My Maxima was backed into by an idiotic woman in a Civic. She didn't hit me very hard but it left a small dent/crease in my front bumper cover. It's really minor, maybe three inches long and not very deep, but the fact is the bumper was not dented before. It was, however, in bad shape. The paint is terrible and has scuffs and chips all over it. I really want a new bumper!

Is it worth filing a claim with her insurance company and hopefully getting the whole bumper replaced, or are they going to refuse since it's so minor? I assume they can't pop dents out of plastic so they would have to replace it. Thanks for any advice. I just don't have any experience with insurance claims.

 

Ask the woman for $100 bucks for the damage and put that twards your new bumper cover.

Forget about a claim.

 

if it's on HER insurance, file the claim. You won't have to pay a thing.....

 

True that. It really is simple if it was her fault, you just get an estimate and then you get a check (a little more than that but it's really painless)

Plus you may give the other driver something to think about next time they back up

 

I'm aware that it would come out of her insurance, so I'm inclined to just call them up and have an appraiser come look at it. But I worry that they'll laugh or come up with an excuse because it really is a tiny dent. It's actually more like two inches long but it's definitely visible from 15 to 20 yards away if the light/angle is right. You guys think they'll just replace the whole bumper? I only want an OEM replacement, would not want some aftermarket crap.

Njmax, I know you work at a body shop and have probably dealt with insurance companies. Why do you say not to bother with a claim?

 

Here's a couple of photos. Note the deplorable state of my bumper prior to the dent!

 

look....you have YOUR insurance come look at it. They have nothing to lose by approving the claim. They cut you a check. Then THEY get in touch with HER insurance and get the money from them - that's how it works.

Your car was damaged, and even if it's relatively minor, it's your insurance's job to get you the money. That's why you and she have insurance. With any luck, you'll get a new bumper, repainted!


I once bumped a guy in rush hour traffic. No damage to my car, a small scratch in the paint on the back of his new Eclipse (I mean, less than 1" scratch). He filed a claim, my insurance paid to have his bumper repainted.

 

What? No whiplash? Wouldn't his insurance company give him a check minus his deductible if he claimed this through them? I would rather have her insurance cut me a check for everything including the deductible.

 

How did your bumper get like that. Do you live in the desert and drive in sand storms on a regular basis??

 

Thanks Irish, I'll call my insurance company and see what they say.

Yeah, I don't know how my bumper got that bad. It was like that when I bought it. The previous owner lived in Chicago.

 

Definitely make those premiums work for you!

 

Do as Irish says.. it's called subrogation. your insurance company assumes your legal right to pursue reimbursement from her insurance company. It's a lot easier for you and they get their money back so what do they care. You pay for your insurance, so don't feel bad about making a claim - its' the whole reason they're in business.

 

The only thing i disagree with is claiming on your insurance. I would file a claim with HER insurance and if they give you a hard time file with yours. When my civic was rear ended i filed with the other guys insurance and the car was appraised and a check was cut in 4 days. When my civic was tboned and totaled i filed with his insurance not mine, and got a check for 3900.00 in less than a week. I paid 2000 for the car.

 

I know all about subrogation because I used to work for a personal injury law firm and dealt with adjusters all the time. The main reason I started the thread was to ask if they would fuss about the dent being so minor and the prior condition of the bumper (paint) being so bad.

I called my insurance company and they said to call her insurance company, and if I had problems to call back and they would pay for it but charge me my deductible until they could get it back from the other company. So I just called her insurance company and I got a claim number. I suppose I'll do a drive-in claim/appraisal thing this week. Shouldn't have to use my insurance at all.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

holly ****, i thought i had rock chips. what happend to your bumper? i would definetly ask her for $200 and do it myself.

 

Yeah, I know, it's probably the worst paint I've ever seen on any bumper! As I said, it was like this when I bought the car 2.5 years ago except for one big gouge which was from me hitting a big rock in my old driveway. I can't wait to get rid of this ugly thing, it's the shame of my car!

I've already given a recorded statement and her insurance wants me to get an estimate from any body shop I choose. I'm going to ask for an OEM replacement only. Then, assuming they have no qualms with the claim, the insurance will just cut me a check. Why would I ask for $200? That's not nearly enough to cover a new bumper and paint and I'm seriously broke right now (otherwise I would have fixed it long ago).

 

just ask for new oem bumper freshly painted !

