Getting hit by one other driver is dangerous sufficient. What makes it genuinely worse is discovering, someplace between the police report and the primary adjuster name, that you just each pay insurance coverage premiums to the identical firm.
Think about Maya, a 34-year-old graphic designer in Columbus, Ohio, who bought rear-ended at a stoplight in March. The opposite driver admitted fault on the spot. Maya filed a police report, took photographs, and opened a declare together with her insurer that very same afternoon. Then, just a few days later, when she adopted up on the declare standing, she seen the identical adjuster title showing on each side of the correspondence — hers and the opposite driver’s.
Maya desires to know whether or not she has any actual safety right here. She does, however this is likely one of the messier spots in American automotive insurance coverage, and understanding the way it truly works adjustments what she does subsequent.
When each drivers share the identical insurer
Maya’s scenario occurs extra typically than individuals suppose. The 4 largest U.S. auto insurers — State Farm, Progressive, Berkshire Hathaway (which owns GEICO), and Allstate — collectively managed about 59% of the market in 2025, in line with Nationwide Affiliation of Insurance coverage Commissioners (NAIC) information (1). With that a lot of the market concentrated in only a few firms, ending up with the identical insurer as the motive force who hit you is much less of a coincidence.
In case you and the opposite driver share the identical insurer, the usual business observe is that the insurer assigns two totally different adjusters, one for every driver. Every adjuster is meant to analyze the crash, determine who was at fault and estimate the damages independently.
In the event that they agree on who brought about the crash, the at-fault driver’s adjuster handles the payout and the not-at-fault driver is compensated.
Insurers name the interior guidelines and procedures that maintain the 2 recordsdata separate “moral partitions (2).” The concept is to recreate, inside one firm, the identical arm’s-length course of you’d get if two totally different carriers had been dealing with the claims.
In idea, that course of ought to defend Maya the identical method separate insurers would, but it surely’s extra sophisticated in observe.
Why two adjusters nonetheless is not actual safety
Even when an insurer assigns two separate adjusters, these two individuals work for a similar firm. They report back to the identical administration, share the identical employer’s monetary incentives — and that employer is the one writing each checks.
Insurance coverage firms have a authorized responsibility to deal with every declare pretty and act in good religion towards each prospects. However these adjusters do not function exterior their employer’s pursuits. The corporate is paying out on each side of the crash, but it surely works within the insurer’s favor when blame will get shared moderately than clearly assigned.
If Maya’s adjuster finds the opposite driver totally at fault, the corporate pays her damage declare in full. In the event that they break up the fault 50/50, Maya’s payout is diminished. In most states, insurers reduce your compensation by no matter share of blame they assign to you. In states with a 50% fault bar or pure contributory negligence guidelines, being assigned even half the blame can wipe out the damage declare completely (3).
The insurer would not need to do something dishonest to profit from that scenario. It simply has to let the fault dedication drift, and the financial savings handle themselves.
When one adjuster finally ends up dealing with each recordsdata — like Maya seen — the selection turns into apparent. That individual is actually deciding which of the corporate’s two prospects wins, which is a battle of curiosity.
What to observe for, and what to do
Mike Rafi, a personal-injury lawyer and founding father of Rafi Legislation Agency, says the insurer will name (4). Maya’s insurer goes to succeed in out sounding pleasant — she’s been a buyer for years and so they know her title, so the rep will ask just a few informal questions in regards to the accident and the way she’s feeling.
That decision is normally a recorded assertion. Every part Maya says about her accidents, the timeline, and her present situation goes straight into the declare file (a file the corporate is managing for each side of the crash). Saying “I really feel nice” earlier than she finishes therapy, or providing particulars that could possibly be learn as partial fault, is the sort of factor that reveals up later once they’re calculating a settlement.
In case you’re in Maya’s footwear, know what a recorded assertion is and whether or not to speak to your lawyer earlier than you decide up the decision.
If an adjuster is dealing with each side, ask for a separate adjuster in writing as your first transfer. E mail creates a dated document. Maya ought to clearly state that she’s the not‑at‑fault driver, say that she expects a devoted adjuster dealing with solely her declare, and ask for written affirmation of who that individual shall be.
From there, maintain a log of each interplay: date, time, consultant’s title, and abstract of what was mentioned. That document turns into the muse for a proper criticism if the insurer delays, deflects, or pressures you to settle.
Each state has a Division of Insurance coverage that oversees how insurers deal with policyholders. The NAIC’s criticism submitting web page hyperlinks to every state’s submitting course of (5). State-level Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Acts — constructed on NAIC’s mannequin laws — prohibit behaviors like unreasonable delays, insufficient investigations and making unfair settlement provides when fault is evident (6).
Your state insurance coverage division enforces these guidelines and may sanction an insurer that steps out of line. In most states the act itself would not offer you a personal proper of motion (6), although a bad-faith declare (7) by means of the courts should be obtainable relying on the place you reside (8).
The danger of settling too rapidly
Watch out about settling earlier than the total extent of your accidents. When you signal a launch, the insurer is off the hook, even when new medical payments present up later. If the corporate pushes you to shut the declare rapidly, particularly early on, deal with that as a purple flag.
There could also be one upside price asking about: if each drivers are insured by the identical firm, and the not-at-fault driver recordsdata below their very own collision protection to get repairs began sooner, some insurers might waive their deductible or return it rapidly by means of their inside claims course of (9). That is not assured — it relies on the service and the coverage, but it surely’s price asking for in writing.
Maya paid for insurance coverage that was supposed to guard her. The truth that the opposite driver has the identical insurer doesn’t change what she’s owed. It simply means she wants to ensure the corporate remembers that.
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This text initially appeared on Moneywise.com below the title: The motive force who hit me has the identical insurer as me. Now I see the identical man is representing each of us — how is that this honest?
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