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Backed into a truck, not sure if I should involve the insurance company
TwistedJester
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Last night I was backing into a parking spot on the street with my girlfriend. At the spot there's a telephone pole that is almost right on the curb itself and I didn't notice how close I was to the pole. So I'm backing up and I'm about to catch my passenger side rearview mirror on the pole so my girlfriend starts panicking, which makes me panic. I go to put my foot on the break but instead I hit the gas and back up into the parked truck behind me. Neither of us were hurt but my rear bumper is going to need replacing and the hatch on my ford focus might need some work. The good news is that there was barely any damage on the truck. The front bumper had a tiny indentation on it, less than half a centimetre deep and one of the loops under the bumper was bent ten or so degrees. I called my insurance company because I didn't know what to do and the agent told me I should get an estimate and then consider filing a claim if it's a much larger amount than my deductible. I left a note telling the guy I dinged him and left my number.
This morning the guy calls me and wants to talk about it so I'm going to meet him tonight. I'd really like to avoid involving the insurance company because I only got the insurance a month or so ago and I have no history of accidents. Would it be wise to tell the guy that if he gets an estimate I'll pay for the repairs myself? There's no way it can't be more than $300 and I have a $500 deductible on my car anyway so I'd already be paying a good amount for my repairs.
Any advice would be appreciated.
This morning the guy calls me and wants to talk about it so I'm going to meet him tonight. I'd really like to avoid involving the insurance company because I only got the insurance a month or so ago and I have no history of accidents. Would it be wise to tell the guy that if he gets an estimate I'll pay for the repairs myself? There's no way it can't be more than $300 and I have a $500 deductible on my car anyway so I'd already be paying a good amount for my repairs.
Any advice would be appreciated.
TwistedJester on
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However, be aware that regardless of how much damage you think you did, don't be surprised if the estimate is a lot more than what you're expecting. I dented a rear bumper of someone by sliding into them in the rain...it didn't look bad and an estimate came back of $1,300.
You did the right thing by leaving your contact info on the persons car. That should've proven trust in them...hopefully they won't try to screw you over and give you an honest estimate
If you get lucky offer him the amount equal to the deductible and see if he bites.
Satans..... hints.....
This is the biggest argument in favor of involving insurance. If the person you hit does break an axle in an unrelated, driver-caused accident two weeks from now, they could very well unscrupulously say that it was the result of your accident and require you to pay for it.
Which means that when you speak to the guy this evening, you should ask what he wants to do. If he wants to get an estimate, you can go through insurance. If he just wants some cash and he's willing to ignore it because the truck is old or whatever, then that's cool and figure it into your calculations. If you can afford it or it doesn't seem like much, it can be worth it to not have to deal with the extra vehicle.
Honestly, though, it sounds like your car is going to need an insurance claim, so having him add an estimate on top of that is not significant. Insurance rates are not increased by the total amount claimed on the insurance, but rather simply by having a claim. That's why the agent said "If it's more than your deductible you can file a claim," not that you SHOULD file a claim either way. It's still your choice, and some people prefer to do things around insurance simply because having a claim "marks" your insurance and can increase your rates, negating the advantage of going through insurance in the first place. It turns "insurance" into "long term loan."
Backstory: My wife was driving on an icy road on campus and, around a corner, she sees a car off the road in front of her. She thinks instantly "oh that sucks, must be icy," and realizes that indeed the road is icy and she has no control of her car. She's not going fast but hits the breaks and ends up sliding into this guy, smooshing his bumper and giving our car a lazy eye.
About 10 minutes later, an SUV comes around the same corner and does the exact same thing, giving our rear bumper a couple creases but seriously crunching their front end. No people were injured and police arrived on the scene so everything went through insurance. Here's how it went:
Dude who first went off the road and hit a post: He filed a claim on his insurance to cover his front end. He had to pay his deductible and insurance covered his front end repairs.
My ex-wife: filed a claim covering the damage to our "lazy eye" front bumper and fender alignment, as well as the cost of the dude's bumper that she hit. Our insurance company interacted with the man we hit directly, so we had no additional contact with him.
