[lynchnaut]

I wasn't riding my bike (remedy 9 29), it was on my bike rack.

I was beginning to travel west from my house, which is four doors east of the intersection where the accident occurred. I saw a van waiting at the stop sign (no stop sign for me) as I entered the intersection then suddenly the van accelerated and struck my car pushing it into the other lane then stopping with my car's rear wheels up on the sidewalk.

The streetlight pole you see in the last picture grabbed my trailer hitch mounted bicycle rack and pulled it outward bending the bike's frame and wheel and destroying the bike rack.

Does anyone have any experience dealing with this kind of claim? (not my fault) What can I expect from their insurance company and what should I receive with this claim and should I not easily settle and ask for more?

 

[SuperStang]

I have no idea about the insurance, but sorry to hear about the accident and glad to hear that you're safe!

 

[Klurejr]

A friend of mine(also a member on this site) was rear-ended recently. The person who hit him had full coverage and they bought him a brand new replacement bike, even though his bike was a decade old, he still got full replacement value for a new bike. Actually worked out really good for him since he wanted an upgrade anyway.

I hope your situation is the same, new Rack, New Bike and 100% fix to the car and any medical coverage you might need.

 

[pctloper]

Your insurance company should fix your car minus your deductible and they should get an offer on the bike---then your company goes after the other company to get their money back along with your deductible.

Note your company should be dealing directly with them----not you---this is what you pay them for----getting directly involved early is not usually a good plan-

This is my experience in CA-----and it took some work to get a decent offer on the bike--helps having receipts and for sale prices on used

 

[lynchnaut]

Thanks guys.

How long did it take to get his replacement? I can't stand the downtime. I had to rent a car and wish I could rent a bike but doubt they would cover that. It's been a few days and I haven't heard much other than they (safeco) needs a statement from me but they never seem to be in the office to answer their phone.

 

[lynchnaut]

Your insurance company should fix your car minus your deductible and they should get an offer on the bike---then your company goes after the other company to get their money back along with your deductible.

Note your company should be dealing directly with them----not you---this is what you pay them for----getting directly involved early is not usually a good plan-

This is my experience in CA-----and it took some work to get a decent offer on the bike--helps having receipts and for sale prices on used

I only have liability on my car.

The bike shop, where I bought this bike, is charging me $30 for an estimate. Is that normal?

 

[Klurejr]

Thanks guys.

How long did it take to get his replacement? I can't stand the downtime. I had to rent a car and wish I could rent a bike but doubt they would cover that. It's been a few days and I haven't heard much other than they (safeco) needs a statement from me but they never seem to be in the office to answer their phone.

It was a few weeks, like 3 or 4 weeks. He used the time to demo a bunch of new bikes until he found what he wanted.

Though he might have bought new in anticipation of the check arriving.

The same thing happened to a different friend about 8 years ago with the same results.

 

[twd953]

I only have liability on my car.

The bike shop, where I bought this bike, is charging me $30 for an estimate. Is that normal?

Well, time is money, and if the shop is going to spend time on preparing a written estimate for you, then I don't think $30 is out of line.

However, I've had a shop write me an estimate for no charge on a bike I bought at another shop before I moved to that area. And yes, I've spent a fair bit of money at that shop afterwards.

So, it goes both ways. But, if a shop charged me $30 to slap a number on a slip of paper, to replace a bike I bought at their shop, I wouldn't feel overly obligated to spend the insurance money at their shop to buy the replacement bike.

If the shop was smart, they'd say, estimate is $30, but we'll knock that off the purchase price when you come in for the replacement bike.

 

[Klurejr]

I only have liability on my car.

The bike shop, where I bought this bike, is charging me $30 for an estimate. Is that normal?

What brand and model bike do you have? Find the same thing new on the Manufactures website and give that to the insurance company. They need to replace your bike with exactly what it would cost you to go buy a replacement new. The age of the bike does not matter, the used market for bikes is all over the place and not reliable, things like the bicycle blue book mean nothing. The moron caused you grief and ruined your car and your bike, they need to replace it.

