This is kinda long so grab a beer or some popcorn.
Let me start off by saying wtf. I've had my 2001 AE max for two months and already I have to deal with this crap.

I was driving to work today and stopped at a stop light. As I'm stopped the guy behind me in a Ford F150 (Verizon company) pickup decides not to stop. Got rear ended, his bumper went over mine and did some not cool stuff. Here's the damage I've noticed so far:

1) Bumper is scraped all over
2) Trunk lid is pushed in a bit and scratched up
3) Small scrapes on the inside of the tail lights
4) Just recently I heard a noise under the hood, sounds like the radiator fan hitting stuff?

After the accident I had the police come out and take a report. The guy admitted to the cop that he failed to stop. I took pictures. We exchanged information. He was upset because he thought his boss would suspend him. This is where it get's interesting.

The guy who hit me had his supervisor come out. This guy took all my info. and some pics of my car's damage then everybody left. I called my insurance company (Geico) and they said I have 2 options:
1) Go after this guys company directly or
2) Geico will charge me my 500$ collision deductable and repair my car, then proceed to get my money from his insurance company.

I chose option 1. So the Geico Agent calls me back "The insurance company dealing with the claim is not the drivers insurance because it was a verizon company truck. They will not take a claim report from a third party (Geico).

Now what? Do I contact verizon myself, wait for the supervisor guy to report the claim (if so how long), or pay the deductable and let Geico deal with it? And how do I know EVERYTHING (including the whacky fan thing) is getting fixed? I've got a warranty on the car for 1,000 more miles should I use that for the fan? Also, I work at a car dealership with a collision center. They do great work and give employee discounts.

Sorry for the long story, I'm new at this so any advice would be appreciated!

 

I'd pay the $500 deductible and get your car fixed ASAP. Your insurance company is on your side and will get your money back to the best of their ability, because it is their money too.

Sorry to hear about the mishap, hope everything works out

edit: oh, also, if you got REAR ended and you're experiencing an issue in the FRONT of your car, even though I don't know much about body damage, your frame could quite possibly have gotten bent out of shape, causing your radiator issue. Another reason I'd try to get the car fixed ASAP.

 

My personal opinion,

I would contact the Verizon supervisor in person. I would ask for their insurance info. Let him know from there that you would be contacting their insurance that very day. At this junction, they would probably be trying to handle this 'in house'. I'm not sure, just speculating here.

If they can't handle it rather fast, contact the insurance during the same day.

Please do not let this go too long without some attention.

Good luck, let us know what they say, and

POST SOME PICS!!

(You know someone was going to say this)!

Swee

 

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you were not injured. I've dealt with hundreds of these types of situations (used to manage a law firm). I agree with 4myswee, IMO call Verison, request their insurance carrier information and file a claim. Have them come out and do an estimate and then get at least two independent estimates from reputable shops. You can have Verizon's carrier cut you the check directly, once you agree on the amount, and then have the work done at your dealership. Most likely, if you get an employee discount, there will be a difference you can pocket. Make sure you have someone qualified to investigate and include if applicable, the noise issue in the front. Given the amount of damage to the rear, it is most likely not related, but make sure it's covered if you can get a qualified repair person so write it up that way.

Good luck.

 

I believe PA is a "no-fault" state. That means that all initial damage to YOUR car should be paid by YOUR insurance company. They will then try to recover that cost from the driver who was negligent. If they are not succesfull, you will owe your $500 detuctable. Do not try to go after them yourself. You will only get the run around and possibly lose your a$$ in the deal. Your insurance company sucks for not explaning this to you properly.

 

I would leave your company (Geico) out of it for now. It is easier to demand things from the other guy's insurance company...their insured hit you. Your insurance company wants your car fixed but they will not go out on a limb for you if they don't think they will get reimbursed from the other insurance company.

1) Call the cop and get a copy of the police report to confirm he wrote it up as the Verizon guy's fault.

2) Call his insurance company and file a claim with the info you got from the guy. They will need to confirm the accident with their driver and get a copy of the accident report to determine fault before doing anything.

