Can I Recover My Deductible?

shelquis · 10-15-2009, 02:11 AM

HI. I live in Florida. My truck was totaled in an accident. The other driver was at fault and was cited by the police for making an illegal left turn. Can I recover my deductible amount since I was not at fault? Thanks.

xrac · 10-15-2009, 04:50 AM

Originally Posted by shelquis

HI. I live in Florida. My truck was totaled in an accident. The other driver was at fault and was cited by the police for making an illegal left turn. Can I recover my deductible amount since I was not at fault? Thanks.

I would think that the other drivers insurance should cover the whole thing unless they were uninsured? But I am not a P&C agent and I understand some states are no fault states.

PDX_Agent · 10-16-2009, 01:15 AM

It sounds like you had your carrier pay to fix the damage on your vehicle. They will likely subrogate against the other party to recover what they paid. It is possible they will attempt to recover the deductible.

You could always send a demand letter to the other person's carrier.

shelquis · 10-16-2009, 01:58 AM

The other driver was insured, and my insurance company declared the truck a total loss. I sent my insurance company the title, and they sent me a check for the value they assigned to the truck, less the deductible.

"You could always send a demand letter to the other person's carrier." Is that something I need to have a lawyer do, or would they (Geico) likely respond to me if I just send them a letter myself? Thanks for the responses.

briko3 · 10-16-2009, 03:15 AM

If you don't have an agent to talk to about this, you need to find one to buy youI insurance through and tell and your friends not to buy insurance online. I'm not a car insurance guy but I can almost guarantee you that everyone on this board would be their to answer these questions for their clients...something you'll never get from buying online.

superfly33 · 10-24-2009, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by shelquis

The other driver was insured, and my insurance company declared the truck a total loss. I sent my insurance company the title, and they sent me a check for the value they assigned to the truck, less the deductible.

"You could always send a demand letter to the other person's carrier." Is that something I need to have a lawyer do, or would they (Geico) likely respond to me if I just send them a letter myself? Thanks for the responses.

Huh, you're going to hire a lawyer to write a letter? So much for saving money online.
You should call your insurance company and followup on what's going on with your dedutible.

djs · 10-24-2009, 03:10 PM

In California (Florida could be different), your insurance company would send the entire bill to the other insurance company. This process is called subrogation, making the responsible person (usually their insurance company) pay the cost of the damage.

Once your insurance company recieves a check from the other carrier, they will send you a check to cover your deductible. Not much work is needed on this beyond just giving it some time.

A few notes: Contact your agent, he will give you some insight on the process and should be able to find out if the claim is being subrogated (a ticket doesn't always prove fault).

Also, don't spend the check before you get it. It is usually a reasonably quick process, but sometimes drags on, and sometimes doesn't happen. The biggest issue is always the other person didn't really have insurance, in which case the carrier will not pay and you will have to wait for the person who hit you to pay.... unlikely to ever happen.

Again, you're agent can walk you right through this process.

Dan

*ToddC* · 10-26-2009, 11:32 AM

Yes, your carrier will seek recovery for the amount they paid and your deductible amount. But this can take a long time (60-90 days). You may want to call the other carrier, speak to the adjuster to confirm that they don't have any issues and simply ask the adjuster if they might be able to reimburse you your deductible up front. Most adjusters will do this but some may not. They may ask you to fax over a copy of the Dec page of your auto policy to confirm your deductible amount.

JoeyRock58 · 11-13-2009, 03:24 PM

I do think that you/they will be able recover the deductible for something like this.