Hi all,
I’m in Ohio. I got into a car accident and the other driver ran a red light and hit me at the driver-side front of my car. I have dashcam footage, and State Farm has stated I’m not liable for the accident. However, both of us have State Farm and we only have one insurance adjuster dealing with both of our claims.
The at fault driver opened a claim on his policy and was assigned an insurance adjuster (Mike). Mike called me and talked to me about the accident and I showed him the dash cam footage and he deemed me not at fault.
Before Mike and I talked I also opened a claim on my own policy and got my own insurance adjuster, Paul. Paul called me once the day after I talked to Mike to talk about my claim but I asked Paul to call me at a later time as I wasn’t available. He never did. A few hours after that, Mike’s team called me and told me that Paul has been taken off the claim and that any communications regarding either claims should go through Mike and his team.
Mike offered me a pain and suffering settlement of $2500 when I first spoke to him and discussed my injuries and lost wages (I’m hearing from attorneys that he shouldn’t have done that and I shouldn’t have answered because he doesn’t work do me but this was my first car accident so I didn’t know the procedures). Mike also said they’ll give me a $10k line of credit for medical bills through my own policy so they’ll keep the claim on my policy open for that. The $10k figure is what I have on my policy for medical bills / injuries per person.
My questions:
– is this a typical thing to do? To utilize my own policy for medical bills when other driver is at fault?
– isn’t only having one adjuster a conflict of interest?
– I got a consultation from an attorney who said that Statefarm making me use my medpay on my policy is weird and a way for them to increase my premium. Is this true?
– a different attorney told me my injuries aren’t severe enough to warrant an attorney and didn’t say anything about the medpay expenses being on my policy and not the at fault drivers. What is true here?
– should I get an attorney to handle this for me since we both have one adjuster? Is this typical?
Thanks in advance for reading and replying
Got into a not at fault car accident. Both drivers have Statefarm but only one insurance adjuster. Is this typical? Please help.
byu/MindlessTomatoV2 inInsurance
Posted by MindlessTomatoV2
3 Comments
Yes, all typical, you have a 3rd party claim. Since they’ve accepted liability and coverage under the at-fault policy. ‘Mike’ can handle your claim with no issues. Handle repairs to your car and handle your bodily injury claim. There’s nothing wrong with him making you a settlement offer, but you have no obligation, nor should you accept said offer at this time.
Your med pay is coverage you pay for to use to pay medical bills in a situation just like this, why not use it? It doesn’t matter. As the attorney(s) you’ve spoken to said, you may not need an attorney since it won’t be ‘worth’ it, but you can get one if you want. Just focus on getting any medical treatment you need and don’t settle your injury claim until your injuries and treatment have resolved and you have all your medical bills.
As for your rates, I’ll point you to here: [https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3937.22](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3937.22)
Yes it is typical, it’s all one claim.
Medical coverage under your policy is generally for your injuries so that you can get them looked/dealt with out waiting for a claim payout.
Attorney is going to take a % and you could come out with less than what you could have got. If one attorney has told you your injuries are not worth it, then the others are most likely trying to make a quick buck off of you. Just be mindful and remember it’s not a lottery.
Completely normal to have one adjuster, that’s why the one you declined to talk to dropped out when they discovered that there was already an adjuster handling the accident.
There is no conflict because you both have the same insurance company for coverage. What conflict did you expect?
The reason you have medical coverage is to cover your own medical expenses. That is what you should be using