Cars that are used will get the "market Value" treatment because there are more reliable data sets for what cars sell for and what they are worth.

There is no such thing for bikes.

As for dealing with the insurance, just be professional and stand your ground. I had to do the same thing when my Motorcycle was knocked over by a careless driver in a parking lot.

 

[jestep]

Not trying to be a dick here but you have liability only on a really nice ~2012 4runner...?

But since they were at fault, you should still be able to get everything fixed and replaced by their company. I will say if you did not get a police report or they contest that it wasn't their fault, which is more common that you might think, you better have a good insurance company or you're screwed on both the vehicle and the bike. This recently happened to my brother in his 2004 Ford Ranger. He was deemed no at fault for an accident, the other person actually had the same insurance company, USAA, which by most accounts is a good one, and they told my brother they wouldn't pay for repairs in his truck which was totaled even though the accident wasn't his fault.

 

[Curveball]

Even though you weren't at fault, you will lose on this accident.

The insurance company will do everything that they can to either not pay or pay as little as possible. You will lose a lot of your time dealing with the mess, such as trying to get complete compensation for your losses.

 

[jcd46]

Glad you are ok OP, looks like a bad one! Hopefully you got a police report. Them being at fault, should be responsible for all damages.

 

[jcd46]

Even though you weren't at fault, you will lose on this accident.

The insurance company will do everything that they can to either not pay or pay as little as possible. You will lose a lot of your time dealing with the mess, such as trying to get complete compensation for your losses.

I think that depends on the insurance company the guilty party has. I've Farmers, and although I haven't had to use it yet, I'm confident they will come through. My agent is a personal friend of mine, and I'm hoping will step up to the plate when needed.

 

[rockcrusher]

I had this happen and the car insurance didn't cover this type of damage. Best anyone could offer was to make a claim on my personal home insurance or sue the offenders insurance for the cost of the accident. Though I think in my case the offender only had liability, no property or comprehensive coverage.

 

[dir-T]

Not trying to be a dick here but you have liability only on a really nice ~2012 4runner...?

Yeah, you may want to reconsider that.

The thing with insurance claims is that the rules and people's experiences seem to vary a lot state to state. My wife and I have had the joy of being in 5 accidents that weren't our fault in the past couple years.

I would expect a bike would be covered under the other driver's property damage coverage. A bike is a cheap thing to pay for in comparison to a house or something else a car could drive into.

 

[dir-T]

Even though you weren't at fault, you will lose on this accident.
.

My experiences have been different. Other than the minor inconvenience, our newer cars have been completely fixed without any $ from us. We've been paid by Geico, Progressive, USAA, and I forget the other. Easy-peasy.

On my old SUV, I actually made more money from insurance claims than what I paid for it. That's unusual though and I had driven it for 20 years by that point.

 

[Curveball]

I think that depends on the insurance company the guilty party has. I've Farmers, and although I haven't had to use it yet, I'm confident they will come through. My agent is a personal friend of mine, and I'm hoping will step up to the plate when needed.

I would be very surprised if their insurance offered to pay for everything without a bringing in a lawyer.

 

[Curveball]

LOL! I just noticed the 20 MPH speed limit sign.

I can't imagine that sort of an impact was done at 20 MPH.

 

[Klurejr]

the other person actually had the same insurance company, USAA, .

This is the issue your brother faced. When it is the same insurance for both parties, both parties lose. An insurance companies job is to not pay money, that is literally their main goal.

Helping people recover their lives is very much secondary no matter what the commercials say.

I know this from a past experience where I was at fault for pulling in front of a car, the car broadsided me, but I was mostly at fault. I think the insurance (farmers) put the other party partly to blame. My car was totaled because it was a small cheap car, her Lexus was fixed. She filed a bunch of claims for medical coverage stating her back was all bad now from low speed impact. Farmers denied all her medical claims. They did everything possible to pay as little as possible.

 

[lynchnaut]

It's a 2010 4runner. The reason I only have liability (Costco insurance) is that I had a couple of claims (bumper my fault and 2 windows broken glass from theft) and that raised my premium 100%. I have to wait until my rates lower to be able to purchase collision and comp again.