Car Accident: How do I proceed?

[wcarter]

I also used to be in insurance claims.

MOST insurance companies have an agreement with each other that if there is disputed liability and both companies can not agree on who is at fault the case will be sent to Arbitration.

The Arbitration panel will be made up of insurance adjusters who will ultimately resolve the dispute.  Basically it all depends on which insurance company involved in the dispute writes up the most convincing case.

Just some insight in regards to how the situation may be resolved.  No legal advice.

**Also, your insurance company should provide you with legal representation if that becomes nec.  You should ask your adjuster about that if you have any questions.***

[mason123]

Thank you for that contribution. I am not asking for legal advice so much as I am interested in what you folks think about my chunk of liability, which a person with a background in insurance can probably help me with by not necessarily utilizing their knowledge of law.

[CRDFNSKY]

Explaining someone's "chunk of liability" is legal advice. There's probably not a more clear cut example.

[mason123]

Let me put it this way... if there is a former car insurance claims adjuster here, that person may be able to give some insight into the usual division of liability in such a case without necessarily utilizing any of the knowledge gained from their studies at law school. Hence, you are giving advice from an insurance claims adjuster standpoint, not really a law student standpoint.

I am not looking for an "explanation" of my chunk of liability... seeing as how I do not know what the "chunk" or percentage of liability is my own. I am looking to see if anyone else has any thoughts on how the scale can tip, from an adjuster's perspective.

Taking into consideration the details of the accident, is this still considered a 50/50 type of case?

[CRDFNSKY]

Insurance adjusters can give unauthorized legal advice too. I think what we are dealing with here is more of a legal opinion though. That doesn't change whether or not it's allowed. Plus, if you don't think this is a legal issue, then why are you asking it on this board? Did you have previous knowledge that there may be a former insurance claims adjuster here to answer your question? You're clearly seeking a legal opinion, or you wouldn't have posed the question to a bunch of law students?

Have you taken professional responsibility yet? I don't mean that flippantly. I'm just curious.