One Final Fiasco

fiasco · Post by **fiasco** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:50 pm

joelbert2k wrote:Any thoughts on what you're going to do?l

Gonna depend on what I get from the insurance company. I'm hoping to get another Spider...

-- se

narfire · Post by **narfire** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:18 am

Steve,glad your ok and no injuries to the bod.
Damb shame about the car,must leave you with an uneasy feeling after all that work that has gone into it.I'm afraid with the population of seniors and kids around here,I'm gonna get a whack some day.
Then , like you, I'm likely going to have to battle with the insurance people.
I was talking to Jon Logan the other week and he is recuperating from an accident,he was in his dodge and I think whacked his knee pretty good.

htchevyii · Post by **htchevyii** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:25 am

When my wife drives in town, she always has her hand on the horn button, hoping she can wake up that suv driver before they hit her. Hopefully they'll hear it with that cell phone up to their ear!

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:33 am

Dang Steve! What a sad set of circumstances. Those pictures really turn my stomach, partly due to the demise of a beautiful car, but mostly due to the thought of how this could've been really bad for you as a driver. You're just darn lucky you hit that wheel instead of plowing under the side of that SUV. Cars can be replaced, but there's only one Steve Eubanks. Hang in there and good luck with fighting the insurance company.

joelbert2k · Post by **joelbert2k** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:05 pm

This was link was posted on Mira recently and as I started reading the story I couldn't help but think of you Steve.
http://www.mgexperience.net/article/nice-drive.html
Read it at you own risk, it might hit too close to home.
Joel

fiasco · Post by **fiasco** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:02 pm

Finally got a copy of the police report today. Two items of good news to report:

1) The police report places blame squarely on the driver of the SUV. "The collision was caused by (SUV driver) who failed to yield to on-coming traffic before exiting a driveway, a violation of 21804(a) VC."

2) I now have the insurance information for the SUV driver so I can call them up and start the haggling.

Anyone ever deal with GMAC insurance?

-- se

coffeejolts · Post by **coffeejolts** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:36 pm

I'm sorry you lost your car. That is horrible news. Are you considering buying another Spider?

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:46 pm

I'd collect some ads for Spiders selling on the high end to use for comparables to bolster your settlement amount

fiasco · Post by **fiasco** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 4:31 pm

Still no concrete progress, but I've been able to scrape together little pieces of information here and there in the last few days. Apparently the driver has only minimal coverage, so the insurance company is only going to pay about $5000 total for both my car and the other car that was damaged. As best I can tell, I'll probably end up with between $2k and $3k. This will have to pay for the towing costs ($275), rental car ($100) and replacement. If I end up closer to $3000, I guess I'll come out ok. I'll have about $2500 to buy a car, register it and do any work necessary to bring it up to snuff. If I get closer to $2000, I'm in trouble. $1500 will not be enough to get me into a reliable daily driver of any kind, Fiat or otherwise.

I could just take a pass on the insurance offer and sue for a higher amount, but I hate to trust my fate to the courts, and even if I end up getting anything out of that, it'll be months before I actually see any of it.

Sucks!

-- se

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:29 pm

I would think even minimum coverage would be higher than that. I'd consider suing the other driver after getting your settlement to cover the difference between their insurance and the loss. Is your insurance co any help, or have they left you on your own? Usually, uninsured/underinsured coverage isn't very expensive to add to your policy.
How bad is the damage to your car?

rlux4 · Post by **rlux4** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:40 pm

Our daughter was injured very badly as a passenger in a car that was at fault for the accident. The young driver had bare minimum coverage. We carry coverage for 'underinsurred', and our insurance company is paying also. It wouldn't hurt to check and see if you are covered with this clause and see if it applies to your situation. If you come up short getting replacement value from their insurer, you could easily prove to your company and they'd pay the difference.
Ron

fiasco · Post by **fiasco** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:55 pm

Minimum liability insurance requirements for private passenger vehicles
(California Insurance Code Â§11580.1b)

$15,000 for injury/death to one person
$30,000 for injury/death to more than one person
$5,000 for damage to property.

This is what CA let's drivers get away with. If I accept any payment from her insurance company, I have to sign a release of liability that prevents me from suing her for the difference. If I sue, I can't take any money up front (as best I can tell anyway).

I do have uninsured motorist insurance, but apparently not underinsured motorist. I need to get hold of the actual policy and see if I really have a case to make to my insurance company, but their answer to my initial question was that since the other driver is technically insured, my uninsured motorist coverage does not apply. The irony is that I'd most likely collect more if she were not insured at all.

By the way, if I ever hit one of you, don't worry because I have 100,000 in property damage liability coverage, so you shouldn't have any problem collecting the whole amount. Guess that makes me the chump.

-- se

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:35 pm

this is tough, so the suv must have been older? If she owns a home, you'd have a chance of getting more but the amount would be too large for Small Claims, so it would be a civil case. Those cost a lot more and take a lot more time.
If their payout is so low, can retain the car without it becoming salvaged?

htchevyii · Post by **htchevyii** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:51 pm

So Cal Mark wrote:this is tough, so the suv must have been older? If she owns a home, you'd have a chance of getting more but the amount would be too large for Small Claims, so it would be a civil case. Those cost a lot more and take a lot more time.
If their payout is so low, can retain the car without it becoming salvaged?

You must not have seen the pics at the begining of the post, I don't think she'll be back on the road.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:02 pm

I wasn't thinking of just repairing the car. If it's salvaged, Steve would have to buy it back from the ins. company. If they can't pay for the entire repair, he should be able to retain the car. It does have lots of useful parts and a clear title with current registration that could be used to resurrect a dead Spider

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