Q: Car accident, Portland OR. Insurance says we automatically at fault in our situation. True or can we argue? See detail.

A: Insurance companies will say all sorts of BS to get out of paying a claim and Geico is notorious for playing games. I can't really tell from reading your description what the fault would be but usually a Personal Injury Lawyer would be willing to talk to you at no charge and evaluate the case so you have nothing to lose in seeking a consultation.

What I am not clear on is whether you have information that will identify the other car and driver? They are required by law to give you their name, driver's license number and insurance information. Otherwise you can report them to the police. Your insurance may require you to make a police report before they will cover this as a phantom driver case, ie where you don't know the identity of who hit you. (Tip - this person might live close to where the accident happened since they claim they were late for work. You might want to hang out in that area about the same day of the week and the same time of day and see if you spot them or just cruise the surrounding neighborhood.)

I am also not clear on what you are trying to get from your insurance. If you want your car repaired and you have full coverage then they have to fix it regardless of who is at fault. That is what full coverage is about. You just have to pay the deductible. If you don't have full coverage you are out of luck because your insurance doesn't cover property damage unless you paid for full coverage. It doesn't matter who is at fault.

If you were injured and want to go and see a doctor it also doesn't matter who is at fault. You can use your PIP coverage to pay any related medical bills. Fault has nothing to do with PIP coverage - it applies no matter who cause the accident. (PIP coverage also includes reimbursement of lost wages with some limitations, like you have to miss 14 consecutive days of work before that kicks in.)

Now the only thing your insurance will unilaterally cover that is fault dependent is your general personal injury damages which you would normally sue the other driver for. There are ways to put pressure on Geico using Oregon Law which a personal injury attorney can help you with. It has to do with a statute called ORS 742.061. https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/742.061 You really will need an Attorney to help you make a claim using this statute because the leverage is that the insurance company ends up paying your Attorney's fees if they don't pay your claim six months after it is properly presented. So they are only going to fear your demand if an Attorney is making it for you and there is a risk of paying Attorney's fees.

Bottom line, contact a Personal Injury Attorney and discuss your case. Typically there is no charge for an initial consultation and if they take your case it can be done on a contingency basis where they get a percentage of the recovery plus, in the event of an Attorney Fee award, they get Attorney's fees.

FYI, that the other car was speeding absolutely puts some or all of the fault on the other driver. However, there can be comparative fault where some Judge or Jury or Arbitrator decides that both driver's were partly at fault and if your percentage of the comparative fault is more than 51% you collect nothing. If it is 50% or less, your damages are reduced by the percentage of your fault. https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/31.600 These types of cases can often be resolved if one hires an accident recreation specialist who will take the statements of the witnesses (you and your passengers) and examine the scene of the accident. This does cost money so an Attorney might ask you to pay this cost and then take your case if there is an expert willing to testify that you were not at fault.

A: PS You generally can't get damages for just emotional trauma without some actual physical injury. There can be exceptions to this rule but they are rare.