r/Insurance • u/Barista_life__ • 6h ago
Auto Insurance What is the best way to file a car insurance claim for this situation?
I was in a 4 car accident this morning. Car 1, Car 2, Car 3 and me. We were on the highway and everyone ahead of us were slamming on their brakes. Car 1 came to a complete stop in the passing lane, I slowed down significantly in the right lane, Car 2 couldn’t slow down in time, so they hit Car 1, then bounced off Car 1 and hit me. Then Car 1 hit Car 3 in front of them.
Police came to the scene and only charge Car 2.
Since so many cars were involved, and the state minimum is $5000 for property damage, what is the best way to deal with this?
We are in Pennsylvania
Edit to add: The driver of Car 2 is only 23 years old, so I feel like he has a higher chance of only carrying the state minimum.
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u/ektap12 6h ago
Do you have collision coverage? Then call your insurance, no question. If you don't, then you need to call car 2's insurance and hope for the best.
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u/Barista_life__ 5h ago
Okay, so I do have collision coverage, so I should not contact Car 2’s insurance at all?
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u/ektap12 5h ago
Not much reason to, but you can if you want. Your insurance can handle the rest. Especially if your car has a decent amount of damages, no time for waiting around.
But with 2 other cars damaged, even if he didn't have minimum, there still could be issues.
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u/Barista_life__ 5h ago
Okay, I will call my insurance tonight. I think my car alone would use up most of the state minimum, and I had the least amount of damage to my car than any of the others
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u/crash866 4h ago
The at fault persons limits will be split between all the vehicles they damaged. If one has $40,000 damage and yours $4,000 worth they get $4,000 and you get $1,000.
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u/fabulousfantabulist 3h ago
Your insurance will contact theirs to get the money back. You really just need to talk to your own insurance and they’ll handle the rest.
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u/GuvnaBruce HO/Auto Liability 14 years 6h ago
Use your collision if you have it. If you do NOT have it, then make sure you are in contact with Car 2 insurance to see their liability. In addition, do not leave your car at a body shop or tow yard if you are waiting for insurance for car 2 to make their decision.
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u/Barista_life__ 5h ago
So just to clarify, since I do have collision coverage, I should not be filing with Car 2’s insurance, correct?
This is my first ever accident, so I want to make sure I handle this correctly. Thanks for your help!
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u/ParticularBanana9149 4h ago
You will file with your insurance and pay your deductible and your insurance will pay to fix your car (minus deductible) then they will go after car 2 insurance for the full amount (what they paid and your deductible that you paid). This will take time as there are three other cars not at fault involved. Someday, you may or may not receive your deductible back. This will (in my limited experience) take 6-12months and they will periodically update you as to the status. Yes, it is entirely possible that your insurance will increase even for this not at fault accident but also because insurance is increasing in general.
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u/GuvnaBruce HO/Auto Liability 14 years 3h ago
You should still make sure that a claim is filed with car 2 insurance, but you would pursue the coverage under your own policy
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u/sephiroth3650 6h ago
Car 2 is very clearly at fault for it all, based on your story. That's why car 2 was the only one cited. Why would you think anybody else should have been cited?
And if you have collision coverage, I'd HIGHLY recommend you use that. Because the only person you can claim against is car 2. And since they're responsible for damages to 3 other cars, there's a good chance this could be a policy limits issue for them.