In St. Petersburg, Florida, this past October, a woman got into a car accident with a man who had been intoxicated behind the wheel. After the crash, the drunk driver drove away from the accident scene. Police apprehended him after she called to report the incident.
The man was arrested and convicted of fleeing an accident scene as well as convicted for drinking under the influence, his blood alcohol content level registering at more than two times the legal limit after the crash. Now, the man is saying that the crash was not his fault and his insurance company is refusing to compensate the woman.
While the article does not give any information about what happened the day of the accident, the police report that was filed indicated that the man had been drunk behind the wheel. The woman is confused as to why the insurance company had not taken that into consideration when they determined the man was not at fault.
The drunk driver allegedly convinced the insurance company that he was not responsible for the accident. Though it is not clear how the accident occurred, the insurance company should not be disregarding the police report when deciding whether her claim should be paid.
Having her claim rejected is no doubt the cause of some frustration in the woman’s life. If she was injured in the accident she already has medical bills for treatment of the injuries. On top of that, she likely had to repair her car as well.
At this point, the woman’s only option is to keep trying to get the insurance company to change their mind. And though this DUI conviction is the second one for the drunk driver, the insurance company is still disregarding that information.
Source: KSDK News online, “Geico refuses to pay claim for woman hit by drunk driver,” 22 December 2010
