Halp! Insurance Fraud...

[ringthree]

"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.

If a doctor and an insurance company disagree there isn't much you can do.

In my state at the very least, the police report just says what happened and apparent damage, it makes no other notes of damage and isn't used to determine damages. If you are hit in the bumper there can be a lot of internal damage that isn't apparent because the shock absorbing material is only one time use stuff and has to be replaced even in a very low speed impact. Additionally, cracks can happen outside of the impact area, where the stresses of the impact are felt and professionals know where to look for this.

"Come on guys" isn't really a legal argument.

[Ddz]

I worked for a personal injury firm for a while, and I can say from experience that this shit happens ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the time. I'm surprised your insurance company hasn't requested her prior medical records. I bet she has a neck injury from years ago that she's trying to get treated on your dime!

Also did she get an expert to opine on it (a doctor?) They literally have to write a statement that says that the injury was undoubtedly caused by this accident (even to a certain percentage) that can be upheld in court. I doubt any doctor would risk losing a license to practice over a fender bender.

[Acevalefor]

So we talked to a claims adjuster and got the claim reopened for further investigation. They won't give us any more details about the woman's injuries yet but the adjuster agreed that it looked a lot like fraud with her damage and injury claims. My wife did give a statement to our insurance co at the time of the accident, so that helps a lot. There are a lot of details there that she doesn't remember now. The lady she hit had crossed the crosswalk line as the light was turning red then decided to stop instead of run a red light. My wife came to a stop and the lady backed up behind the line. That put my wife's car very close to the other car prior to the bump. It certainly explains how my wife could roll into another car a little better. It also helps our case a lot knowing that the other lady had reversed in the lane. The adjuster said that it brings doubt to the veracity of the other lady's account because there is no mention of her backing up in her accident report.

Now the insurance company is going to make her prove damages and injury. If she can't, I am not sure what happens but I think my insurance company will turn it over to police since fraud in any dollar amount is a criminal offense in Oregon.

Feels much better just knowing my insurance company is finally doing what they should have done at the start of this whole mess. If it is standard practice to pay out on a claim without due process, no wonder insurance fraud is such a huge problem.

[Kalmado]

So we talked to a claims adjuster and got the claim reopened for further investigation. They won't give us any more details about the woman's injuries yet but the adjuster agreed that it looked a lot like fraud with her damage and injury claims. My wife did give a statement to our insurance co at the time of the accident, so that helps a lot. There are a lot of details there that she doesn't remember now. The lady she hit had crossed the crosswalk line as the light was turning red then decided to stop instead of run a red light. My wife came to a stop and the lady backed up behind the line. That put my wife's car very close to the other car prior to the bump. It certainly explains how my wife could roll into another car a little better. It also helps our case a lot knowing that the other lady had reversed in the lane. The adjuster said that it brings doubt to the veracity of the other lady's account because there is no mention of her backing up in her accident report.

Now the insurance company is going to make her prove damages and injury. If she can't, I am not sure what happens but I think my insurance company will turn it over to police since fraud in any dollar amount is a criminal offense in Oregon.

Feels much better just knowing my insurance company is finally doing what they should have done at the start of this whole mess. If it is standard practice to pay out on a claim without due process, no wonder insurance fraud is such a huge problem.

It sort of is. To be specific, it is in federal insurance law the benefit of the doubt always goes to the client. That shouldn't stop the company from performing due diligence regarding a claim, especially involving bodily injury. Hopefully it all works out in the end for you.

[Necronus]

It still amazes me that people are still willing to "agree the accident was nothing". That's basically code for "I'm going to file an injury claim in a few days".

You should always report 100% of accidents at the time of occurrence, just so its on record that both parties agree "the accident was nothing". And of course taking pictures like you did is a mandatory backup plan.