I was in a car accident this morning

Nothing major just a fender bender. I was at Wal-Mart picking up my son's prescription. Well we went to leave and before i backed up I looked and there was no one coming. I always make sure of that. So I was almost completely backed out and a newer Tahoe decided to back out and hit me. Messed up the back driver's side corner panel by the trunk. No one was hurt but my car. The Tahoe had no damage at all. So we called the cops and had a report filled out. The girl (she was 21) doesn't want me to file with the insurance but I am anyways. She said she would pay to fix the damage but I have seen to many cases where the person backs out of that deal so insurance it is. According to the cop that showed up looking at the position of the cars I am not at fault the other driver is. So Monday I go to pick up a copy of the report and I am filing a claim with our insurance.

Any other advice from people that have been in this position?

I am pretty sure that here in California, if it happens in a parking lot it's like a no fault thing, you would end up fixing your own, but I'm not positive

Well I think I just upset the family of the girl. When the accident happened I told the girl we were more than likely gonna go through the insurance company. But to be nice I guess I told her I would discuss the options with the hubby and call her this afternoon and let her know for sure either way. Well I came home discussed it with the hubby and we feel like this is something best handled by the insurance company we pay each month. So I called her and just told her and I heard in the background her telling the bf I was going through the insurance and boy did he sound mad. But I feel better just going through them. This is the damage to my car:

I would to that's a pretty bad dent, I just bought a brand new Toyota Camrey and 3 weeks later I backed out of the garage into my Grandsons Toyota corolla, it didn't look to bad to me at all nothing at all like that and it will probably be around $1,000 so I dread to think what they may be.
And to add I figured if it wasn't to much to get his fixed I would just pay for it but if not then I will turn it in to My Insurance and pay the $500 deduct

I know you might be upset with me, but I think the damage isn't that big, I wouldn't make a fuss on it

Those things happen, I don't have a car personally so I don't know how you're feeling about it, but I think I would use insurance if this damage was big, or if I was in a real car accidence - this isn't a scratch I know, but on the other hand it's not that big. Don't you think you could resolve this one with the girl without bringing up the insurance?

That's my opinion, I don't make a fuss on small potatoes, but if I'm touching a soft-spot plz forgive me

Arie

Originally Posted by arie85

I know you might be upset with me, but I think the damage isn't that big, I wouldn't make a fuss on it

Those things happen, I don't have a car personally so I don't know how you're feeling about it, but I think I would use insurance if this damage was big, or if I was in a real car accidence - this isn't a scratch I know, but on the other hand it's not that big. Don't you think you could resolve this one with the girl without bringing up the insurance?

That's my opinion, I don't make a fuss on small potatoes, but if I'm touching a soft-spot plz forgive me

Arie

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It does look like a pretty big dent to me, however I can see what you are saying too, and I might would be willing to let them pay for it, but I would go get the estimates and then make them give me the money for it, first, then I would go get my car fixed. It they were not willing to give me the cash money then we would be going through the insurance.

Originally Posted by LSULOVER

It does look like a pretty big dent to me, however I can see what you are saying too, and I might would be willing to let them pay for it, but I would go get the estimates and then make them give me the money for it, first, then I would go get my car fixed. It they were not willing to give me the cash money then we would be going through the insurance.

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That sounds like a pretty smart one, way to go

Originally Posted by Ping

Well I think I just upset the family of the girl. When the accident happened I told the girl we were more than likely gonna go through the insurance company. But to be nice I guess I told her I would discuss the options with the hubby and call her this afternoon and let her know for sure either way. Well I came home discussed it with the hubby and we feel like this is something best handled by the insurance company we pay each month. So I called her and just told her and I heard in the background her telling the bf I was going through the insurance and boy did he sound mad. But I feel better just going through them. This is the damage to my car:

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I am glad that you were not hurt

The problem I have with letting her just pay to fix it no insurance involved is I have seen and heard to many stories of when those deals back fire. They say they will pay until they find out it costs more than a few hundred to fix. So thats why I am going through the insurance. Also the whole time we were waiting on the cop to get there to do the report she kept telling me her dad owned a junk yard. That worried me as if she just wanted me to go and get the corner panel and do the work myself.

