Expert: Bennie719 - 2/15/2008

Question
While I was driving a police officer walked into my lane(middle lane of 3) waving what looked to be a whitepiece of paper in hopes of flagging me down. Because the officer walked into my lane, I was forced to come to a sudden stop to avoid hitting him. After I came to a complete stop, I was rear ended. The police officer witnessed everything and clearly stated to me that the other driver was not paying attention which resulted in the accident. I filed a claim with the drivers insurance and they denied my claim. What should I do now? P.S. I was in a rental car at the time and I live in Texas.

Answer
Hi Shazz,
As I understand your statement, you were following the legal orders of a police officer to stop your car.
Every state has a law that requires a driver to operate a car in such a manner as to be able to bring it under control irregardless of what unforeseen incident may occur in front of him/her.
The police officer is correct in his statement that the car that hit you is 100% at fault.  He should have made a written police report and cited the other driver.  If he didn't do that, you should have at least secured his name and badge number so he can be used as a witness.
If you carry full coverage on your own car and waived the CDW coverage offered by the rental agency, that means that your own policy was protecting you while driving the rental car.  You should make a report to them, have them secure a copy of any police report or a statement from the police officer at the scene and then battle with the adverse company that denied the claim to resolve this issue in your favor.
If you purchased the CDW from the rental agency, you should make a report to them so they can do the battle to resolve this issue in your favor.
I hope this has been of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area