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Drunk Driver

3K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  tator 
#1 ·
Well on the 20th of July, my wife and I were wakened by an extremely loud crash outside our house at 3:15am. Talk about scared out of our minds. We looked out our two story window to find two men had crashed into my pickup truck sitting in my driveway. You see, I live at a "T" junction in the road where two blacktops meet. If you continue across the blacktop from where the "T" is made it forms a "+" in the road (but my driveway is gravel. Well, two early twenties gentlemen decided they wanted to get drunk and drive themselves home. They obviously missed the stop sign at the junction, came up into my driveway and smashed my truck. My truck was facing south and after the collision it was facing directly east. Oh, what was it done by? A chevy impala.... yeah, you tell ME how fast they were going.... Now, my wife and I are dealing with this kid's insurance and turns out he has the minimum coverage.... does it cover all the damage? NOPE. I have no respect for idiots who do crap like this. On, and by the way, my yard is rutted up BIG TIME from where he was gunning in and trying to get away before the law got there.
 

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#2 ·
WOW!!!:shocking: That Sux Tator
Hope you get it covered without costing you $$$
I think they would be sustaining some injuries before the Law showed up if it were my truck
on the lighter side that Chevy took it a lot better then your Ford "sorry"
 
#3 ·
That sucks big-time..... Tator, if you haven't called yet I would call an attorney and ask them some questions, most attorneys will consult for free, that should be the first question. If the guys who did this were drinking at a bar/restaurant/etc.. ,,, There's an Act called the "Dramshop Act" that holds (in many cases) drinking establishments partly responsible in similar cases. At the very least it is worth looking into to possibly help recover from the damages done. Good Luck
 
#4 ·
Tator, that is nasty! I would take them to court to get a long term wage garnishment of their wages, if they have a job, or ever in the future. I hope you can get full recovery for your losses. Life throws us so many curve balls that it's a wonder any of us keep our sanity. Good luck!!
 
#7 ·
Well the trucks in the shop getting fixed. Total damage was around $10,500 so we weren't near the 80% mark to make it totaled. I love my truck and I'm glad to have it back, but I want it fixed right. Plus, this guy's insurance is jerking us around by taking their time and dragging their feet. Everytime I talk to them they are wanting my wife and I do do something for them and I refuse. My biggest fear is that I will get the truck back and 10,000 miles later I have something major go wrong with it. The other thing I am going to be getting out of them is deminished value. Since the truck has now been "wrecked" it is no longer worth as much as it should be, or ever will be.
If any of you are thinking about buying insurance or currently have Farmer's Insurance (that's the name of the insurance co) I would HIGHLY discourage you from getting/keeping it. They are HORRIBLE to work with and they will screw you around big time. Me being the victim here, had to call THEM first. Yeah. They had all my contact information from this kid's dad (who is actually responsible) already. Waited and waited and waited, no phone call. The icing on the cake was that I got a phone call from some kid at Farmer's last Thursday morning (4 days after the wreck) at 7am in the morning (yes, this was my ONE day that week to sleep in) telling me that after looking at the case and going over my "side of the story" he had came to the conclusion that I am not liable for any of the damages. I had to contain myself. I just about lost it. I simply hung up on him.
I'll keep you all posted. I'm not happy about the situation and neither is my wife. In fact, she's frustrated to her extent. When the first adjuster from Farmer's came out to look at the truck, he was about as arrogant as could be. I kept my cool until we started talking about a rental vehicle for me to have while my truck is being fixed. He said, and I quote "Oh we'll fix you up with a real nice 4 door sedan car". My response: "Umm, NO, this drunk kid that you all insure smashed my 4 door quad cab pickup truck, therefore, I want a quad cab pickup for a rental and NOTHING ELSE". What did I get in return, a smile and slight laugh saying "yeah ok". My wife had to do the "hand on the shoulder" thing..... Talk about frustrating as can be. We have spent HOURS on the phone, hours cleaning up the yard mess, hours talking with our insurance group, and hours with adjusters which will be time lost on our part, i just know. SO the moral of the story? Go get drunk and have the smallest policy possible and crash into someone's truck and you will get away scot-free.

P.S. When I called Farmers for the first time (that monday after the wreck happened) I was describing the whole situation to him about what happened. When I told him about the part of the kid backing up and making ruts in my yard and how he was trying to flee the scene, the guy said, (AND THIS IS NO LIE) "That's understandable."
 
#8 ·
I have had Liberty Mutual for years & have no issues with them
got in one accident bro-inlaw backed into my car called my insurance to let them know ask me to get an estimate which they paid then delt with my bro-inlaws insurance. This is usually how it works don't know why you have to deal with this it should be between your insurance companies to deal with
 
#9 ·
Is this the same Farmer's Insurance that you see bombarding the TV with ads? The old guy who walks around and tells the "new" agents annecdotes and such?

I have USAA. I'll leave them when they toss the final shovel of dirt on my cold, dead, lifeless body.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Scorpion, yes, this is the same Farmer's insurance.

I finally got a decent answer out of them today. I don't agree with it, but it's an answer. Basically the reason for the entire hold up is the fact this kid only had the minimum coverage. He had $10,000 policy and the damages are over $10,000. SO, in that situation, Farmer's can't just cut me a check like they normally would, they have to wait until ALL damages are figured up. They have the cost of my truck, they have the cost of my dad's car (yeah he hit it too in my driveway), but that's all they have so far. They are still waiting on the yard damage total, plus I want compensation for diminished value to my truck AND I wand the money that would've been used for a rental vehicle (BOTH of these I found out are 100% legal and ok to ask for). I asked the lady tonight on the phone from Farmer's why I haven't even been offered a rental truck up to this point and she said it's because of the limited policy this kid had. She gave this analogy: "suppose he did $10,000 damage to your property and did $10,000 to your neighbor's property. It wouldn't be right for us to go to your property first and cut you a check for his whole $10,000 amount and then go to your neighbor's and say, 'sorry we're all out of money'". MY reply to that? "so it is 'right' to only pay me $5,000 and my neighbor $5,000 and then we are screwed out of the rest?" Her reply, "yep". At least she was honest.
So my fellow hunters, this is what we have to look forward to more in the future as all these insurance companies are salivating over your cash each month. That's why you see all these insurance ads on TV saying "name your price" (Progressive) That's because they don't care how much you pay, as long as they get SOMETHING from you. The sad part? Do you think they tell their customers the potential danger in this? NO. What if your son/daughter legitimately had a wreck (not under the influence or anything like that) just made a mistake and crashed into a, umm let's say Cadillac Escalade. Well if you have the lowest coverage, or even a "name your price" coverage, you are going to be covered up to that point and then the rest of the $50,000+ for the Escalade is going to be had when the insurance company sues your child because they don't have that much coverage. Yep. DO they care? NO. Should you care? Yes. It's a win-win for both insurance sides, and a lose-lose for both people involved in the wreck. Now, in this situation I have no sympathy for this kid getting drunk and crashing into my truck and property. He's going to get a big wake up call when my insurance company comes knocking with a lawsuit (and rightfully so, if you are stupid enough to get drunk and drive).
 
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