Also on the dent. Yeah in my opinion its pretty bad. You can stand beside it look down and see the ground thats how far its pushed back. Right now I am worried that they can not just pop it out and the corner panel will have to be replaced and repainted.

But all in all I am glad that no one was hurt. But I plan to get this taken care of in a timely manner.

Definately go through the insurance! That is a pretty big dent to me! DH had some not so nice words to say about the girl who did that. I am glad no one was hurt.

That looks pretty bad to me and I'm SURE it would cost quite a bit to pay for and I'm sure the girl would not be able to afford it. My mom backed into my car and scraped up the whole side....it looked better than that by far and it was over $1300 damage if I remember correctly.

I am glad you are ok!

Originally Posted by Ping

The problem I have with letting her just pay to fix it no insurance involved is I have seen and heard to many stories of when those deals back fire. They say they will pay until they find out it costs more than a few hundred to fix. So thats why I am going through the insurance. Also the whole time we were waiting on the cop to get there to do the report she kept telling me her dad owned a junk yard. That worried me as if she just wanted me to go and get the corner panel and do the work myself.

Also on the dent. Yeah in my opinion its pretty bad. You can stand beside it look down and see the ground thats how far its pushed back. Right now I am worried that they can not just pop it out and the corner panel will have to be replaced and repainted.

But all in all I am glad that no one was hurt. But I plan to get this taken care of in a timely manner.

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That is why I said I would get the estimates to fix it and get the money (cash) up front, I would give them so many days to give me the cash first. There is no way I would take it to be fixed without having the money in my hand.

Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Definately go through the insurance! That is a pretty big dent to me! DH had some not so nice words to say about the girl who did that. I am glad no one was hurt.

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Actually he was upset but didn't have any choice words. And your right thankfully no one was hurt.

Just took the car to a body shop close to me and he gave me an estimate of 1500-2,000 to get the car fixed. I am gonna get some more estimates Monday morning.

Ohhh, that's too bad, but just glad no one was hurt!!

Don't EVER believe when someone else will tell you they will pay. All too often they lie and never do anything about it. It is YOUR car that was damaged. File your claim with the insurance. This is YOUR car that was damaged. When it comes to things like that, you come first. No one else. It doesn't matter what the other party feels. You should only worry about you. You don't want to regret your decision later and having to pay out of pocket.

I always go through insurance companies-that's what you pay for-so what if her premiums are going up or she ends up being cancelled. She should have been paying attention!!!
When I was rear-ended several yrs ago I was just a few minutes from work and called the guy's wife for the insurance info-evidently I beat him calling his wife-she wasn't happy either but too bad so sad!!!
Hope the vehicle will be repaired to your satisfaction!!!

I've heard many horror stories of people that decided to trust the person who hit them and not go through the insurance and ended up having to take them to small claims court because they wouldn't pay. I would go through the insurance myself - any dent is expensive and that is a large one.

Originally Posted by Ping

Actually he was upset but didn't have any choice words. And your right thankfully no one was hurt.

Just took the car to a body shop close to me and he gave me an estimate of 1500-2,000 to get the car fixed. I am gonna get some more estimates Monday morning.

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That sounds about right since you will have to replace the panel. And definitely wise to go through the insurance company. Creates a legal record (besides the police report) if anything.

Hmmm, There is a good chance that the insurance adjustors with figure it to be 50/50 fault since it occured in a parking lot. Unfortunately, the police have nothing to do with determining fault.

*In Ontario anyway*

If there is moderate damage to your vehicle, and you put a claim through, expect your premiums to increase.

If it was a case of being SURE it wasn't your fault (ie-you were rearended), then yes I would suggest always going through insurance. But in this case, remember, there is a chance you will be partially at fault.

Good luck.