The other driver was insured by Wawanesa, but it was not him driving the car, it was his partner. So, Wawanesa is claiming that their driver breached his contract, so she has to pay her $500 deductible and wants to give her $800 to fix the car and salvage the title.
Weak argument by Wawanesa. If there is one driver for two cars.. you still have to pay for two cars even though only one will be in operation at a time.
I got the same claim from Wawanesa when some impatient idiot tried to squeeze by me as I was backing into a parking spot. The idiot was insured by Wawanesa. Fortunately for me, I was driving my 4×4 truck with heavy steel bumpers. I did not have any damage but the other guy had a deep crease down the side of their vehicle.
The $500 deductible is a real hardship for her, and chances of her finding a car for $1300 in such good shape is unlikely. Wawanesa keeps putting pressure on her to sign off on some papers.
Don’t sign, first start looking for an attorney. Before you sign with an attorney, warn Wawanesa that this will likely go to attornys if not settled properly and that you know they primarily insure the car (see the quote I mentioned above.. you might want to even ask them about how they charge if the same driver drives two different cars). Because she is elderly, she may be able to get pro-bono. Some attorneys take cases on contingent (pay a % if awarded money). If using one of those, you need to keep a log of everything to show that you tried to settle before going to attorneys and got stonewalled. Then go for attorney costs as well as recovery of damages.
It also sounds like her own insurance company may be stonewalling as well. She needs to have documentation of the condition of the car.
