Recently my boyfriend and I were leaving Wal-Mart, and as soon as he was about to shift into drive after backing out of the parking place, a woman back out of her parking place right into the rear corner of my car.
We had a police officer come and write out an exchange information sheet, he couldn’t do much more than that because the Wal-Mart parking lot is private property. The woman admitted she didn’t see us when she looked left and right and that she didn’t look behind her, but she wasn’t sure who was at fault.
The information sheet had an agreed statement of that she backed into my car while my car was already in the aisle, so I proceeded to call my insurance company. We found out that the woman and I both had Nationwide insurance.
I had my damages estimated, and then I didn’t hear much from our adjusters for a while since my boyfriend was the one driving. When I finally heard from them, they said they couldn’t get the surveillance video from Wal-Mart, even though Wal-Mart told my bofriend and I that they could and Nationwide refused to try any further. They said that since they couldn’t prove 100% that the woman was at fault and there was a possibility that my boyfriend was even 1% at fault that they couldn’t accept the claim and still refused to try and find out who was really at fault.
I later found out that the woman told the insurance company that we backed into each other even though she agreed on the police statement and apparently didn’t even know what happened at the time, and Nationwide refused to care that she changed her story for them.
I asked my adjuster to ask her permission to give me her phone number and that they needed to get the video, and randomly I got a letter stating my claim was denied even though I was no where near done with the investigation and never heard back from my adjuster after a week and a half.
The adjuster was not very professional at all, he didn’t seem to want to do any work for his paycheck and he was even crying on the phone after my boyfriend politely told him he knew how insurance companies work but that for the prices we pay each month, insurance representatives should at least try to do their job.
What am I supposed to do now? I refused to have any work done to my car until everything was settled. I left my adjuster a message to call me back a few hours ago and stated that I was not done with the claim and if he couldn’t handle his job, then I need his supervisor’s number or someone who could handle it. I’m entirely disappointed in Nationwide’s complete lack of customer service and I shouldn’t have to pay to fix my car when someone else backs into it.
The letter denying the claim said that my boyfriend failed to keep a proper lookout when backing.
The woman was apologizing profusely when it happened.
The insurance company contacted the officer and he said the exact same things I’ve mentioned.
This is in the state of Virginia.
(I apologize for so much writing, but I didn’t want to leave anything important out.)
The Wal-Mart parking spots are at an angle, so from the angle we were at — not quite parallel to either the spot or the aisle — while we were about to straighten out, it’s pretty obvious that she backed into us or my car would have had to move sideways to hit her like that.
You are doing exactly what you need to be doing – pestering the adjuster to do his job. However, you should get your agent involved. The agent will have pull to get another adjuster on the case and/or will be able to get the supervisor involved.
Claim representatives do not always need a video. They can tell who is at fault by where the damage is to each car. Not always, but in your case, they probly can.
You said the damage to your car is in the rear corner, but if you were in the ailse then she would have hit your door or the side of your car, so I am not sure how she hit your rear. This may be a big factor in how they are denying your claim. So, be very clear on how and where she hit your car.
And, other poster is right. Get your insurance agent involved. That person can step in and help and make a difference.
Then, if you still need help, contact the department of insurance in your state and file a complaint. A link is below.