Fender Bender questions

D

diyjake

Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Messages
1,187
Location
Southeast PA
Last night driving on the local highway a car in front of me blew a front right tire and his wheel/hub cover came off and got jammed in my bumper. I ended up pushing it until I came to a stop. It did some minor damage but it still bothers me because I just had the whole car repainted a few months ago and it was in perfect condition.

Police came out and said there is no point of filling out a police report since it is minor and told me just get his information and left. I know if i go to a body shop it will be at least $500-$1000 it get this repaired.

My question - should I just contact his insurance direct? I don't think my insurance should be covering this since it was totally not my fault and I have a $500 deductible.
 

Attachments

  • Prius1.jpg
    Prius1.jpg
    132 KB · Views: 92
  • Prius2.jpg
    Prius2.jpg
    158.2 KB · Views: 92
You can sue the driver directly, then their insurance will be obliged to “protect” them.

You would need to pursue in small claims court most likely.

Do you have photo evidence of neglect? Like poorly maintained car, bald tires, etc?

A blowout can happen to anyone, especially given the poor state of roads in PA.
 
JHZR2 said:
You can sue the driver directly, then their insurance will be obliged to “protect” them.

You would need to pursue in small claims court most likely.

Do you have photo evidence of neglect? Like poorly maintained car, bald tires, etc?

A blowout can happen to anyone, especially given the poor state of roads in PA.
Click to expand...

Even if they refuse to cover it I have no desire to go this route.
 
I forgot how I handled this when it happened to me (sideswipe). I think I contacted their insurance, someone came out to look at it, or maybe I took it to a shop and got an estimate. In the end they just sent me a check and that was that. Didn't involve my insurance at all (I notified my agent but he said to first go through the other ins and see what happened).
 
supton said:
I forgot how I handled this when it happened to me (sideswipe). I think I contacted their insurance, someone came out to look at it, or maybe I took it to a shop and got an estimate. In the end they just sent me a check and that was that. Didn't involve my insurance at all (I notified my agent but he said to first go through the other ins and see what happened).
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking about doing.
 
The police have a record of your 911 call and their dispatch record directing a police unit to investigate your call. You can request a written record from them that would help back up your story. At this point, you don't know if the other driver is going to cooperate collaborating your story. I.E., he could claim you were following him too close, at which point you might become 50% or more responsible. He said - she said situation.

You probably should get all your ducks in a row first (repair estimates, etc.).

Sorry that you have to deal with something like this right after a new paint job. Best of luck to you. Michigan's no-fault insurance works differently.
 
I can understand your frustration just having had it painted but realistically the same shop will probably have a enough of that paint to do a small blend. The rest of the bumper looks fine, the paint has good adhesion so a full respray is in all probability not needed.
They wont charge anywhere near $500 for that and it will look like nothing happened.
 
You'll probably end up filing it through your own insurance like I did years ago, when the other driver's insurance company was unresponsive and tried to give me the runaround. Your insurance company will fix your car, then subrogate, and get your deductible back for you. But honestly, for the amount of damage, I don't think any of that is worth it (my damage was a lot worse). Not sure it would cost $500 for someone to sand that down, paint & clear it. If the body shop you go to insists that the bumper be removed to do that job, find another body shop.
 
diyjake said:
...My question - should I just contact his insurance direct? I don't think my insurance should be covering this since it was totally not my fault and I have a $500 deductible.
Click to expand...
YMMV but when I was in accident where the other driver was completely at fault, their company refused to talk to me because the other driver hadn't filed a claim. They finally called me about 2 weeks after I got my car out of the shop (which was about 5 weeks after the accident) and I gave them my agent's number and told them to take it up with her.

It's not a bad idea to call, but be prepared for them to tell you to take a hike. And with a $500 deductible, it may be better to take the hit, pay out of pocket and go to small-claims court, assuming the other driver doesn't cooperate. Good luck.
 
If you do not want to bother with having your insurer address the incident, then get an estimate (or better two) and send a certified letter to the driver and his/her insurer stating that the accident was the result of the driver's malfunctioning car and that you expect to be compensated for the cost to fix the resulting damage to your car.
 
WylieCoyote said:
You'll probably end up filing it through your own insurance like I did years ago, when the other driver's insurance company was unresponsive and tried to give me the runaround. Your insurance company will fix your car, then subrogate, and get your deductible back for you. I was out $500 for a while, but got it back. I was State Farm, the other guy was A-Affordable, so you can imagine how fun that was for a while.
Click to expand...
Sounds like my experience. I remember calling my agent and her telling me that I should try to call the other company and deal with them, and call her back later in the week if they didn't cooperate. Then she asked me who the other driver's company was - I told her and her response was "yeah, we'll be talking later in the week..." It took subrogation 2 years to get my deductible for me, but I did eventually get a check.
 
Get an estimate, contact your insurance and give them the other guys insurance information. Let them figure it out. Most insurance companies are pretty good at talking to each other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Zee09
Manhattan Health Insurance
2
Replies
21
Views
624
99Saturn
shortyb
Guess its my turn, lost a dog buddy
2
Replies
26
Views
523
alarmguy
Blake1107
When is it Time to Trade?
2
Replies
37
Views
1K
facility1
C
Mailbox hit by drunk driver
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
2K
D60
dogememe
California Car Insurance - OMG!
2 3
Replies
59
Views
3K
alarmguy
Back
Top