for sHo

My dad went to pick my brother up from school today in my car, and this guy driving a land rover came speeding down and kinda side-swiped my car while it was PARKED. It's not a huge damage but not little either, driver side fender is pretty messed up (needs to be replaced), front bumper got some big scratches and stuff, and parking light is busted. Thank god the headlight got saved or he would've been dead if he took out my HID's. My bro called so I ran down there too and the guy admitted it was completely his fault. He was insisting that we don't call the cops since his insurance would go up and he said he'll pay whatever it costs to fix the damages. I told him to go to my body shop right then and there and get an estimate but he said he had to go. We got all his info (copy of license/registration/insurance/phone # etc). So then I went to my body shop to get an estimate and it turns out it'll be about $1000.00. I always go to that body shop so he won't try to scam me or anything, he said the fender needs to be replaced and the whole bumper needs to be redone and what not. The guy who hit my car was saying it's probably gonna be $400.00 max and if my body shop tells a higher amount he'll have me go to one of his body shops. I didn't wanna go to his body shop because if he knows the people at his body shop they can just do some BS work for a couple of 100 and screw me over. I know the guy at my body shop and they do very good work so I want to get it done from him. The body shop guy suggested that I should just tell his insurance company (state farm) and they'll pay every penny since it was his completely his fault. I took his advice because I know there's no way he's going to pay me the $1000.00 for the damages and I don't wanna go to whatever body shop he's talking about. So I called his insurance company and filed a claim, told them what happened, and they're supposed to call me back within 24 hours. So any of you guys know what happens from here? No police report was taken or anything so what if the guy backs off and says he didn't even touch my car? I do have all his info like I said and my dad also had him write and sign a statement saying that he takes full responsibility for the accident, so I think it should be arlight. But what do you guys think, how exactly does it work from here. Sorry for the long post but I was just kind of pi**ed that my car is parked and some guy decides to mess it up. Let me know what you guys think, thanks.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You dad is smart. You should be ok.

Besides, if everything goes to crap, you will have like 24 or 48 hours to file a police report anyway.

If the guy bishes about the cost, tell him he should not have hit you then.

Frank Fontaine

The guy wasn't too bright signing a statement. That's rule #1, even your own insurance company distances itself when you do that.

Why run around body shop to body shop trying to get a price of $400? Tell him that's where you're gonna fix it. Either he coughs it up, $1000 plus your rental car while your car is tied up, or you just go through insurance. The only bummer is that based on that $ amount you're probably required to file a report, meaning your insurance will probably find out and it's 1x against you. I don't know the deal but there's probably a penalty for not reporting an accident. It's like you can't win, someone else f**** up and you pay more! We keep seeing these commercials saying to call an 800 number to report suspected insurance fraud. Those insur. cos. don't wanna pay anything, just collect premiums and residuals. Thank goodness for the web and the phasing out of insurance agents, clu's and whatever other bogus titles they have.

95emeraldgxe

rat him out to statefarm!!!!! make his insurance go up - MUaHAHAHhaHAha

for sHo

I was told that it doesn't matter what kind of driving record you have or how many accidents you've been in in the past or anything like that, only because of the fact that my car was PARKED. My guy was saying that my insurance won't go up even if I tell them, again because my car was parked and the other guy ran into me. I hope that's how it is.

klubjunkee

iTrader: (3)

I'm not an expert @ this but I was recently in an accident so I learned a few things. Here in Toronto, if the adjuster determines that you are not @ fault, your insurance waives the deductables and no increase to your premiums. I don't know bout his insurance or insurance in your area but on average, there's a $500 dollar deductable so if he's offering you max $400 bucks for repairs, that's still cheaper then what he would pay in deductables not to mention his premium increase if you were to make a claim. Correct me if I'm wrong but that's my understanding.

for sHo

Yeah I think that's pretty much it. I hope and don't think my insurance is going to be effected in any way since my car was properly parked next to the curb (not double parked or anything) and the guy hit me. So hopefully only his insurance will go up and he'll have to pay for everything and not me. But one thing I should've done is call the cops and have a police report done on the spot, because then it would've been solid proof of what exactly happened and he wouldn't be able to lie later on. I didn't know the damage would be $1000.00 or that's what I would've done. Oh well that's all just hypothetically speaking, hopefully his insurance appraiser looks at my car and they determine it was his fault and I get out clean.

MaximaRider

iTrader: (3)

don't get skewed over, either file a police report or contact his insurance company right away!

Scruit

Sorry for the LONG post, but this just got me going...

