outdated card). I called them, trying to make the claim on his insurance myself. The claims agent I spoke to told me that the other driver hadn't had insurance with them for a few years. She said she could send something to my insurance if I wanted her to, but I told her to wait. I wanted to see the actual police report before she did any (what might have turned out to be) unnecessary work.
Today, when my husband and I got the mail, there were 2 larger envelopes in there for me that were obviously from "ambulance chasers". I wasn't even going to open them at first, but I've had a constant headache and soreness in my upper arms since Wednesday morning. Granted, the headache might be stress, but the soreness should be gone by now. So, I looked at them. The first one, I glanced through, and set it aside to save. The second one, however, included an accident report. Yup, that very thing that I thought I had to wait till Tuesday for.
I was ecstatic. Here I am with something I thought I'd have to wait 4 days for. (You'd be happy too, especially if, like me, you didn't have a car you could just drive into town with to get it!) I started looking at it. For the other driver's insurance, it says "none shown". Now, I'm not 100% sure about the law, so I wasn't too worried about that. I figured he just didn't get it to them right away and had some time to do so. I kept looking, and saw his citation code. I was just curious, so I looked up on the net what the code meant. He doesn't even have a license!! The code was for driving without a license. Now, to me, no license equals no insurance.
I have uninsured motorist coverage on my insurance (full coverage). My question is now this: To sue or not to sue? CAN I sue him? SHOULD I? Should I just let my insurance company handle that? What about the inconvenience to me for the past 4 days? My husband and I are now down to one car that I can't even DRIVE! (I can't drive stick shift.) My mother, husband, and in-laws have been running me to and from town (we're out in the country about 15 minutes away from my job) for work. My mom lives on the OTHER side of town from where we are and where I work, so for her to come from her house to get me, take me to work, and get back home, it's an hour EASILY. I'm documenting the miles that are being put on my family's vehicles, but is there more I should do?
My insurance agent spoke to the other driver the evening of the accident, and he said that he'd already made the claim with his insurance, so they told me that I had to wait til I heard from his adjuster. My agent said that the other driver seemed like a very nice and reasonable guy. Close to 5 pm on Wed. I hadn't heard anything from an adjuster, and called my agent to let her know. She said she'd call the other driver. On Thurs afternoon I get another call from my agent. She tells me that she's left repeated messages for the other driver that have gone unreturned, AND that she thinks he's ignoring her because at first his phone would ring a few times before going to voicemail whereas more recently it was ringing only one time before going to voicemail. My husband and I started to think that something fishy was going on, and went ahead and had her file a claim with OUR insurance, just to get the ball rolling a bit.
Around noon today, I hadn't heard anything from MY adjuster. My agent told me that as long as the claim was made by 5 pm yesterday (which it was) I'd hear from the adjuster no later than today, so I just figured that MY adjuster is busy because of the holiday. (Can totally understand that right now, and I know that a LOT of adjusters work out of their homes.) I decided to take matters into my own hands to an extent.
I have the other driver's "supposed" insurance information (the info that was on his outdated card). I called them, trying to make the claim on his insurance myself. The claims agent I spoke to told me that the other driver hadn't had insurance with them for a few years. She said she could send something to my insurance if I wanted her to, but I told her to wait. I wanted to see the actual police report before she did any (what might have turned out to be) unnecessary work.
Today, when my husband and I got the mail, there were 2 larger envelopes in there for me that were obviously from "ambulance chasers". I wasn't even going to open them at first, but I've had a constant headache and soreness in my upper arms since Wednesday morning. Granted, the headache might be stress, but the soreness should be gone by now. So, I looked at them. The first one, I glanced through, and set it aside to save. The second one, however, included an accident report. Yup, that very thing that I thought I had to wait till Tuesday for.
I was ecstatic. Here I am with something I thought I'd have to wait 4 days for. (You'd be happy too, especially if, like me, you didn't have a car you could just drive into town with to get it!) I started looking at it. For the other driver's insurance, it says "none shown". Now, I'm not 100% sure about the law, so I wasn't too worried about that. I figured he just didn't get it to them right away and had some time to do so. I kept looking, and saw his citation code. I was just curious, so I looked up on the net what the code meant. He doesn't even have a license!! The code was for driving without a license. Now, to me, no license equals no insurance.
I have uninsured motorist coverage on my insurance (full coverage). My question is now this: To sue or not to sue? CAN I sue him? SHOULD I? Should I just let my insurance company handle that? What about the inconvenience to me for the past 4 days? My husband and I are now down to one car that I can't even DRIVE! (I can't drive stick shift.) My mother, husband, and in-laws have been running me to and from town (we're out in the country about 15 minutes away from my job) for work. My mom lives on the OTHER side of town from where we are and where I work, so for her to come from her house to get me, take me to work, and get back home, it's an hour EASILY. I'm documenting the miles that are being put on my family's vehicles, but is there more I should do?