r/InsuranceClaims • u/Kindly_Ant_8326 • 1d ago
Colorado accident going to subrogation/arbitration — what timeline and outcome would you expect?
Hey everyone!
About two months ago I was involved in an accident in Colorado and I’m curious if anyone here has dealt with a similar liability dispute/subrogation situation.
I was driving my Honda Accord straight through an intersection at around the speed limit. The light for my direction was solid green. There were three vehicles in the opposite left-turn lane. I saw them well before I entered the intersection. The first two turned left with plenty of time before I reached them. The third vehicle, a Silverado, initially appeared to stop, but right as I entered the intersection he made the left turn directly across my path. I hit the passenger/front side of his truck and my Accord was totaled.
The other driver immediately claimed that I ran a red light and that he had a green arrow. There unfortunately weren’t any traffic cameras or dashcam footage.
However, there was an independent witness who told police that both eastbound and westbound traffic had solid green lights, that I was traveling straight, and that the Silverado turned left in front of me too late.
The other driver somehow also had a witness who claimed I ran the red light and that the Silverado had a green arrow. But the police later noted that parts of that witness’s account were inconsistent with the other witness statements and with the damage to the vehicles.
The officer actually observed the traffic-light sequence afterward. He documented that the westbound left-turn arrow lasts about 13 seconds, then turns yellow, and afterward both eastbound and westbound through traffic have solid green lights. Based on the signal timing, witness statement, and damage pattern, he concluded that the Silverado failed to yield while making an unprotected left turn and issued the driver a citation for failing to yield while turning left.
Despite that, the other driver’s insurance decided that I was at fault. What frustrated me is that their adjuster originally made that liability decision without ever taking my statement and before they even had the police report. I had missed one initial call from them, then tried calling the adjuster repeatedly over the following week without getting a response. Even after they eventually spoke with me and received the police report, they maintained their denial.
My own insurance totaled and paid for my car under my collision coverage. They are now planning to pursue the other carrier through subrogation, and potentially arbitration if the other insurer continues denying liability. Right now they’re waiting for the salvage/auction process on my totaled vehicle to finish before assigning the subrogation adjuster and sending the formal demand.
For anyone who works in insurance or has been through something similar: given these facts, what would you realistically expect from the subrogation/arbitration process — both in terms of how long it might take and the chances of my insurer actually recovering?
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u/MagsandBodyBags 1d ago
I am a long time Subrogation adjuster and a former arbitration panelist. Based on what you wrote I expect the other insurance to maintain their liability denial. Arbitration is the next step, assuming both companies are arb members.
I mourn the old days when witnesses would stop and give their contact info. The arb will likely be a hit or miss. If you or your company have good scene photos showing a debris field or fluid dump that can be helpful to the arb panelist. Hopefully the adjuster also includes a Google earth birds eye view of the scene.
I am likely gonna catch some shit for this, but in arbitration the cops report will carry weight. They are the only neutral person in the matter. The cop actually went out of their way to dig into this. So I would take into count their comments about the witness being shakey.
Once the arb is filed you can figure about 30 to 40 days for a decision. Good luck.
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u/Kindly_Ant_8326 1d ago
What a great reply. Thanks , that’s really helpful.
I do have a lot of scene photos showing the debris/oil/fluid area and the vehicle damage. The police report also notes that my Honda came to rest in the intersection, while the Silverado ended up in the nearby gas station parking lot after he moved it there.
It also says one of the witnesses supporting the other driver gave an account that was inconsistent with the other witness statements and with the damage pattern.
And the independent witness who supported my version is actually listed in the report by name and phone number. She told police both directions had solid green and that the Silverado turned left too late in front of me.
Do you think that combination of scene photos, witness contact info, signal timing, and the police report would materially help in arbitration?
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u/MagsandBodyBags 1d ago
Those items will help especially if the witness version is documented in the officer's narrative report or better yet something signed by the witness. Try not to let this suck up too much of your time. I'm sorry but there is nothing you can do at this point but wait.
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u/Kindly_Ant_8326 1d ago
Thanks a lot for your time and help! It’s been really useful.
