1k. And it is the principle. The fact it went to collections. Nothing done wrong on my end and I intend to fight.

Isn't Florida a no-fault state? So shouldn't their insurance pay for their car?

Even if the claim is legit, which I believe you that it's not. Having it go to collections only after 45 days is beyond ridiculous.

I would've though a normal "bill" would have gone out. Than another with a late fee/miss payment attached to it. Then possibility a certified letter. Which should've taken 3 months.

Still, $1,000 is a lot of damage for a claim that has no police report. Thus no factual time and date. I wonder what the description of said vehicle it was that "you" were driving. Oh wait, no police report.

KOT

$1k sounds suspiciously like a nuisance scam. It's a low threshold where everyone pays and settles, rather than fight, because the costs of fighting are likely more than the disputed amount. The patent trolls are running a similar extortion scam.

We were given the date of said incident and town. We were asked the color and vehicle make by progressive. Of course if you have access to tag numbers you have access to color, make, model, owner and address.

Correct. They did pay for the damage I can not see, but they want reimbursement. But they feel my car needs to be brought to one of their inspection locations. Dont think so. It can go to my carrier for inspection.

I've been running a dash cam since I got the new van.  It's powered by an auxiliary circuit that powers up the camera any time a door is opened or whenever the vehicle is running and then stays on for 30 minutes after any activity in the vehicle.

It has GPS tracking along with the video and while they might say you erased the video of the accident, the GPS tracking may have been enough to prove that you were in another area and not near the accident scene.

I don't have any experience with this kind of thing, but curious why your insurance company isn't more involved in either fighting or settling this.  The few times I've needed my auto insurance, it's been really hands off for me.

You're right that they'll have access to Y/M/M and color via the tag number. But I was curious onto what the witness said was the Y/M/M and color. With a tag number of ABC-123. Trying to figure out if the tag number was mixed up some how here.

So if your vehicle is a 2012 Ford Connect white. And the actual vehicle is a 2009 Chevy van and black. But has a tag of ABC-132. Then having the witness describe what the vehicle was, would've made this an open/shut case for you.

KOT

More information on this dash cam set up would help a lot there. :-)

KOT

Here's a link to the camera:
[Link: amazon.com]

I installed a 12v to 5v transformer to connect it to the van aux power.  The 30 minute delay and power when door opens is a function of the van's aux power circuit and doesn't have anything to do with the camera.  I think most people just power them from the ignition so the camera records when the engine is running.

The camera also has a DVR function which records on motion, so I guess you could also leave it running all the time provided you drive the vehicle regularly so the camera doesn't drain the battery.  This might be useful if you're the victim of hit&run or vandalism while parked.

Here's a picture of it installed.  It's really small and discrete and in my van most of it hides behind the blacked out part of the windshield  beside the rear view mirror so it's not very visible from outside.  The cable on the left is a mini USB cable to give you a sense of scale... it's only about 2" wide and 3" tall:

I have a dash cam as well. with the way they drive here its crazy not to.
For what they cost vs. what they may save you, its well worth it IMHO.

Paul, have you checked to see how long your recordings last.
My DashCam starts up on ignition.
In his case, if he was contacted 2-4 weeks later, the video might be long gone.

I wonder if there is a relatively easy solution that would automatically save the video upon returning home? Something WiFi based, or the likes.

I can't imagine commercial fleets or police departments doing manual remove/download/reinstall of hard drives or memory cards.

Mario, this is a good point... I think I get a couple weeks driving time with a 64GB card, but I don't drive that much.

Do not know what witness said. Progressives words were witness git the tag number.

Wow. I can't see how that can be legal. I mean the only "proof" is a tag number. Tag numbers can be mixed up. Tags can be copied. Tags can be stolen. But a tag number and a description of the vehicle can not be mixed up for the most part.

KOT