My hubby’s sister, in her early 70’s was in an accident a few weeks ago. She was rear-ended by someone so it wasn’t her fault. She heard nothing from the lady’s insurance company until she called last week. The claims adjuster said this woman has a history of being hard to contact and that this was not the first claim against her. She is not returning the insurance company’s phone calls or responding to emails or snail mail. The worse part is that my SIL’s insurance had lapsed and at the time of the accident, she was not insured. So, her former insurance company blew her off when she called them. They will not go after the other company on her behalf. She had an attorney write this lady a letter and guarantee legal action if she did not contact her insurance company. My SIL said today that she still hasn’t heard anything from this woman’s insurance. She said no way can she afford the repairs on her car by herself . Legal fees would be as much as the repairs. Can someone just ignore their insurance company when they cause an accident? What recourse does my SIL have now?
Thankfully, she said she signed up for coverage as soon as she discovered her old policy had lapsed.
My SIL said it amazes her that not only is the woman who caused the accident being allowed to “drag her feet”, but her insurance company as well. I have to agree!
She might try to first contact the customer service line of the insurance company to say that her claim is not being adjudicated in a timely manner.
The carrier would probably ask her to complete an accident report; the carrier will get a copy of the police report. If she fails to provide her own version, I think that's when coverage may be an issue.
Honestly, I've tried to read my own policies and find them better for sleepness nights than for insight. They're really somewhat verbose. So I'm basing my response on what I think would be logical for a carrier.
I think your SIL should (a) get a copy of the police report (b) make a copy and send it to the insurance carrier, with a letter asking what action they propose to take, especially if they are going to cover SIL's repairs) (c) get a few estimates for repairs (d) send the estimates to the other party's carrier, and (e) wait for the response, but (f) be prepared to follow up regularly if the carrier doesn't respond.
Lastly, I think she needs to get insurance ASAP. Some states have made illegal not to carry insurance. A neighbor (a jerk) was incarcerated for driving w/o insurance.
Was SIL injured?