3) They will either tell you to go to one of their approved shops (read on) or send an adjuster out (see #4). The benefit of using their shop is the repair will be cashless to you. The caviat is that the repair shop may not be the best in town or specialize in Nissans. You can also use your own repair shop. Either way, require them to use Nissan replacement parts.

4) They may send an adjuster out to have him look at your car and cut you a check on the spot. It will likely be a lowball estimate. Take your car to a couple of quality repair shops to get independent estimates prior to their adjuster look at your car so that if his estimate happens (by coincidence of course!) to be low, you can pull out the other estimates and "help him see what he may have missed on his estimate".

5) You are going to have to fight to get everything fixed not obvious/directly linked to the accident (ie. the fan).

Good luck!

 

I once trusted Geico in an accident I was clearly not at fault for. They 'had my back', because as one could safely assume, it was their money too. They paid out the medical because they were afraid of being sued and being forced to pay more (it involved a minor) by a jury.

When it came time to renew my policy, my rates had doubled!!!! Even though I was found innocent, they said 'we had to pay out, we aren't going to absorb that alone'.

Now, mind you, they chose to pay out in fear of being sued. I was not ticketed and I was not at fault. I even disagreed that my insurance should pay, but I didn't know heads from tails after this accident. It merely involved a minor on a bike.

I don't know whether or not we are or aren't a 'no fault' state. I only know they chose to pay, with 'my best interest in mind'. It turned out they wanted me to pay.

I learned that I can allow someone else to handle things for me, realizing that they might try to get their lost money back from me, or handle it the way they see best. Or I can do the footwork myself. What's that cliche? Want something done right, do it yourself.

I also agree that if you don't watch carefully your steps, you can lose your shirt to those companies.

Good Luck, let us know your outcome!
Swee

 

It all depends on how long you want you car to remain looking like that. ME..personally, i could'nt stand to see my baby all banged up from some putz who wasnt paying attention. So imo if you have the money to pay the $500..do it..get your ride fixed..let the insurance companies sort it all out. Otherwise it could be a long winter waiting.

 

With a large company like Verison you should have no delay or trouble getting them to make this right. It should be just as fast for you to go through them as with your insurance co. They don't like these kinds of things hanging and will try and settle ASAP. Good luck to you.

 

Ben is right, PA is a no-fault state, so the rules are a little different. You can still go through the at-fault carrier, but make sure they are playing by the rules. When in doubt, contact the PA Department of Insurance and have them explain to you how PA no-fault works with property damage claims. Every insurance company is different on how they handle claims and it is more dependent on the individual adjuster than the company as a whole. There are great companies out there who really treat people fairly and there are others who just down right try to screw you. You never really know until you file the claim and see how things go.

 

Thanks for all the great information. Today I'll contact verizon and file the claim directly. I'd like to get an estimate, then attempt to use my employee discount when I get it fixed. Do they write the check to me or the autobody shop? If I can stomach it I'll show you guys some pics...

 

No-fault or not, in PA if you get hit in the rear it is "strikers" fault. Let your insurnace agent handle it, that is what you pay for. You are entitled to a rental car from the time your car was disabled. Insist on OEM parts. You can even refuse repairing damage and select replacement instead. Go to your doctor and make sure you do not have any injuries. The tort option may effect what you can sue for depending on which tort option your selected.

 

My wife has been an insurance agent for a while and heres what she says...hope this helps.
BTW, Geico = Cheap rates, but VERY poor service. just my .02

 

clayman88's wife is right you should call up verizon and file a report yourself which would help speed things along a bit.

 

Dude... Been in your shoes... You pay for Ins. Put your claim through your Ins, get the car fixed, and let Geico and whatever ins. is going to handle this (his or Verozon's) fight it out. Geico has lawyers. That's what you pay for. Let the 2 Ins. Co's subrogate. You will not be at fault in any state when hit from behind. Again, you have already paid someone to fight this for you. Use the service you paid for... worse comes to worse you are temporarilly out $500 until it's settled, then you'll get that back as well. In the meantime your not riding around in the vehicular equivalent of the chick that fell from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, and your car does not begin rusting while your waiting.

 

wow.... good luck !!!

