Small fender bender | High damages

My wife was in an accident on 11/1/11. She hit another car from behind. They were lined up leaving a parking lot and my wife's foot slipped off the break and she hit the car in front of her.  

Both parties contacted insurance. My wife had asked them to contact her back and stated that there was very little damage on each car.   We had heard nothing from our ins. Co until last week 6/1/12.  

Our insurance policy renews and my wife is being assessed 4 points(MA) and a major accident is now on her record.

Turns out other party was paid out 4k in damage and additional 1k+ in bodily injury.  Again we knew nothing, no appeal letter or anything.  

They now sent us an appeal letter but we are no appealing who was at fault.  We think our insurance company got taken for a ride and my wife has to pay the price.  Do we have any recourse against our ins. Co. for not keeping up in the loop. Did they drop the ball somewhere.   

Answer to Small fender bender | High damages

Hello There.

I am sorry to hear about  your wife's accident. The issue with this type of dispute is that MOST insurance policies have the right of settlement clause. This clause gives the power to the insurance company settle the claim as they see fit. In other words, they can always claim (if the clause is on the actual policy), that is within their right to settle the claim on those terms. 

The second issue is this: Damages can be high even in low speed collisions. This is the case, even when there is no visible damages. A person may elect to go in to the emergency room and the ER doctor elect to do an X-Ray. The bill will be pretty high, pretty quickly. 

Also, 4K in property damage + $1,000 in injuries could have blocked a lawsuit against you. Which is what the insurance company is supposed to you. 

Talk to a local attorney to see if you can file a complaint against the insurance company for failure to keep you inform, but really that is about all you could do. Again, talk to an attorney. 

Good luck,
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