By Lawrence E. Mittin, Esq.
A person punches another person in the face, injuring him. The defense given by the puncher is that the other person’s face struck his fist. Such a defense is absolutely absurd! That said, this type of absurd defense is the latest argument being made by insurance companies in order to avoid liability in rear-end collisions.
The story goes like this: Bad driver ( hereinafter “BD”) rear-ends the vehicle in front of him, we will call that person Innocent driver (hereinafter “ID”). BD asks ID not to call the cops, as BD explains they can just exchange information, as car damage is not that bad. ID starts feeling pain after the accident and decides to make a personal injury claim with the help of an attorney. The attorney contacts BD’s insurance to make a claim and is informed that the claim is denied, because BD is not at fault for the accident. BD informed his insurance that while he was stopped, ID who was in front of him, suddenly reversed and hit the front of BD’s car. BD only exchanged information as that was the correct thing to do after an accident and the ID was pressuring BD for the information. So based on the statement of BD, the insurance company denies ID’s injury claim.
This story is happening more and more, especially as during Covid the police may be slow to respond to an accident where an injury is not being claimed at the scene. What is most disturbing about this trend is that the insurance companies are believing their drivers and using this as an additional excuse to not compensate accident victims. Rear-end collisions make up the majority of all car accident claims. Insurance companies always fight these rear-end collisions on the issue of damages. Now insurance companies have another argument to make as they try to avoid paying money to victims; that being to blame the victim by alleging that the victim reversed into the vehicle behind him. So in our story, ID caused the accident with BD by reversing his car and hitting the front of BD’s vehicle.
Insurance companies know that this “defense” that drivers are reversing in the middle of the road and backing into their insureds, is absolutely absurd. However, this defense helps the insurance companies in a few ways. First, it appeases the insurance company’s driver who thinks that somehow his rates are not going to go up from this rear-end collision because the adjuster allegedly believes the story about the other vehicle reversing into his car. The insurance company is raising its driver’s rates no matter what, it is just waiting for a later time to do so. The at-fault driver is trying to con his insurance company and the legal system and while that may buy him some time, his rates are going up in the end because he rear-ended the car in front of him. Secondly, by denying liability, insurance companies know that some claimants will just drop their claims. So right there the denial has saved the insurance company money. On the claims where people do sue, this liability defense increases the cost of litigation for claimants as they now have to take depositions on the issue of liability. This absurd defense plays into the insurance companies’ legal strategy of dragging out litigation and making lawsuits more expensive for claimants.
In order to combat this absurd defense, if you are the victim of a rear-end collision and the police do not come out, you need to gather as much evidence as possible against the at-fault driver. With cell phones, you can record conversations, record videos, take photos, and also ask the other driver to send a confirming text admitting fault while you are at the scene. The more evidence you can gather the better. Remember the person who just hit you is a complete stranger. Even if the other person appears apologetic, when you make a claim against his insurance policy, that person’s insurance rates are going to increase. When money is involved, people often change their stories after the fact. As such, in order to protect yourself in this situation, gather as much evidence as you can. Do not assume that just because the other person rear-ended your vehicle and exchanged information with you at the scene, that the other person’s insurance company is going to compensate you. Now more than ever with insurance companies embracing absurd defenses, you need to protect yourself and if there is even a hint of the insurance company trying to blame you for causing this type of accident, it is best to retain an attorney.
