I'm disgusted with State Farm

dang

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So my daughter (28 years old) got in an accident last month in her 2008 328iT. She was driving down a 45mph four lane street and a lady insured by State Farm pulled out in front of her and my daughter hit her from behind. The lady started to pull out, stopped and then took off again but pulled straight over to the left lane. My daughter was in the right lane but started to change lanes because the lady was partially in the right lane when she hesitated. My daughter had her right hand on the horn when the airbag blew and it broke her wrist (broke the end of the bone off and displaced it under the other bone. It was very painful).

Fault: The lady told the police that she pulled out in front of my daughter but said she thought my daughter was going fast and a witness said that my daughter passed him on the street and "was bookin' it!". The police report has the statements documented but put the lady that pulled out at fault, entering a roadway in an unsafe manner.

We only have liability on the car since I fixed it from auction, I'm not worried about the car or damages, which were minor BTW. But, since we only have liability our insurance (21st Century (Farmers)) does not get involved if the other driver is at fault. This is news to me. The accident happened on Oct 19th and State Farm has still not contacted us one month later. We've left several vmails and emails and they still don't contact us. I did manage to talk to someone there (not the agent assigned to the claim) that read the file and said they've agreed to 75% fault since there were witnesses that said my daughter was driving fast. LOL, okay. Since when do opinions count? I'm guessing if a witness said their driver looked like she was drunk they'd take that as fact too? And, no one has ever talked to my daughter about what happened. No one.

I happened to know an attorney that specializes in accident claims, which means he knows how to use the system. I normally like to be reasonable and just work things out but they've forced my hand and now I'm going to turn the attorney loose on them. I'm disgusted with the whole thing.

Any opinions?

Dan
 

dave v. in nc

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I have two brothers that are attorneys, and have always been told to try to work things out without the court's involvement whenever possible, which you have obviously done...now would be the time to proceed otherwise, which you have done...More often than not, just the attorney's letter on letterhead gets things moving. They will jack you around if they can, as that is what they do (since you are not THEIR client..). Very sorry about the wrist; I'm sure that your attorney will use any/all medical info as leverage against the other insurance company. My brothers' first two rules of lawsuits are one *never sue anyone that has no assets from which to pay (that's mental masterbation..) and two *never sue if you haven't actually been harmed. You've already passed both of these between the op's insurance coverage, and your daughter's wrist. Get the wrist done right, as you will probably only have one shot at it.
"Bookin it" sounds like heresay...but I'm a funiture designer, not an attorney...best of luck.
 

'69 2800cs

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A few years ago I had to deal with State Farm as they insured the person that backed into (and totalled) my E39. It was high mileage, so I had cancelled collision as well. Considering their client hit me, I went after State Farm for my claim.

They gave me the runaround and then stated I had hit their client. I then directed them to the *Police Report* that said he hit me, and then I made some progress and got my claim.

Either State Farm didn't look at the police report, or they lied to me to avoid the claim. I think it was the latter...

So yeah....I would go after them.
 

dang

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Her medical bills are around $30k up to this point so I'm assuming the attorney will be interested in taking the case. The last time he got involved with a friend he coached him with what to do and settled "pain and suffering" with the agent. They didn't go to court. My daughter says, "If he can do it I figure I can". :) I like her attitude and hopefully it goes smoothly. Saying they're 75% at fault doesn't bother me considering that's their job to save the company money. The way I figure it, if they're starting at 75% they must feel like they're completely at fault! I'm expecting it to end up at 100%. Not contacting us is what pisses me off. They haven't asked about her medical condition, don't seem to care about the damage, nothing.
 

sfdon

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Let’s be very clear- you have no claim against State Farm.
You cannot file a complaint against State Farm.
You can’t force them to do anything.

You have a claim against the woman who pulled out.

You can and should contact the other driver and explain that you will sue them for your damages because their insurance company has not contacted you.

“When and where would you like to be served with the suit”

They will contact their insurance company and will get things moving because they can file a complaint and do have a contract with them.
 

JFENG

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This is tough. Reminds me of when I got t-boned by a kid coming out of their driveway without looking or stopping. Totaled by 535i sport package.
If the police issued a citation to the other driver, you should be able to get something from the other driver's insurance. In my case the kid's father was a selectman so no citation was issued and the insurance companies declared it as a no-fault case. My rates doubled and there is nothing I can do about it because the police report said fault was 50/50. Get the police report to make sure you have a position to go after the other driver (per SFDon's advice).

Good luck.

John

BTW, I was later rear-ended in my new X5, while sitting at a stop light. Because I was sending my daughter to school for her final exams, I took pics, got witness reports, sent my kid to school, and then contacted the police. Again, the cops decided that because they weren't there at the accident scene it was a no-fault case. Sometimes I wonder what the heck they do with the taxes I pay....
 

dang

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Well what do ya know, I just got an email from the State Farm agent. "I've tried contacting your daughter several time and left voice mails. I sent this email today too!" My daughter said today's email is the first. Whatever, I don't care if she needs to cover her ass I just want some communication and some resolution. My daughter also talked to the attorney and he's helping her/us get all the documents in line and tell us what to expect. He would just deal with State Farm, this isn't a lawsuit and we've never wanted one.

