This is an update to
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/43878-ahhh-my-car-hit-bad-today.html
I spoke to the lady's insurance company today. They said that the insured
may not have sufficient coverage to pay for my car AND pay the utility company for the replacement electric service pole.
In this situation, the insurance company won't even authorize a rental car for me to get to work because they cannot be sure how the dispersement of funds will go IF the total costs exceed the insured's amount of coverage.
Furthermore, they said that it might take 3-5 months for the total bill to be provided to them for the replacement of the electric service pole and hence, that is the order of magnitude of time that I should expect before they will be able to settle my claim and repair or pay out for my car.
The insurance company suggested that I rent a car on my own money and HOPE that they will be able to pay for it when all of the bills come in.
In California, the minimum liability insurance required is only $15,000. I have no idea what the replacement of a utility pole costs, but I can see why the insurance company is concerned that she may not have enough coverage if she is only carrying the absolute minimum. $15K coverage is nothing in this day of $38K+ Camry's (yes, you can load one up that high).
I called the lady and of course, first I asked how she was doing (people first, stuff second). She said that she had broken her hand but was otherwise ok. She was very apologetic and nice. I eventually told her about the coverage issue but she is quite elderly and couldn't really carry on a meaningful conversation about it. She said that her daughter was helping her to handle things and that her daughter would call me.
I also called my insurance agent and tomorrow we will contact my insurance company to see how they would like to proceed. I may end up having to deal with my insurance company to repair or pay out on my car and then let them go after the other lady's insurance or herself directly if her insurance doesn't pay out enough.
What a pain in the arse!
Now, before anyone starts defending the insurance company, please understand that I get their side of the problem. They can't be expected to pay out more than the coverage and they have to be careful how they payout anything before all of the costs are known or they risk getting sued for paying me for a rental car when the utility company wants to be paid for their replacement pole. So maybe the title to this post was a cheap shot at the insurance company but from my point of view, it sure seems like I'm getting screwed around a bit.