Learn Me: Florida Car Crash Basics

I was rear-ended in rush-hour traffic on Friday.  It was the first time I was in the car for anything work-related in over 15 months.  I exchanged information w/the other driver  and submitted a self-reported crash form to FL HSMV.   It was low-speed, but still felt pretty violent.  I have a small crack in my bumper, but I've yet to crawl underneath my minivan and see if any of the mounts for my trailer hitch were damaged.  

I had seen the other driver behind me driving erratically for a few miles, but didn't change lanes because there were a few cars between us.  I'm a pretty alert driver and I'm kicking myself for not being more proactive about getting away from that guy.  Clearly he was focusing on something other than driving safely.  I contemplated calling the police, but my understanding is that they typically don't respond if there aren't any significant injuries & both cars are driveable.  In retrospect, I probably should have called even if it didn't ultimately chagne the outcome.  After the crash I drove the ER and had some x-rays done (started feeling worse on my drive home).  Initial film review says I'm OK. Two days later I'm not 100%, but not nearly as bad as I feared.  I'm grateful I walked away w/only some discomfort, the X-ray tech told me they had a multiple fatality accident the night before.  I'm pissed because this was 100% avoidable and there are lots of things I would have liked to have done this weekend, but didn't because I was concerned about making my neck/back worse.  There should be a "being stupid" penalty for when you wreck somebody.  At the very least, the guy should have to come and mow my lawn for a few weeks.

The other driver has Progressive.  They started calling me Saturday morning to arrange for an inspection.  I decided to rest and heal my body and deal w/the minivan damage on Monday.  My minivan is a 2008 Odyssey w/130k miles.  It's probably worth $5k and looks pretty nice.  I did $1k of maintenance w/new shocks/struts & a tie rod.  The crack is large enough that a bumper replacement is warranted, but small enough that if the repair will cost anywhere near $1k I'd likely just keep the money.  

Have any of you dealt w/Progressive on something like this before?  Anything I should know about their process?  I'm guessing they'll push to have me drop of the van at one of their facilities?  

As far as my neck/back, I'll see how things progress. 

The last time I was rear-ended the medical expenses ran through PIP and my insurance.  I was fine a week later.  Even though I wasn't at-fault and it didn't affect my rates, if I switched insurances I would have been surcharged because there was a claim paid-out on my behalf.  This time I filed the claim w/the other party's insurance and didn't give the ER my policy information...I still suspect it'll get charged to my insurance one way or another...but hopefully it doesn't. 

Want the honest truth? You're berkeleyed. I learned the hard way a few years ago that Florida is a "no fault" state, so the guy that hit you can still sue you for damages. How do I know this? A drunk on a crotch rocket plastered himself across my family's SUV and I got berkeleyed on all sides for his (last) careless decision. Florida insurance laws are only designed to make lawyers rich.

You will not be "made whole" in any sort of way, so make peace with it now. Your vehicle is worth less money now, you'll be paying your own medical bills out of your own pocket, and if the guy that hit you can find a shady lawyer who will attest that your brake lights were dim, you may get sued too. Sorry to be a Debbie-downer, but I spent two years fighting a "no-fault" wreck in Florida that was absolutely 100% not my fault. Set your expectations low, then drop it a peg or two lower and move on with your life.

Progressive will push for you to drop it off at their place.  You don't have to, you can take it to any place in their network and they will cover it.  You can take it out of network and they'll pay for it, but you won't have their "lifetime warranty" (not a great problem, unless the shop sucks)

I got rear ended under them, I didn't lawyer up, but it was recommended I get physical therapy.  They paid for x-rays, they paid for physical therapy, etc.  After about a year and some months I got a call from them asking if $5,500ish was enough to settle up.  I wasn't expecting that, which was nice.

Re: Slefain:

Yup, life isn't fair and I'm assuming this situation won't end up even-steven.  I really should invest in dash cams for each vehicle.  I've driven back-and-forth from FL to MD twice in the last few months and I've seen some really wild driving.  

+10 years ago SWMBO was rear-ended in a low-speed collision. Ambulance to the ER, x-rays, etc  and she got progressively worse.  She wound having back surgery (SI joint fusion) 9 months later.  Eventually the insurance settled and the hospital reduced the charge for the surgery...but we still were totally screwed.  

RE: Mr_Asa

I did just call a body shop that I've used in the past and they said the same thing:  Progressive will want to inspect it and quote it.  I can take it anywhere to get it repaired though and they'll usually pay the difference.  

When I got hit a few years ago (simliar circumstances) insurance paid for x-rays & a few PT visits.  +15 years ago I was a passenger in a car with a few friends who had a minor collision w/a drunk driver.  The car's owner and the other friend in the front lawyer'd up w/a family friend.  They both went to PT and had to deal with a mountain of paperwork just to get it paid for.  I told the insurance company I was contemplating using the same attorney, but since I was already seeing a chiropractor regularly I wanted to see how thing progressed.  Out of the blue they called up and offered me $1,200 over a year later jus to "close out the file."  That was one instance where things actually worked out pretty well.

In reply to Hoondavan :

Good luck then, sounds like you are already know what to expect. Just make sure the body shop follows the factory repair procedures. Let them know you don't want a "John Eagle Collision" type situation on your hands later. That should get their attention.

In reply to Hoondavan :

Part of it was that I started a claim with my insurance for the accident and pretty much everything went through them first.  Their lawyers and adjusters went after the other guy's insurance and I didn't have to worry about any of that crap.