Got into an accident where the other driver merged into my lane in an intersection and hit my car. We both pulled over and he admitted fault. We decided to go through insurance.
His insurance company (Geico) decided my car was totaled and paid me out for it, then had my car taken to a salvage yard.
A week after all of this I get a call from Geico claiming that they are now denying responsibility for the claim and the other driver told them I did not keep my lane.
Is this normal for an insurance company to decide my car is totaled, pay me the money for it, and then come back later that they actually are not reliable for the damages?
Guy admitted fault then back tracked later
byu/Fantasco inInsurance
Posted by Fantasco
5 Comments
That is a bit odd as far as timing, however, people change their stories all the time and this seems very on point for Geico.
Depends on the factors in the claim. Maybe they got new evidence that changed their liability decision. Only their insurance company can tell you why they reversed the liability decision. I would follow up with them especially if they’ve offered to pay you for the damages prior
People admitted fault all the time at the scene, due to the adrenaline rush. But once they sit down and regain composure, they will say otherwise.
Adjusters made the fault determination. In your case, the other party insurance was able to find other evidence that prove the case differently.
This is why you need a dashcam for situations like this.
I got into an accident last year and all I said at the scene was: I have dashcam footage, and that is it.
I filed a claim with my insurance, submitted the dashcam footage and a couple of days later, the other party insurance admitted full liability.
Btw the other party that hit me was also GEICO. They did try to say that I was the one causing the accident, my insurance (Mercury) fought back with the footage and that is when they realized that their client lied.
GEICO is well known for making immediate liability decisions without completing a thorough liability investigation. The timing is odd, but my guess is this is what happened:
Claim is filed. Their insured only provides basic details about the loss that they interpret as him being at-fault. Your car gets moved and inspected. Meanwhile, the other driver realizes they found him at fault so he calls into GEICO and provides a full statement in which he changes his story. The claim gets moved to a regular claims rep instead of their express team due to the liability conflict. They find you at fault because they have to take their customers side if its word vs word. I’ve seen it happen before.
At my prior insurance carrier job we got a straight forward rear end loss insured vehicle rear ended the claimant vehicle on the NJ turnpike. The insured claimed he didn’t see brake lights so believed brake lights couldn’t be working. The carrier I worked for accepted fault.
Fast forward two weeks the insured flys from NJ to FL and cons the security guard to take him up to see the adjuster at her desk. I go get the head of the unit who was somewhere around 6’2″ 300 lbs. He is convinced he can intimidate the guy…. Until he saw him. The insured was late 40s but at least 6’7″ and had a boxers build. I don’t know what he said but 3 hours after lunch when my shift ended that guy was still in my manager’s office discussing the file with him. The adjuster had already paid PD out to the guy he rear ended. Liability was then changed to not at fault accident but my carrier advised the insured we could not pursue the other carrier on the claim as we could not win it but left him not at fault. We also did not pursue back the PD paid.
The insured flew down one more time trying to get his deductible back and explanation why we would not win liability. The security guard was replaced after his last visit so did not get beyond the lobby that time.
So why was liability changed on your claim?… it could be a whole host of reasons … Some are funnier than others.