 

Why not just ask the women directly to cover the repair costs? It would probably be better for both of you. You will get the money sooner, and she will not have to pay the deductibles. Not to mention, they would probably make her pay more for her next year coverage if you'll make this claim.

 

Well, we'll see. I did not actually get the woman's phone number or address so contacting her is difficult. She's not in the phone book. But if it's really in her best interest to pay the claim out of pocket, I think the insurance company will tell that to her, or if not she should be smart enough.

My company doesn't raise rates at all if the accident payout is under $750, and this might be. I don't know about her company.

 

Who cares about the other person? I can tell you her Insurance company doesn’t. The insurance will just pay and if they think about it, raise her rates for fun or not. We dont know.

Besides getting money from people is VERY VERY hard and they will give the sad story of their respective life and you may just say, “well if you buy the bumper I'll paint it” hellz no. You did nothing wrong. Get your bumper replaced and painted correctly and with none of your time spent painting something that you did not want to paint at this time in your life.
Maybe you can talk to the auto shop and get them to paint the back bumper with the extra paint

 

Well said. It's not my responsibility to try to get money out of this woman and it was her fault to begin with. Haha, yeah my back bumper needs work too.

 

I doubt the insurance will give you a new OEMbumper, that one can easily be repaired. However considering the excessive previous damage on it, you may be in for a bit of a battle. Good luck!

 

This morning I got two quotes. One shop quoted me $570 for the job and thought they could fix the dent with heat and ****. Another guy there seemd doubtful (as was I) but the estimator said "I think it's a fixable dent." If they tried and failed then the job would probably cost that much more.

The other shop quoted me $580 for the job and said replacing with aftermarket was more cost effective than trying to fix the dent. Right on. Aftermarket bumper is $155. I think the OEM bumper is $230. So if that's right, I'll get a freshly painted bumper for just $75 + tax.

I asked the second shop if I could do prep work to save money (they want 2.5 hours = $125 of labor to remove the bumper, it seems) but he said no, the insurance company writes the check payable to both the body shop and the customer, so I can't just cash the check. That seemed wrong to me, how about you guys? Since they are getting paid for the items listed on their estimate he said they couldn't let me do any of the work for liability reasons. I was under the impression that the insurance company pays you the amount of the estimate to make you "whole" and then it's up to you what to do with the money.

 

When I got rear-ended last October I got a check from the person that hit me insurance company with my name only on it. I went to the Nissan dealer and bought the parts. I then took the bumper cover to their bodyshop and let them paint it. After they painted it I took it home in installed the parts myself. They wanted to blend the paint from the bumper with the car but I said no thanks. I ended up with about $175 left over because I did my own labor. I would try to get the check in my name if I were you so I could have the repair done at the place of your choice or do it yourself.

 

The check will be cut directly to you, because it is your choice who does the work. Those shops were used for estimate only, you are not obligated to use them.

 

that dent is NOT minor. file already


you're not at fault so just give her info to your insurance.
and I love my insurance. they cut ME the check.

 

Thanks guys. Either these body shops are trying to pull a fast one or the insurance company (American Family) is ****. Either way I'm going to try to get the check cut in my name and save some money.

 

Get the estimate, and tell them you are most likely going to that shop (the biggest estimate) but you are reserving the right to choose an alternate location. They have to pay you the full amount regardless.

 

I know in Ontario you won't get a cheque cut directly to you, it goes to both you and the shop that you choose from your insurance company. But I'm sure the US, and furthermore various states vary greatly.

Like I said before, that dent is very much fixable, however the prep work needed for the rest of the bumper would almost surely scrap that idea. I imagine they'll settle on aftermarket or used, in which case you'll probably be able to pay the difference for new OEM.

Here's an idea, if they spring for a new bumper, find out what they're doing with the old one, most likely just throwing it into the bin. If you have the space, might as well see if you can keep it for a spare. That way if you ever do bump into something and it's your fault, you're good to go.

 

Well it was her fault, so you should just make her pay the whole bumper cost(her premium will go up if she gets it from insurance?). The bumper would have been in "good condition" according to you before she messed it up. lol

 

very agreed.

 

good like with that one

 

These pictures speak for themselves:





I had the bumper replaced on August 3. The total cost to me was $79 for the difference between the OEM bumper and the aftermarket bumper (American Family won't pay for OEM cosmetic parts) Total cost of the job including tax was $660.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

 

Looks good. Glad you got-r-dun.