can my insurance company deny my claim...?

If this was truly a hit and run claim, it would fall under Uninsured Motorist IF you filed a police report within 10 days of the incident. Otherwise, this is a collision claim. At this point, your only hope is to first, file a complaint with the Georgia Dept. of Insurance and if nothing happens from there, get an attorney. In the meantime, I hope you are seeking another insurance carrier. Unfortunately, I hear this nightmare scenario far too often with the carrier your dealing with.

It shouldn't matter, if it was hit while parked, or if YOU hit something driving it to the shop - BOTH of those claims are collision claims, and BOTH of those claims would be subject to your deductible.

Your PROBLEM will arise, if the vehicle turns out to have a salvage title, and you didn't tell Geico that when you first bought your policy through them. That's 'material misrepresentation', as they wouldn't have OFFERED you full coverage, on a car with a salvage title.

A second problem is, how is it that you have a Georgia policy, but you live in California? And how long have you lived there? You've got 30 days from the time you move, to give them your correct address.

So. Did you call the police when your car got hit? If so, good for you - you've got documentation that there WAS a hit and run. If not . . . that's a problem.

If they deny the claim, your FIRST step, is to appeal it to the GA insurance commissioner. Which, if you're living in CA, could be a bit awkward. You can't appeal the denial, until there's an official denial - in writing. Hiring a lawyer at this stage, is a waste of money.

If I get this right, you state your car was hit by an unknown person, the following morning you drove to a repair shop prior to calling Geico and reporting this claim? No where in your question do you state you called the police to report this hit/run also?

There are a lot of holes in this question and I can understand the reason for them suspecting this was not a true hit/run, but that someone was driving it when it got hit. You also had a previous fire which is not common.

When you file a claim, the insurance company has a process they follow. They either have an appraiser write an estimate and will tell you to take to a specific shop that they work with. In hit/run and thefts, you are required to file a police report also.

The fact that they state the damages are not consistent to a hit/run could make sense, since however it was parked and if someone hit it and then left, should show damages to specific areas of the auto. So say for instance you had damages to the front and also to the back would not coincide with a hit/run. They can also look for paint transfers, meaning if your car is white and if this unknown car was black, would see black on your car. If this accident happened possibly 3 months ago, they can tell old damages vs new damages and could suspect you just now reported it hit/run. Most people would be surprised to know that airbags only deploy in certain circumstances. The car has to be hit a certain way and sometimes at a certain speed. I have had some pretty awful accidents that the airbag did not deploy, but told due to the specific impact would not, but set that way.

What is your prior record of claims for you and for your boyfriend? Are you current on your loan for the car or behind in payments? The insurance company has a database they use that they can find out all accidents you have claimed or your boyfriend even with other insurance companies. If your boyfriend has been in multiple accidents in the past, then they could suspect that he was driving, hit a post/guardrail, drove it home and waited till morning to report hit by unknown person.

Does your BF live with you in CA? If so, is he listed as a driver on your policy? The fact that they are questioning both of you and suspect the BF implies that he may not have been on your policy or has had multiple prior accidents.

You don't state if you have uninsured property damage on your auto. Uninsured/Under-insured coverage is optional, even on full coverage. The $500 you are out of, is your deductible on your policy and even if you could prove this was hit/run, you still would have to pay this, unless you could find the driver who hit/run, which obviously you cant.

Technically they cant deny this claim since you have full coverage and you have a lien on your policy, so they will have to protect the lien on your car. But they may end up deciding that the damages to your auto was not from 1 accident but 2, based on the impact to your car, which means that you would be out an addtl $500 deductible for 2 separate accidents.

As for getting a lawyer, forget it, since lawyers don't like to handle property claims, only injuries. So if you got a lawyer to defend you, it will cost his hourly rate which most likely $200 to $300 per hour. But you cant get a settlement for a property damage claim, so this could be pricey to you.

You can file a complaint with the state insurance commissioner and Geico will have to answer the complaint w/in 30 days. But that may not change the outcome, since they are doing a thorough investigation of how this hit/run/accident happened before they pay.

good luck

~~Did you file a police report as soon as you saw the car had been damaged? If so, they don't have a leg to stand on, so I hope you did.

Either way you do need to file a complaint with the Ca. Insurance Commissioner (link below). Unfortunately I hear lots os similar stories from people with Geico. II am a State Farm gal all the way. They NEVER hassle you over any claims. Here is the link so you can file and best of luck!~~

www.insurance.ca.gov

Geico Claims Dept

Now you know how GEICO can afford all those neat commercials on television. That being said, when you have a hit and run, the FIRST thing you do is involve the police for an accident report BEFORE you move the car. You can involve your state's insurance commission, but don't wait for a miracle to occur.

I recommend that you try this site where onel can get rates from different companies: http://insurancetocompare.info/index.html?src=2YAv...

RE :Can my insurance company deny my claim...?

Lots of info, sorry! My car was parked on the street and hit during the night. I drove the car to the repair place the following morning and the airbag deployed on the way there. (Stupid, I know, I wasn't thinking). My insurance company, GEICO is insisting that the damage is not consistent with a hit and run accident. They have taken recorded statements from me and my boyfriend. They have contracted an "independent accident reconstructionist" to read the airbag deployment. The reconstructionist originally told me that he was unable to retrieve the data, but the insurance company is now telling me that he was able to get a partial reading. And that it shows that the airbag deployed as a result of impact. The airbag did not actually fully deploy. There is no powder or injury to me to justify a complete deployment.

Does anybody know if they have the right to deny my claim based on suspicion? They keep trying to make me say that my boyfriend was driving the car, which he wasn't. We were in the house together all night.

Also: car was in previous fire; severe damage to front of car, all repaired.

accident happened in CA, full coverage policy written in GA

I know its a lot of info. Thanks for reading and I appreciate any helpful answers.

Thanks!

Update: I am in CA for school. The GA DMV told me that I didn't have to change my vehicle registration if I was attending school out of state. I have been hear for about 1 year

*That was my point to insurance company, my car is new, I have full coverage, if I (or my bf) hit something, I would just say that I did it! Either way, i'm out of $500... this has been going on for 3 weeks now!

Update 2: I am in CA for school. The GA DMV told me that I didn't have to change my vehicle registration if I was attending school out of state. I have been here for about 1 year

*That was my point to insurance company, my car is new, I have full coverage, if I (or my bf) hit something, I would just say that I did it! Either way, i'm out of $500... this has been going on for 3 weeks now!

Update 3: I did file a police report 2 days later, after the insurance company told me that I would need to have one. I originally didn't file one because the car that hit me wasn't around, so I didn't think that there was any way the police would be able to catch the person. This all happened pretty suddenly, I know that my reactions were not the best. This happened right before I was going out of town, so my first thought was to get the car to the body shop so that it could be repaired while I was out of town and to not miss my flight and my brother's graduation.

Follow 12 answers

Sorry to say you get what you pay for. Since the accident is in CA the rules and laws in CA apply. This is a collision accident no matter what.

Contact the Department of Insurance in CA and file a complaint.

A link is below.

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