So long story short, someone ran a red light and plowed my into a telephone pole, car is totalled. I run my own business and need a car to get to my clients and could technically be called 24/7. Can I go ahead and rent a car and pass the expenses on to them when I'm finally contacted by their adjuster? Also, I felt fine besides some cuts and bruises but now my back is starting to get tight/sore. Can I just get a massage or 2 and bill them as well? I'm entitled to free medical care, but I'm not sure if a massage counts. Anyone have any experience with these?

2/23/2008 1:03:16 PM

On the rental car question I've always heard to go ahead and rent one, put it on a credit card and they'll typically pick up the tab before you ever see it on a bill.. As far as the massage, I dunno. It would seem reasonable to me and a cheap way out for them as oppose to a bunch of medical treatment but they might not think quite like that..

2/23/2008 1:06:59 PM

You are not "entitled to anything"...so get rid of that thought. Anything you do will come out of your own pocket until their insurance comapany or yours decides to pick up the bill....because you did not get medical treatment at the scene of the accident, you reduced your ability to claim anything. Their insurance company could easily say that when you declined treatment, you took the risk.

My advice, call a lawyer and your insurance company. TWW sucks for info.

2/23/2008 1:09:04 PM

they fucked up the camry. damn sorry to hear that
glad ur ok

2/23/2008 1:09:52 PM

I'm entitled to free medical care as reported to me both by my insurance (covers it with no premium increase) and by their insurance. I didn't just pull that out my ass. I'll upload pics when someone informs me where my car is. Shit nearly broke in half

2/23/2008 1:18:26 PM

picz hell yeha how many miles that engine got on it?

2/23/2008 1:41:07 PM

Damn man, Glad to hear you are ok for the most part.

2/23/2008 3:44:15 PM

motor has about 130k on it, but the cops can't seem to tell me which towing company hauled it off.

so far
car ~$4000
head unit ~$400
mp3 hard drive ~$400
speakers ~$400
radar detector $450
tool box ~$50
all the tools were ok though

I think I'm going to try and find an all in one head unit type thing, but I'll have to get a car to put it in first

[Edited on February 23, 2008 at 5:11 PM. Reason : probably a lot more when I can finally open the trunk and see what I had in there]

2/23/2008 5:06:52 PM

you'll be much better off removing your aftermarket parts. it's a pain in the ass to get actual value assigned to them in a situation like this.

keep in mind any of the following is assuming their is no question about who was responsible for the accident. if there is any reasonable doubt that it could be your fault, it's a whole other situation until that's settled.

you need to call the at fault's insurance, don't wait for them to contact you. they will (or should) set you up in a rental immediately. unless they expect a big claim, they've already decided to accept responsibility as soon as they get statements and an accident report. don't settle for some compact pos either, request a vehicle comparable to yours. which is probably going to be considered a fullsize at most places. if for some reason they flat out deny you a rental until a later date (unlikely unless there is an issue with who's fault it was), contact your insurance company. if you had full coverage on the vehicle, it's likely you have rental coverage also up to a certain dollar amount per day.

you are also certainly entitled to any medical treatment. treated on scene or not doesn't mean anything as long as you haven't explicitly said you have no injuries. even if you have, it doesn't deny you coverage it just makes it a little harder.

however, i would recommend seeing an actual medical doctor. then, they can refer you to a massage therapist, chiropractor, or whatever and it'll be considered "official". if you don't have medical insurance, tell the doctor that it's related to an auto accident case. any charges will be deferred until you receive payment or they will directly bill/contact the auto insurance company. if you do have medical insurance, it will be claimed to that and then your medical insurance and the auto insurance companies work it out. in any event, you shouldn't be spending anything out of pocket. at the most, you pay your co-pay but usually that can be held off too. if a doctor isn't willing to do this, go somewhere else.

anyway, that's some basic stuff. unfortunately i've had to learn entirely to much about all this crap in the past 1.5 years. had i just rolled over and taken what the insurance companies, hospital, and doctor's tried to dish out i would have some SERIOUS debt, screwed credit, etc. even with medical insurance. if you have any other questions or anything, just ask. the main thing is stick to your guns and don't give in to anything. assume everyone is out to screw you, even your own insurance company. be prepared to sit on it for a while to get what you want, they'll try to pressure you into settling as soon as possible. you've got three years.

2/23/2008 6:00:23 PM

if you let them tow your car with a 450$ radar detector in the windshield youre f'n crazy

2/23/2008 6:24:02 PM

Quote :

"don't settle for some compact pos either, request a vehicle comparable to yours. which is probably going to be considered a fullsize at most places."

Geico tried to pull that on me. I told them they could expect me to file a loss of income/reduced vehicle value statement on top of the money they owed me for the accident (not my fault). They tried to say that a grand am was "comparable" to my car. HA HA HA. Good one geico. Took me 30 mins and me telling them that I had all day for them to give in. It's not like they can hang up on you.

2/23/2008 9:51:42 PM

I wish I could get my equipment out of my car, but most of it's destroyed. The entire console bent some much most of it was crushed

2/24/2008 12:27:07 AM

Quote :

"but the cops can't seem to tell me which towing company hauled it off."

What does the DMV 349/accident report say??? Should be listed on the front near the bottom.

2/26/2008 11:48:56 AM

ok, finally got some pics today






As you can see the dash kinda crushed in my head unit.

2/26/2008 4:31:11 PM

how much u want for the tranny? 2nd gear ok?

2/26/2008 4:44:54 PM

Anyone in the passenger seat would have been pwnt so bad. Hope you're alright.

[Edited on February 26, 2008 at 5:01 PM. Reason : s]

2/26/2008 5:01:14 PM

Looks like it should buff out, you'll probably need a new windshield if you want to pass inspection.

2/26/2008 6:45:52 PM

Insurance is trying to dick me around like I can't read. They're making up all these rules that aren't in my copy of the contract that they mailed me. It's cool though, buying all comparable parts they owe me between $1105 and $1405 depending on if my radar still works.

2/27/2008 11:26:56 AM

Update: they tried the whole "your stuff is worthless" line. upon mention of an arbitrator, "you'll have a new check tomorrow."

2/28/2008 3:19:59 PM

Am I the only person for whom insurance didn't try to stick me in a compact? They referred me to enterprise, and for what they gave me per day, I was going to get an Impala. I would have been reasonably happy with that. (Though I ended up spending a few bucks/day out of pocket to upgrade to a Maxima SE...they had one on the lot with under 500 miles on the odometer, couldn't resist...)

2/28/2008 5:09:40 PM

haha arbitration ftw.

2/28/2008 5:38:49 PM

I wish insurance companies were seriously investigated for practices like that. Many of them make it policy for their employees to routinely deny services explicitly covered under customers' contracts. My mom worked for a health insurance company in the claims department and quit because she was so sick of it. It amazes me that a company can get away with making it policy to refuse services promised in its contracts and advertising. That's conspiracy and fraud.

3/22/2008 1:19:52 PM

Yea its horse shit. My moms friend works for BCBS and told us how you had to word things on claims to get them to pay without haggling. If it's worded EXACTLY like they're looking for it goes through a lot easier.

EIther way, you're right, it is fraud--and complete bullshit

3/22/2008 1:24:41 PM