7 On Your Side: Crash caught on camera but insurance won't pay

HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- An out-of-control truck jumped the sidewalk and smashed into a school in Harlem.

It was all caught on camera by the charter school security camera in what seemed like an open and shut insurance claim.

But the teacher whose car was totaled couldn't get paid until he got 7 On Your Side.

The accident could've been much worse.

It was a Thursday afternoon in January on the side of P.S. 241 in Harlem, when a box truck suddenly went out of control, jumped a curb and struck the school.

If it was 24 hours earlier the sidewalks would have been filled with students. But one casualty left behind was one teacher's car, crashed by the careening truck.

The man who was behind the wheel of the box truck didn't even brake before hitting a parked car and then the school.

"The truck starts moving, he picks up speed quickly, nails my car and just goes right through the fence," said the car's owner, David Glover.

It stopped only after taking out four sections of the school's iron fence.

Glover was inside the Opportunity Charter School on 112th Street teaching a class. The Altima he uses to commute four hours everyday from upstate New York to Harlem is now not driveable.

"He (the truck driver) came in, just ripped off the total side of the car," said Glover. "And he kept on going. It didn't even stop him when he hit my car."

His insurance company gave him an estimate of $5,400 for fixes.

"My insurance told me it was a total loss," said Glover. He said he was also warned if he filed a claim his insurance company would hike his rates. He got a case number and went after the shipping truck's insurance but get kept getting roadblocked.

"Every two weeks they said they were waiting on the other party to submit their claim," said Glover.

Four months after the accident, the shipping company's auto insurance company kept stating the claim was delayed because it was waiting on the fence damage estimate from the school.

So David had to dip into his savings to put money down on another used car. That is, until the teacher gave us some homework. So we contacted the truck owner, Sosua Shipping.

The owner pushed his insurer - who finally agreed to pay out, but only the value of the car - about $3,800.

"A lot less than the initial offer from my insurance company," pointed out Glover.

And not enough to fix it. So we went a step further, and asked the owner of the truck to make up the difference, and surprised David with an additional check for $1,606 for a grand total of $5,400.

"This never would have happened without your help," said Glover. "7 On Your Side defended me the whole way and made me feel like I had a chance."

The big takeaway here - what should you do if you're car is hit and it's 100 percent NOT your fault?

Get the other driver's information - name, address and insurance info. Get a police report. This will go a long way to establish you're not at fault.

Take pictures and video at the scene. This will help to prove what happened and what damage occurred.

And even if you don't file a claim, report the incident to your insurance company and get a case number. You'll need this if you go after the other party's insurance.

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