THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Roy Jackson was on his way home after running some errands. He was driving along State Route 1104 in Lexington about 5 minutes from his house when a driver heading in the opposite direction suddenly swerved into his lane.
“There was no time to do anything,” Jackson said.
He was able to jerk his truck's steering wheel to the right and avoid getting hit head-on. The other vehicle side-swiping his truck before stopping down the road.
“He was about two to three feet in my lane,” Jackson said. “I could hear the metal against metal sound as it went down the side of my (truck),” Jackson said.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol was called to the scene and a trooper investigated and wrote up a report. The trooper determined the other driver was at fault. A citation was written.
“The (trooper) said the debris field clearly indicated he was in my lane when he struck me,” Jackson said. “He told the trooper he was reaching behind the vehicle to adjust a load in the truck.”
A couple of days later, Jackson contacted the other driver’s insurance company to file a claim. The adjuster told Jackson it was still investigating the matter. A few more weeks went by, and Jackson still hadn’t heard from the insurance company.
“I called Highway Patrol and the Clerk of Courts, (they said) he accepted responsibility when he paid the ticket,” Jackson said.
When Jackson did talk to the insurance company, he was told they had denied the claim and would not cover the cost of repairs to his truck. Jackson asked for an explanation and that’s when he was told about contributory negligence.
North Carolina is one of only a handful of states that have a contributory negligence law on the books. It basically bars the plaintiff (or in this case Jackson) from recovering any compensation if the defendant (in this case the other driver) can prove the plaintiff acted negligently or contributed to the damage.
While the insurance company is not the law, it can use the contributory law to deny a claim. In that case, the driver who was hit is forced to go to court to recoup any damages.
“It’s very concerning to me if insurance companies are taking advantage of the laws and deny claims,” NC Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey said.
While the North Carolina Insurance Commission will investigate all complaints, it is often handcuffed by contributory law.
“There’s no doubt about it that it could be abused by certain insurance companies,” Causey said.
In this case, the Department of Insurance did investigate and try and assist Jackson but was not able to help. As for the law, Causey said the advantage is that NC drivers have lower insurance rates than most states.
Jackson is left with a bad taste in his mouth and more than a thousand dollars in repairs for an accident Highway Patrol said he didn’t cause.