2 Accidents - Two Days - Damage to same spot

by John
(Albany, NY)

I was parked at a house on the side of the road and someone backed out of a driveway into my car and hit the rear fender. The next day I was hit in the same exact fender but a different spot of it by another driver doing the same thing. Both drivers tried to flee the scene until I stopped them.

I filed a claim with one of the motorists insurance company, and they inspected the car and thought the damage was all from one accident and wrote me a check. Now the second motorist filed a claim and this insurance company wants to go ahead with the claim and inspect my vehicle for damage.

My question is, what do I do about the situation now? I already got the payment from one company to fix all of the damage and now the second company wants to do the same. Do I tell them that I received compensation from another company, or do I go ahead with the claim since it was already filed? Am I obligated to talk to the second company about the accident since it was not my fault?

Help please!

Answer:


Hello John,

You have a duty (or you could be liable to the first insurance company) to disclose everything that went on. A misrepresentation could be a serious insurance fraud problem. You simply don't want to go there.

You could simply tell the second insurance company to inspect and then talk to the first insurance company and have them fix it within themselves.

The bottom line is that if the damage was different (it sounds like the damages were to different parts as they were in different spots) then each driver would only be liable to that portion. If the first hit would require a new fender, then the second insurance company could argue that they don't owe 100 or even 50% as the damage was to an already damaged fender.

That is something that they could ask you, but since they both damage the same part (fender), you should tell them that they are jointly and severally liable. You were compensated, it is now up to them to sort out who owes for what.

One thing you should not do is to get double compensation.

Talk to an attorney locally.

Good Luck,
Auto Insurance Claim Advice