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Occasionally I read something that either pertains to everybody or maybe just us RV’ers. The most recent article in TCM applies to everybody. The accident that there staff was involved in has been written about twice. The most recent article describes what we all should be doing before an incident occurs.
These days with attorneys going for 7 figure settlements and insurance company’s looking desperately for reasons to negate or minimize all claims, evidence becomes invaluable. We all know evidence in criminal trials often, or should I say occasionally results in prosecution. However, evidence provided by the consumer will greatly enhance your chances of a fair settlement. This responsibility as well as other points, like being over weight is discussed in the article.
I would highly recommend reading the article and following the advice given. There are app’s available to help expedite this chore or you can simply do it like me, the old fashion way with sales receipts, pictures and a written description. The time spent now may well be the reason your claim check has an extra digit.
Well, we just got in a similar accident. A woman driving a borrowed car while on a cell phone rammed into my Ram’s drivers side alloy dually, then sheared off the driverside camper jack…The forged alloy aluminum wheel was destroyed and all of her airbags deployed…Her car was an absolute beater and was totaled…
With a ‘loaded for bear’ camper weighing nearly 5k# and the rear jack missing, there was no way to raise the camper to jack the truck wheel up using the flimsy OEM jack, so we had to wait three tow trucks and 5hrs later to finally get a bottle jack of sufficient capacity (20T) to lift one side of the rear axle…This cost $317 bucks!!…The two 3T floor jacks the two previous tow guys had tried were 100% useless…Know now that I carry a $45 12 ton bottle jack from HD !!
Getting the spare out with the camper aboard was another ordeal due to the camper’s rear overhang, but I finally managed to do this by inserting only one length of the multi-piece OEM crank-rod, then stuck a 13 mm socket over the square male end of the rod and turned using a ratchet – this worked well!!
Tire now changed (but now without a spare) we continued on with our trip to Oregon only to later discover that now the steering wheel was a 11 o’clock to go straight, so it apoears that the rear axle has shifted a degree or two… Ugg!…To be determined…
Sacramento cops won’t write an accident report UNLESS there us a injury (or possible injury – hint, hint…), so unless there is a witness, even with a cop present, your pretty much out on your own…Luckly we had two cooperating witnesses – one was the car behind me that got lucky and dodged the madness, and the other was the next car after that which got sideswiped…
Turns out that the offending driver is pretty much off the hook because the insurance company policy that kicks in is the one for the owner who loaned her the car – but as of yet we don’t know who the owner is or whether the car even has insurance!!…The answer to this question may only be found out at the DMV…
IF it turns out that there is an insurance policy for the offending auto’s actual owner (??), then standard practice is that, that will be the primary policy for reimbursement and their company will be our primary point of contact, meaning that our insurance company will be in the secondary position, and IF coverage is sufficient, then their insurance company will pay.
Determining fault is important – since there were cooperating witnesses, it was established that I was not at fault, so my company says that I won’t get a rate increase even if they end-up having to pay…Since the minimum legal PPD insurance in CA is only $5k (apportioned over however many damaged vehicles – and $10k for personal injury – WTFO!!), my insurer pretty much already knows that they’ll be on the hook for covering the damage…
So for curiosity sake I googled ‘cell phone while driving accident stats’ and learned that there are thousands of C/P accidents and injuries per year along with about 3,400 deaths…It’s true that driving while on a cell phone has become a make work project for Undertakers…
…It’s true that driving while on a cell phone has become a make work project for Undertakers…
“Think of it as evolution in Action . . . “
Regards
John
I don't like to make plans. They cause the word "PREMEDITATED" to get used in court!
DON'T FEED THE VULTURES!
My Body is a Temple! Ancient, Crumbling, Probably Cursed . . .Here is the advice I got YEARS ago from my insurance company. I was traveling from one duty station to another back in the mid-’80s. I arrived late that night and awoke the next morning to find my SUV GONE without me. I had all my uniforms and personal stuff the movers did not move. I also had a very expensive Full Quill Ostrich boots that I had paid $800 for (It’s a Texas thing, you may not understand). A lot of my clothes came from Lands End, LLBean, Cabelas and they all had a record of everything I had bought. But I did not have that for my boots. With LUCK my adjuster had a father who lived in Dallas Tx, so she called him about my $800 boots. She called me and wanted to know where I bought them to get such a good deal.
What she told me to do, was to take PICS of anything and everything of any value more than about $50 bucks…in your house, in your car, barn you name it. If it has a serial number be sure to get a close up of that and the maker.
Also ANY modifications you do to car or home from a new dishwasher to a set of tires, get a pic, it’s as valuable as a receipt. Especially on wear items, you can show the degree of wear vs the date of the receipt…it maybe a few years old, but barely used = better settlement.
In today’s world of camera fones and digital cameras, the pic could be worth the weight in gold.
A couple of years ago I was in a wreck that seems rather benign at the time. Ins company called it at $2700 in repairs. But my camera fone told a different story and the repair was just over $12,000.
Don
US Army Retired
2019 F 350 CC-LB King Ranch
Hill Country of TexasPictures for sure, excellent advice.
Given the recent trend towards folks throwing it in reverse and backing up whenever they see what looks like money behind them, I also invested in a Garmin with built-in camera and carry a good point and shoot camera with us as backup to iPhone.
Steve and Andra
2012 F350 6.2 gasser SRW LB
Fab Fours front and rear in case we run into a rhino
2019 Northstar Laredo SC
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