Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 3/14/2011

Question
I was in an auto accident in Dec 2010(in California). It was 100% the other drivers fault, however it took over 30 days for them to claim "liability." My car was declared a total loss about 3 weeks after the accident & I was stuck w/o a car until I was finally able to buy another used car yesterday (march 13th). I was stranded w/o a car, finding my own transportation to my part time job & fulltime college classes. My apartment is aprox. 20-30 miles from school & work. So basically I've been thru a struggling hell to make it to my last semester of undergrad & to make it to work to support myself! I am only 22 and I definitely have felt the wrath of the insurance companies not giving a crap about taking responsibility for their client. I was unable to rent a car because I didn't have the coverage thru my insurance & the other insurance put off claiming liability. I couldn't afford to drop $45/day on a rental car out of my own pocket, so I suffered by using other means of transportation for almost 3 months!!!!! Finally on Feb 28th, I spent $700 out of my own pocket to rent a car for 11days because I just could NOT do it anymore. My grades began to suffer, & I had to give up shifts at work! To top it off, I was unable to buy a car sooner because the ACV of my car was less that what I owed my lienholder. Thankfully I had GAP insurance. Thru GAP insurance, I had to go thru an entire different process & then FINALLY they paid off the remainder of my car on March 10, 2010. Basically, I was in an accident in Decemeber, which resulted in my car being totalled, which lead to my car being paid off, which lead to it not being enough money to cover it, leading to another insurance, and then FINALLY after 3 months I was able to buy a used car again. I was unaware of the "Loss of Use" claim laws in California until yesterday! I have been crying, stressing, making myself physically sick because another individual carelessly hit my car leaving me, a young college student, stranded! Please give me information on this law & what I need to do to from here. AM I entitled a reimbursement for the rental even if I couldn't afford it until 6 wks after the accident?! And those weeeks of struggling & paying for rides, etc, am I entitled something?! This situation is too messed up for me to not recieve ANYTHING for the insurance company who insured a driver that turned my world upside down and emptied my bank account!!!? Please give me some answers, I am desperate.

Answer
Hi Randi,

I'm sorry you had to go through this.

You are entitled to payment for loss of use. I do not know the specific law and can not take the time to research it. That would be a homework assignment for you. Based on your statements, it sounds to me like you will be entitled to demand payment of about $25.00 per day from the day of the accident until about 5 days after they first made you an offer on your car.

Unfortunately, the insurance company will argue the point. They will likely offer a few days to try to get rid of you. It will be up to you to negotiate. Also unfortunately, the only way to get all that you are entitled to would be to file suit against the at fault driver. The insurance company is betting that you will not do that so they will continue to treat you badly. If that is the case you may want to seek the advise of an attorney.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh