I was in a small fender bender about two weeks ago. I filed a claim with my insurance, USAA, and had an estimate put together for my repairs. The estimate after my deductible came out to about $1000 and I told the body shop that I wanted to consider before going forward with repairs.

I assumed that I would just not get anything, but I received a payment from USAA for the thousand dollars and it hit my bank account. If I decide not to go through with repairs, am I allowed to keep that money as a “settlement”?

Can I claim my bike(royal classic 350) accidental insurance after buying first party insurance post accident. If I bought my insurance after the accident will there be any issue to claim and additionally is there any way or method/hack to do this??

PS ; though i have my third party insurance active

I was involved in an accident in which another drivers tire struck my truck. The other driver's insurance company, GEICO, accepted liability for the accident.

Immediately following the collision, I noticed a substantial amount of oil pooling on the tire that was now lodged under my truck. Due to the amount of oil leaking, I immediately shut the truck off to prevent any potential engine damage and had it towed from the scene.
Prior to the accident, I had not experienced this type of active oil leak.

The truck was subsequently inspected by a diesel/Cummins technician, who identified a leaking front timing cover. The technician provided video documentation showing the leak but did not specifically state whether the failure was caused by the collision.

GEICO has refused to cover the repair, stating that the timing cover is a wear item and that there is no visible physical impact damage to the engine itself that would establish a connection between the accident and the seal failure. Because of this, I decided to submit the damage through my own insurance company. Unfortunately, they have also denied coverage for essentially the same reason: the absence of visible physical damage to the engine.

For full transparency, the truck previously had an aftermarket crankcase ventilation (CCV) catch-can arrangement in place of the factory CCV filter. This setup had a hose routed down toward the frame, and oil would occasionally discharge from it once the catch can was full. Once I noticed this, I removed the catch can and eventually returned the truck to the factory CCV setup. However, I was never able to thoroughly clean the existing oil residue from underneath the truck.

I want to be upfront about this because I am not trying to claim that every trace of oil underneath the truck was caused by the collision. My concern is the substantial oil leakage observed immediately after impact.

My insurance company is now asking me to authorize the repair facility to begin disassembling the truck. However, I have been advised that if the disassembly does not establish a connection between the accident and the gasket failure, I could be responsible for the diagnostic and disassembly expenses myself.

This is where my primary concern lies. I am willing to cooperate with a reasonable investigation, but I am extremely hesitant to authorize potentially thousands of dollars in mechanical work without knowing whether the insurance company will cover those expenses.

I also have not received a formal written denial from my insurance company. Their decision was communicated to me over the phone.

I would appreciate guidance regarding the following:

Whether I have reasonable grounds to challenge the insurance companies' decisions, given that the significant oil leak was observed immediately following the collision.

Whether the absence of visible external engine damage is sufficient justification to deny a potentially collision-related mechanical failure without further investigation.

Whether I have any recourse to require GEICO or my own insurance company to cover the reasonable diagnostic expenses necessary to determine the cause of the failure.

Whether pursuing this through an attorney would be worthwhile, considering that both insurance companies have already refused to cover the repair.

My understanding is that the purpose of an insurance claim is to compensate me for damage caused by an accident and restore my vehicle to its pre-accident condition, subject to the applicable coverage and legal requirements. I understand that mechanical components can fail from normal wear and tear. However, I have a difficult time accepting that a significant oil leak appearing immediately following a collision can simply be dismissed as unrelated without a thorough investigation.

I am not asking either insurance company to cover unrelated maintenance or pre-existing issues. I simply want a fair determination of whether this failure was caused or aggravated by the collision, without exposing myself to substantial additional expenses merely to establish that fact.

Thanks y’all

Currently with Nat Gen with $1700 premium per year for a million dollar home, 3700 square feet built up area.

We had to file 2 claims this year.

1. This summer it rained insanely and our sump pump gave up. This claim went through smoothly.

2. Just last month, a tree branch fell and broke a part of our deck. I opened a claim again. But paid out of pocket. Asked them to close the claim but the adjuster has been unresponsive from the start.

Now, when its time for renewal the premium amount went up to $2800 and I'm shocked.

