Risky Business

An Interesting Claim to Share with You

Hi Everyone,

We had a recent claim I wanted to share with you.  One of our Expediters was driving along in his truck when sudden bad road conditions contributed to his rear-ending a passenger auto.

Our guy immediately checked on the 4 passengers in the auto to see if they were OK. They were shocked, but told him they were physically fine.  While waiting for the police and the wrecker to arrive, everyone stood along the side of the road chatting.

The police completed the report and cited the Expediter as "At Fault" because regardless of road conditions he should have slowed down earlier to avoid the collision.  All parties went their separate ways appearing physically unharmed.

Well this is where the story gets interesting.  When the Adjuster assigned to the claim asked our Expediter about the condition of the 4 passengers, he reported that everyone was fine... certainly understandably shook up, but physically fine.

The Adjuster reported this was strange, because when he called the driver of the passenger auto, they were asserting there WERE injuries.  

Our Expediter is upset, "How can people do this, they were perfectly fine, etc?"

Unfortunately, these “after the fact injuries” materialize all too often in insurance these days.  All we can do as your Insurance Advisers is to recommend steps to follow to protect yourself later:

1.   Use your cell phone to take several photos of your surroundings immediately after an accident.  These include the accident itself AND in this case the 4 passengers milling around after the accident.

2.   Call the 1.800 Progressive Claims Number and have the other driver speak with a Progressive Claims Rep.  They’ll ask a few questions and reassure the person you hit that someone is "on it".  This eliminates the other driver wondering whether someone is working on his claim should he receive a call from the likely attorney looking for cases.   (Even if the other driver is at fault, it's not a bad idea to make the call to Progressive and have the at-fault driver admit to being at-fault.)  All of these phone calls are recorded so not only will it help your possible injury claim later, it also facilitates the proper routing of the claim if you are under dispatch.   We’ve seen numerous cases where the other driver changed their mind from the time of an accident to the time a Claims Rep contacts them even an hour or so later.

3.   Invest in a dash board camera system.  Front and rear surveillance systems are becoming more reasonably priced, and the use of recorded video can be a great way to help protect and reinforce your version of an accident.

Nearly 25% of Americans believe that it is perfectly acceptable to defraud insurance companies. Insurance exists due to the trust factor that most people are still honest.

I’m sure all of us agree that we WANT someone we've hurt in an accident to be completely compensated for their loss, and we all pay a premium for that reliability. But no one wants to be dragged through a lengthy litigation.  The more you are able to document what occurred, the better your claim can be paid quickly and fairly.

Warm Regards,

Shelly Benisch, CIC     [email protected]