 

Man, you guys are really split on this! Right now, I'm going with what clayman's hot insurance wife suggested lol. I need to get the guys supervisor info and company location info. (Can I call Geico and make them deal with this or should I do it?) Sooooo.... Now I assume I need to get a hold of the guy that hit me. I have his personal info. but the claims lady at verizon says I need the verizon company info. The other option was that she could file it as unknow, but it would take longer. Screw that, I'm going to talk to the guy and then call them back so this is dealt with quicker. What a PITA! And I've got mixed feelings about Geico. I consider myself pretty intelligent, came out of Temple w/ a 3.95. It just seems like every agent i talk to is kind of standoffish with me. Can I call Geico and have them deal with what I'm doing without paying the $500?

On a side note this has got to be THE best forum on the planet. Any time I ask a Q I immediatly get several intelligent responses. I'll keep you updated.

 

"the benefit to taking it to the insurance companies repair shops (the ones they refer them to) is b/c they can usually guarantee the work for the life of the vehicle."

IMO and based upon my experience, I strongly suggest you take your car to whatever body shop you prefer and not the one associated with the insurer that is paying. The insurerer will make it sound as if this is best for you when in fact it isn't.

My accident was almost identical to yours (rear ended at a stop light by a truck, uninsured in my case).

I chose to go with the body shop recommended by my insurer. Car was repaired 4 times! 1st time was the most laughable. All that was done was to paint over all the damage. You could easily see the bumper gouges and other damage. Later on the insurance co tried to get me to accept a chinese non OEM bumper (car is immaculate and had 11,000 mlies on it at the time).

Anyways, the lady that dealt with my repair at the body shop was very good at customer service. I was patient with the problems, she liked cars, noted how immaculate my car was, and understood where i was coming from. After seeing her umpteen times, we got to talking on a more personal basis. She made it clear that the agreement they have with the insurer was root cause of my issues in getting my car properly repaired. The insurer wants them to repair cars with the least amount of effort and cost, hence the 1st bad repair that they thought i'd let go, and the attemped use of chinese parts. I also had to educate these folks about the need to properly align my bumper to avoid scratches from the hatch (this is a TSB issue).

I began to realize at this point when a body shop gets into a contract with an insurer. Their main goal is no longer to fix your car to your satisfaction. It is to keep the insurer happy and keep that contract, and fix your car with minimal effort.

At some point I went to my preferred bodyshop to check out the work done to my car by this other body shop (who coincidently used to have all the insurers in towns contracts and is highly respected). They kind of confirmed my suspicions. Stated this car would NEVER have left the shop in this condition. Talked a bit about body shops and insurers. They later lost all their insurance contracts, why? they will only use OEM parts (period).

They are still doing a booming business and are still one of the best in town.

Ok, lunch is over, back to work now...

 

If you can afford shelling out the $500 bucks, then you should let GEICO take care of it. If not, then go with plan B.

 

good luck man..sorry to hear of your unnecessary bs.

 

I would go after the verizon then find a great body shop (other than geico) to fix it like new. Like a friend of mine, he went to this great body shop. Since they guaranteed their work, they had to repaint the whole car . All the best.

 

Today was interesting. Contacted the supervisor, what asked me to get an estimate. He said that it would be handled 'in house' if the damage was under 1k. Sooo....

I got the estimate from thompson organization (I work there and can get a discount, plus they do kick a$$ work). Came to $3,700. So I called the supervisor guy back and he said to fax him the estimate.

Tommorow I'm faxing him the estimate as well as verizon. I can't believe it came to that much! But, theres small crap like the taillights that have tiny scratches but the autobody guy wants to replace em.

 

I must have had a dealing or two with clayman88's hot insurance wife cause we said almost the exact same thing...

Anyway, I would get another estimate from a place that specializes in high end cars (call the local Porsche/Mercedes/Lexus dealer and ask what independent shop they use/recommend). The shop they suggest will likely give you an estimate that is on the high end of the spectrum. Then, you can fax the higher estimate to the supervisor.

