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Involved in a fender bender, not even sure who is at fault
Kristmas Kthulhu
Currently Kultist KthulhuRegistered User regular
Currently Kultist KthulhuRegistered User regular
Fender bender is even overselling it. Basically I was at a red light, in the rightmost lane, which is turn only. I was looking left to see when it would be safe for me to turn. When I started my turn, I kept my eyes leftward because a sedan was turning right onto my street. About halfway through my turn I saw an SUV to my right and at this point we were practically already touching. My right mirror touched her left, and mine folded in, leaving no damage to either. But I think I scuffed the paint on her left quarter panel.
In any case, I can only assume that was me. We traded phone numbers and yesterday she got an estimate from a repair shop. For $634 which includes 11.5 hours of labor. I'm not the only one who thinks that sounds insane, right? In any case, I'm calling my sheriff's department today to see if there were cameras that recorded the incident. What I hope happened is that this lady came up next to me on the shoulder instead of staying in the lane, in which case I'm not paying for anything. But since I hardly remember anything else about how it happened, I can't really discount the possibility that she was legitimately ahead of me in line and I absentmindedly started turning before it was safe to do so.
So, assuming there's no evidence to determine what happened one way or another, what should I do here? She messaged me yesterday to hurry up and decide if I want to pay for her repairs out of pocket or use my insurance because she's going to start the process today, and I haven't responded yet. I haven't admitted to being at fault, and I honestly feel a little rushed for what is a purely cosmetic, minor repair.
Fake edit: I looked at the estimate she sent me again, and it looks like the 11.5 hours of labor and parts costs includes work on her rear bumper. The only possible damage I could have actually caused is what's shown in the picture above.
In any case, I can only assume that was me. We traded phone numbers and yesterday she got an estimate from a repair shop. For $634 which includes 11.5 hours of labor. I'm not the only one who thinks that sounds insane, right? In any case, I'm calling my sheriff's department today to see if there were cameras that recorded the incident. What I hope happened is that this lady came up next to me on the shoulder instead of staying in the lane, in which case I'm not paying for anything. But since I hardly remember anything else about how it happened, I can't really discount the possibility that she was legitimately ahead of me in line and I absentmindedly started turning before it was safe to do so.
So, assuming there's no evidence to determine what happened one way or another, what should I do here? She messaged me yesterday to hurry up and decide if I want to pay for her repairs out of pocket or use my insurance because she's going to start the process today, and I haven't responded yet. I haven't admitted to being at fault, and I honestly feel a little rushed for what is a purely cosmetic, minor repair.
Fake edit: I looked at the estimate she sent me again, and it looks like the 11.5 hours of labor and parts costs includes work on her rear bumper. The only possible damage I could have actually caused is what's shown in the picture above.
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Unless you turned from the middle lane, the road had two right turn lanes she probably tried to turn from the shoulder. That is technically illegal and would make it her fault
Car shit is a waste of your time, that is why you pay those blood sucking insurance companies. Make them do some work.
a lot of times you won't get a report/police show up unless there is a reported injury.
the pictures will definitely help in your favor
|/
Like that ^. At the time I was sort of flustered because I was on my way to work, and had to turn around because I'd left something at my house, so this was the second time I'd left and it meant I was going to be late. Which is why I'm not 100% sure I wasn't just not paying attention and it might have actually been my screw-up.
Were you turning on red into the middle lane and her going straight through (meaning she didn't turn or change lanes at any point)? That's the only way I really see you being at fault, and it sucks because you'd still be paying for her not really paying attention.
1. Never admit fault unless clear (IE, if you rear-end someone without being pushed from behind, it's your fault)
2. Contact insurance
3. Don't lie on statements.
4. Use reputable body shops for repairs.
Let things work out from there.
Honestly I think they are trying rip you off. Could you like give us an aerial view of the intersection or something. I just can't figure out how you can be turning right, she is doing something, your right(inside) mirror taps hers and you make contact with her rear quarter panel. Especially there where it flares in rather than out.
The geometry of it doesn't make sense to me.
If you admit fault, you end up paying out of pocket, or your insurance rates go up for next 6 years or both. And as you found out, car repairs are outrageous. So never admit fault, and fight it on your insurance.
I was in the right turn lane, and she was to my right, meaning she was on the shoulder. The more I think about it, the more I believe she had no business being where she was. As it stands, I'm going to tell my insurance company most of what I've already told you guys and try to let them sort it out. I'm pretty sure I'm not in the wrong here.
I'd say it's not your fault at all, turning from the shoulder instead of the designated turning lane is totally not legal.
Did you get her insurance information? I would call them and speak to someone about her claim because they need to accept fault and not try to pin it on you. If you aren't getting anything repaired, you wouldn't need to file a claim (you would file one with her insurance if so) and your insurance wouldn't need to know.
Edit: Re-read the OP and it looks like she hasn't filed a claim yet? If that's the case, she's going to have to go through her insurance to get it repaired. You will probably have to talk to her claims adjuster to give your side (and maybe fight her assertion that you were at fault), but if you aren't getting repairs, you shouldn't have to do much else or be on the hook for anything.
She needs to contact her insurance company, and let the insurance companies battle it out.
Plus that price seems ridiculously high, I replaced a bumper and had repainting done from a dealership for less than that.
You should have exchanged insurance information at the scene, at the very least. A number of jurisdictions say you have to call the police for any collision and this is one reason why. You get an impartial party to make a report on the facts.
As it is now, it's her word against yours.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
You deffo need to file a claim, give them all her information, make sure you have her insurance information, then give her yours. If she balks at having to give hers, just say your insurance is requiring it and once you've exchanged information it'll be going through them from now on.
Then she'll probably shut up, wipe off the panel with a cloth, and never talk to you again.
If she contacts you again direct her towards your Insurance agent and then don't say anything else.
Don't worry about any shit like threats of suing you, your insurance company lawyers will cover you.
If I was you, I would just call her (don't message her if you can help it, you don't want any documentation that's later used against you) and just tell her to contact your insurance company.
And always call your insurance company/Police/Take photos. They can be lifesavers. And based on might experience, don't even bother with the cameras- unless they're from a business, you're never going to get the police/city to release them.
She could try to file a claim with his insurance, but they would probably deny it due to it being her fault and I would think she would have to go through her own. He should let his insurance company know about it in case they have to fight it.
Regardless, get her your info, get hers in return, and give your insurance a head's up. If she does file a claim they'll be calling you roughly 0.017 seconds later anyway.
It's highly unlikely your rates would be affected given the tiny amount of damage, unless you're getting into accidents like this multiple times per year. I've rear-ended people at crawling speeds and not seen my rates go up because the damage is just insignificant.
You don't have to convince her of shit, Talk to insurance.
This is 100% wrong by the way.* For future reference I would normally recommend getting a report from someone who can look at the damage and the intersection right then and there, as once you decide to exchange information or etc it becomes a civil issue which can turn into the mess of he said she said you may be looking at now. The best part is you can get a report and not make an insurance claim, just keep the report on standby in case someone ends up starting problems. Just contact your insurance company, let them know whats up, let them fight the fight.
*edit: The exception being like, snowstorm state of emergency type situations
It's to indemnify your loss one way or another. In some cases it's also to defend yourself, as insurance professionals are well versed in laws, assessments and have a lot of technology and tooling available to them to assist their insureds.
Also - Tobes is right - what she believes is inconsequential compared to what the insurance companies think. She was not in a lane and you were, so there's a very good chance you are not at fault.