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Quick question... What is an underwriter in the Lending Tree mortgage process? Many thanks for any response. Another quick question... Hi Breeze,.

You asked a few days ago about a hit and run accident I was involved in..

My company is Alfa Insurance and I have complete collision/comprehensive coverage (the works). My state requires at least liability insurance on all cars licensed and driven..

In February 2002, a man in a licensed car hits me in the back (I am stopped at a red light) and as I am reporting the accident to 911, he drives off. I tag the license number and correctly ID his car to the officer. The officer gets the complete description and address/phone info and puts it on the report as the party at fault and as a "hit and run". He reports it to the "criminal investigations dept"..

The next week, I send a "S9 report" of the hit and run to the state DMV (as required by law) along with the accident report and an estimate of my damage ($360)..

FF to insurance company:.

My aunt is the claims adjuster for my policy. :-( She says that Alfa will NOT pursue locating the /img/avatar3.jpg's insurance company b/c there was not enough damage to warrant it (remember, all of his info is on the report including car VIN, social security number, driver's license number, address, etc...). She said that if I wanted to hire a P.I. or use my own means to locate the insurance company, I could and then ask them to pay *on my own time*..

The only thing I could do was: file my own claim in which I'd pay my deductible and take the "hit" on my own record or....

... let it drop..

I chose to let it drop, as I'd rather not file and risk getting dropped of increased premiums (though my record is perfect). And even in letting it drop - she still notated that my car now had damage on my account!!!! I shouldn't have mentioned anything - though she says that I have to report all accidents to my insurance company..

But I did send off the S9 report to the DMV..

FF to police:.

Two months after the accident, the detective calls me and says we found the man and he said that he wasn't driving but he wants to pay. Do you want to ID him in a line up? I say yes and I want him to pay, too..

My Dad and I set up several meetings to get the money and he, a substance abuser, never shows up. Whenever I called the police to be a criminal witness, they say "we're still taking picture's ma'am,and we'll call you when we're ready". That was April 2002..

Then my county suspends all criminal investigations and court trials b/c they ran out of money..

Then the detective (after I call back in September) says the case is closed. They have bigger fish to fry than going after an alcoholic who hit my car and they have no money anyway....

And - the man lives right around the corner from me (I drive by his house to go to work) so I wasn't to keen on pursuing this with him..

So - I gave up. What did I do wrong (other than mixing business with family)?.

Thanks,..

asked Mar 02 at 18:07

Miguel's gravatar image

Miguel
81


I would like to know the answer too. Anyone here know what is the right answer. I'll do some poking around and get back to you if I got an decent answer. You should email the people at Lending Tree as they probably could answer your Lending Tree question..

answered Mar 02 at 18:36

Ashlynn
's gravatar image

Ashlynn
4738

What state is this? 1. Many states require uninsured motorists coverage, and in most of those, it pays for hit and run, with or without deductible (depends). 2. Even if you used your collision coverage to pay for it (deductible applies) payouts of that small an amount don't usually hurt you, even when changing companies, unless you have a really bad record overall (but no one told you that)..

If your company doesn't want to subrogate, that's up to them - it costs $5-$10 to run plates and identify the owner of the vehicle. For that small an amount, you didn't really do anything wrong, except I would have let the collision pay for it. If you carry a high deductible, then never mind..

So, for say $350 damage, and you have a $250 deductible, the insurance company would only pay $100. - but your beef is that you are out the $250 (or in this case, the entire amount). I agree you weren't treated fairly, and it sucks, and there probably wasn't much you could do that would be worth the effort because the amount was so small..

When I said there were things you could do, I thought it was more money than that. Maybe I didn't pay attention to the details in your post, or it just wasn't that clear. Then I would have raised a stink..

I've found that in a lot of situations like this, we (little guys) get the short end of the stick. It's not fair, you're right...

answered Mar 02 at 19:24

Eliza
's gravatar image

Eliza
4348

This is Alabama, where every car has to have liability insurance. Also, I do have uninsured motorists insurance on my own policy. My collision deductible is $100 (yeah, I'm admittedly cheap)..

Alfa did not need to "run plates" b/c the police officer did that for them. All the owner information was on the police report down to his SS#, DL number, home address/phone and VIN #. All I wanted from Alfa was to have them look up the owner's insurance company (based on car VIN and license DMV info) and file a claim with them to reimburse me for my deductible and their cost..

