I got backed into, cracked my side marker and bent the fender. I got all of the information my insurance card, but what do I do now?

+1 for parking right in front of work
+1 for considerate people stopping to give me their info
+1 for the guy missing my morette by like an inch

The good that will cone out of this is that when they repaint the new fender, it'll be cheap to have them do the morettes too

 

call your insurance company and file the claim. give them the persons information, and let them contact their insurance and deal with them.
you pay insurance, and you pay them to deal with things like this

you are not at fault, they won't place you at fault at all. as long as the other persons insurance claims fault, they will cover the cost for the deductable as well.

don't worry. just let your company do everything for you

and i speak from years of experience, 10 accidents (none my fault).

 

The guy said he'd rather pay out of pocket if it was <$100, but the fender is bent so I doubt it's be that little.

Oddly enough the impact knocked all the paint off my sideskirts and morettes

 

I love douchebag Monterey drivers.

Was it a prius?

 

It was a tourist from livermoore. I don't know HOW he didn't see my car though. He drove by it, and then tried to parallel park into the spot my car was in

Luckily he wasn't a douche and pulled over as I ran out to see why my alarm was going off.

 

goto the body shop of your choice and get an estimate

if he pays it out of pocket, great. but if it's too much and his collision deductible is less, he might want to do the insurance route.

either way, get an estimate and hopefully fixed soon

 

It is going to cost way over $100. I got hit in the rear quarter panel and it cost the person's insurance company over $7,000 for repairs. Don't even consider the out of pocket route, because it will just take you longer to get your car repaired and your insurance company will wonder why you didn't contact them immediately.

Edit: One other thing that I would recommend is get the quote from the body shop of your choice and don't get a second one from where your or their insurance suggests. They will always underbid and then you are stuck with that body shop or paying the extra out of pocket. I've been screwed that way before and it's a sucky lesson to learn.

 

Listen to me, I used to be in the industry as some i-Clubbers know

Report the accident to HIS insurance. Let HIS insurance take care of everything. It makes things less complicated when the accident is so cut-and-dry because it leaves out 1 less party that doesn't need to be involved (in this case, your own insurance).

DO NOT take any out of pocket offers from other drivers, they are ALWAYS too low.

When you file your claim with HIS insurance company, tell them which body shop YOU want to take your car; you DO NOT HAVE TO take your car to their recommended shops unless you want to. The difference is this: take it to the shop of your choice, they have to send one of their adjusters out to look at it; take it to one of their recommended shops, the shop takes care of everything and no adjuster needs to be sent out (because the recommended shop is "trustworthy" in the insurance company's eyes).

If you don't want to repair your car for some reason and you just want to take the money, make sure you take it to a shop of YOUR CHOICE where an adjuster can look at it. Have the adjuster then make the check to you instead of to the shop under your name. Having it at a shop can net you a higher labor rate that having the adjuster look at it wherever.

If you DO want your car repaired and you don't want to hassle with check cashing, you can have the adjuster issue the check in your name directly to the shop. If the shop needs more money, they'll contact the adjuster again for a supplement for you, up until they have enough money to get the repairs done right. You never, EVER NEED to pay out of pocket for an insurance job no matter what; and if you are forced to do so, you can file a Department of Insurance complaint with the State.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

 

It's easier to deal with your insurance company because they are here to help you. You talk to your agent only, and they will deal with the other company.

Talking to your agent is better. They are on your side.

 

Turns out he was a bit of a douche. My manager saw his face as he was looking around to see if anyone saw. Once he saw me running towards him and knew he was caught, his expression changed I'll swing by a body shop tomorrow and give him a call with the estimate right before I give my insurance a call

 

Heya Matt, long time no see! I agree w/ Choku on this one, when I got scraped in a parking lot last year, my insurance company (Progressive) actually made things SLOWER by asking me to pay a dedeductible & wait several days for their over-booked estimate guy.
The other party was Allstate and they got everything processed FAST and had a check out to me in like 10 days or so. I completely skipped my ins. company.

Also, i met this guy in Watsonville that does side paint & touch-up jobs. He did a great job on that rusted paint chip on my wheel lip. Sanded, paint match & clearcoat for 25$. It looks great. If you want a cheap bodyman lemme know & ill get his #.

 

It makes no sense to futz with your deductible when you don't need to. Plus it's no fun having an accident go on your record, even if it's not your fault. All insurance companies have investigation units, and a string of accidents that aren't your fault can be fishy looking to them. Last thing you want is your insurance company scrutinizing you for no reason.

Also, talking to your agent instead of directly contacting your insurance company's claims department makes things more complicated than they need to be by adding ANOTHER party that doesn't necessarily need to be involved. If you know your rights, it's best to take care of your claim yourself -- it's the fastest and easiest way.

But feel free to do you as you wish. I'm just giving a little professional advice on how best to deal with insurance companies

 

I'll be contacting the guy shortly, estimate is $912

And I will be dealing with his insurance, not mine (even though I haven't ever had a problem with dealing with Gieco)

 

Do what Choku said. Contact his insurance and they will call him and get his story and if he admits 100% they won't hassle you too much. Just take it to your shop since recommended shops, at times, cut corners by using used parts when they charge or tell you its a new part. This can happen for any body shop but it tends to happen more often with their "recommended shops." Also try to keep your insurance out of it since you did nothing and I got screwed when my insurance got contacted since when i got backed into I got a point on my insurance 4 years ago since happened in a private parking lot or some BS like that.

Also, make sure you are 100% satisfied when they finish since its your car and it should be 100% what it was before it got hit. If it makes any noises or looks different take it back and make them fix it right since you should not be punished for some idiot not knowing how to park...

 

you aren't fussing with your own deductible. Your insurance contacts theirs, hopefully they claim fault and the deductible is waived by your company since they'll collect from his.
You aren't getting more people involved. You only talk to one person, and that's the claims "agent" for your company. That claims agent will contact with the other company as needed.

If the person actually pays, then yes. But if they don't and it all becomes a hassle, you are going to wish in the end you had somebody helping fight for you; hence, your insurance company.

I speak from a lot of experience in being in so many accidents.