USPS hit and run

[Hungry4hops]

So a usps side swiped my wife's tiguan this morning while dropping off a package at our house, hit and run. I saw the whole thing happening even got a picture of it. And we have a piece of the usps truck. But it sounds like it is going to be an absolute nightmare to get them to pay for the repairs. They hit it so hard that her power steering light came on. Anyone ever delt with something like this before?

 

[KevinC]

I got backed into by a Salvation Army truck in my pop's Mustang when I was 16. No witnesses, no police report, my word against his, with him claiming he was stopped and I ran into him. Sued them in small claims court. His story was so implausible and delivered so unconvincingly that the judge ruled in my favor. They paid up.

This might be your best avenue in your situation as well - small claims court. Or perhaps USPS is used to this stuff and settling a claim might not be that difficult? I dunno. But I'd start asking questions before suing. Good luck.

 

[Hungry4hops]

Just want the repairs covered I dont think we could sue even I we wanted too.
An accident that involves a mail truck is different than a typical car accident because the U.S. Postal Service is a government organization. As such, the letter carrier driving the mail truck is a federal employee acting on behalf of their employer, and they do not have private car insurance on the LLV (or other mail truck) they are driving.

The reason mail trucks are uninsured is because the government, their agents, and employees have immunity from certain liabilities. When a postal truck hits your car, you can’t file a third-party insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit in court.

 

[GTI Jake]

On the opposite end of the spectrum my wife was a rural carrier for USPS a few years ago. I converted a XJ Cherokee to RHD for her.

Anyway, long story short she had it parked at an apartment building filling the large community box and some old lady mistake’d the gas for the brake and “totaled” it. Normally USPS will flat out fire anyone involved in any accident period on the spot, but because she wasn’t even in the Jeep when it happened the old lady was clearly at fault and her insurance covered it.

USPS is a nightmare in all aspects of the word...for the 8 Billion a year deficit they drop on us tax payers a year they better fix your wife’s car.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I’d be surprised if they didn’t take care of you. A septa bus knocked the mirror off my car and they stopped, gathered the location and license plate, and sent a representative to my car to wait until I came out to hand me the paperwork for getting it covered.

Septa pays up lol

 

[Thumper]

File a claim with your insurance company and let them deal with the nightmare that is the US Government. Unless you really don't need to use the Tiggy cause even if they pay up front for the preliminary estimate once it hits the shop and they take it apart (and diag the steering issue) there will be additional charges which they will have to then wait for the USPS claims system to approve (or try to deny) and will be much longer than the same process with an insurance company dedicated to handling customer claims.

Downside is you have to pay your deductible and may have to wait a long time to get it back, but upside is you get your car fixed and don't have to waste your precious time and energy screwing around with a government agency dedicated to making people's lives worse.

 

[cb1111]

Just want the repairs covered I dont think we could sue even I we wanted too.
An accident that involves a mail truck is different than a typical car accident because the U.S. Postal Service is a government organization. As such, the letter carrier driving the mail truck is a federal employee acting on behalf of their employer, and they do not have private car insurance on the LLV (or other mail truck) they are driving.

The reason mail trucks are uninsured is because the government, their agents, and employees have immunity from certain liabilities. When a postal truck hits your car, you can’t file a third-party insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit in court.

That's absurd. The Federal government is self-insured. There is no "immunity" from anything.

You can do several things - contact the local post office (not very helpful) or report to the OIG as employee misconduct - as hit-and-run is clear misconduct. Getting compensation from the government is easy - although it takes awhile.

You can, of course, go through your insurance company and you'll eventually get your deductible back if you can show that the USPS driver was responsible.

 

[Strange Mud]

I had a town snow plow clip my POS truck...it took months before they finally stopped asking if I wanted it fixed. I kept saying "it's OK, it's a beater truck and now the bumper is bent out instead of in. I really don't care"

yeah, I know not helpful. Contact them 1st see what happens, contact your insurance company 2nd.

Mud

 

[riceburner]

Ask @zrickety about how good USPS can do a cover up...

 

[zrickety]

Ask @zrickety about how good USPS can do a cover up...

I don't know much about USPS cover-ups but it is interesting that they would be able to hit your car with impunity.

 

[Thumper]

That's absurd. The Federal government is self-insured. There is no "immunity" from anything.

I think what he meant was the employee themselves are "immune" from personal liability as they are acting as an agent of the government, which is a real thing FYI. Doesn't mean the Post office itself isn't liable.

As for getting money from the government being "easy".........never heard of it. I am actually currently still waiting for the payout from the first $trillion+ RONA bailout. IRS 'decided' to mail me a check instead of depositing it, check got lost by USPS, and they told me they are "investigating", been about 3 months now...........

Maybe I should apply for a grant to study the eating habits of bi-sexual mosquitoes, I'm sure they will fall all over themselves to give me a couple hundred thousand for that.

You know ultimately we're all going to be paying to fix the car anyway since they will just need to raise the USPS budget and our taxes. We should just take a collection here and all chip in $20...........probably be cheaper.

 

[Hungry4hops]

My wife has been calling all over the place she said most of the numbers she calls just ring and ring. We are just going to go through our insurance (nationwide) and hopefully they can help us get our deductible back. This year has just been absurd.

 

[riceburner]

Man that is shitty. I'm sorry to hear that man. I'd be in for a $20 donation lol

 

[cb1111]

I think what he meant was the employee themselves are "immune" from personal liability as they are acting as an agent of the government, which is a real thing FYI. Doesn't mean the Post office itself isn't liable.

I suppose there is some sort of immunity when you are carrying out your job (in this case delivering mail) but that ends when a fed does something outside the scope of their job - and running into cars is not part of their job.

You can't sue the mail carrier for slowing down traffic while delivering mail, but you could sue them for this - although it is far easier to just file a claim with USPS.

As for getting money from the government being "easy".........never heard of it. It is easy in a situation like this because (if you have evidence), the claim will be approved without a lot of fuss - but, like I said, it'll take ages to actually get the check. I am actually currently still waiting for the payout from the first $trillion+ RONA bailout. IRS 'decided' to mail me a check instead of depositing it, check got lost by USPS, and they told me they are "investigating", been about 3 months now...........

Maybe I should apply for a grant to study the eating habits of bi-sexual mosquitoes, I'm sure they will fall all over themselves to give me a couple hundred thousand for that. You can't, I'm first inline for that study

You know ultimately we're all going to be paying to fix the car anyway since they will just need to raise the USPS budget and our taxes. We should just take a collection here and all chip in $20...........probably be cheaper.

See my comments in bold above.

I filed a claim when I hit a pothole on the George Washington Parkway going to work one day. My claim was approved within a couple of weeks, but it took almost a year to actually get a check.

 

[Thumper]

See my comments in bold above.

Yeah, you're not really getting what I am saying. We're on the same page, just seem to be in different translations lol No, hitting vehicle sis not part of the job, however, driving a vehicle is and getting into accidents are a possible side affect of this. We're not talking about him robbing banks or doing drive by shootings. Trust me, getting into a car accident is most definitely protected under "daily duties".

The Post Office is liable as an entity, there's just no way to name John Doe driver in a specific suit. It's standard government boiler plate that only they can get away with, because they say so. Ultimately it has no bearing on this because the USPS will be liable, there's no need to try to sue the driver personally.