Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 6/28/2009

Question
i was in a traffic collision when a vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign the police report states the other party to be at fault but his insurance co is saying im 10% at fault when it comes to paying out my total loss claim is this legal?

Answer
Hi George,

Unfortunately this is legal. The insurance company is just trying to find a way to steal your money. The other driver is obviously at fault but they try to put 10% blame on you to save 10% of the payout. The 10% may not be that much money but if they get away with it 1000 times per month it adds up to a lot of money that they save.

If you went to court, you would likely will the full amount, however, the insurance comapny knows that the 10% is likely not enough to mke most people wnat to go to court over. Also due to the small dollar amount, it would be difficult to impossible to find an attorney willing to help.

You could just try to argure that their driver is 100% at fault and you will accept nothing less. The unfortunate side of that is they can simply refuse to deal with you for the reasons stated above.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh