Serious Problem - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

The_Dunedan · 11-20-2004, 09:11 PM

I need some help from you guys, and some idea of where I stand.

Friday AM: Get call from insurance agent. Apparently there's been a computer glitch which has increased my premium, so I'm currently uninsured. The state computer is saying I have 2 speeding tickets on file when I only have one. Great. It's also saying I failed to pay one of these. Perfect. So I call up the Courthouse in the county where these tickets occurred. ( Note: the second 'speeding ticket' was thrown out by the DA because the cop was FoS. Shouldn't even be IN the system! ) They tell me that the 2nd half of my payment never arrived ( thanks so much, Postal Service! ), but it's only $65 and can be cleared up right away. They -also- tell me about that non-existant second ticket. So everything's fine.

Friday PM: Get in car to;
a: Go to the mechanic. Brakes have been fading a little lately, and I need to have 'em bled. It's a Pontiac, so I'm not about to tackle this bitch myself.
b: Go to the insurance-company and get everything straightened out. No big deal, right?

WRONG!

I'm pulling up to an intersection, getting ready to make a right turn. I step on the brakes annnnd....NOTHING HAPPENS. A split-second later the brakes finally start to grab, but not soon enough. POW!! Right into the ass-end of a 90-something Honda. I pull the car into Wendys, jump out and start making sure people are OK. ( I'm a First Responder ). Everyone's allright; the guy in the Honda is ok, as is the lady in the Lincoln that -he- hit when I ass-ended him.

We all pull into Wendys to await the local Constabulary. Everyone's ok, and the cars aren't bad off either. Mine ( an '89 Grand-am beater ) took the worst damage; busted headlight, caved-in bumper, nothing else. The Lincoln is barely scratched, and the Honda has some scratches, a small dent in the rear bumper, and the bumper is pushed down/in a little.

You can see where this is going. My accident happened BEFORE I was able to get to the insurance agency, and took so long in getting resolved that the agency was closed for the weekend by the time I could get away! I don't know if I was insured when this accident occurred! Anybody know what the legal/financial ramifications of this are? The damage to the Honda shouldn't be more than $250 or so, and my car's not getting anything but the headlight replaced, so it shouldn't be -too- bad. My big worry is the insurance situation. What's this going to do to my insurance, assuming I even HAVE any thanks to that computer foul-up? Anybody got any experiance dealing with this kind of thing? My car's no biggie ( $400 beater ) but I feel really bad about causing the accident, and I don't want Honda Guy to be stuck with the bill because of this cockup in the State computers.

I should also mention that;
1: I didn't get a ticket. Nobody did. It was just a fenderbender and everyone was joking about it after a few minutes.
2: It appears that my state DMV would have known if I was uninsured: the whole thing's computerized. The cop didn't say anything when he called our licenses and such into the system; maybe my insurance was fixed after all?

Thoughts, suggestions, estimates?

PS: I -did- get the brakes fixed. Went to the mechanic as soon as I could after the accident...-another- reason I couldn't get to the insurance office.

ElwoodBlues · 11-21-2004, 09:45 AM

i don't know about the insurance laws, but I can tell you this. You definately have grounds to make that mechanic pay for any damages to your vehicle

poof · 11-21-2004, 01:27 PM

What Elwood said.

I might not have read everything properly, but, we have a Grand Am beater with poor brakes, a Honda, and a Lincoln.

It makes me think of an age old math quiz. If a Pontiac with poor brakes is driving at 25 mph, and a Honda, and Lincoln all share the same trajectory, and the angles are not tangent (will coincide), which driver wears a size 9?

11-20-2004, 09:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
The_Dunedan Junkie	Serious Problem I need some help from you guys, and some idea of where I stand. Friday AM: Get call from insurance agent. Apparently there's been a computer glitch which has increased my premium, so I'm currently uninsured. The state computer is saying I have 2 speeding tickets on file when I only have one. Great. It's also saying I failed to pay one of these. Perfect. So I call up the Courthouse in the county where these tickets occurred. ( Note: the second 'speeding ticket' was thrown out by the DA because the cop was FoS. Shouldn't even be IN the system! ) They tell me that the 2nd half of my payment never arrived ( thanks so much, Postal Service! ), but it's only $65 and can be cleared up right away. They -also- tell me about that non-existant second ticket. So everything's fine. Friday PM: Get in car to; a: Go to the mechanic. Brakes have been fading a little lately, and I need to have 'em bled. It's a Pontiac, so I'm not about to tackle this bitch myself. b: Go to the insurance-company and get everything straightened out. No big deal, right? WRONG! I'm pulling up to an intersection, getting ready to make a right turn. I step on the brakes annnnd....NOTHING HAPPENS. A split-second later the brakes finally start to grab, but not soon enough. POW!! Right into the ass-end of a 90-something Honda. I pull the car into Wendys, jump out and start making sure people are OK. ( I'm a First Responder ). Everyone's allright; the guy in the Honda is ok, as is the lady in the Lincoln that -he- hit when I ass-ended him. We all pull into Wendys to await the local Constabulary. Everyone's ok, and the cars aren't bad off either. Mine ( an '89 Grand-am beater ) took the worst damage; busted headlight, caved-in bumper, nothing else. The Lincoln is barely scratched, and the Honda has some scratches, a small dent in the rear bumper, and the bumper is pushed down/in a little. You can see where this is going. My accident happened BEFORE I was able to get to the insurance agency, and took so long in getting resolved that the agency was closed for the weekend by the time I could get away! I don't know if I was insured when this accident occurred! Anybody know what the legal/financial ramifications of this are? The damage to the Honda shouldn't be more than $250 or so, and my car's not getting anything but the headlight replaced, so it shouldn't be -too- bad. My big worry is the insurance situation. What's this going to do to my insurance, assuming I even HAVE any thanks to that computer foul-up? Anybody got any experiance dealing with this kind of thing? My car's no biggie ( $400 beater ) but I feel really bad about causing the accident, and I don't want Honda Guy to be stuck with the bill because of this cockup in the State computers. I should also mention that; 1: I didn't get a ticket. Nobody did. It was just a fenderbender and everyone was joking about it after a few minutes. 2: It appears that my state DMV would have known if I was uninsured: the whole thing's computerized. The cop didn't say anything when he called our licenses and such into the system; maybe my insurance was fixed after all? Thoughts, suggestions, estimates? PS: I -did- get the brakes fixed. Went to the mechanic as soon as I could after the accident...-another- reason I couldn't get to the insurance office. Last edited by The_Dunedan; 11-20-2004 at 09:47 PM..

11-21-2004, 09:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
ElwoodBlues Psycho Location: Massachusetts	i don't know about the insurance laws, but I can tell you this. You definately have grounds to make that mechanic pay for any damages to your vehicle

11-21-2004, 01:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
poof Psycho	What Elwood said. I might not have read everything properly, but, we have a Grand Am beater with poor brakes, a Honda, and a Lincoln. It makes me think of an age old math quiz. If a Pontiac with poor brakes is driving at 25 mph, and a Honda, and Lincoln all share the same trajectory, and the angles are not tangent (will coincide), which driver wears a size 9?