they can just get reimbursed for the urgent care bill, no need for the ambulance ride. although if you needed to go to a doctor later it was probably bad judgment to not just go right away, i guess the bruising didn't pick up until the next day.

Scratch that, replace with "NEVER admit guilt anywhere, from the scene onward."

Seriously, the second you do, the other driver and the opposing company will cling on it like grim death. You said she claimed to have a green light, so she's already hoping you slip up. Anything you say can and will be used against you, so only ever admit guilt when you think it'll be more profitable than not.

And +1 on not talking to the other company. Your agent will do that for you, I worked for an insurance agency for a while, we got calls or faxes from other companies multiple times every day. Also, when these things happen, you gotta go balls to the ****ing wall with the evidence. Get your agent and insurance company copies of EVERYTHING, no matter how small. Your agent might send stuff to the insurance company himself, but there's a chance he'll forget this or that, so send everything you got to both.

Good luck and get well.

No. OP, treat your insurance company as an adversary. They are NOT looking out for your interests, they are looking out for theirs. They will take the way out that costs them the least. That includes getting the matter over with as quickly as possible. Time spent on it = money spent on their part. If the other insurance company doesn't offer extra money, your company will try to get you to take it rather than spend time trying to get money out of them.

As others have said, if ANYONE asks you how you're doing, moan and groan about your aches and pains. Than includes your insurance company, co-workers, friends, etc. You never know who will get called to testify. Phone rings, you answer, voice says "Hello, this is Ernie Smith from your insurance company, How are you doing today?". You say your neck is sore, your arm hurts, etc.

Sounds like that cop really sucks, and probably didn't even give a ticket to the other person. That's the first question their insurance company would have asked them.

Besides, the injuries are minor now, but who knows what might happen in the weeks to come.

They don't brethalize people just because you want them to, they only do if in their opinion they might be impaired.

Call the Heavy Hitter! lol

OP, sorry to hear what happened to you it sucks being in an accident like this. A similar thing happened to me about 6 years ago. I was driving down the road and a car inexplicably slammed on their brakes in front of me (I still have no idea why). I slammed on my brakes and didn't hit them but the person behind me did not and smashed into me. My car wound up being a total loss. Anyways, initially the other driver tried to say it was my fault because I stopped and he couldn't avoid me but my insurance company said BS and his insurance company gave in pretty quickly. I just let my insurance company deal with the other driver's insurance company and answered any questions as needed. Eventually I was reimbursed for the total amount of the loss.

If the other insurance company is being difficult just file a claim for damages with your insurance company. Your insurance company will investigate and will pursue the other driver's insurance company for payment if the facts of your story are the truth. If you are not satisfied with how this goes, then I guess the next step is getting a lawyer to pursue damages against the other driver but you really don't want to have to do this if you don't have to.

Also, are their cameras at the intersection where you got hit?

OP, of course you want to ensure that you get whatever you're entitled to under your policy, but do yourself a favor and ignore most of this and cooperate with your insurer, at least until they give you a reason not to. You're most likely obligated to do so under your policy.

Did you and your girlfriend try to make love the next day? If not make that part of your complaint. The accident changed your sex life from five times a day (heck tell them you were having sex when the accident happened) but now you can no longer have sex.

Just so. The only reason I can think of to not trust your insurance company is if somebody has a cut-rate policy from some pos company. I'm w/ State Farm and they've always been solid.

this is correct. i was in an accident last November. had extremely mild neck pain. had an MRI done in December because it got worse every day and i had 4 herniated discs. fast forward 10 months and i'm going in for another MRI to see if it's gotten worse because no treatments are working and and pain is still getting worse.

i went to the er at the urging of my wife just in case this exact thing happened.

Plus the lawyers have 'special' doctors that find the most amazing things that have happened due to the accident.

Better call Saul!

Where did I say not to cooperate? Cooperate, but remember that insurance companies are not your friends. They operate to maximize their profit, so they do things that benefit themselves before they do things that benefit you. They will not stand up to the other side if it's easier (and cheaper) to give in.