But as poobybear said (and the officer and my aunt told me this, too) I basically needed to have left the scene of the accident "non-ambulatory" and bleeding on the way to the ER to get any motivation to pursue it from Alfa..

It is amazing what people can get away with re breaking the law. I had to force the police officer to fill out the report and he told me "ma'am, I'm not really worried about this accident. We have murders from two months ago that we haven't solved yet. This is nothing.".

If had known then what I know now, I never would have mentioned it to anybody. You get penalized for reporting the accident (which you're supposed to do in good faith as a policy holder) but then they won't pursue it and you take the hit for having had an accident or for having a damaged car. ARRRGGHHH!.

Rant over. Thanks for replying, both of you.....

answered Mar 02 at 20:28

Chelsea
's gravatar image

Chelsea
4681

Be careful when you report accidents like this. I've seen state farm cancel renewal on folks who were "not-at-fault" twice in accidents, ala person was rear-ended twice, other companies insurance paid, person reported twice to state farm. they were declined further insurance from state farm as they were considered "high risk"..

Now does that make sense?.

I guess statistically if you've been in an accident fault or not you are more likely a risk, would be their answer..

Btw, it can also appear on the carfax report later on that your car was in an accident, which will devalue the car to the next owner, if they choose to run such report (i do on all used car purchases)...

answered Mar 02 at 20:51

Edwin's gravatar image

Edwin
3671

Yeah, marci, "good faith" is fast becoming a thing of the past. I agree, I wouldn't report it. In the light of todays practices, it makes sense to carry $1,000 deductibles, and not report any small accidents..

Most insurance companies make their money on their investments, not on their insurance business. Now, with investment income down, they are doing anything and everything to make more money, and cut losses. And in a lot of cases, I've noticed, they deliberately file not-at-fault accidents so they look like at-fault accidents, so that when they raise your rates, you can't change companies easily..

I do have one suggestion, if you have a copy of the accident report: file a civil suit against the dude who hit you. Not sure if there are time limits for that, but hey, you can sue anyone for anything, and it might be worth it, if the guy has a regular job. At least you could put something on his record, and subpoena that cop who wouldn't help you out so he has to spend a day in court. Maybe even make your insurance company send a representative, hehe. Revenge has it's own rewards...

answered Mar 02 at 21:24

Amari's gravatar image

Amari
3725

LOL, I was going to post a response along these lines and chickened out! Glad to know we think alike, breeze :-)..

answered Mar 02 at 21:36

Jazmin
's gravatar image

Jazmin
828

I absolutely hate stuff like this. They don't want to be bothered - that's all it is. So the victim is out the money, has something on.

Her.

Record, and the bad guy gets off scott free. We all see it all the time. So it takes a few minutes and a dollar or two - but it isn't worth it. Hrumph!!! May 'em pay a price for their indifference...

answered Mar 02 at 21:45

Peyton
's gravatar image

Peyton
2548

Does he own anything? might be worth a small claims case then you can file a fifa and go after his assets... or you could call him and say you want 100 to drop this or get sued... if he owns anything it could be worth going after him if nothing else than for karma ;)..

answered Mar 02 at 22:56

Felix's gravatar image

Felix
3777

Great idea, Breeze re the civil suit and getting Alfa involved in that. Alfa recorded on my account that I reported the accident, and Alfa has a copy of the police report and SR9 form. I just didn't file a claim to have the car repaired..

I had thought about pursuing the owner of the car in civil court, but I'll wait until I move out of the neighborhood. I get a bit nervous around substance abusers, particularly when they're mad at me and they live right around the corner. :-).

Marie - the son who was the driver (but denies driving) and is the substance abuser said that we should sue his dad (the car owner) b/c his dad owns a relatively popular barbeque joint in town. And it's true; I've checked it out. What a loyal son, huh?.

The dad (owner) says he wasn't driving and he wouldn't pay for his son's problems so he was "through with it". But I know that a judge would side with me, if I pursue it, since the dad is legally the owner..

I just need to move first....

Thanks again!..

answered Mar 02 at 23:54

Heaven
's gravatar image

Heaven
3925

I wouldn't worry about the drunk trying to get you back. File a suit and you will find out real quick who his insurance company is. Prolly won't even have to go to court...

answered Mar 03 at 01:19

Brenna
's gravatar image

Brenna
3127

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