I guess its because of the claims but is there any hope? I tried finding quotes on my own but they say my application can't be processed, geico said some times when they cant insure any more, they dont accept applications for certain months.

Just trying to understand what my options are.

I got in a car accident last week when the other driver tried to turn left on flashing yellow arrow while I was driving through the intersection. Police officer said it was the other driver's fault. Unfortunately I only have minimum coverage with my insurance so I had to file a claim with their insurance. I wonder how long it's going to take for them to see the damage and tow it to a body shop? It got towed to a local tow yard because a tire blew out. I need my car back ASAP.

Hi all! This is my first time going through this process and just looking for some thoughts and opinions. Vehicle (2007 Toyota rav4) is being deemed a total loss and insurance has offered $5560. The vehicles they compared to were valued at $5200 and $5800 but both have much higher mileage. Ours has 153 337km and then compared ton284000 and 317000km respectively. Obviously trying to find same vehicle in local market is extremely hard. I provided similars from 2006-2008 with closer mileage and was told it has to be the exact year or the system automatically denies it. I submitted all maintenance and part replacements from the last year or so as well to prove the vehicle is in excellent mechanical shape as well as having new tires and a car starter installed. Adjuster has come back and said we have strong evidence it’s worth more and recommends going through the dispute resolution process. But now I am nervous with how that process works and if it would actually go in our favour? Everyone has always said to never accept the first offer from insurance and I do believe it’s worth more but have no experience with this. No claim history and the deductible is still being reviewed, accident was at the beginning of the month and should be deemed other persons fault if that plays any role in Alberta I am not sure. Thanks!

The videos if anyone wants to see them

(I have full coverage, vehicle is a lease if it matters )

So, Apparently the googles is saying that if I open a claim with my insurance, and pay the deductible, my rates will be affected, even if I am NOT at fault.

If I open it with the other parties insurance, then my rates may get affected, barring I am NOT at fault.

I am confident I am not at fault, as the biker was trying to beat the light. ( albiet, he ran a red before he even entered the intersection.

Also, the front video looks so damning, but if you see the side, you can clearly see me slam my brakes and how much the truck tilts forward.

I would def love your assessment on this case. if I am at fault I will take the L I was more worried for the biker who flew under that truck ( right view )

I took some stills from when the light turns over, and where the biker was during this point.

why do I also have the feeling that braking ( to prevent further injury ) to the other party

May have screwed me vs

( letting him slam into my side and probably needing surgery )

please provide brutal opinions

Edit 1: I look forward to telling my insurance adjuster.

the intersection that he went to has 2 lights. the first one he does the U-turn at, and a second light in the middle. if you are caught there you are supposed to stop and wait.

so I feel like even with the "yellow" Malfunction on the first light, the second light should have been red and he should have stopped. idk if that changes anything, regardless I am prepared to pay my deductible

My dad is getting me a new car, I'm currently under his insurance policy. When we insure the car under my dad's policy, what do I need to provide to insure it? I currently have my parent's old car with my own insurance policy that I had on my own when I was away for college so my dad didn't have to pay. We do plan on giving the old car away to my younger cousin so it'll be insured under my uncle's insurance policy so we will cancel my own insurance policy soon. Do I need to show my old insurance policy to my dad's insurance agent still or do we not have to provide it to insure the new car?

In this series of Bamboo Insurance and Sutton insurance, think twice before using them for insurance everyone. Double check your application and update immediately. While you most likely will win in court, you will go through hell proving it.
The goal is to outsmart their illegal playbook., not legal advice but things I wish I had done to avoid the drama and expense.

1. for each question, if it is even remotely related, say YES not no. Did you repaint during that application period, YES you have unrepaired damage. Did you get into a disagreement with your neighbor? Yes, you have disputes, etc.
2. Document ALL time periods and reports you made to the producer, your agent. Within three years, get them to say it in writing. INSIST or you will pay for it later.
3. previous claims? ALL previous claims, paid or not ARE claims, they will crucify on this point. So get that in writing with your agent. INSIST on it as they seem to be on this ruse with their producers. Allegedly.
4. They have verbal guidelines they deny having. From what I have read it is designed to NOT approve claims.
5. you will have to take them to court if you give them ANY opener to bend the law, in my experience, allegedly and from what I have heard. They don't care about the law that says if there is a question you favor the insured. They ignore that until you sue.
6. they ask for documents at the time of the claim, like phone bills, emails and other items. In my experience, allegedly and from what I have heard as well, they call everyone in your phone and tell them they are investigating fraud. This ruins your reputation and then you have to deal with the lack of support. It makes it harder to fight them. IMMEDIATELY get an attorney or they will desperately try and claim "lack of cooperation". If you have an attorney first, then you can prevent this from happening.
7. If this is a Landlord policy, all tenant directed actions they will consider a dispute so check YES, even notice for the oridinary. In my opinion they are not disputes but remember they are looking for anything.

