TRINITY, N.C. — Michelle Dickens was just starting to wake up. Her husband John was already up and the day started normally for the couple.
The Dickens live out in the country off a rural road in Trinity so at this hour the only noises are from the random car going by or the birds chirping in the trees. On this day the noise they heard was much different.
“I was sitting on the side of the bed when I heard a big boom, (I then) saw a flash of light out of the window,” Dickens said.
Startled and unsure what was going on Dickens quickly got up and started to walk out of the bedroom.
“When I was coming around the corner from the bedroom, John was shooting out the (front) door hollering no he didn’t, no he didn’t,” Dickens said.
The boom that Dickens heard was a truck slamming into their two cars parked in the driveway. The driver swerved off the road and plowed into the cars. After hitting the cars, he stayed in the truck before pulling out and taking off back down the road.
“When I looked out the window, I was in shock because the cars were hit,” Dickens said.
Both cars were severely damaged. One of the cars was a Chrysler and the other was a Nissan. The Dickens was still making payments on both cars.
Dickens called North Carolina Highway Patrol and a trooper came out to take an initial report.
“We didn’t know what just happened, and the guy just took off,” Dickens said.
A couple of months went by, and Dickens hadn’t heard anything from NC Highway Patrol. She was also dealing with her insurance provider to try and get her claim settled.
Dickens paid a $500 deductible, but her insurance provider was slow to settle the claim. The process is even more frustrating because Dickens was not responsible for the crash.
“We didn’t do a thing. We weren’t even in the cars,” Dickens said. “The cars were just sitting in the driveway when he smashed into them.”
A couple of months after the crash, Dickens sent us an email explaining what happened and asking for help. She said no one from NC Highway Patrol had reached back out to her and the insurance claim was still not settled.
The truck was ditched not too far from the crash and troopers did find it and collect information including the name of the owner. The owner of the truck was not the one driving when the crash occurred. Dickens insurance company reached out to the owner who said it was stolen.
The claim was now in limbo because the owner claimed the truck was stolen.
“They (NCHP) let the owner have the truck without even questioning him,” Dickens said.
After we received Dickens's email asking for help, we contacted NC Highway Patrol to better understand what took place and how the investigation was going. After our call the truck owner was questioned by NC Highway Patrol and a trooper also interviewed Dickens about the crash.
The investigation later determined the truck had not been stolen and troopers eventually identified the driver and made an arrest.
“It took (WFMY News 2) getting involved to help,” Dickens said.
There was still however an issue with the insurance claim. Dickens didn’t want to have the claim filed against her insurance when it was now known the truck wasn’t stolen. She also wanted her $500 deductible refunded.
Dickens Insurance was now attempting to contact the truck owner’s insurance company and file the claim with them. The process was proving to be slow and unsuccessful.
“Now they’re (insurance company) going after the one that was driving (the truck) and I haven’t heard back,” Dickens said.
The months continued to tick by, and Dickens was left in the dark as to what was going on. We continued to reach out to her insurance provider to understand what was taking place.
This case was certainly drawn out and was complicated because of the amount paid to Nissan. The insurance company paid around $8,000 but the Dickens still owed around $14,000.
Eventually, the claim was settled, and Dickens was able to close to the amount needed to pay off both cars.
“I had to do all the leg work, I called the dealerships, faxed the contracts and all that,” Dickens said.
The process took so long Dickens's insurance renewal came up and she quickly discovered her rates jumped significantly.
We again contacted the insurance company to understand why the rates jumped. A spokesperson for the company declined to speak with us about this client due to privacy concerns. We did however learn that since the initial claim was filed with Dickens insurance it could impact her rates even if she wasn’t at fault.
The higher rate may also be a result of the subrogation process taking longer than expected. Subrogation is when one insurance company goes after another to collect money they paid out on a claim. In this case, Dickens's insurance company was attempting to collect money from the insurance companies for both the driver and owner.
This case is certainly unusual, but it did eventually get settled and Dickens was able to purchase two new cars. She has since reached out to a different insurance company to provide coverage but hopes she won’t have to call anytime soon.
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