Hi everyone, I got into an accident on Monday and I was hoping someone would be able to advise me on what steps to take since it looks like insurance is out to **** me---
Accident details:
I was driving on the freeway in one of the two left fastrak lanes (I580 eastbound), going at about 65 mph with slow traffic moving on the right (about 25mph). When I was about 3 car lengths away from him, a big Chevy Silverado work truck just jumped right in front of me. Now, at the speed that I was going, there was no way I could brake in time, nor could I just afford to smash right into the truck, so my car bounced off of the Silverado's front bumper corner, and hit another pickup truck traveling in the fastrak lane to the left of me. The damage to my car was more than any of the cars involved, I was driving our family commuter W203 C-Class Mercedes at the time. As all three of us stopped on the side of the road, I went over to ask the guy from the left lane if he was okay, and as I was doing so, the Silverado who caused the whole accident just decided to drive off! My car was not safely operable at the time, nor would the door even open (had to exit the car through the passenger side) so I could not chase after him, and the other guy from the pickup in the left lane did not get that guys insurance details in time. CHP pulled up about a minute after the guy sped off, and took down a report of what happened, the guy in the pickup truck to my left gave a matching description as to what happened, that the silverado merged into the fastrak lane very late and very slowly, and caused the whole incident by pushing my car into the left lane.
Fast forward to today:
Background: I have comprehensive insurance with uninsured motorist coverage
(California law states that you can either have uninsured motorist coverage or collision coverage, not both.)
Insurance just informed me that both me and the pickup driver in the left lane are not at fault; however, due to the fact that I do not have collision coverage attached to my comprehensive coverage, they will not be covering damages to my car and the bruising of my left arm due to the top half of the door panel being crushed in. They claimed that the only way they could use my uninsured motorist coverage would be if I had gotten the license plate number of the guy who drove off (insurance even said this would be considered a hit and run).
Now, I'm stuck. I did a bit of research and it looks like my uninsured motorist coverage should cover this since insurance mentioned its a hit and run. I have comprehensive coverage and I chose uninsured motorist coverage since this is California, I can't have both, and there happens to be a lot of hit and runs and uninsured drivers in and around San Francisco; figured it would be a better choice since I've never had an accident that I've been at fault in.
The C-Class in question was the first new Mercedes my parents bought in America, so it has sentimental value to them, and besides that it was a gorgeous and well maintained car so I do not want to take that loss due to the carelessness of some idiot who probably wasn't insured.
Anyone have any idea of what to do next? Should I take action against insurance? (My insurer is Geico, by the way)
I appreciate any help in this, its been a long week.
Accident details:
I was driving on the freeway in one of the two left fastrak lanes (I580 eastbound), going at about 65 mph with slow traffic moving on the right (about 25mph). When I was about 3 car lengths away from him, a big Chevy Silverado work truck just jumped right in front of me. Now, at the speed that I was going, there was no way I could brake in time, nor could I just afford to smash right into the truck, so my car bounced off of the Silverado's front bumper corner, and hit another pickup truck traveling in the fastrak lane to the left of me. The damage to my car was more than any of the cars involved, I was driving our family commuter W203 C-Class Mercedes at the time. As all three of us stopped on the side of the road, I went over to ask the guy from the left lane if he was okay, and as I was doing so, the Silverado who caused the whole accident just decided to drive off! My car was not safely operable at the time, nor would the door even open (had to exit the car through the passenger side) so I could not chase after him, and the other guy from the pickup in the left lane did not get that guys insurance details in time. CHP pulled up about a minute after the guy sped off, and took down a report of what happened, the guy in the pickup truck to my left gave a matching description as to what happened, that the silverado merged into the fastrak lane very late and very slowly, and caused the whole incident by pushing my car into the left lane.
Fast forward to today:
Background: I have comprehensive insurance with uninsured motorist coverage
(California law states that you can either have uninsured motorist coverage or collision coverage, not both.)
Insurance just informed me that both me and the pickup driver in the left lane are not at fault; however, due to the fact that I do not have collision coverage attached to my comprehensive coverage, they will not be covering damages to my car and the bruising of my left arm due to the top half of the door panel being crushed in. They claimed that the only way they could use my uninsured motorist coverage would be if I had gotten the license plate number of the guy who drove off (insurance even said this would be considered a hit and run).
Now, I'm stuck. I did a bit of research and it looks like my uninsured motorist coverage should cover this since insurance mentioned its a hit and run. I have comprehensive coverage and I chose uninsured motorist coverage since this is California, I can't have both, and there happens to be a lot of hit and runs and uninsured drivers in and around San Francisco; figured it would be a better choice since I've never had an accident that I've been at fault in.
The C-Class in question was the first new Mercedes my parents bought in America, so it has sentimental value to them, and besides that it was a gorgeous and well maintained car so I do not want to take that loss due to the carelessness of some idiot who probably wasn't insured.
Anyone have any idea of what to do next? Should I take action against insurance? (My insurer is Geico, by the way)
I appreciate any help in this, its been a long week.
Insurance Advice, hit and run
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