Car rental issue | Insurance not paying

by gary her
(Fresno , ca)

I was rear ended and I decided to file a claim with the other party's insurance. My car went into a shop that I selected because I know the shop does a good job on repairs.

Anyway the shop estimated that the car will be done on a Jan 9th and so the adjuster setup the rental to be due on Jan 10th. By Jan 10th the car was not finished it wasn't finish until Jan 12th.

Now the reason why it didn't finish on time was because the insurance adjusted had refused to buy new parts and wanted used parts he says a company in town has the used trunk. Well that company never sent anything to the shop nor can they be reached. The company simply NEVER RESPONDED.

Therefore the repair shop had to order a new one after almost a week of nothing. Then the car was finally done on the 12th but the shop will not release the car unless some form of payment was made or at least get approval.

The adjusted was really hard to get a hold of and almost never at his office, therefore approval didn't come until the next day. Now all because of delay cause by the insurance adjuster cause a Two day delay.

So i returned the car rental the day I got my car (By the way was told by the adjusted to keep the car until the car is out of the shop). Now they refused to pay for the 2 days and said I was responsible for it. I found that unfair. Does that sound right?


Answer:

No it does not sound right. It is not right, but unfortunately it is common (this does not make it right or legal).

The insurance company must put you back in the position you were before the accident. You had a car and did not need a rental. The only reason why you needed a rental is because your car was hit by their client. This a direct and casually related damage that arose from the car accident.

What to do then? You can pressure the insurance company to pay. How?

You can write a letter and tell them that they owe for this. If they refuse talk to the supervisor. If they continue to refuse (or give you the run around, as they always do), you should contact the California department of insurance at: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/

File a formal complaint against that insurance carrier. This usually gets them moving. Explain to them what you explained to us. The insurance company has to answer.

You can also pursue small claims court for all payments against not paid by insurance. There are caveats with this, so be sure to read this article:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/small-claims-court.html

Other than that, you can contact an attorney to help you with your claim.

Good Luck,

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com