The Shoulder
The Shoulder
57
Insurancemellow-tern-593

Other driver blew a yield sign and HIS insurance just cleared him completely. How??

I genuinely cannot believe this is where I'm at right now.

Back in the spring I got T-boned by a guy who blew through a yield sign on a residential connector road and plowed into my driver-side door. I had the right of way — there was literally a yield sign controlling his lane, not mine. Police came, made a report, noted where the point of impact was on my car. Seemed pretty open and shut.

Fast forward a few weeks and his insurance calls me to say their investigation is complete and their driver is not at fault. Their reasoning? No camera footage exists, and their insured told them I was driving "erratically" and going way too fast. That's it. That's the whole case apparently.

The damage pattern on my car literally shows he hit ME on my door — meaning I was already in the intersection and he came into me. Doesn't that tell you something about who had the right of way?? I asked the adjuster to explain how their insured could have yielded properly and still hit my door and she just kept repeating "we can only go by the statements we have."

I asked for a supervisor callback. Got one two days later and was basically told the same thing. No new evidence, no change in liability decision.

Now I'm scrambling. I've driven that road a hundred times — I know there are a couple of businesses nearby and I'm hoping one of them has an exterior camera that caught something. Also filing through my own insurance but I have a $1,000 deductible which is painful.

Anyone else been through a he-said/she-said liability denial like this? Did you find a way through it?

Lesson I'll never forget: dashcam goes in every car I ever own from this point forward.

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10 replies

  • 22
    quick-heron-517

    This happened to me almost exactly. No footage, other driver lied, and his insurance just... believed him. What finally helped me was my own insurance going after theirs through subrogation once they paid out. It took months but I eventually got my deductible back. It's a brutal process but don't give up on collecting that evidence from nearby businesses — move fast though, most places overwrite footage within 30 days.

  • 23
    quiet-marten-606

    I used to work claims and I want to be honest with you about what's happening here. When an adjuster says "we can only go by statements," what they usually mean is: our insured gave us a story that creates enough doubt to avoid paying out. They're not neutral investigators — they work for the other driver's carrier. Their job is to protect their insured.

    The damage pattern you're describing actually can be used as physical evidence. A competent appraiser can look at the point of impact and the angle of the damage and reconstruct who was where. Push your own insurance to do a proper inspection and document that. Don't let this just sit as a word-vs-word situation when there's physical evidence on the car.

    • 5
      plain-crane-963

      I hope you're also taking care of yourself physically through all this. The stress of fighting an insurance battle on top of recovering from an impact like that is real. Make sure every symptom — even stuff that seems minor — is documented with your doctor. Stiffness, headaches, sleep issues, all of it. Gaps in medical records can hurt you later if this goes anywhere legally.

  • 19
    plain-beaver-159

    The other driver's insurance will ALWAYS find a way to protect their customer if there's any wiggle room at all. "Erratically driving" and "too fast" are the two most common made-up defenses because they're impossible to disprove without footage. They know that. Please don't trust that adjuster to do anything in your interest — she literally works for the person who hit you.

    • 8
      hopeful-neighbor779

      Seconding this. The same approach worked for me last year.

  • 16
    sharp-bison-302

    A few things worth doing right now if you haven't already: First, send a written request (email is fine) to every business within a block or two of that intersection asking them to preserve any footage from that day. Use that word — "preserve" — because it creates a record that you asked. Second, get a copy of the full police report if you only have the summary. Sometimes the officer's diagram or narrative has details that support your version. Third, your own insurance subrogating against theirs is a real path — it's slower but it exists.

  • 10
    patient-stoat-907

    Not legal advice, but this fact pattern — clear traffic control device, physical damage consistent with one version of events, no neutral witness — is exactly the kind of case where an independent PI attorney's free consultation is worth your time. They can sometimes get accident reconstruction experts involved and send spoliation letters to businesses that your own insurance might not bother with. Just worth a conversation. Not legal advice.

    • 2
      hopeful-walker717

      This is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.

  • 15
    gentle-swan-194

    Stop calling. Everything in writing from here on out. Email the adjuster, email the supervisor, create a paper trail. When you find any camera footage, don't hand it to them casually — talk to your own insurance or a lawyer first about how to use it properly. And yes, file your claim with your own insurance today if you haven't. Don't wait on these people.

  • 7
    gentle-mole-712

    Did you get a copy of his statement in writing or just a verbal summary from the adjuster? And was there anything in the police report about the yield sign — like did the officer actually note it as a contributing factor or just document the scene? Asking because those details matter a lot for what your options actually are here.