I Hit a Pole in 2023, I Had Collision Coverage. Just Got a Bill from the Electric Company for $24,000

What seems like an insult to an injury is that you could be held accountable for a car accident that damaged an electric pole, a guard rail, or even a road sign. That was what one car owner discovered two years after an accident that totaled his car in a post titled "I hit a pole in 2023, I had collision coverage. Just got a bill from the electric company for 24 thousand."

"Hello, so I had Geico insurance at the time and had full coverage on a financed car. I ended up swerving off the road for a biker that rode across the road, and I ended up hitting a pole knocking it down.

It was a 1230 and there were no cameras or anything. It ended up being my fault. But it was covered by insurance… I had gap coverage and Geico paid out the amount the vehicle was worth and gap covered the rest. The car was a total loss.

Two years later, I get a letter from the electric company for $24,000 saying this is what I owe. I had full coverage and collision insurance, and I have not heard from Geico since they dropped me. But I had full coverage. Is Geico expecting me to pay for the pole even though I had insurance with them? Or is this more of a mixup between the electric company and my old car insurance?

This scares me; I can't afford this."

As it turns out, the OP does have a lot to worry about but should not panic just yet.

Related article: This Is a Story That Breaks My Heart That a Very Good Toyota Rav4 Customer Had To Go Through

Understanding Your Insurance Policy

From the comments in the discussion thread, one important factor stands out: car owners who do not understand their insurance policy as well as they should.

One standout misunderstanding is the definition and separation of what is full coverage, collision insurance, and minimum liability insurance. In short, some insurance policy owners believe that full coverage means it covers everything when, in truth, it does not and/or covers less than they believe.

Here’s an instructive summary about car insurance basics:

1. Liability Insurance: In short, it covers medical expenses, lost wages, and legal fees if you injure someone in an accident. For example, you run a red light and hit another car. The driver is injured and goes to the hospital. Your bodily injury liability pays for their medical bills and any lawsuit they might file.

2. Property Damage Liability: This one covers damage you may have caused to someone else's property (e.g., their car, fence, building). For example, you accidentally hit a parked car. Your property damage liability pays to repair that car.

From 1 and 2, there are three components to car insurance liability coverage with limits:

1. Bodily injury coverage per person
2. Bodily injury coverage per accident
3. Property damage coverage per accident

These limits are usually expressed as a series of numbers, such as 15/30/10.

For example, let's pretend that you collided with a van carrying several passengers. With the hypothetical limits, your liability coverage would pay up to $15,000 per person for bodily injuries caused to people in the van but no more than $30,000 in total bodily injury costs for the incident. You'd also be covered for up to $10,000 in property damage.

The point to remember is that this is the typical "minimum" level of insurance required by most states. However, the numbers per category can and do vary.

3. Collision Insurance: This one is for your car and covers damage to your own vehicle from a collision, regardless of fault. For example, you back into a pole and damage your bumper. Collision coverage pays to repair your bumper minus your deductible.

4. Comprehensive Insurance: This part of a policy covers non-collision-related damage to your vehicle, like theft, vandalism, and hail. For example, a tree branch falls on your car during a storm and cracks your windshield. Your comprehensive insurance pays for the damage.

5. Full Coverage Insurance: This is the one that gets misunderstood the most but is a common term used to describe a policy that includes the four aforementioned policies listed. For example, you hit a deer (comprehensive) and then rear-ended another car the next month (collision). With full coverage, both incidents are typically covered.

6. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage: This one is a safety net for you from other drivers with no insurance or not enough. For example, someone with no insurance runs a stop sign and hits your car. Your uninsured motorist coverage pays for your injuries or car repairs.

7. Medical Payments (MedPay) / Personal Injury Protection (PIP): Another safety net, this one covers your medical bills and sometimes lost wages, no matter who is at fault. For example, you break your arm in a car crash and MedPay or PIP helps pay hospital costs and wages lost from missed work.

Aside from the year and model of your car, your age, your credit report, etc. the seven components of a car insurance policy listed above can possess a range of coverage limits and deductibles, and therefore, determines how much you pay in premiums.

For example, if you select a bodily injury liability coverage of $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident versus a coverage of $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident, you will pay less for the first option and more for the second option.

The benefit of choosing the higher option is that it could save you from paying thousands out-of-pocket.

Which brings us back to the point of this article: Insured car owners who choose the lowest possible property damage liability by going with the state mandated minimum coverage might actually be hurting themselves financially.

"Most people (who don't understand insurance) are short-sighted and only care about the lowest monthly premium they can pay. The state insurance commissioner also doesn't want to listen those same people complain about rates. They don't understand what it actually means in the context of an accident, claim, or their financial security. Working claims with that level of coverage was easy though." ―Former Ato/Arb/DVC adjuster

In most states, the minimum property damage coverage is $25,000. However, in some states like Massachusetts and New Jersey, it is $5,000―nowhere near the amount needed for a power line pole bill:

This happened to me as well. I was involved in a hit and run which totaled my car and smashed a guardrail. Few months later I get a 5k bill for the repair of the guardrail.―chuck-u-farley

I hit a pole on my PC800, insurance covered the 1st 50k to replace the pole and I owed the remaining 1200 bucks. ―Lower-Ad-6952

The OP appears to be bewildered by the fact that colliding with an electrical pole is something he can be billed for and that the billing can arrive years after an accident. 

Post responses tell him that the delay in the billing is not unusual and the reason why the bill was sent to him rather than his insurance provider is that his contact info came from the original police report.

Thread Responses Offer Good Advice

The best responses were those that advised the OP to contact his previous insurance provider with the bill from the electric company and find out how much coverage he had at the time of the accident for property damage.

CALL GEICO―lerriquS_terceS (arbitration adjuster 10-yr experience)

Send it to your insurance, it should be covered under liability. If you have limits greater than the demand you should be good. But, if there is shared ownership of the pole they will be able to figure it out. As long as the policy was in force for the date of loss you should be good. ―Animendo

Make sure every time you speak to Geico to say that you are recording the conversation if you can. Since it's a couple years back, they sometimes have been known to try and ignore claims like that. When they say all calls are recorded, say I'm on a recorded line as well or start by saying hi my name is such and such on a recorded line. Just a recommendation as an insurance agent. This is what I do for my clients. ―Prestigious-Cup6119

Final Thoughts: The odds are good that Geico will honor the OP's policy but for the OP's concerns, it really depends on how much property damage liability he had signed up for that may or may not cover the $25,000 bill.

If there is one take-away from his experience, it is to be aware that the property damage liability component of your car insurance policy is nothing to make light of. Just a little more coverage could save you from an unexpected debt. If you are in an accident that involves property damage, be sure to check your policy and contact your insurance agent for documentation so that you will have a paper trail the courts can follow should a bill arrive in the mail and your ex-insurer is less than cooperative.

Have you ever been in an accident and received an unexpected bill for property damage? If so, tell us about it in the comments section below and how it worked out for you.

For additional car insurance-related articles, here is one that is almost unbelievable: “Fake Bear Video Footage Used to Scam Car Insurance Company” 

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Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati who currently researches and works on restoring older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. He also reports on modern cars (including EVs) with a focus on DIY mechanics, buying and using tools, and other related topical automotive repair news. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites as well as on Facebook and his automotive blog "Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair" for useful daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

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