SUV Dude that hit us: his insurance company came out and gave an estimate on the spot, which we confirmed with the mechanic we went to for our front end. His insurance company mailed us a check for the work. We kept the check to pay for our own deductible because we didn't care about a couple creases on the back bumper. We did not communicate with the driver after receiving his insurance details.
I share this to point out that if you do opt to have this dude's bumper fixed through insurance, they'll take care of all of it, so you won't have to talk with him again. If he just wants a couple hundred bucks to 'shut up,' it's only worth it to you, in my opinion, if you're not planning on filing a claim. If you think you MAY file a claim, go meet with the guy and see what he says. He'll get more money and a new bumper if he goes through insurance anyway, so don't stress out about it too much unless you have an insanely high deductible.
What is your deductible, by the way?
Ah. In that case, yeah, you'll probably want to start looking. Derped on the fact that you mentioned in in the op that you hadn't been with them long.
If you decide not to, and you end up just giving the guy cash, there is nothing to stop him from then just claiming through his insurance as a not at fault accident. So he gets your money, AND his insurance company takes care of his repairs. And then it's just a he said she said about the money you gave him already. This is me speaking as someone who works in insurance.
Always involve your insurance company.
I did about $7k worth of damage to our car a couple weeks ago rear ending a lifted pickup.
Wasn't driving distracted or anything. Someone in the lane adjacent did something erratic and I glanced away. Traffic stopped abruptly before I looked back, slammed on the breaks, lack of ABS, low profile tires, and some grit on the road from construction caused me to slide. Super low speed impact, barely over 10 MPH if that. Airbags didn't deploy, no damage to the frame, fenders, headlamps, very minor damage to the bumper, but because it went under the hood crumpled hard, the radiator was done, and the air box and intake manifold (both plastic) were done. The truck didn't look scratched minus some hanging wires from the taillight hookup on the towing hitch (which is what assassinated the radiator).
If it had been another car we would have both driven away with minor damage all around. Lifted vehicles that don't hit bumpers fuck normal cars up. You have my sympathies.
It's hard to tell without pictures but what you've described sounds like at least several thousand dollars of repairs to your Focus.
I wouldn't worry too much about the hit to your premiums if you're an otherwise good driver.
I was bummed out hardcore because a year ago I'd been involved in another accident with a totaled car I was ruled at fault for. A lady cut me off on the freeway with about an inch to spare a spilt-second before slamming her brakes. Oddly enough she forgot that detail when the cops showed up. I thought between those accidents getting insurance was going to assrape me.
I had been driving as a permissive driver on my girlfriend's insurance that her dad paid for because I work from home and drive infrequently. I commuted 1.5 hours in rush hour traffic for years and even had a job diving around a box truck all day, all with a perfect driving record before I moved to the Bay Area, after the first accident I figured what were the odds I'd get in another so soon you know?
Somebody somewhere must've decided I'd had enough. When we went to get insurance for the new car, a 2007 Prius, we went to a AAA office. The previous accident was never logged anywhere somehow, it doesn't exist. The only thing on my record was a speeding ticket from last July that should have been dismissed because I provided the court with a receipt for traffic school. That goes away in December, new accident will take long enough to get sorted it doesn't factor into the first year's fees, that's one point on my record, my girlfriend also had one, we both got safe driver discounts for having less than two points $140/mo. mid-high level full coverage in an urban area. The agent also threw in a few discount codes because we were nice or because she was a clever salesperson. The rate was better than anything we found online.
The bad news is that if other companies are anything like AAA they have instant access not only to your DMV record but also all claims filed under your previous insurance, so changing companies to get away from claims isn't really an option unless there's an angle I am unaware of. AAA only takes into account 3 years of your driving history, some do more, 3 seems to be the minimum.
Just make the claim, get the insurance involved with the other guy for the reasons mentioned above, and watch your driving so you don't rack up any other points and you should be fine.