Back on July 27, I had a guy hit me at the Indianapolis airport while he was trying to edge in front of me in the pick up lanes. I had decided to try and claim it through his insurance, State Farm. I figured that it was so obvious with the pics the cop took and the position of the damage that he hit me that perhaps I could short cut to not having to file with my insurer and deal with the deductible.
I was naive, and I should have just started with my insurer, as CarsofFortLangley pointed out. I got a message from State Farm saying they were denying my claim because the other guy, their insured, said he was already in the lane and stopped when I moved into him. That’s not possible given the position of the cars and the fact that his front hit my side. So, now I have to go to USAA and file a claim on my insurance. But first, I’m going to respond aggressively to State Farm. It will give me satisfaction, and perhaps there is a small possibility they will reconsider.
The last time my wife’s van was hit, it was by a teen who clearly plowed into her from a stop sign. At the time, the kid’s dad’s insurer tried to say that my wife could have done something to avoid the collision and so was denying responsibility. I pointed out all the evidence to the contrary and ended up telling the agent that if they thought they could prevail with that theory in arbitration, then good luck. They changed their tune and paid up in full. It was also kind of fun.