Halp! Insurance Fraud...

[Acevalefor]

Summary:
Last November my wife bumped into another vehicle with her vehicle at under 5mph. There was no damage to either vehicle and both parties agreed that was the case while on the scene. We took pictures and had a witness. Then of course several days later suddenly the other lady involved had a neck injury and back pain. A claim was filed 2 weeks after the incident and we were not told about it until much later. Basically, our insurance company decided to pay out $3000 to this lady without due process based solely off of her word alone. They did not take a statement from us and only requested the pictures of our vehicle after we questioned the claim in December when we finally found out about it.

This claim is completely fraudulent and I can prove it. However, we are getting the runaround from our insurance company and are being told it is too expensive for them to dispute it so we just have to suffer the consequences of their inaction. Is there anything I can do to dispute this claim? We will be talking to an adjuster on Monday to request arbitration but were told today that we would probably not be able to dispute the claim because it would cost the insurance company too much......wtff? I am a little angry right now that these companies can fuck their customers like this because they get to make more money by paying a claim of $3000 then charging us an extra $100 per month for the next 5 years. They will net $3000 in that time.....no wonder they don't want to fight the fraud.

[FNH]

Summary:
Last November my wife bumped into another vehicle with her vehicle at under 5mph. There was no damage to either vehicle and both parties agreed that was the case while on the scene. We took pictures and had a witness. Then of course several days later suddenly the other lady involved had a neck injury and back pain. A claim was filed 2 weeks after the incident and we were not told about it until much later. Basically, our insurance company decided to pay out $3000 to this lady without due process based solely off of her word alone. They did not take a statement from us and only requested the pictures of our vehicle after we questioned the claim in December when we finally found out about it.

This claim is completely fraudulent and I can prove it. However, we are getting the runaround from our insurance company and are being told it is too expensive for them to dispute it so we just have to suffer the consequences of their inaction. Is there anything I can do to dispute this claim? We will be talking to an adjuster on Monday to request arbitration but were told today that we would probably not be able to dispute the claim because it would cost the insurance company too much......wtff? I am a little angry right now that these companies can fuck their customers like this because they get to make more money by paying a claim of $3000 then charging us an extra $100 per month for the next 5 years. They will net $3000 in that time.....no wonder they don't want to fight the fraud.

Your insurance company will claim you are the at fault driver. Not much you can do after that.

[Acevalefor]

Your insurance company will claim you are the at fault driver. Not much you can do after that.

That's just it. There was no damage, no injuries, no nothing. My wife made the mistake of giving insurance info even though it was a 3mph bump. She was scared of the lady filing an accident report which would have triggered a citation for my wife if she didn't give the insurance info. On the other hand, the other lady refused to give her insurance info claiming since there was no damage or injury there was no need.

I did not find out about the "accident" until several hours later. I wondered then why the lady wanted our info but refused to give hers. My wife is innocent and honest so of course she didn't see that this lady was looking for an easy payday.

[FNH]

That's just it. There was no damage, no injuries, no nothing. My wife made the mistake of giving insurance info even though it was a 3mph bump. She was scared of the lady filing an accident report which would have triggered a citation for my wife if she didn't give the insurance info. On the other hand, the other lady refused to give her insurance info claiming since there was no damage or injury there was no need.

I did not find out about the "accident" until several hours later. I wondered then why the lady wanted our info but refused to give hers. My wife is innocent and honest so of course she didn't see that this lady was looking for an easy payday.

speed doesnt matter, and the other driver claiming no damage at the time doesn't matter they have a considerable amount of time to find damage. And if the insurance is rolling over, you are boned.


I had a similar situation where I ended up having my insurance paying about a grand to buff the bumper of the other car. It sucks but you move on.

[Kalmado]

If there was no citation issued and no police report, then no one is truly at fault. If your insurance company is being that stubborn to site your wife as being "at fault" because their claims department dropped the ball then just leave them. You aren't held to a contract and they can't hold you. When a different insurance company runs a quote they will not surcharge you for an "at fault accident" because as you stated, there wasn't a citation so there won't be a record of it. I know it sucks to change, but this isn't something to stress over.

[Acevalefor]

If there was no citation issued and no police report, then no one is truly at fault. If your insurance company is being that stubborn to site your wife as being "at fault" because their claims department dropped the ball then just leave them. You aren't held to a contract and they can't hold you. When a different insurance company runs a quote they will not surcharge you for an "at fault accident" because as you stated, there wasn't a citation so there won't be a record of it. I know it sucks to change, but this isn't something to stress over.

We are already leaving them because we have no intention of letting them make money off of us. They paid out on the claim, they can eat the loss. We are cancelling our policy. However, there is an accident report filed by the other lady on record at the DMV. Police do not get involved here unless someone calls them. Even for injury accidents there is no police report if they are not called and only EMS is called. It is the driver's responsibility to file a report and insurance claim.

I have been talking to my wife all evening trying to get more details from her and the more she says the more I think we are just plain fucked because of the lack of information that she remembers. Even though I can prove the fraud with a witness and photos, She doesn't remember much about the accident. It wasn't a big deal and she is honest and naive so she just wrote it off as a non incident and forgot many many details.

[Kalmado]

I can only speak with certainty for the state of Michigan as I've worked property & casualty there, but if an accident is to be considered at fault, either a police report or a claims agent at the time of accident would report it and the person at fault would know immediately. The companies I worked for pulled information from LexisNexis for underwriting purposes. If an error has been made and it shows up in that database, I can't image the hell it would be to have it removed. I'm sorry for this inconvenience you're going through.

[archibaldcrane]

Wait, so you're mad that there's going to be an "at-fault" accident on your insurance file for causing an accident that was your (wife's) fault?

