Partial insurance deductible refund?

Question

I was in an accident where I was put 80% at fault. I was told to pay my entire deductible and I would be reimbursed for the 20% at a later date. But the other party never paid up for anything, he was even sent to collections but never responded (obviously) so I was told that the only way to get that money back is to take that other party to small claims. Isn't the reason I have insurance so that I don't have to pay money I don't need to? What do I do to make sure my insurance company pays back my 20% of my deductible. It's only 100 dollars but still...

Answer 1

I'm going to give you a couple of quick lessons....

Deductible:   when you took out your policy you agreed to pay for the first 500 worth of collision damage to your vehicle, if your insurance company agreed to pay for the damage to your vehicle above that.  It does not matter whose fault it is..... if your collision pays, the first 500 is paid by you.  The deductible is a "per occurrence" expense. Unlike health insurance, you don't meet it for the year.  So the 500 deductible will apply for each loss you have.  So if you have 15 collision losses.....you will pay 15 collision deductibles.

The insurance company will subtract the deductible from the amount of the estimate or from the settlement amount. You don't pay the deductible to the insurance company.

The deductible has nothing to do with "so that I don't have to pay money I don't need to".   You need to pay the deductible. When you took out your policy, you agreed to be responsible for the first 500 of damage.

Subrogation: The process by which one insurance company pursues repayment from an at fault party of their insurance company. When the insurance company pursues subrogation,  they ask for the money they paid plus your deductible.  When the insurance company gets paid.....they forward your deductible to you.

Your insurance company has never been paid.  Therefore, they have not received the 100 to refund to you.  They can't give you what they don't have.  There is nothing you can do to "make sure my insurance company pays back my 20%".  IF they are able to recover....they will forward it to you.  IF they don't get paid, then they have nothing to forward to you.

Answer 2

The insurance company is right, other than a lawsuit, they can't force someone to pay.

As for the "isn't this why I have insurance", yes it is. You didn't have to pay for anything except for your deductible in an accident that was 80% your fault! For a higher premium, you can always switch to a $0 deductible.

The other driver flaking out on their responsibility is the one you should be angry at, not your insurance company.

Answer 3

YOUR company doesn't owe you the 20% - it's part of your policy.    Any time you file a claim on YOUR policy, you pay the appropriate deductible.   The guy who was 20% at fault, owes it to you.  Your company tried to subrogate, and was unsuccessful.  So now YOU are going to try.

You'll probably get the judgement, but likely won't be able to recover any money.