This is not about a current situation, it's a question about something two friends just said happened to them. Basically, they were in car accidents (two different events) and were injured. When they mentioned the injury to their own insurance agent, that person told them to call the OTHER insurance company and tell them about it.
I would have assumed you include the information about the injury in your own claim, and your own insurance company deals with the other insurance company about it.
Your thoughts?
Is this really how it works? Calling the OTHER insurance company to tell them about an injury
byu/Worth-Novel-2044 inInsurance
Posted by Worth-Novel-2044
6 Comments
Yes, this is how it works. Your bodily injury claim is YOUR claim, which means you have to pursue it. Your insurance cannot represent you for your bodily injury claim with the other insurance. It is your burden of proof to prove the claim.
An injury claim (particularly to receive ‘pain and suffering) is a claim with the other insurance, it’s a 3rd party claim. Your insurance is not your attorneys, they cannot handle claims for you. Your insurance can pay claims under the coverage you have, which in the case of injuries may only be some medical payments or PIP coverage depending on the state and the coverage you may have, you may have no coverage at all for medical bills.
Your insurance doesn’t pay pain and suffering unless they are handling a uninsured motorist claim under your coverage.
So their experience is exactly how it works. If you aren’t able to handle talking to the other insurance on your own, that’s why personal injury attorneys exist.
Did they file the claim with their own insurance company or the others? What does their own insurance agent mean? The person who sold them the policy or the the adjustor working on their claim?
Do they carry the appropriate coverage for medical?
“I would have assumed you include the information about the injury in your own claim, and your own insurance company deals with the other insurance company about it”
While I can understand the confusion, there is simply no way that would even come close to working. Your insurance company is not your legal counsel. 1) they have no right to make any demand on your behalf and 2) how would they know what you are willing to settle for? A person pays their insurance for certain coverage. The insurance company does not offer legal or other assistance just to help (attorney’s charge 33% for that “help”).
Now, this changes a _little_ from state to state but only in that any amounts a carrier pays out may be recoverable by them. But that is the insured transferring the right of recovery over to the insurance company in the form of the insurance company making a payment.
When a person did not have insurance and I told them they needed to call the other person’s carrier, they would sometimes tell me that they thought I’d call. Think about this.. .I could call but I’d simply ask the other insurance company to call my insured. Let’s just cut me out of being the middle man as it serves no purpose and only slows everything down.
Sounds correct. Insurance is there to handle the claim through them not through a different company.
Your car insurance doesn’t generally deal with personal injury side of things, just the property damage side. It is not completely unrelated as there is underinsured and general medical coverage, so if you have it at least get the facts on how that works with your policy. People are generally expected to tackle the PI side on their own with insurance, or they will get a lawyer in more drastic situations.