Expert: Bennie719 - 2/19/2008

Question
I am trying to help a friend who was in an accident 12 days ago.  For every 5 calls I make to the insurance company, it returns 1.  In this call the woman cannot answer any questions because she has to talk to her supervisor.  My friend was not at fault in the accident, the insurance company has a copy of the police report.  The insurance company's most recent statement was "that we have to wait to see if the person at fault has insurance".  What can we do to get the insurance to pay for my friend's totalled auto?
Thank you for any advise you can give us.
Susan

Answer
Hi Susan,
If your friend carries collision, he/she has the right to have the car repaired by his/her own company.  After paying the deductible, the insurance will pay the balance to repair the car.
If and when they recover the money from the adverse insurance company, they will reimburse the deductible back to your friend.
Whether the party at fault has insurance is totally irrelevant in getting the repairs started.
Unless you have your friends power of attorney, the insurance company will only give you limited information.
Your friend needs to call the company direct and demand that repairs be started on the car or he/she will place a complaint with the state department of insurance.
You can get information about the department of insurance, just type
  'yourstatename department of insurance' into your web browser and hit go.  This will bring up many sites in your state about insurance.  Just scroll through them until you find the official site of the department of insurance.  There will be all kinds of information as well as telephone numbers for a complaint.
I hope this information has been of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area