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Question
Dear Rob,
On May 11th, 2010, I was driving eastbound on a street crossing an intersection with yellow lights, the other party was at the intersection westbound on the same street and attempting to make a left turn, he sped up and cut in front of me and my cars front hit his vehicle's right side. The police came and he issued him 2 tickets, one for failure to obey traffic lights and one for failure to yield and I was also given one tickets for failure to obey traffic light, I asked the police I did not run red light and the light was yellow even when the accident happened. He told me since he was not at the scene and he had to issue me a ticket as well but I can protest in court. I only have liability on my insurance and I already made a claim against the other party's insurance company and I was told by the claim handler that they might deny my claim since I got a ticket as well. But I was not supposed to be issued a ticket anyways and I will definitely protest in court. But the insurance company can not deny my claim based on the ticket to me issued by police, can they? Looking forward to your response and thanks so much!
Hello,
From what you have told me, it sounds like the insurance company is attempting to get out of their liability issue by rendering the accident both at fault because both parties were issued a ticket or in the case of the other driver, two tickets.
Yes, they can claim 50% your fault because you too got a ticket. In order to seek compensation on the claim, there will have to be a disposition on your ticket. In the event you win in court on your ticket, you can go back to the insurance company to see what they will pay you.
I would recommend that you retain an attorney for the ticket. As the cop said, he was not there at the time of the crash. I would think a good attorney could make the ticket go away. At that point once the ticket is removed from your record, the same attorney can represent you to get paid on the claim.
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Answers by Expert:
Rob Painter, Ase, CFEI, CAFATE
Expertise
Please remember. I am not an attorney and cannot legal advice. My answers are based on my experience due to litigation I have been involved in as an expert, for both insurance companies and while oposing them opposing them. I deal with only comprehensive claims on autos related to fire and theft. I have even had the opportunity to rewrite policy coverage language as it relates to vehicle theft and forced entry for insurance defense attorneys.
Experience
Experience in the area: Working with insurance companies and attorneys on these issues for over 20 years. It is very common to have a reported stolen car with a so-called factory anti-theft system to have the theft claim denied. I have served successfully as an expert witness in the courts across the US representing the insured and their attorney revealing that the insurance expert did not take all known theories into consideration before rendering their "Forensic" conclusion. Many insurance carriers us independent "Forensic" experts to examine reported stolen vehicles commonly using flawed methodology implicating the innocent insured with the theft. My job is to determine if the insurance expert reached his conclusions based on accepted scientific principals or just net opinion with no basis other than opinion. My case record against such experts is very compelling.My resume can be seen at the catagory "Auto Theft and Prevention." In "Forensics" the scientific method must be employed. In the forensic locksmith field determining how a reported stolen vehicle was last operated, many processes cannot be duplicated and are conveniently not addressed. If they were, juries would have the opportunity to make a fair and impartial opinion at least about what the expert could or could not prove. There is a purported process determining the last key used. The chances of determining such is very rare uless the key is found in the ignition lock. Experts commonly destroy evidence as well and are rarely questioned on this event. I reveal the weakness in their testimony on such instances.
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