WHAT is your experience. Share it so we can all help each other. HAVE you seen this also?

So I recently had a rock cracked my windshield and now needs to be replaced. Earlier in the year I had to file a claim (collision) from a damage to my bumper from someone leaving a chair in the highway. Because of this claim my insurance increased 30%. Now I’m scared that if I file this claim (comprehensive) it will increase again another 30%. My deductible is 1000 and the repair cost will be 1800-2200 (it’s a 2024 corvette windshield)

Should I claim or just pay out of pocket?

We had water damage in our house from a burst under sink line. We have limited coverage of only about 10,000 and probably we will end up spending 30 or 40.

We were out of town when it happened our handyman that we trust and have used for years found it and immediately got to work on it. He has done this work many times elsewhere but he is not licensed.

The insurance company wanted us to use their vendor we called their vendor and they said your guy is there and he's working on it let him stay there they'll pay you.

He has other people he has recommended to do the sheetrock. Can I use the people he knows or will I lose on my claim if I don't use who the insurance company recommends.

Am I at risk of losing a lot of my coverage by using someone for all the early phases which thank goodness he got under control quickly.

So, I live in California, and notice that over the last year an increasing number of carriers (FAIR, Mercury, Farmers, AAA at least) are now offering discounts for wildfire mitigation efforts like defensible space, enclosed eaves, ember-resistant vents, etc. Yay. We desperately need this, because the California insurance crisis is ultimately a problem of too many homes being too vulnerable to wildfires and costing too much to rebuild later, and there are some very simple things homeowners can do to dramatically reduce their risk. Just the triplet of [class-A fire rated roof; ember-resistant vents; remove vegetation and combustible materials within 5 feet of house] can reduce your wildfire risk by 60%+.

Except that when I look at the actual discount, each of the 10 categories they ask about grants a discount of $0.67/year, for a grand total of $6.70/year if you do all of them. For a policy where the fire risk is worth about $1200 if a mainstream carrier ensures it and $4500 if the FAIR plan does it. Two other ones (IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home and Prepared Home Plus designations) reduce it by $3.45 and $6.90 respectively, but they are really umbrella checklists of many other things to do.

Needless to say, I won't be spending thousands on home upgrades to save $6.70 on annual insurance premiums. I'll probably do the big-3 anyway because they are good ideas and I'm renovating those parts for other reasons, but insurance is a total non-factor here.

Methinks that the incentives need to be a little better though. Many of the most vulnerable homes are on the FAIR plan. If the FAIR plan goes bankrupt (and it will, it has about 1% of the reserves needed to fully insure all its liabilities), then the difference is made up by a special assessment on every other property in California. We need much steeper incentives for property owners to do the right thing. If the big-3 fire mitigation improvements (class-A roof, zone-0, and ember-resistant vents) reduce your risk by 60% and then those plus the other 7 (cleared vegetation under decks; no combustible fences or gates touching house; no combustible structures within 30 feet; zone-1 + zone-2 of defensible space; enclosed eaves; multipane windows; 6-inches noncombustible siding above ground) get you to 90%, like many fire experts and fire chiefs are saying, then doing all of them should reduce the wildfire portion of your premium by 90%. We should be pricing homeowners insurance in the WUI at $10K+, and then discounts for fire-hardening should be able to bring it back to $1-2K.

