Expert: Bennie719 - 4/17/2008

Question
I was involved in a car accident in 2006 (2 years ago) where the other party driving a rental car rear-ended me. I reported this to my insurance agent who assured me he would take care of it (who in retrospect did not). A month ago I got a letter from a collection agency asking me to pay about 1000$ saying that they were collecting for the rental company. I however, had not received any communication from the rental car company till then. At this point, I called up my auto insurance company, and they had me fill out a new claim, and they found that I was not liable for that accident and the other party was guilty. I contacted the rental car company and requested for the paperwork they supposedly had already sent me, and forwarded the same along with the collection agency papers to my insurance company. My auto insurance company now tells me that they will deal with the collection agency, and that they have sent them a letter denying the claim and that they will deal with it if it goes into arbitration. However I am still getting calls from the collection agency asking me to pay, and telling me that since it is in my name, I need to pay up. What can I do to solve this situation?

Answer
Hi Sue,
I don't know who you sent your question to, but I found it languishing in the unanswered question pool and decided to give you an answer.

The next time that you get a call from the collection agency, simply give them the name and telephone number of your insurance company and the claim number or policy.

Tell them that if they call again to harass you, that you will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and your state insurance commissioner.  This should solve your problem.

I hope this information has been of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area