Does their insurance have to pay for my rent a car?

Question

I was driving my mom's car, i got hit and her car was total loss. The insurance's driver who got the ticket paid for the car after 2 months. My mother and I have had no other car until 2 months. I had to borrow some money and paid some bills late to rent a car for my mom. I rented a car for 8 weeks and their insurance payed for only for 1 1/2 weeks. I think it is the other driver's (having a ticket) full responsibility for leaving my mom without a car for 2 months, and they have to pay for the full rent. My insurance and my mother's insurance do not cover the rent.

Answer 1

Was the claim turned into the insurance company immediately? If no, why not? I don't know why it took 2 months to get the payment?

Once the claim is turned in and liability is determined (a ticket by the police doesn't automatically rule the other person 100% at fault) then the at fault partys insurance should pay for you to have a rental car. The insurance company is only responsible to pay for the rental until the day they offer you the settlement. Doesn't mean you accept the settlement or have the cash in hand, just that they made the offer. I know it's not the way most people want it to go, but thats the way it is. So, fi they made the offer on lets say March 1st, but you argued about it until April 1st, the rentals only getting paid until March 1st. Some insurance companies are nice and give you 5 days or so after the offer is made. This way you will have the money in hand before they take the rental coverage away.

Answer 2

It's not the other driver's responsibility to pay for a rental car forever.  It's only their responsibility to pay for a REASONABLE time period, for the car to get fixed, or if it was totalled, for her to buy a new car.

Any hesitation in getting the repairs done, are HER problem, and YOUR problem.  If the reasonable repairs are 10 days, that's fair.  If the car was totalled out, 10 days is plenty of time for her to get a new car.

If she didn't have the money for a new car, or didn't have the money at the time to pay repairs, that's not the responsibility of the other driver.  It's not their responsibility to actually buy a car for your mom, or to actually make sure your car is at a shop where the repairs can be made.  

Sorry.  Next time, if you want prompt coverage if the car is in an acciden, BUY THE COVERAGE.   You're lucky it only took two months to be paid for the car.  It can take a year or two, if it goes through the courts.