Have you ever been involved in something like this? Case in point - a friend of mine was at a party. His car was legally parked on the side of the road. A drunk guy on a Gold Wing smashed into his parked car and totaled it. Do you know how hard you have to hit a Camaro on a 700 pound Gold Wing to total it? Pretty damn hard I would imagine. The other guy (and his insurance) fought it and wanted both insurance companies to split the cost. My friend makes a lot of money and doesn't buy anything cheap. He had top flight insurance. He wanted to fight in court and hammer the other guy and get some justice but his insurance company settled because it was cheaper. So my friend got a claim on his record and had to pay the deductible.

Side note: My friend had been thinking about going to law school for some time, and this event convinced him to do it. It was a huge pain to deal with, including a few trips back to the midwest from Az, and ground out over a few years. He didn't necessarily want to practice law, but just be better prepared to know how to deal with crap like this.

If you have any familiarity with the environment in which insurance companies (especially insurers of ordinary folks) operate these days, you'd know that not honoring their policy obligations in the name of saving a few nickels or cutting corners is not the way many of them operate any more. Of course, it depends who the insurance company is.

They save their money in other ways, such as by paying their lawyers and vendors much lower rates than those vendors ordinarily charge.

This.

If you feel you are getting massively screwed over, then you might want to bring in your own attorney. For now, let your insurance company take care of it.

Like others said, do not talk to the opposing insurance company or driver.

His billboards are everywhere in Vegas and his picture just makes him look so shady, I figured it was appropriate for the thread. I'd call Saul before Glen Lerner.

I've been in 2, 2! highway wrecks and a couple of fender benders. There's something wrong w/ that story bec there's no way a legally unmoving vehicle can be at fault. Something's missing.

Since you were hurt, I certainly wouldn't fault you for taking the ambulance, but I sure as hell wouldn't fault you for passing on it if you didn't think it was necessary.

Depends on the Camaro.

Thanks for the responses.

To answer some questions: Unfortunately no red light cameras at this intersection.

Interestingly enough, there is a camera on the next block. So, just for ****s and giggles, I called the police and asked if there was any way that camera might have picked up my accident.

I was told, "Those red light cameras are not operated by us" and was given a 1-800 number of a shady company in Arizona that controls the red light cameras.

It took a while to convince the woman on the phone that, NO, I'm not calling to complain about a red light ticket, and actually I just wanted to know if one of their cameras might have caused my car wreck....

I was told that it would cost $350 to order a video from the time in question. I asked, can you see if the accident is on it before I fork over the money?

No.

Grunching, never give a statement to the other person's insurance

This is the only advice you need from this thread. Dinky claims with little property damage and very, very minor injuries, maybe you don't need an attorney. With the facts you gave an accident attorney is going to be worth whatever contingent fee you end up paying him. Don't negotiate it yourself. They're pretty much going to low ball you no matter what until you get an attorney.

Never talk to the enemy insurance company.

Get a copy of the police report and post it here.

That eyewitness that you have is pure gold. Do NOT give her information to the enemy insurance company. She is how you are going to come out on top without a video of the accident.

If there are local businesses close to the intersection, go see if they have CCTV cameras anywhere nearby that might have caught anything.

Put up some signs at the intersection that say "Did you see the accident on Weds night, if so please call/email me" etc.

Get the video of the next intersections, assuming you have a good time stamp for when the accident occurred. You'll be able to get the license plate #s of the people that passed through your intersection at and just after the incident. You give those to the cop, and he calls them for more eyewitness accounts.

But really if the report shows the other driver to be at fault, and you have an eyewitness, you're probably golden already.

Never say that you are "fine" after an accident. Say "I don't know". Because you don't. You are not a medical professional, and you certainly aren't competent to assess your own health when in a state like that.

Do pick a lawyer that isn't making headlines

I did not read most of this other than the OP- but you will get a large insurance claim if you work with them, plus the witness you will win any case.

Insurance companies will just want to pay you asap and not go to court.