Question on liability.

silence1186

So hypothetically, if, when I put my car in drive, because it is on top of solid ice, it rolls backwards and nicks the paint on the guy behind me's bumper, do I have to replace his bumper?

matt has a problem

You're at fault, yes. As to replacing the whole bumper, probably not, if it's just a nick in a plastic bumper cover they can fill, buff and repaint it.

Deebaser

You hit a car that wasn't moving. Yes, it's your fault.

amateurhour

I could be wrong here, but doesn't the person who's not at fault have the right to choose where and how the vehicle is repaired?

I mean if the guy gets a quote that says he needs a new bumper, isn't that all she wrote?

useless4

amateurhour wrote: »

I could be wrong here, but doesn't the person who's not at fault have the right to choose where and how the vehicle is repaired?

I mean if the guy gets a quote that says he needs a new bumper, isn't that all she wrote?

Bumpers are tricky too - they often looked "ok" but structurally they are deemed destroyed and require replacing.

amateurhour

Well it's not just that, a lot of shops that I've ever dealt with, because of the hassle of getting money from the insurance provider vs up front costs, usually say "hey, we can fix that dent, but when we paint it it's not going to 100% match the rest of the bumper so we need to just replace the whole thing" Which is why a bumper is a cheap piece of plastic that's fairly easily replaced...

MushroomStick

amateurhour wrote: »

I could be wrong here, but doesn't the person who's not at fault have the right to choose where and how the vehicle is repaired?

I mean if the guy gets a quote that says he needs a new bumper, isn't that all she wrote?

Typically you'd have to get at least two quotes and even then, the insurance can refuse to pay more for the labor than what their contracted service places would charge. Like if the place you bring to charges $50 an hour for labor and the place they have a contract with only charges $30 an hour for the same, they can short you $20 an hour for the labor on the repairs. At least that's one of the ways they try to fuck you in Illinois anyway.

amateurhour

MushroomStick wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

I could be wrong here, but doesn't the person who's not at fault have the right to choose where and how the vehicle is repaired?

I mean if the guy gets a quote that says he needs a new bumper, isn't that all she wrote?

Typically you'd have to get at least two quotes and even then, the insurance can refuse to pay more for the labor than what their contracted service places would charge. Like if the place you bring to charges $50 an hour for labor and the place they have a contract with only charges $30 an hour for the same, they can short you $20 an hour for the labor on the repairs. At least that's one of the ways they try to fuck you in Illinois anyway.

But that still means that person who got hit can say "I want my car fixed at an authorized brand dealership repair center" and OP has to pony up the difference. Right?

Fellhand

You can either report this to insurance and have them take care of it, where they send an agent and they take photos and process the claim, or you can work with the other owner and settle on a sum/replacement. I would be wary of option 2 though.

Doc

amateurhour wrote: »

MushroomStick wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

I could be wrong here, but doesn't the person who's not at fault have the right to choose where and how the vehicle is repaired?

I mean if the guy gets a quote that says he needs a new bumper, isn't that all she wrote?

Typically you'd have to get at least two quotes and even then, the insurance can refuse to pay more for the labor than what their contracted service places would charge. Like if the place you bring to charges $50 an hour for labor and the place they have a contract with only charges $30 an hour for the same, they can short you $20 an hour for the labor on the repairs. At least that's one of the ways they try to fuck you in Illinois anyway.

But that still means that person who got hit can say "I want my car fixed at an authorized brand dealership repair center" and OP has to pony up the difference. Right?

Once insurance has been called, there absolutely should not be any payments going directly between the people involved in the accident to cover damages. It is your insurance company's responsibility to deal with the guy - it's your responsibility to deal with the insurance company.