[scrockstar]

You do realize that if your insurance company disputed the claim it would likely cost them (and by association you) more money than a paltry $3,000 settlement? I'd just be happy that your wife was not going fast enough to cause any real damage.

[Ikith]

Bump at 5mph or crash at 50mph is still at fault even if there is no damage caused. Sorry bud but you are screwed.

[hey]

Last November my wife bumped into another vehicle with her vehicle

So...what's the problem?

[Acevalefor]

Wait, so you're mad that there's going to be an "at-fault" accident on your insurance file for causing an accident that was your (wife's) fault?

No...I am upset that this lady got a $3000 payday by claiming injury for something that didn't happen. She claimed there was extensive damage to the vehicle and she had a neck injury. But the neck injury didn't show up until 5 days later. The damage to the car was simply not there. It wasn't even enough to smudge the dirt on her bumper. It is insurance fraud through and through. There was no damage an no injury until her husband told her she could lie her ass off to get paid.

I am completely ok with a claim on our insurance for an at fault accident. I am not ok with selfish fucktards cashing in at my expense.

[Cream Soda]

But the neck injury didn't show up until 5 days later.

Not saying she wasn't bs'ing, but feeling pain a few days down the road isn't exactly uncommon


Moral of the story: Get your wife a bus pass, or a bicycle (preference!). She doesn't need to be driving.

[Acevalefor]

Not saying she wasn't bs'ing, but feeling pain a few days down the road isn't exactly uncommon


Moral of the story: Get your wife a bus pass, or a bicycle (preference!). She doesn't need to be driving.

I close the door harder than that impact every day. They were both stopped and my wife rolled into her after the stop.

I wouldn't say 1 incident in 15 years of driving constitutes revocation of her driving privileges. She's not badass enough to ride a bike like you do.

[Cream Soda]

I can understand people who may just lose control of their vehicle, but when you're going 5mph or less and still hitting shit, there's a problem

[zoobernut]

I close the door harder than that impact every day. They were both stopped and my wife rolled into her after the stop.

I wouldn't say 1 incident in 15 years of driving constitutes revocation of her driving privileges. She's not badass enough to ride a bike like you do.

Not defending the lady but it is worth pointing out that some neck injuries are not from the impact itself it is from the stress of the accident. I was talking to our insurance adjuster the other day and she said that neck injuries can occur because someones muscles tense up really tight from a collision even if the collision is not hard. That is still considered an injury caused from the accident even if it is indirect/stress related. Bottom line is that your wife should follow procedure no matter how minimal the accident is. Also what Cream said neck pain can show up later.

[Kalmado]

To add on, I too am not defending the lady but injuries definitely can come later on and you should always follow protocol. I have to remind my wife of this constantly. She's a CNA and her job can get quite physical. I tell her if she thinks she has a serious pain to report it because if not, and she needs surgery a week or 2 later, that's coming out of our pocket and not her employer's.

[ringthree]

We are already leaving them because we have no intention of letting them make money off of us. They paid out on the claim, they can eat the loss. We are cancelling our policy. However, there is an accident report filed by the other lady on record at the DMV. Police do not get involved here unless someone calls them. Even for injury accidents there is no police report if they are not called and only EMS is called. It is the driver's responsibility to file a report and insurance claim.

I have been talking to my wife all evening trying to get more details from her and the more she says the more I think we are just plain fucked because of the lack of information that she remembers. Even though I can prove the fraud with a witness and photos, She doesn't remember much about the accident. It wasn't a big deal and she is honest and naive so she just wrote it off as a non incident and forgot many many details.

Your wife hit another car. You might not think it is much, but you and your insurance company have to make the person your wife hit whole. Honestly, it sounds like your are trying to scheme your way out of it, you are making a lot of claims about the accident when you weren't there and your wife doesn't remember. Your insurance company has experience dealing with situations like these. You do not.

[Nephlite]

I would've taken the citation. At least then the accident report would have shown no damage/injuries and it would have been her word against the officers. If she refused medical treatment and later on down the road she claims injury, it's much harder to get an injury claim going.

Similar situation happened to my Sergeant. He was coming in to work and rear-ended a lady who whipped out in front of him from a curb parking space. He thought about not calling it in since there was almost no damage (some cosmetic damage to his car and she had a bumper bully so it didn't do shit to her). He ended up going the whole 9 yards anyways since he was in uniform and she asked him a ton of questions. The responding unit took pictures of his skid marks (he locked the brakes up because he was going kinda fast) and took pictures of the cars and did an accident reconstruction kit on it. Sergeant was issued a citation ($25) and they swapped info and that was that.

Few weeks later she hits him with a small claims lawsuit for damages. $4,000 for vehicle damages, $6,000 for wages lost and $10,000 for medical bills. The claim noted that the responding unit held the Sergeant at fault because he was issued a citation. The way the responding officer wrote the report, he had to issue the Sergeant the citation based off of General Orders and issuance of a citation is not an admission of guilt, just a promise to appear in court. The Sergeant went to court, the plaintiff didn't and the Sergeants citation was thrown out and he wasn't held liable criminally. On the other hand the plaintiff was actually at fault because of the reconstruction of the accident was so well written and detailed (even though it was very very minor) that he (Sergeant) was able to counter-sue the driver for negligence and had her civil suit thrown out.

Sometimes it's best just to man up to our mistakes and hope they turn out in the end.

[Deadgye]

"She claimed there was extensive damage to the vehicle". She made a false claim and he has picture evidence to disprove it, is there really nothing he can do about that?

Also come on guys, <5mph bumps are not going to cause any injuries. Accelerating or breaking causes more jerk. He's still fucked in regards to possible injuries because of how his wife was played of course, but we all know that other woman is perfectly fine.