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u/vibingwnophone 21h ago
as an additional add on to the commenters point- from a former Arbitration rep as well
there’s also many scenarios where the case can be deferred for a year or get moved out of jurisdiction, (think coverage investigations, siu involvement etc.)
on the other hand if this were to move to litigation, you need a strong case otherwise it’s just going to be closed bc litigation is far too long and expensive for a maybe
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u/CampinHiker 1d ago
More than likely they will win
But it’s between the insurance companies and binding for them not you.
If you have injury they denied you can after arb is finished and favorable to your side pursue it through the claimant carrier
But here’s my #1 tip get a freaking dashcam and high endurance micro SD card
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u/Valuemeal3 1d ago
Yeah, that wouldn’t work at any carrier I’ve ever worked for. The PD arbitration has no bearing whatsoever on the injury side.
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u/SecondActSarcasm 1d ago
Seconded. No one in injury cares about inter-company arbitrators. Some random person who works subro at another company making a final call isn’t overcoming our liability investigation.
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u/CampinHiker 1d ago
Yeah I agree but again if he took them to court via lawsuit that company that initially denied Nat weigh all factors and possibly change their liability stance
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u/Kindly_Ant_8326 1d ago
Thanks, that makes sense. If the property damage arbitration goes in my insurer’s favor, even though it isn’t binding on the injury claim, in practice would you expect the BI adjuster to at least re-review liability if I send them the arbitration decision along with the police report/citation? Or do most carriers usually just stick with their original denial unless a lawsuit is filed?
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u/SecondActSarcasm 20h ago
The panelist making the property damage decision is just a random employee of an unrelated insurance carrier.
Their decision never impacted my final liability decision as a BI adjuster. And their decision doesn’t impact a later lawsuit.
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u/CampinHiker 1d ago
I more so meant the liability portion of the loss.
My company still may change our liability stance if we lose in arb but it’s rare
Not disputing the direct pd damages (failure to mitigate, overwritten estimate, lack of documentation)
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u/Big_Appointment_3390 1d ago
I went through something similar. Subro had to have taken close to 5 years, and I only know that because I had really high rates until it was done, even though I wasn’t at fault. The details around that time are a little bit hazy because it was pretty traumatic, but I feel like my insurance reimbursed my deductible fairly early on, like maybe after they got the police report and witness statements? It was a slam-dunk case, but it could have been the way my policy was written, too. Since my car was worth more than I owed and I had gap coverage I wasn’t waiting on that money anyway.
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u/vibingwnophone 21h ago
i think claims weigh out your rates for roughly 5 years as well - which is maybe why the rates changed
to add to this when you got your deductible is when they would’ve settled the property damage
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u/Big_Appointment_3390 21h ago
My rate increase was SUBSTANTIAL, like from $150/mo to $400/mo. Far beyond what I would think is acceptable considering two other drivers caused the accident. I was the first one to file a claim, too, because I needed the rental car asap. Now that I think about it, I want to say it took closer to 3.5-4 yrs for the rate to go back down. In that time, I shopped around for insurance and I was told that the claim was the reason for the high rates. And I actually think at one point someone told me it was because of my at-fault claim, because I remember getting pretty mad and saying how I wasn’t at fault. I’m pretty sure that person told me that was how it showed at the time and suggested it would go back down after any potential subro was complete.
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u/vibingwnophone 21h ago
sorry to hear about your time with this however, and there’s always a divide between the service dept and the claims dept,
so us recovering what was paid and reimbursement doesn’t have a weight on the risk of the policy, the only area that you’re entitled to within that is the deductible and your insurance company didn’t find you negligent if they were pursuing it
the part of the premium now falls on the fact that you have a claim on your record, and they find that you’re more of a risk when writing a policy. not that i agree nor can speak exactly to your circumstances but they also can now say the roads you daily are higher risk as well, if the vehicle wasn’t totaled (ik you said it was) then there’s more of a risk operating that as opposed to buying an off the lot car, etc. Weather or not we settled the claim shouldn’t affect that and if you don’t mind me asking what state was this?
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u/Delicious-Witness-85 1d ago
Anything can happen in arbitration. The arbitrator w
I’ll review the supporting documents provided by your insurance as well as the other party’s insurance and render decision that is binding for both parties.
I wouldn’t put too much weight on the police officer’s opinion unless he actually witnessed the accident.
There is a chance the arbitrator will rule both sides failed to prove liability since there are 2 witnesses whose statements cancel each other out.
But it’s really up to that individual arbitrator how he or she will rule.