Verizon may just end up cutting you a check. If so, you can get it fixed where you work and you can consider the money left over compensation for your time/inconvenience/pain & suffering and the devaluation associated with your car being in an accident. If they don't just cut a check, you still have some another estimate to triangulate between.

 

I got a call from verizon and am waiting for their adjustor to come look at my car. So, I'm making a list and checkin it twice. I'll also refrence the estimate when this guy comes out.

I think I'm going to have the radiator fan issue (It seems loose cause its touchin stuff) Fixed under warranty. I still can't see this being caused by the accident. If I had to estimate I'd say the guy hit me doing about 10 mph.

So stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes with the adjustor. Is there anything I should keep in mind when this guy comes out? Thanks.

 

Why would anyone chose to shell out $500 when they don't need to??? The accident wasn't his fault, so why should he have to pay a dime out of his own pocket?

 

Keep in mind that they will do everything in their power to keep the cost low.

Tell him that you want Nissan OEM replacement parts written in the estimate...not the cheaper replacement panels they will try to write up. If he says no, tell him the parts on there right now are Nissan, so the parts that are replacing them need to be Nissan. The car needs to be in the same condition as before the accident (ie. with Nissan parts). Period.

If any panels are dented, you want the panel replaced, not repaired. No bondo allowed.

Take lots of pictures of the car right now so that you have plenty of documentation of the accident. It may come in handy with Verizon/insurance later and will definitely help if you end up selling your car down the road. You will be able to show a prospective buyer that it was a low MPH impact with only cosmetic damage.

Finally, make sure that they include the cost of a rental car. A full size (not the compact they will write up on the estimate) would be comparable to your Max. And whatever # of days they say are allowed for the rental car/repair, push for them to add at least a day or two to cover unforseen delays with the repair (start negotiating at 3 days if it may span a weekend).

 

Got the notes ready Thanks again guys. I'm working till 1 tommorow then comming home to meet with the adjustor. I'll post updates.

 

The adjustor guy came out and wrote up an estimate. Didnt tell me for how much but did say he thought there would be 'hidden damages'. He also asked me if i'd like to go with my company shop and of course i said yes. So now what? Am I going to be contacted by verizon or do i just take it to the shop? Do I need to make more phone calls? Another thing, if there is frame damage, and they decide not to total the car, can i sue for loss of resale value?

 

I just reacently had an accident as well, I filled my claim with my insurance company, got an estimate, faxed it to the insurance company, got the ok and brought it to a shop of my choosing. I have auto-owners, a great company I might add. They are willing to go the distance for ya, i told the shop I wanted OEM panels, A-O never gave me a problem. Some places I heard will fight ya on OEM panels since they cost quite a bit more than reproductions. You should get an estimate from your shop, thats what the adjuster/insurance company is interested in. Make sure you get pics of the damage incase a suit comes from it. Once your insurance company has the estimate you should be good to go.

 

 

That sucks bro, and hope you are alright.

Here is what I would do: I would NOT pay the $500 be patient this could work out in your benifit. First call the supervisor and raise hell and if that dosent do the job ask for the manager. While they are making the claim get some estimate's form your body shop for full price not at your discount, and dont let the insurance company know you can get a discount. As soon as the claim goes through you will have to meet with the insurance company adjuster, who will look at your car and cut a check in your name. Once you get that check have your body shop do the work at the discount price and walk away with some cash. Once they cut you that check you can do what ever you want with that money.

I did the same thing a couple months ago when I got hit and ran on the freeway. I had to wait for the insurance company to find the other driver useing the licence plate number I got. out of that I got my CF hood, front lip, the grill and whole car painted, and a new front bumper. But I had to drive around with a car that the whole drivers side was dented and scraped up for a month.

 

How do I post em? I took pics and saved them onto my harddrive. How to I put them into this thread?

 

You'll need to host them somewhere online, unless you have your own web-hosting already. Try something like photobucket, Imageshack or putfile. Just do a search for image hosting & you'll find a ton of free resources.

Then just copy the image URL into the thread with the [.IMG] [./IMG] tags around the address....wala!

(Don't use the periods in the IMG tag though)

 

Any type of insurance is a P.I.T.A. to deal with. I hope it works out for you!