Date:         Sun, 21 Mar 2004 03:19:37 -0500
Reply-To:     Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Re: auto accidents in europe? fish
Comments: To: David Brodbeck <gull@gull.us>
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.BSF.4.58.0403202040440.26991@gull.us>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

David

michigan is a no-fault state but as far as i know no-fault insurance
covers bodily harm and the damage that you do to others property.  i'm not
totally up on this it has been a few years since i read the finer details
of my policy.  i can tell you this if you get into an accident and its not
your fault, and you only have the minimum liability insurance i.e. no-fault
you can get money to repair your car even though you don't have collision
coverage.

this is how it works.  the damage has to be over $500 and your insurance
company doesn't pay you the money the insurance company of the at fault
driver pays the money.  this money is called a mini tort (hopefully that
spelling is close).  anyhow to get this money you have to submit the
following to the at fault persons insurance company.  1) a copy of the
police report showing that the driver they insured was at fault.  2)three
written estimates from body shops to show that the cost of the damage was
over $500.  i have collected this money once myself and helped a friend
collect when he was in an accident.  it can often be a pain in the neck to
collect especially when the car is no longer mobile and you have to move
around to three shops for estimates.  often if you go to smaller
independent shops with some pictures they will be willing to write you an
estimate from the pictures.

jonathan

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004, David Brodbeck wrote:

> On Sat, 20 Mar 2004, Jonathan Farrugia wrote:
>
> > i will contrast this with what is the general flow of things in my
> > location (michigan) in the united states.
>
> > the insurance companies then use
> > this official police report to work out the details of who or who's
> > insurance company pays what to cover the costs of the accident and
> > subsequent auto repairs.
>
> Not entirely true, I don't think...Michigan is a no-fault state, so I
> think your insurance always pays to fix your car, regardless of who the
> police say is at fault.
>
>
> David Brodbeck, N8SRE
> '82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
> '86 Volvo 240DL wagon
>