My rules (after being burned more than once) are;

NEVER sign a statement of guilt, even if you know you are at fault. Things might look different in hindsight. You may think the some dude had right of way but then find out he was actually making an illegal turn - too late. That guy was an idiot for doing it, because hi ins.co can refuse to pay HIS damages, but still must pay yours. All the better for you. Also, sudden catastrophic component failure that could NOT have been reasonably predicted or prevented has (in one case I studied when I did Law at university in England) been known to turn a simple rear-ender into a case where the rear driver was found NOT at fault. His ins.co paid for his own car, but the car in front could net recover damages from him because he did nothing wrong. We are not talking some pos car with bad brakes, but a wall-maintained car that suffered an unpredictable failure.

ALWAYS call the cops to the scene, unless they are in injury-only mode (as often happens if there are a lot of accidents. Depending on your state (ie Not a No-Fault state) they will write a up a full report an even have a non-binding stab at determining fault. Very helpful if they take your side, but not the end of the story if they don't (see failed brakes example above)

You need witnesses. Carry a disposable camera for taking pics of the scene, of the damage to both cars. First, try to catch the license numbers of cars sitting at red lights watching you - you can trace them for possible statements if the case gets ugly.

All drivers lie/embellish/see things differently or simply are not aware of everything that happened in the lead up to the accident.

One accident I was involved in happened when I passed a line of standing traffic in the adjacent lane. A guy suddenly pulled out of the standing lane into mine and I hit his rear fender at 45mph, destroyed all the bodywork from there to the front of his car. My car suffered an estimated $2000 damage, his was about the same. He claimed that I was going too fast. I told him to contact his insurance, and expect to hear from mine. I got a lawyer's letter claiming that I had been driving in a BUS-only lane and that he merged into the lane just as it turned into a normal driving lane. After the accident we both drove up onto the wide sidewalk to allow cars through. I thought about it, and realised that it was marked as a bus lane, but I was convinced that it was legal for me to drive there. I was about to just give it up but decided to take my camera to the scene. Not only was I able to prove that the accident happened 1/4 from the spot he claimed it happened, because the sidewalk was not wide enough to park the cars on there as he claimed (proving that he merged into the area marked bus lane too) but I also proved that the lane was marked Bus Lane 8am-10m, 4pm-6pm. Accident happened at 2pm, so the lane was legal for me to use. His insurance koffed up the dough and I was happy as a pig in ****...

CoolChuck

Tell his insurance company. They'll probably want 2-3 estimates and pay you on the lowest one, but they'll pay. If the guy says he never hit you and his insurance won't pay, then yours will minus your deductible. Then your rates will go up. THAT'S FUKKED UP!!!!

My story--- I was in my new Accord, not 90 days old. I was at the post office waiting to put my mail in the drive up box(car at a stand still). This B*tch turned around, looked at me , and proceeded to back her car into mine. She said to me "where did you come from; I didn't see you there". Didn't get a police report either; I didn't know.She then told her insurance I hit her! My agent got it put as a no fault so I eventually got my deductible back.

NoHalo

Dude, that sucks about your car, sorry. Sounds like you have everything in your favor, just some small hurdles to get over and you'll be fine.

What I don't understand is why your insurance would be affected at all? Wasn't your dad driving your car and was in charge of it at the time it was parked? You're probably both on the same insurance, but your dad is responsible, not you... you shouldn't have to pay a dime.

Of course, you should be nice to your dad and not sacrifice family harmony for a couple of dollars.

MyMaxine

i think you've got everything under control. At least he gave you info. some1 backed into my car in a parking lot and all i have is a big green mark on my bumper. but i think you're REALLY lucky!!

MaineI30

you will not be re-rated; there's no liability on your part. just make sure HIS insurance company pays.

FahCue

if that happened to me I would have slapped that guy around right then and there and asked for a blank check

Spudskier

your dad is very smart. You basically don't even have to deal with him here on out. Just with the insurance company. I had prettym uch the same thing happen to me in my old Altima (now have a 2k1 Max SE). Guy in a jacked up Dodge Ram backed into my parked altime, took out ONLY the hood, nothing else was touched!

He only gave me his card and I went to a body shop like you, got an estimate (guy thought he was gonna pay for it, no insurance company involved, police, etc..) turned out to be like $1200. so he said to contact his insurance, I did, they sent a rep out to appraise the damage, then gave me appropriate info like case #, etc... I went to the body shop and they took care of the paperwork/insurance crap from there. no more worries for me

but believe me, that wasn't the only thing wrong with that car, had to get rid of it! (not his fault tho)

Raf2kMax

iTrader: (2)

sorry bout the car bro... at least you got him to sign that paper and everything. everything should work out fine. damage to my car..11 grand. i gotta go lookup the shop youre talking about and a couple others in Queens. thanks. hope everything works out right.