Rear Ended - Looking for Advice

[TRD_YOTA]

Hey guys,

Ill try to keep this as short as possible. I was rear ended in February and the other driver admitted fault. I operate my own business and tow my trailer from job to job but due to the snow storm that day I decided to leave it parked in the driveway. I was rear ended by a Subaru in my Tacoma. The hitch took the 80% of the hit and poked a huge hole through the front end of his car. He then bounced off the left side of my bumper damaging the bumper, wiring, licence plate lights, etc.

I have been going to physio and I do have legitimate back and neck pain caused from this incident. He hit me pretty hard but there doesn't appear to be a lot of damage since my hitch took the majority of the impact.

The insurance company will replace the hitch, ball mount, hitch set up as well as replace the bumper and damage caused but the other driver. They have admitted the hitch is compromised and will need to be replaced. I have stated from day one that I want the frame checked as thats where the force of the impact happened (hitch mounted directly to frame).

My insurance company is refusing to have this done. They admit there could be damage but the responsibility is on me to prove that the frame is damaged. Chances are the frame should be ok, I am not disputing that. I do want peace of mind and since the other driver hit me and I did nothing wrong in this circumstance I don't feel that I should pay the bill to have this completed. In this situation I may have no choice than to pay for it. I keep my vehicles until they die (hence the Toyota) and if there is frame damage I want to know about it now.

In this situation I do not feel my insurance company is properly representing me here and they flat out have refused to give me any additional assistance and keep saying the responsibility is mine. Does not seem fair as I was rear ended sitting at a red light.

Has anyone ever run into anything like this before and if so how did you handle things? Anything I can do besides just pay to have it done even though this should be included in the scope of work in my opinion?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Thaco]

take it up the ladder, you get high enough and they will cave, realistically for them to pay someone to look at it is very minor, and if they're right, then that's that, if they're wrong, its likely a writeoff, or a very expensive frame straightening job.

[revelations]

Do you not have full coverage? If not then youre probably SOL.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by revelations
Do you not have full coverage? If not then youre probably SOL.

his coverage is irrelevant since the other party's insurance will be footing the bill.

Honestly OP you could try even contacting the other insurance company and ask if they will cover it, just bypass yours, i have done this before when its obviously 100% fault.

[revelations]

No, if he had full coverage his insurance company would be handing the dealing with the offenders' and dealing with anything relevant from his end (like an inspection).

If he doesn't, he has to chase the offenders' adjuster around.

[TRD_YOTA]

Full coverage, 2013 Tacoma.

Thats my main issue. My insurance company is refusing to push anything forward.

I have asked twice for escalation. I have asked a third time.

I will update the thread as things change.

I appreciate the assistance gentlemen.

[revelations]

Talk to your broker - might want to contact Masked Bandit as well if you havent already - and make him yours.

[Brent.ff]

Get it checked, tacos are notorious for being totalled if rear ended with a hitch on..even if you have to eat the $$, get it checked

[TRD_YOTA]

Yes I will for sure. Just want it covered by insurance thats all.

By the way nice colour! Here is mine.

[quick_scar]

Get it checked and pay out of pocket now. You have 2 years to file claims/lawsuit. Just keep all receipts and be ready to explain the costs. When I was 16 and stupid I rear ended some chick in a civic with my parents sentra. 2 years later (minus 3 days) we get served with a lawsuit for 50K + other costs. In going through the evidence she tried to claim a bunch of shit not related to the accident. Flagged it to the insurance company when I went to the lawyer to review with them. Insurance just settled and she walked away with $$$$ (not as much as she asked for but way more then she deserved). Do what needs to be done now and lawyer up later.

[cancer man]

WTF that's the auto body shop to check it out and then report to the insurance company. Standard procedure. When i got rear ended that was the first thing they did.No use throwing good money after bad. Especially a Taco.

[BokCh0y]

Statefarm happen to be your insurance company? Sounds similar to me and statefarm abandoned me. i did everything myself and kept all the receipts and talked to the other side myself. Fuckers at statefarm wouldn't even get me a replacement SUV for a rental car, put me in a suziki swift or something like that instead. Said they only cover like up to $500 or something for rental and the SUV was too much...even though they would be billing the other party back for the money. When i talked to the other party's insurance myself, they took care of everything for me.

[Brent.ff]

Originally posted by TRD_YOTA
Yes I will for sure. Just want it covered by insurance thats all.

By the way nice colour! Here is mine.

Not many of us mica's out there!

[HuMz]

Like mentioned take it higher up. I had to fight with my insurance TD to check the frame and alignment after they had done some pulling. Along with the body shop adding a big scuff mark in their parking lot, it took us to refuse to pick up the vehicle (and them to continue to pay for the rental) before they were really looking to do anything.

[Masked Bandit]

Something doesn't add up here. A damaged vehicle goes into the shop for an appraisal and I would assume the shop would look at EVERYTHING. Hell, it's easy money as they get to bill the insurance company for any damage they find related to the accident. Why wouldn't the shop be falling all over themselves looking for damage? Which shop did you take this to?

I would suggest going to a different reputable shop, tell them you were rear-ended and you want a repair estimate done. Mention your concerns about the frame.

[HuMz]

Is it a recommended repair shop from insurance or even combined in the case of TD/Carstars? That could be why the shop isn't willing to put in the extra time.

[quick_scar]

Originally posted by Masked Bandit
Something doesn't add up here. A damaged vehicle goes into the shop for an appraisal and I would assume the shop would look at EVERYTHING. Hell, it's easy money as they get to bill the insurance company for any damage they find related to the accident. Why wouldn't the shop be falling all over themselves looking for damage? Which shop did you take this to?

I would suggest going to a different reputable shop, tell them you were rear-ended and you want a repair estimate done. Mention your concerns about the frame.

I see it more as the shop wants the work. The moment there is frame damage it may be written off and the shop misses out on the work. If it is not enough damage to be crazy obvious, they could be skipping the step of an in depth check. Try proving that they were negligent in court at a later time. It would be super sketchy if that is how they were operating their business, but maybe work is not coming in like it used to and they are getting desperate. Never know.

[Thaco]

Plenty of shops will do free estimates even, like masked bandit suggested, take it to another shop and make a point to mention the frame so they will look closely there... they should provide you a free quote (i have used Dilawri group a couple times and was right upfront with them that it was either a writeoff or would not be repaired and they were more than willing to give me a quote)

[TRD_YOTA]

Originally posted by HuMz
Is it a recommended repair shop from insurance or even combined in the case of TD/Carstars? That could be why the shop isn't willing to put in the extra time.

Yes it is a recommended shop.

[TRD_YOTA]

Originally posted by quick_scar


I see it more as the shop wants the work. The moment there is frame damage it may be written off and the shop misses out on the work. If it is not enough damage to be crazy obvious, they could be skipping the step of an in depth check. Try proving that they were negligent in court at a later time. It would be super sketchy if that is how they were operating their business, but maybe work is not coming in like it used to and they are getting desperate. Never know.

The shop is siding with me saying there is no way of knowing if the frame is damaged unless its measured. My insurance company is flat our refusing to pay for it which I find to be complete bullshit. I have escalated as high up as I can with SGI so if they still refuse I will have to seek other options.

There is no apparent damage to the frame but I still want it checked and measured to ensure there isn't damage. My tailgate isn't lining up like it was before the incident so there is no way I won't have it checked.

I haven't had a chance to take it to another shop and I am not sure if this would help as its my insurance company that is refusing to have the inspection done. The shop agrees it should be part of the scope of work.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance. I thought I was the crazy one here.

Drew