* EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE * >:-(

[Pixilated]

For the record, I live in southern Ontario.

Had a woman driving a van back into my car this morning, leaving a nice dent in the driver's side. Driver's door no longer opens properly, nor does it close properly. She has left me a couple of phone messages since; 2nd one says her husband is asking me to get an estimate and they will pay cash (or, if it's too high, then we will go through insurance. I doubt it's going to be expensive, but ... I'm no autobody expert).

Opinions? Should I go tentatively agree to the proposed cash settlement or just go straight to insurance?

[Crossbow]

Go to insurance. Always.

Unless you're a mechanic, you have no idea what kind of frame damage might be there. Don't take the chance. Get insurance involved, and get it looked at by a reputable shop.

[csquared]

With the insurance company, once you get past "fault", you will probably have few problems collecting. This will also play into the repairs. If additional damage is found while doing the repairs, it will be easier to collect.

If you go the cash route, you could find yourself stuck with some or all of the repair bill. Depends on how honest they are.

The fact that they are trying to avoid the insurance company sends up red flags for me. Was there a police report? Was she ticketed?

[PepperElf]

If you go the cash route, you could find yourself stuck with some or all of the repair bill. Depends on how honest they are.

Good point.

Also... I'm kinda wondering WHY they're offering cash? Can they afford the repairs? Are they just hiding something from their insurance company? Do they even HAVE an insurance company?

You may be better off with a safe bet of talking to your insurance agent - and having the agent go after them for the funds - vs relying on their honesty.

[Pixilated]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the quick responses. Brother says the same thing: Go to insurance now -- it's not impossible that they might tell me sure, let them pay cash for the damage. But at least it's on record.

I think they are trying to avoid the insurance company route because it's extremely likely that, since she backed into me, she will be found to be at fault and her premiums will go up accordingly. (Yes, they do have an insurance company; I have the particulars.)

No police report. She was picking her kids up from school to go to lunch and was in a hurry. I was not overly concerned (I'm still not) because there were no personal injuries involved and the damage doesn't look serious. In any case, I could hardly restrain her if she was determined to leave.

Have not yet responded to the phone messages.

[Pixilated]

Damage estimate at this point is $2,000 -- and that's just for what they can see.

[Kheldarson]

Good point.

Also... I'm kinda wondering WHY they're offering cash? Can they afford the repairs? Are they just hiding something from their insurance company? Do they even HAVE an insurance company?

You may be better off with a safe bet of talking to your insurance agent - and having the agent go after them for the funds - vs relying on their honesty.

I had similar happen once; only both of us were driving in a parking lot.

Guy didn't want to report simply because he was an insurance salesman, and that would mean his insurance (tied to his work!) would skyrocket with an accident, even as minor as ours.

It was barely a ding, so I've never worried about it.

[csquared]

Damage estimate at this point is $2,000 -- and that's just for what they can see.

Doesn't surprise me. I was going to guess 3-5K. If it is an older car, easily totaled.

[Pixilated]

It may yet hit $3,000 or better, once they get it up on the hoist ... or start pulling the dented bits off and looking at what's behind them.

[Pixilated]

That's definitely the way it's going to go. The assessor said the door will have to be replaced (they will do their best to match the car's colour but no guarantees ...), plus he said it looked as if she had also hit the wheel; if so, we may be looking at suspension damage. So yeah, I'm not taking any chances on this. Tomorrow I go to file a police report and then I contact my insurance broker to tell her to start the ball rolling.

I really should've taken a different route, dammit!

[Seshat]

At least in Australia, driver & passenger doors have a structural member in them to reduce the risk of injury to the driver/passenger. If the door won't close or open properly, this member is probably distorted; which means it was hit hard enough that there may well be significant damage to the door frame.

You absolutely, definitely want a mechanic - and a good one - to check this out. The door frame and the door's safety beam are your protection against being killed in a T accident. You want that frame and the door to be repaired correctly.

And so does everyone who cares about you.

[PepperElf]

No police report

You don't actually have to call the police to file an accident report. A couple of years ago I pulled out of the parking lot too fast and scraped "Mrs. North's" car. I left a note I think and my contact information / apt number (our apartments shared a wall). After Mr. North reviewed the damage he talked to me about it and produced the accident form. Although in my case the insurance never went up because apparently the price of the deductible wasn't worth the cost of repairs (just a small paint scratch on a car that already had plenty of paint damage).

although the caveat with insurance premiums is that... the price of fixing the damage yourself might eclipse the price of the higher premium.

[kpzra]

Most places I've lived you can file a report online after the fact.

[bhskittykatt]

You usually have a certain timeframe to file a report with police/insurance. It shouldn't be too late.

I'm guessing this may not be her first collision and she's afraid of her premiums skyrocketing. Many insurance companies these days offer accident forgiveness, basically a get-out-of-jail-free card if you have an at-fault fender-bender. If you're a repeat offender, though, prepare to pay through the nose.

At least you have her info. I had my passenger-side door smashed in by a hit-and-run driver in the mall parking lot. We could barely open the door. And without uninsured motorist, I was screwed. Hubby took it apart and hammered it back so the door would open and the window would roll down, but it still wasn't pretty. I was pissed.

[Pixilated]

I went down to the collision reporting substation the day after the accident to report it. They asked for a lot of descriptive stuff that I didn't have, LOL. "Well, if you're ever in an accident again, you should write this stuff down ..." Thanks, lady, but I seriously hope NEVER to be in another accident! (But of course, that doesn't entirely depend on me ... as this accident showed.)

I was wondering about that myself, bhskittykat; has she had one or more other accidents on her record? If so, I'm not trying to be vindictive, but that's not my problem -- I need my car back, in working order. I think we have that forgiveness thing up here; I know my insurance broker mentioned something like that when I was talking to it.

Wow, that sucks about getting hit in the parking lot! You mean your insurance company wouldn't cover it at all?