Accident and Car Rental Question in NY.

[Quinnow1]

First off I would like to thank those involved I setting up the forum here as well as those that help out answering the questions within.
I have been on active duty for the last 18 months in Afghanistan and just arrived back home 6 days ago in Upstate NY. It would figure that getting settled back in here at home would have a glitch or two as my wife was in an accident while heading to the store to buy food.

She was in the left lane of a two lane northbound roadway with a green light. Heading southbound in a two lane SB roadway and making a left turnwas the vehicle she struck.
The person turned left right in front of my wife with her only last second option was to go into oncoming traffic. The persons car was hit on the RR side by my wifes car in the RF area.
The other person admitted both to my wife and to the reporting officer that he was completely at fault and not paying attention which is also written in police report.
I elected to go through his insurance for this reason so i was not chasing my deductable and or placing my cash up front for rental or anything else.
His insurance company is Progressive and the person asigned to the accident said they accepted 90% fault because even though my wife had the right away it was actually her that struck him when he turned in front of her. i know nothing about insurance and this upset me beyond words. Is there anything I can do about this or is it common and am I just stuck?
Also because we are low on cash getting settled in I progressive I was going to rent a friends car for 30.00 a day while he is gone for work. ( I need a car) I did not want to use the big chain renters as they charge far more and I did not want to pay them the 10% after 2 weeks of down time on my car repairs. Progressive told me I was not allowed to rent my friends car at a discounted rate and that they would not pay for it and or reimburse me for any costs if i pay him for the use. is this right? Am I really forced to use a commercial rental company for a car?
well...it's good to be back home none the less.
thanks in advance for any help.

 

[djs]

I'm not familiar with New York laws and claims practices, but I wouldn't worry about the 90% to much (at least not in California, might be different in New York). 90% would mean they will pay at least the majority of the claim, if not the whole thing, your wife won't be charged as at fault, etc. You need to check with a New York agent for particulars though.

For the rental car, it is RARE for a carrier to pay for the use of a friends car. At $30 a day, it's probably cheaper for them to put you into a rental with one of their contract companies anyway. You'll find insurance companies generally frown on anything where you or a friend might benefit. It gets viewed as a conflict of interest and people will abuse it more than you might imagine. Its simpler for them to set a general policy of keeping it professional.

As long as they are taking care of things, you can pretty much sit back and let it run its course. Hopefully, your wife is okay, that would be my primary concern. The car can be replaced easily. The wife is a bit harder to replace sometimes.

Dan

 

[FullAuto]

How bad is the damage to your wife's car? How much is the 10% you're paying? What insurance company do you have?

If the 10% is higher than your deductible, you can file a claim against your own insurance and let them subrogate Progressive afterward. Even if it's not higher than your deductible, you can go that route and have your company refund you later down the road when the money is recovered.

The insurance company wants to direct you to specfic rental car companies because they pay much less for the rental than you will.

 

[MTguy]

Personally, I don't think your wife is even at 10% fault. I think Progressive is being slimy about this. If I were you, I would at least threaten to get a lawyer. Of course, I am not short of cash.

I don't know about New York. Usually liable party will provide rental car also. Another reason to sue Progressive.

Just my 2 cents,

First off I would like to thank those involved I setting up the forum here as well as those that help out answering the questions within.
I have been on active duty for the last 18 months in Afghanistan and just arrived back home 6 days ago in Upstate NY. It would figure that getting settled back in here at home would have a glitch or two as my wife was in an accident while heading to the store to buy food.

She was in the left lane of a two lane northbound roadway with a green light. Heading southbound in a two lane SB roadway and making a left turnwas the vehicle she struck.
The person turned left right in front of my wife with her only last second option was to go into oncoming traffic. The persons car was hit on the RR side by my wifes car in the RF area.
The other person admitted both to my wife and to the reporting officer that he was completely at fault and not paying attention which is also written in police report.
I elected to go through his insurance for this reason so i was not chasing my deductable and or placing my cash up front for rental or anything else.
His insurance company is Progressive and the person asigned to the accident said they accepted 90% fault because even though my wife had the right away it was actually her that struck him when he turned in front of her. i know nothing about insurance and this upset me beyond words. Is there anything I can do about this or is it common and am I just stuck?
Also because we are low on cash getting settled in I progressive I was going to rent a friends car for 30.00 a day while he is gone for work. ( I need a car) I did not want to use the big chain renters as they charge far more and I did not want to pay them the 10% after 2 weeks of down time on my car repairs. Progressive told me I was not allowed to rent my friends car at a discounted rate and that they would not pay for it and or reimburse me for any costs if i pay him for the use. is this right? Am I really forced to use a commercial rental company for a car?
well...it's good to be back home none the less.
thanks in advance for any help.

 

[sPetersPi]

I'm not familiar with NY legislation regarding this but I am fairly certain the insurance company will have exclusions on hiring a friends car for the same reason FullAuto suggests - they probably have an agreement in place.

I would also push for the full amount as it does just appear to be slimy practices by Progressive.