blahblah56

I'm really stuck in a tough situation so any feedback is greatly appreciated. So my brother, while riding on his bicycle, was trying to avoid an oncoming car in a small street and flew into the door of a parked car. The car that he tried to avoid ran off. The owners of the damaged car come out and my brother exchanges information. She later called us and told us that the insurance told her if she filed a claim (she has full coverage), the insurance company will come back and bill us for total damages to the car, not just the deductible. I know my brother is at fault, but isnt that what her insurance is for, to take care of her car? We are more than happy to pay for her deductible, but to pay $2000 is kind of extreme.

noisebeam

I wouldn't assume he is at fault.

blahblah56

btw, there was no police report made yet, and this happened about a week ago

tjspiel

Interesting. I think you may need some legal advice.

When somebody backed into my car in a parking lot once a witness got the license plate. The driver took off. I was able to get their insurance to pay but it wasn't easy. I had to track them down myself and get their insurance info. My insurance company wouldn't do the leg work. They would have preferred to bill me for the deductible and payout the rest because it would have cost them more to pursue the driver.

Stray8

Her insurance company does pays for her damages but when it is not due to her fault (as when the car is parked) they step into her right to go after responsible parties who are liable for the loss.

Let her file the claim and get reimbursed for the damage (minus her deductible). When the insurance company calls your brother, have your brother inform them that he was forced into the car by someone who drove away.

Offer to cover her deductible (if you want to) but adamantly refuse to accept full liability (responsibility) for the incident. If the cause can be determined to be from the unknown party who drove away, then they ought to chalk it up to uninsured/underinsured coverage (i.e. just as if her car was scraped by the unknown driver without your brother being there...).

The small amount (to them $2,000 is a relatively small loss compared with others) of damage recovery will likely preclude them from getting into and paying for a long, protracted legal fight. Your brother will likely get the standard form letters from their lawyers threatening legal action if he does not pay, but it is very doubtful if they will want to spend the expenses (waaaay over $2,000) necessary to go to court.

Your brother stayed behind and identified himself, so he should be credible and he can probably get the insured to verify his side of the story. Note: she is clearly not at fault so her rates are unaffected by this incident.

If the insurance company presses too hard, make a formal complaint to your State Insurance Dept and allege unfair claims practice by the adjuster (e.g. in trying to coerce your brother when he isn't the liable party for the loss).

You probably don't have to hire a lawyer, but if you have a lawyer friend or someone who knows how these things progress and get resolved, you'll have an easier time. Tell your brother to relax, he didn't kill anyone nor is he responsible for what happened. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

Good Luck!


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Cyclaholic

How can your brother prove his side of the story?

blahblah56

Stray8, thank you so much for your advice. I'm pretty sure that is what we are going to do since it will buy us some time as well. Btw, how can I find the State Insurance Dept? I am in Honolulu, HI.

I'm not sure how he can prove his side of the story as there were no witnesses besides the guy who got away. All I know is that he stayed and was really apologetic to the car owner. I'm sure that she knows that it wasnt totally his fault as well, I mean how can a 5-6 120 lb kid riding a bicycle cause $2000 in damages by flying into her car. She has been really nice throughout this ordeal and she has given us time to decide whether we want her to file a claim or pay out of pocket. I'm worried that if she does file a claim, and insurance does come after us, it will end up being more than the $2000 that we could have paid right now.

znomit

Not sure about the US but over here either you car or home insurance covers you for any damage you do when out on your bike. Might pay to check up on this.

regardless he does need to file a police report asap.

blahblah56

does my brother have to file a police report or does the lady file a report? or do we both have to file one? i just want it to be known and reported that my brother was pretty much forced to run into the parked car or else he would have gotten ran over by the other car.

my brother is 18, still in high school, no job or assets. if the insurance company does try to sue or bill my brother, can they really do much because my brother pretty much has nothing?

znomit

Your brother was run off the road by a car. I would say he needs to report this to the cops.

dlester

Depending on where you are, if you were not hit, but still run off the road and hit something, it will be your fault. You can't prove that you were forced to ram into the vehicle due to someone else's actions. You might have been able to avoid being hit and avoid hitting the parked car. You will never know, ergo it is an impossible thing to prove.

