If you are rearended and your vehicle is driveable, you have the option of going through the other person’s insurance for your damages. However, they must complete an investigation of the accident and will not pay for anything until they have done so. They may require you to meet an appraiser to view your vehicle. They may also wish to take a recorded interview. Cooperating with their insurance company will just make matters easier.

If you are not happy with the settlement, and provided that you have collision coverage with your carrier, you may choose to use your carrier to handle the damages minus your deductible, and they will pursue the other carrier through a process called subrogation. Your job is basically done.

The only thing I really did was go get the police report of the accident and fax it to the other drive’rs insurance agent. They also had State Farm, but with a different agent than mine.

I even got a rental car to use for the three days it took for the shop to fix my car — and the other driver’s policy covered that.

I DID use one of their "Good Neighbor" preferred body shops, so maybe that’s why it was all so smooth – I didn’t shop around for estimates — it was minor damage to the rear bumper and a bent rear fender.

HOWEVER, at both companies ive worked for… i will try to call in the claim to the other carrier for my insured.. and monitor the progress.

I CANT miraculously make the claim go faster.. i cant negiotiate for you.. or anything like that… thats not my job and i cant even legally do that as its not my car.

But, as my customer i will attempt to answer any questions and do what i can to help you while going through the other drivers insurance. Not all companies do this.. nor should they be expected to. You get what you pay for.. if you dont have collision.. you are basically saying "i understand that if my car gets hit i could potentially be out of a car for a long time while the other drivers insurance investigates and im ok with that"

The insurance company does not "represent" you. They can not act like an attorney and make demands on the other company. They can not negotiate your settlement with the other company. They will not call the other company just to check the status and then call you and tell you what the other company said.

What they can do – is tell you how their company handles things – give you general advice on the process.

If you have collision coverage – they can use your collision coverage to settle the damage to your vehicle and then they subrogate (go back against) the other company for repayment.