Help, I need insurance advice!

[Bodhi]

I need some insurance advice


On October 14, 2010, I got into a car accident at my college campus, the other driver was a groundskeeper who works at the college, he was driving on of the college's trucks. The trucks there have CA EXEMPT license plates, like a government vehicle.

I gave the campus PD my insurance information, I was expecting to get a call from my insurance company within the week. The call never came, and I saw the groundskeeper continuing his work through the semester following, he was working even the day after the accident.
My insurance company never called me, so I assumed they just didn't report it, and I saw the groundskeeper driving a new truck.
On October 25, 2011, more than one year later, I got a letter from an attorney saying

"We are the workers compensation administrator for the above-captioned employee.

Our investigation reveals that EMPLOYEE's injury was proximately caused by your negligence [the accident was my fault] and we are looking to you for reimbursement of our expenditures, for workers compensation benefits paid."

They're asking for my insurance information, which I gave them a year ago. but they never filed a claim.

There's no way he qualified for workers comp, I saw him working two days after the accident, and he never stopped working, as I'm at school 3 or so days a week since the accident.

A week after all of the above happened, I called the lawyer and told him I don't have any money, whatever insurance info I gave them at the time of the accident was correct, and all the money I do have goes to the school anyways. They didn't call back.

And today, almost 3 months after I called the lawyer, Geico, the insurance company I had at the time, just called me and informed me that those people are trying to get a hold of my information. However, Geico can't release my information without my consent.

The total amount of money they want collected: $2000.00

What should I do?

An insurance adjuster [from a forum] a couple of months ago told me that if they didn't stop pursuing after calling them directly, I could threaten to counter-sue for harassment.

Right now I'm leaning towards just calling Geico.

 

[GTi R Enigma]

When it comes to accidents the statue of limitations goes 2 years to file a claim. I would make sure you can put together an accurate timeline of events depicting the events and the persons routine after the accident

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

 

[philwest21]

Yeah you really need a lawyer. That sounds like some bullshit.

 

[Bodhi]

OH, and this is all over a medical bill for almost $2000.

 

[GTi R Enigma]

Don't pay anything that's why you have insurance

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[lightningjack]

Get a lawyer, subpeona hospital records. If he didn't go to the hospital within 24-48 hours, he's probably SOL. If he did, records should show no injuries.

 

[cicatrizdare]

Get a lawyer. Let him deal with it.

Deal with it personally and you run the risk of that attorney running a train on you and trying for much more than $2,000.00.

 

[Bodhi]

Update.

So yesterday after posting this thread, I decided to call Geico and let them handle it.

I told them absolutely everything, they recorded it.

Today, I recieve this e-mail.

"Dear Mr. Duarte,
EC0775 (12/2011)
We are writing to you regarding the auto accident referenced above. We have completed
our investigation of the accident and have made a decision about liability. California law
requires that we inform you when the driver of your vehicle has been determined to be
principally at fault for an accident.
In this case, our investigation shows Daniel Duarte was principally at fault for the auto
accident that occurred on October 14, 2010 because you failed to maintain a proper lookout
when making a right turn. As a result, your vehicle collided with another vehicle.
Additionally, we have received notification that a person involved in this auto accident is
seeking medical treatment.
You may request a reconsideration of our liability determination within 30 days of receipt of
this notice. A person other than the original decision maker will complete such a review and
reconsideration. If you have additional information that you would like us to consider, please
provide it to us.
If you have questions, please contact me at the number below. Please refer to our claim
number when writing or calling about this claim. Daniel Duarte, we value the 1 year you
have allowed us to serve you for your automobile insurance needs."

This will be interesting to see where it goes from here. Their "investigation" took less than 24 hours.

And now, I wait for my current insurance company to call and ask if there was an accident that occurred on that day.

Great. I don't understand how he is seeking medical treatment when I see him at school, still working.

 

[merkeyterkey]

Good luck

 

[bhmkv]

First off were you at fault?
You do not need a attorney for this is you have insurance. If have a duty to report a claim to your insurance company within 24hours of a loss or as soon as possible. Geico tends to be pretty strick with denial rules so it will be good if they cover the loss.
You pay for insurance for a reason. Just a heads up if this company is seeking a WC claim for 2k your insurance will just pay it if you were at fault.
Ive paid 10-15k claims for parking lot losses that were worth taking to court. Your insurance will make the decision to pay or fight. If they fight the loss they will likely have a simple adjuster and staff attorney handle it, but again not worth fighting a 2k claim.
In past I handled comm insurance claims for large trucks, then handled personal auto losses for 4 years. I was also a lic auto body appraiser for 5 years. I currently working as a insurance agent bc got sick of bs claims.
PM me with any ??
Basically if your insurance will accept the claim this late just give them a recorded statement and forget about it. 2k is a very very very small injury claim.

 

[Bodhi]

First off were you at fault?
You do not need a attorney for this is you have insurance. If have a duty to report a claim to your insurance company within 24hours of a loss or as soon as possible. Geico tends to be pretty strick with denial rules so it will be good if they cover the loss.
You pay for insurance for a reason. Just a heads up if this company is seeking a WC claim for 2k your insurance will just pay it if you were at fault.
Ive paid 10-15k claims for parking lot losses that were worth taking to court. Your insurance will make the decision to pay or fight. If they fight the loss they will likely have a simple adjuster and staff attorney handle it, but again not worth fighting a 2k claim.
In past I handled comm insurance claims for large trucks, then handled personal auto losses for 4 years. I was also a lic auto body appraiser for 5 years. I currently working as a insurance agent bc got sick of bs claims.
PM me with any ??
Basically if your insurance will accept the claim this late just give them a recorded statement and forget about it. 2k is a very very very small injury claim.

Yeah, i was at fault.

Do you think my current insurance company will find out and adjust my rates accordingly?

 

[PRND[S]]

They will definitely know because they all share accident information, plus they can get the information from the DMV as well. Whether they necessarily bump up your rates as a result, I don't know.

 

[lightningjack]

Pictures and videos of homeboy doing manual labor can't hurt your cause