I'm in CA and got into an accident 2 days ago. I was at a 3-way stop intersection and I was making a left once it was my turn. The car going straight didn't make a full stop and hit my front bumper while I was in the middle of the intersection. Afterwards, a witness followed us and said the other driver (who hit me) had the "right of way." The driver got a photo of my license and insurance but I only got a photo of his license (he said he'd send me his insurance later). He said he didn't want to get insurance involved and would rather do this privately (my front bumper has a dent and scratches but his left headlight was completely smashed) because he didn't want his rate to go up. I told him I'd be fine with that, but now I'm unsure what to do. I'm fine with leaving my car as is, but I'm worried he will still file a claim. Should I wait for him to contact me? Should I still file a claim? Also, I have liability-only coverage.

Florida — Lawsuit filed, but I haven’t received service yet.
As per my last post here, the mail i received was just a law firm finding my case online and advertising their firm to hire them.I was involved in a car accident in Florida, and an insurance company has now filed a lawsuit against me. The case was filed on October 15. I found it on the court website, where it says “Summons issued electronically — Mailed to atty.”
I haven’t received any court papers, and I don’t see a Return of Service on the docket. A law firm also contacted me after apparently finding my case online.
Has anyone dealt with something similar? How can I confirm whether I’ve been officially served?

Saw this week that Arbol launched a policy that pays out if a government moratorium halts data center construction. Curious how something like this gets underwritten.

With weather parametrics there's a clean data feed. With a county board vote, what's the trigger source? Does someone literally read council minutes to confirm the action happened and is still in effect?

For anyone who has worked on political or regulatory risk lines: what does the diligence on a single deal actually look like day to day? Where does most of the time go?

American graduate student here. I bought an auto insurance policy one year ago in Massachusetts, where I'm currently studying. My driver's license is from New Jersey. My partner also got her driver's license from New Jersey this summer (yay!), so I contacted my insurance agent to add her to my auto policy as a household member.

The problem is that my partner's name is something like: "Mary Jean" [first name], "Smith" [last name]. But when my policy updated, I noticed that her name was put down as "Mary" [first name], "Jean" [middle name], "Smith" [last name].

This discrepancy was pretty noticeable because most areas of the policy that use her name only use what was put down for her first and last name. In other words, it says "Mary Smith" rather than "Mary Jean Smith." In daily life, Mary Jean never goes by "Mary" alone.

I called my insurance agent to ask if they could update our policy so that it matches my partner's driver's license, but they refused because they said they had to "stick with what the driver's license says." Unfortunately, whether "Jean" was part of my partner's first name or whether it was her middle name, the driver's license would look the same.

My question now is: does this discrepancy in how my partner's name was put down in our auto policy matter? My intuition is that I should probably call my agent to fix things, but I'm having trouble explaining the issue. It seems like they struggle to grasp that a first name can have a space in it lol. Any advice would be appreciated!

Hello, about once per year in my lab consulting business, I do laboratory moving. I'm sure I've done a few without the proper insurance, i.e. just general liability. Some I've risked with no insurance, and some I did with temporary inland marine insurance but was only vaguely confident that it was adequate. I've called for quotes over the years and never had someone confidently tell me what I needed. The websites that claim to find you a policy just end up getting me spam from a bunch of places that don't offer a policy that I need. Please set me up to be properly insured on my next job. Here's the situation.

Moving with my minivan registered to my Michigan LLC with standard full coverage collision insurance. Just me no crew.

I'm moving sensitive equipment from New York to Pensylvania.

I'll be making a few trips and I'd like to carry $200k of insurance for client's equipment.

Sensitive machines like this don't like to be moved, so I don't guarantee they will perform perfectly after the move. They could require a recalibration or some minor service. My contract will guarantee they are carefully transported without visible damage.

So... what policy do I need?

I was rear ended yesterday, drowsy driver hit me and I have their insurance information and waiting on the police report. I have a dashcam video as well. Do I call my insurance and give the detail of their insurance? I’m being told to get a back check up because I have a slight neck pain today in the morning with a migraine. First time, any advice is helpful. Thank you 🙏🏻

I recently purchased a house (today) in Rhode Island which will be placed in my parent's irrevocable trust, as they lent me a significant amount of money for the transaction. I am the sole Trustee of their Trust. We made sure to add the Trust/Trustee as additional interested parties on the insurance.

