Dear Friends



I had an accident last Saturday when it was raining and the visibility was low. I was driving on the left lane(fast lane) and all of a sudden I saw a car that was on my right side change the lane. I had to react very immediately because the car could hit me if I didn't. So, as a reaction I pulled to the emergency lane and I happened to skid because of the rain and hit the wall. After a while a guy walked to me and said that it was his fault and didn't see me. So he gave me his phone number and insurance policy number. The guy said that he was in a hurry and had to leave, I said ok. At the time I was in total shock and wasn't able to think anything. After 20 mins or so police arrived at the scene and took me to a safe side. They asked me if I was only the one involved in the accident, I said there was another car too. So, I gave them the other driver's information. When I got back home with the car towed, I called the other guy's insurance company to file a claim. On Monday, somebody called me from the insurance saying he was the one who was investigating the situation. After he was done with questioning he said that in this situation I would be liable for 30%. He also called the other guy and investigated in the same way. Although the other guy is admitting that it was his fault, now the insurance is telling me that after inspecting my car and all the investigation process they cannot approve the claim. They said that they found me responsible for all the damage and would deny the claim. I don't the the process how they decide who is how much responsible for the accident. So, I am stuck right now. I need your suggestions for what would be the next right step to take. Do you think hiring a lawyer is a better idea beacause I don't think I am responsible for what happened at least not for everything.
Any suggestions or idea are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

if i were u , i would do the talking , ask em how the [Disallowed String for - bad word] its denied since its their party's fault ,, i will threat them to drag to the court with my lawer ,,,, most likely insurance compny will lose at the court .....

If you have your insurance agent, then let them handle it. Give the other dirver's information to your agent and they will take care of it. Mine had the similar but less damaged accident few years back and it was another driver's fault as he admitted. I let my agent handle it through. They did make another driver's insurance pay for each and every repair.

If you don't have any agent, consult with your own insurance company too, then start from there. If nothing works out, then hire the lawyer in which they will handle the case. Or I would call Bill Handle--a radio host program "Handle on the Law." broadcast every Saturday night from 9-12pm (I guess) on 1140 WRVA (AM). Depending where you live.

He will give you a free advice on the radio show.

Hope you resolve this very soon.

Good luck!

I think you are liable for your expenses, he tried to change the lane, all u had to do was honk him n alert him or at least hit the brake. Seems like his car didn't even touch yours so how is he responsible? I believe you don't have experiences of driving. I cut lanes too at 80 mph sometimes very close to other cars n sometimes others do too. I doubt u were ficused while driving. You were thinking something or preoccupied or may be on phone. 

You probably have a liability coverage in which case your insurance is of no use to you in this case.
given that the other car did not touch or hit you you likely will not be able to get anything and are likely liable for your loss. This is just my opinion.
You can consider hiring a lawyer but they mostly deal with personal injury etc and if you have no injury I don't think they will be interested unless you pay them in advance.

I was gonna say what Gorikopoi and Yuvaraj said. I would call the other guy and describe the whole situation. Eitherway, you would lose the case even if it gets to the court. There is no physical contact made between two cars, unless that guy come in front out of humanity cause and do something on his own realizing it was his fault which produced all this hiccup. And, insurance companies are evil at best,they don't really care about human values, they treat you as liability and try their best to find ways not to pay you. They found a reason, not to pay you. If I were that guy, I would personally shell out some from my pocket even though am not legally obligated to do so, but there is this thing called conscience in every one of us—more or less which would make me to do so. You can hope so and see what that guy is upto. 
Best of luck and every incident occurs for us to learn something, I hope you learned something on the way. 

Sorry to hear whats going on with you right now.

But, I assume, there is not much of a process to continue once your claim is denied for such a case where the other party is not involved in collision.

The person generously gave you the insurance info to make sure that if there were any witnesses of an accident , and  if he did not stop at that moment, witness can call on him, which may be more harmful to him.

So, no fault of his, he provides his insurance to you. I think you misunderstood him in a way that he accepted his fault.

In essence , this is a weather related accident. Case closed.

Obviously, you were on his blind spot(not your fault, but when you are on their blindspot, you've to be extra cautious).
Consider yourself lucky, nothing bad happened just some minor dent on your car. You did good job to save both of you.
People do get killed in cases like this.
Now cheer up and move  on.

 Here is a correct way to handle this case.

Hire a public adjuster. He/she will charge you 10 percent of the total money awarded in an accident. This is what happens. Public adjuster and insurance company will hire a referee to settle this matter. You don't have to spend money on lawyers. Google public adjuster in your area and you'll find tons of them.

Good luck

this case seems awkward, however its better to consult an attorney who handels case like this, a injury case,if i were you will also looking for attorney, be ready to give 50 percent after the case is settled in the court,
as said by rajesh dai, i wont agree with him