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Old 07-22-2015, 05:29 PM   #21
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the hell of accidents

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Originally Posted by craignhouston View Post
Hello, the worst thing happened this weekend on the road . A tire of a minivan next to us on the interstate blew out and the inexperienced driver panicked and lost control. we tried to get out of her way but was unsuccessful. She hit our 2015 Vibe on the driver side where the slide out is right over the axels, causing both our axels to shift, tires and wheels destroyed. The trailer flexed to the right nearly tipping over. Luckily we were not injured and no damage to our 2500 ram.


Not only noticed the damage to where she directly hit, but also damage to wheel well on opposite side where the axels shifted. Our electric tongue jack would not work after the accident when trying to disconnect to have unit towed, but there was electricity to the trailer, as the stabilizer jacks would operate and the tail lights were still functioning.
waiting for the insurance adjuster to call me but would like some input from anyone with the unfortunate experience of being in an accident.

Concerns:

1.besides the obvious direct damage, should I be concerned about internal damage due to the way the trailer nearly overturned? The last thing we want is for them to fix the obvious damage, then get the unit back and our first camp after to have internal issues, leaks etc. occur. I can already envision the washing of the insurance hands from responsibility of these less obvious issues. I am thinking about the non-functioning electric tongue jack that is far from the site of the "damage"

2. we had several long weekend, and 1 week long vacation planned in the next two months. Is the at fault's insurance responsible for providing us a rental so we are not inconvenienced for the next few months?

3. our dishes, coffee pot fell out of cabinets and broke. Are they obligated to replace these items?

4. Should I get an attorney?

bottom line, we are new to this and I have quickly realized an rv is not as simple as an auto accident, where one drives a rental car for a few weeks while the car is fixed. This could take months

Any advice greatly appreciated.


Craig
Very sorry about your accident but the main thing everyone in your family is safe.
Now as to the issues you now have, with it being a newer coach and being a lite coach and with the damage you explained (and I know being in the auto industry for so long) all the damage you have not seen! If the axels well moved to the point of pushing the fender well on the opposite side that coach is most likely TOTALED, so I would start shopping.
As for you trip it is not the problem of your insure company, as you stated it is not a car, so you most likely will not get a rental.

Again sorry for your troubles, but you are all safe so Happy Camping
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Old 07-22-2015, 06:53 PM   #22
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accident

Was there a Highway trooper on scene after accident and whether or not you have pictures. Establishing fault is very important. Once that happens if she got a ticket her insurance is responsible and yes aluminum frames will be compromised internally. if the hit was hard enough to shift your axels you have damage you cannot see.
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Old 07-22-2015, 07:57 PM   #23
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Our 4 month old 30fqsl XLR toyhauler was rearended in Florida Last January. Very disheartening to see your new rig trashed. The other party had Nationwide - who proved to be a good company to deal with. You questioned getting and attorney, so did we as Florida is simply awash in Legal advertising. A family member in the profession told us that as soon as you let out that you have an attorney, the insurance company may stop dealing with you directly and insist that their huge legal staff deal directly with your attorney, greatly slowing down an already glacial process. As for repair vs totaling your rig, probably not your option. Our trailer went to Giant Recreation World in Winter Garden. Their service manager explained that they could repair most damage better than new IF the frame wasn't bent. He would not straighten a bent frame because it frequently caused other issues and might be weakened in the process. That made some sense. In short - it took two months to fix our rig. The Insurance company paid us $200.00 as a per diem for the two of us when we were out of our rig. I towed our repaired trailer (over $14k in damage) 3000 mile home to montana and feel like it was the best outcome to a bad situation. My rig seems 99% back to good ( I have a sticky drawer in the kitchen) and the company gave as a lifetime warranty on the repairs if we take to one of their network of repair shops. Lastly I insisted on a new hitch for my truck and the repairing dealership replaced my equalizer hitch with an upgraded - larger hitch. Hope this helps - my motorcycle vest has a patch that says "Crashing Sucks". it does. good luck
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