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Was rear ended yesterday, confused with insurance/law in NJ.

C

Candi

My daughter and I were rear ended last night while at a stop sign going from rt 35 to another street, thankfully the explorer that hit my mariner wasn't going very fast so everyone was ok. My bumper (which has the backup sensors) is trashed and will need to be replaced. I immediately called the police & my insurance. She was obviously at fault (actually told the officer "I only looked down to pick something up for a min"). However now I'm very confused as to what happens next. I just called Statefarm to ask them and they were less then helpful, they asked me if I was going with my insurance or the other drivers, I told the agent I had no idea how things worked here as we've only been here a year and I've never been in an accident before. She told me if I go through mine I pay $500 of the deductable up front and then they will recover it form the other company and reimburse me, otherwise they are left out of it and I deal with the other company. I asked what was normally done and she only said "it's up to you" ... not very informative or helpful. The police report wont' be ready until Monday and I have no idea what type of insurance the other driver has.

Can anyone clear this up for me? I have no idea what we should be doing, I just want my suv fixed and for this not to cost me anything or increase my insurance rates being that I was hit.

Thanks!
Candi
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Wait unitl you get the accident report and see how they assign responsibility. In this case, it should say that the other driver is 100% responsible for the accident. If that's the case, you should leave your insurance company out of it and use theirs. NJ has this "no-fault" thing that they like use. In those cases (which I don't think yours will fall into), it's up to each driver to handle their damages on their own. This one seems to be pretty straightforward though, and you shouldn't need to get your insurance company involved.

Let me add that I am not an *expert* on this, it's just what I have experienced in the past.
 
C

Candi

Thanks John that makes sense. The officer told me that NJ law states that anyone who hits you from behind is automatically at fault (as long as you weren't going in reverse etc) and the fact that the other driver openly admitted she wasn't looking and hit me didn't hurt my case.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Some insurance companies will not go the whole "adjuster" route if you use an authorized repair shop. I'd use whoever's insurance allows that option (and wait for my money back, if need be, if that happened to be my ins co). The repair shop that I use has always done a great job putting my car back together (sadly, we have a long history, though they may have forgotten me by now).

The adjuster thing is where you either have to get multiple estimates or where their adjuster comes and says how much it should cost (when he's not the one looking on the inside when the bumper is removed). I'd much rather use an authorized repair shop for the services.
 
S

sinkingbeach

Glad everyone is alright, I was rear ended 2 yrs ago, took the vehicle to the body shop got an estimate, contacted the other person's insurance company, they sent out an adjuster who took a copy of my estimate, agreed to everything but a $100 charge and was sent a check within 3 days of the adjusters visit, the whole process took less than 10 days and my insurance has not gone up after the accident.
 
C

Candi

Thanks for the info, I had planned to goto the dealer for repairs... it's a '08 mercury mariner (so pretty new). Hopefully that won't be an issue with the other insurance company, I wish I knew who she had so I could start calling this week and not have to wait for the police report but we didn't exchange any info just gave everything to the police.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Dealers themselves don't do body work, they'll send you to a shop. Whether or not that shop is authorized will be a coin toss. Personally, I'd start with the insurer's list of authorized centers and then take that to the dealership and ask for a recommendation. You may well end up with out of pocket (and unrecoverable) expenses if you get it repaired at a place that isn't on the authorized list if it goes higher than the adjuster would allow.
 
H

htkdkid

OK you got rearended while at a stop sign that would be the fault of the person that hit your truck. as soon as you get the report you must find out what insurance company they use, and place the claim thru their insurance. pray they don't have the same insurance you do. insurance companies tend to make the accidents with people with the same insurance a 50/50 fault ratio this means your both at fault and they do raise your rates. if this happens call your agent and fight it and make them pay 100% of the damages including your deductible. take no less than 100%. keep us posted. to bad you don't have allstate if you did i would have my wife help you out she works for allstate.
 
C

Candi

Thank you for the continued posts. We're in Port Monmouth/Middletown, accident happened in Hazlet @ 35 & Poole.
 
mikem

mikem

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Call Steve from AM PM body shop on Wilson Ave and ask him what to do. He takes our car and gives us a free rental and he deals with the Ins. co.
 
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