It doesn’t happen often but sometimes an auto claim is denied. If you have full coverage on your vehicle and your claim is denied, you can file the claim under your insurance policy and let them pay you for your damages. Then your insurance company will subrogate against the other insurance company to get their money back. This works, but it is a long slow process. It can take weeks or months for your company to get their money back if they ever do. You should make sure that a police report is filed and that any tickets given are listed on the report.
If you only have liability on your vehicle and the other involved party is at fault, there are a couple of things you Can do. First you should send your bills to the other person and tell them to file the claim with their insurance company of make arrangements to pay your damages. You should also send all bills to the other insurance. and make sure that you tell the adjuster your side of what happened, exactly as it happened.
It is also a good idea for you to talk to the adjuster in person. Hearing your side of what happened may be all that is needed to get the claim paid. The other persons side of what happened, especially if he is at fault, may not be the exact truth. He is going to do all he can to make you look at fault so his insurance won’t have to pay.
If the insurance still won’t pay the claim, you can decide to go to court. You can get a lawyer to handle this for you. But if you get a lawyer, don’t tell the other insurance that you have done so. This should be the last resort. If you tell the other insurance that you have a lawyer, they will stop talking to you and deal only with the lawyer. This isn’t always in your best interest. If just getting the lawyer doesn’t push them into paying, then you can go to court. The court system will usually favor the innocent party.
If you get a lawyer, you should be aware that the lawyer will get a percentage of what you get if you win. If you lose, the lawyer may still charge a fee for his services.