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why wont they pay for it,or accept fault?

by Adam DeVore
(Coolville, Ohio, USA)

Details, well my girlfriend was driving westbound on a 4 lane highway in athens county ohio.

A schoolbus (Indiana Insurance) was going east and hit Jessica when he turned north(left),it totalled the car,and put her in the hospital for 3 days.they say they cant accept fault at this time,its been 3 months so when?

This is a complex case due to the time and weather conditions. Jessica was cited for headlights, and FRA suspension even with the car being insured, and during daylight hours,

there was some fog according to the witness but it was behind her and she was visable. Both the bus driver and witness said she didnt have lights on,but the bus driver also said he didnt know she was there until he hit her, so how could he say her headlights were not on?

Why would the bus driver not be cited for failure to yield on a four lane highway when he clearly did not yield?

I can email you the crash report if you want to look at it.

It was clearly not her fault and very bad investigative procedures by the state troopers. I'd appreciate your opinion because her lawyer doesn't seem to be doing much.

Adam

Comments for why wont they pay for it,or accept fault?

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Dec 20, 2007
 Answer
by: Hector

Hello Adam

We are very sorry for the delay; we are running one day behind.

Usually insurance companies have 30 days to investigate the loss. If for whatever reason they take more than 30 days, they must tell you in writing why they have not make a decision and what is the status of the investigation.

Sometimes liability or fault is not as clear, this is particularly true when the police officers do not do a good police investigation and there are disputed facts.

Usually a left turn is clear liability, but that depends on the point of impact of the vehicles. If your girlfriend’s car hits the rear back of the bus, then that is not such a good thing. It means that the bus was in front of her and she hit it (does not mean the bus is not still at fault). If the hit was to the front of the bus, then bus turned left right in front of her. Point of impact is critical here.

Having the lights on (or off) can be a huge thing also. There are almost no way (unless you hire very expensive experts) to tell whether the lights were on or not, so this will be a word vs word type of thing. Having a witness against you can be very hard to over come. That is probably where the hold up is.

Remember, personal injury settlements, car accidents, and insurance claims in general take a long time. The fact that the attorney is not calling you every day does not mean she is not doing her job. Do check on your case often, a lot of the attorney strategy is a waiting game.

Good luck.

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