I am not saying what you should do, but anyone telling you 'this is the way it is' is simply talking out their ass. Laws are different all over the place, and the only laws that matter are the ones on the books where this incident happened.

bhop

Personally, I think she's trying to scam you guys into paying her. I just can't believe the damage to a car door hit by a bicycle can be $2000.

For a comparison, this was around $3500 worth of damage from a hit and run a few years ago. Someone backed into me and took off. Aside from the outside damage, it bent some stuff under the hood, damaged the radiator and the support for it, along with a few other things that were replaced.

DoB

OP should be careful regarding internet advice on insurance, primarily because it is different in every state.

Here in Michigan for instance, we have 'no-fault' auto insurance. In such a state the insurance company that covers the vehicle pays for the damage no matter who was at fault. The only thing the car owner can get from the at fault party is their deductible up to $500. And typically, if no ticket was issued, no fault will be assessed in any case.

But since we don't know what state the OP lives in, any specific advice in this thread is purely speculative.

Stray8

Here is the Hawaii Insurance Dept. website: https://hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ins

There is a section for filing a complaint in the Consumer section. Merely threatening to file a complaint alleging unfair claims practice has stopped some adjusters (sometimes they get tracked on how many complaints they incur).

In New York for vehicle accidents causing over $1,000 of damage you have get a police report. Don't know what it would be in Hawaii. Your brother's situation (no assets) will actually help to resolve the situation (e.g. they will be less likely to expend the money and effort to harass him if the chance of eventual recovery is small).





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Stray8

This is true.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/ci...02_25083_7.pdf

Kimmitt 

Call HPD and file a report; they understand that property damage requires a report. In general, whenever you cause property damage of any significant type, especially car-related, call the cops and get an official report in.

This is their job; they're supposed to take statements and evaluate credibility. Your brother has a good case in general -- there's no reason for him to plow into a car in a general sense, since he's the one who would get hurt.

threephi

This should be a good lesson in practical civics for your brother. Always, always, always file a police report when you're involved in an accident.

cerewa

If anyone (the insurance company) wants to force the brother to pay for the damage, it's them (the insurance company) who would need to convince a court or a jury that the brother is responsible.

CCrew

Or he could just suck it up and take responsibility for his actions. A novel idea I know, and I'm sure I'll get flamed for it, but it's half the problem with todays society.... always wanting someone else to bail us out of our own doings.

Kimmitt 

Yeah, there's nothing worse than expecting an insurance company to pay claims as contractually obligated.

lil brown bat

So if a car runs me off the road and I hit someone's property and damage it, that's "my own doings"?

CCrew

It's up to an investigaing authority to make that determination. If you don't bother calling one, then yes.

CCrew

So, I don't recall seeing where the bike was insured?

hnsq

It might very well be $2,000. A friend of mine backed into a tree going 5 mph and it ended up being almost $2k to fix it.

carls82

There really are some crazies on here I've noticed. The OP stated they were willing to pay the deductible, and the 18 year old stuck around to provide his information. Both actions show intent to cooperate.

If the kid told me he was willing to pay the deductible, then I'll take that on faith because *that* is what is missing in today's world. Trust. Sure I'll get burned some times, but some times I won't, and all parties involved will be happier because of it.

The driver has full coverage and the damage will be covered by her policy minus the deductible. There's no reason for an insurance company to pursue someone that's trying to cooperate with the driver on their own. I've gone through $25,000 in damage without any other parties to go after due to negligence by the Philadelphia police force in filing their reports. I've had to suck up the $500 deductible twice because the other drivers were uninsured and magically could not be contacted by my lazy ass insurance company. They wouldn't do a damn thing with the police to find out what the hell happened to the reports with their information. That's also my mistake for relying on the police to provide the information from the drivers who's heads I would have liked to have ripped off. But that's just my experience.

So when the 18 year old acts more responsibly than some of the grown ass men I've come across, I'll be a lot happier that day.