State Farm Insurance Has Not Accepted Liability

State Farm Insurance has not accepted liability. Unfortunately, it’s a common statement when it comes to automobile accidents in Maryland.

State Farm Insurance driver lied to Maryland police about accident

I was hit in my car by a woman who ran through an intersection. Police came on scene in Baltimore City and took a statement from the driver saying that she crossed into the intersection. But, she lied to her insurance company saying that I ran a light and hit her. She was driving on a suspended license and was ticketed and deemed at fault.

I have liability insurance and her State Farm Insurance first stated that they had conflicting statements and couldn’t accept liability for the accident until the official police report came out.

Once the police report came out, State Farm insurance is still saying that the accident is under investigation even though the report clearly states that she is at fault. They won’t get me a rental and haven’t sent an adjuster to estimate the damage.

I have a personal injury lawyer and have been going to therapy but they are telling me that they only deal with my personal injury and not property damage. What can I do?

What to do if State Farm Insurance has not accepted liability?

If you have collision and/or rental coverage, you should make these claims against your own insurance company. If not, you will need to wait until State Farm makes its decision on liability. If they deny the claim, your lawyer can sue for property damage in addition to personal injury. If the claim is denied, it will take a while to recoup your losses because you cannot split a property damage claim from the personal injury claim.

The police who responded to the accident did not witness what occurred, so they can only assign fault based on what the two drivers, and any witnesses, told them happened.

If both drivers claim the other ran the red light, and there is no independent eyewitness to corroborate either one’s story, then the officer has no business assigning fault based on which one he wants to believe. If, however, the other driver admitted to the officer that she ran the red light, then that admission should carry the day.

In the absence of such an admission or a third eyewitness, the Sate Farm Insurance is free to believe their driver over you. Ordinarily, the way for you to proceed is to submit your property damage claim through your collision coverage under your insurance policy, obtain a rental car from your insurer if you paid for that coverage, and let the two insurance companies fight it out over which carrier is responsible for the property damage claim.

If your insurer is successful (there is an arbitration process insurance carriers are bound to follow in property damage disputes), then it will recover any deductible you paid and reimburse you for it. However, if you do not have collision coverage under your policy, which I suspect is the case, then unfortunately you are out of luck.

You must obtain a property damage estimate and repair your car on your own, and have your lawyer include the property claim along with the personal injury claim, together with any receipts incurred by you for a rental car, and hope you win.

Unless State Farm decides that their driver is a liar, then all you have is an allegation that you had the green light and their insured driver ran a red light. That’s what courts are for, to decide whom to believe.

You bear the burden of proof to convince the trier of fact (judge or jury) the accident was caused by the other driver running the light. Until then, State Farm Insurance has not accepted liability, and is free to deny your claim. Their obligation, and profit motive, is to only pay those damage claims for which their insured is liable for causing.