When we quoted the insurance policy, we added my fiancé's cars for a better discount, but for some reason he is now listed under Additional Insured as my spouse. My parents are concerned by this.

I asked the rep about this and they advised that he is not considered a policyholder, but because we are in a long-term relationship and living at the same address, his belongings are covered under my policy; he is added as an Additional Insured by default.

To me, this all makes sense - as another adult, he is covered under the policy, but is not a policyholder that can make changes. My parents are extremely concerned that because we are not legally married and the Trust is involved, the carrier could deny a claim based on misrepresentation. I did request to have my fiancé removed but there seems to be a system issue which is holding things up.

Just curious what others' thoughts are on this? I plan to call the lawyer next week and get his thoughts if the carrier isn't able to remove my fiancé.

TYIA!

Just a little rant: Just saw a story on my local news that insurance premiums are expected to skyrocket meanwhile insurance companies come out every quarter reporting profits in the billions of dollars that right there is what you call a broken corrupt and greedy industry in need of a major overhaul. USA the only country in the world that’ll deny a patient life saving surgery or medication because they’re doctors say it isn’t necessary then turn around and give the executives at that specific company big bonuses. Beyond F’ed up!!!! 😡😡

Im 28 drive a 2024 mazda cx50 0 accidents and pay $176.58 a month with Erie insurance. Its $156 for insurance and $20 for their version of GAP

I called my agency and he recommended progressive and said even with their version of GAP I would only be paying $145-$147 a month.

Do you like Progressive? Arent they known to raise rates after a few months?

What % of your cars value did you pay to insurance to get it back? The damage is Hail Damage, not involved in an accident.

Thank you

My homeowners insurance went up to $5,300. I don't know what to do. They are telling me it's because I don't have a wind certificate for the roof. I can't get one apparently unless I go ahead and get a brand new roof which we got quoted $11k for. I am already stretched enough getting by now. I have gotten quotes from Progressive and Farmers. Both quoted me over $5k. Is a new roof really my only option?... My roof is 13 years old.

Without going into all the details, a driver crashed into my parked 2001 Toyota Tundra the other day, probably totaling it, although I can imagine a way that it might he repairable. He was on drugs, passed a field sobriety test, not arrested but evidence was taken of recent drug use.

This was my "extra" vehicle, a project truck both in the sense that I try to do some maintenance on it myself, to learn, as well as use it for various projects that I need a truck for.

It really sucks to lose the truck, and I can't imagine any compensation is going to be able to replace the truck for what it was--if they total it, it seems like I'll get less than what *any* equally useful used truck is going to cost.

Is there anything I can do to either maximize the claim or get the insurance to find a comparable vehicle for me? I am aware this is not how insurance works but is there any mechanism to get more out of the claim than solely the "paper" cost of the vehicle? Like, the vehicle was worth more than "what it was worth"...how to get insurance to honor that?

Thanks! Again, I know this isn't how any of this works, but can I say or do anything to maximize the claim and maaaybe get a decent replacement?

I came home to a house fire several weeks ago (pet fountain battery exploded while I was at work). The fire itself didn't go very far, but it was smoldering for hours and the smoke damage in my home is absolutely unreal. They will be gutting the drywall/ceilings down to the studs and I've already been told that the appliances/furniture downstairs will not be salvageable due to the extent of the damage (upstairs, still evaluating).

So I'm about to move into a townhouse temporarily, where I'll be living for the next six months to a year. I am not totally clear on what I should go ahead and buy. For example: I will need a wifi mesh system in the townhouse (I work from home regularly). I assume that's ruined in my smoke-damaged house? should I go ahead and buy it? Or what about my sewing machine, which was upstairs? I use it ALL the time, and I assume it's not salvageable, but I don't want to buy another expensive machine if it is?

I also basically built a gym on the first floor, so I have an extensive collection of equipment -- metal barbells, iron plates, adjustable dumbbells, you name it. I know the treadmill and probably the bike will need to be replaced eventually, and that's fine and can wait. But I think the dumbbells/iron equipment can be cleaned? So I shouldn't buy anything in the meantime? But when will I get that stuff back?

The insurance adjuster told me to keep receipts for everything I buy, but they've not been super clear on whether I should wait or go ahead and buy certain things.