At the same time, I replied to the SF agent explaining what happened, since no one has asked my daughter up to this point, and that we won't accept anything less than their driver being 100% at fault. I then tried to reinforce that I'm very reasonable and just want this to be fair. Yes, I think 100% fault is fair.

My daughter was alert, not distracted and did everything she could to avoid the collision. Here's the damage to her car...

IMG_20181019_174640873.jpg
 

CSteve

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Should work out.

SF is one of the better ones believe it or not as far as getting compensation.
This reminds me of what a Blue Cross rep told me, sworn to secrecy. They arbitrarily reject medical claims and wait for their insured to bite back.

So yes, you are right to bite back. Hard!

Your daughter was hitting the horn, so unfortunately the wrist injury was unavoidable. But I try to feed the wheel through my hands whenever I can to avoid being injured by an exploding airbag even worse than your daughter.

Steve
 

jmackro

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I normally like to be reasonable and just work things out but they've forced my hand and now I'm going to turn the attorney loose on them. Any opinions?

You should absolutely turn your attorney loose on State Farm. I share your "like to be reasonable" attitude when dealing with humans, but State Farm Inc. is not a human.
 

bavbob

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My father sold insurance for 30 years and gave me this tip. Here in Ma and in NY there are commissions to file a formal complaint against an insurance company. Prob one in Ca. File a formal complaint against State Farm and let them know you're doing it, bet they respond ASAP....cause as you know they know a thing or two because they have seen a thing or two. Lawyers usually make things worse IMO.
 

dang

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Got some medical bills yesterday. A six mile ambulance ride and surgery for a broken wrist has now totaled $60k. Medical costs are insane.
 

dang

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Are there any attorney's here that are familiar with accident claims? I'm meeting with an attorney Thursday to discuss fees and how this typically works and from what I've heard so far they typically go after the full amount of what insurance will pay, in this case I think it's $100k, then take their percentage fee from that. Their fee is 1/3 of the settlement or payout and since my daughter's medical bills are already over $60k (for a broken wrist) the 2/3 amount isn't going to cover the costs when you include the car damage, etc. I'm trying really hard not to get pissed off at everyone getting unreasonable amounts of money in this, the medical side especially, but how does a law firm justify $33k for some emails and phone calls to an insurance company?

She got another bill today related the her surgery. It said "Additional charge: $3785". That's it. No explanation.
 

Arde

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Got some medical bills yesterday. A six mile ambulance ride and surgery for a broken wrist has now totaled $60k. Medical costs are insane.

I have been saying for decades the health system mess will not change until patients revolt... Paris is burning for much less than that... and Macron capitulates in one day... Either my spleen or my frustration speaking...
 

Markos

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Dan,

If it isn’t listed on the bill, ask for the CPT codes associated with that line item. I wish I could be more helpful. :(

I wonder if you can find a firm that handles personal injury but isn’t a personal injury ambulance chaser ( no offense to the many lawyers on here).
 

bavbob

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Yes, CPT codes! They expect you don't give a crap because they assume you have insurance that will cover it..................
Also I would sit with patient relations and billing and let them know what's up, they usually will negotiate something far less than what the bill says. Surmise most of the cost is the hospital as the actual professional charges (M.D.) are usually far less than hospital charges.
 

Gransin

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Shit.. One time I had to go to the E.R with an ambulance and stayed at the hospital for a couple of nights, I think I paid around 200€ in total, but no surgery that time.
But yeah, we pay taxes on top of taxes instead.

I hope all goes your way for you and your daughter!
 

Markos

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Yes, CPT codes! They expect you don't give a crap because they assume you have insurance that will cover it..................
Also I would sit with patient relations and billing and let them know what's up, they usually will negotiate something far less than what the bill says. Surmise most of the cost is the hospital as the actual professional charges (M.D.) are usually far less than hospital charges.

This one is interesting. Normally it is the insurance companies duking it out over rates. Since the insurance company is paying you and you are paying the provider, you can negotiate the rates. The rates are all over the map as a hospital has different rates for each insurance provider. Rates for "uninsured" are another category altogether, and are generally cheaper than what they charge insurance companies. As far as CPT codes go, once you have the codes you can just google that particular code and look up discussions on what it is and means. There is flexibility here also, they can pick and chose codes that are covered by providers or cost less. Hospitals pay low wage "medical billing specialists" to pour through the medical record and turn a hospital encounter into a list of billable codes. As many have discovered, they often make mistakes or leverage codes that are guaranteed to get shot down.
 

dang

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Because she took an ambulance she ended up in the trauma center. She laid in a bed for about an hour with her wrist wrapped. $13k. CT scan, $12k. Emergency room (not the trauma room apparently), $6k. Our medical system is broken.

Now I know why people declare bankruptcy when stuff like this happens. I'm sure it's way worse than this scenario, but in her case, she doesn't have personal medical insurance, the car is in her name, she works part-time and has no assets. It would be really easy to just say "screw it" and not pay. It's wrong, but I get why people do it now that we're going through this.
 
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