Is there any legal recourse when an insurance company determines you to be at fault for an accident, but you don’t believe you are?

Hello and welcome to the site! My name is Barrister, and I’m a licensed attorney. I’m here to help with your situation.

If you believe your insurer is incorrect based on your recollection of events, you can dispute their findings by taking the following steps:

1. Request a Written Explanation:

Ask your insurance company for a written explanation of why they found you at fault, and request copies of any evidence they used to reach that conclusion.

2. Submit a Formal Dispute or Appeal:

Provide a written rebuttal explaining why you believe their determination is incorrect. Include your reasoning and any supporting evidence (photos, witness statements, diagrams, etc.).

3. File a Complaint with Your State Department of Insurance (DOI):

If the insurer refuses to reconsider or seems biased, you can file an unfair claims practices complaint with your state’s DOI.

They will review whether your insurer handled the claim fairly or denied coverage improperly.

You might be surprised how quickly insurers reconsider their decisions once the Department of Insurance becomes involved.

Worst case, you could hire a local personal injury attorney to review whether your insurer is engaging in bad faith practices.

That’s also something your Department of Insurance could investigate.

As for reporting it to the other party’s insurance company — there’s no harm in doing so, but once you do, both insurers will communicate directly.

If your insurer already said you’re at fault, it’s highly likely the other insurer will simply accept that conclusion.

A police report should have been filed at the scene if there was property damage.

At this point, since the police can’t come out and recreate the accident, filing a report now would likely have limited value.

That would really be a last resort — suing everyone (your insurer, their insurer, and the other party) and asking a judge or jury to determine fault.

It’s possible, but expensive and time-consuming. Usually, you start by escalating within your own insurer and only litigate if that fails.

Exactly. That’s typically how these cases start.

Be persistent and assertive — you can always escalate later if they don’t respond appropriately.

That I can’t explain — it doesn’t make much sense logically, even from a defense attorney’s perspective.

Typically, insurance companies try to avoid paying claims, not rush to accept fault.

It may have been an adjuster’s quick judgment or an internal policy decision to resolve claims cheaply rather than investigate deeply.