Insurance Question

[Buckeyes_Doc]

I posted this in the off-topic thread, but it is probably like 3 pages back and lost forever now. Anyways this morning I saw a note on my car from a person in my apartment complex who hit my car while backing out of their parking spot (they were parked next to me not sure how they hit me wtf?) and I didn't see too much damage to my car.

On the passenger side behind the rear tire there is blue and black marks on my car. I didn't see any dents or anything else and not sure how bad his car is because he already left.

My question is what should I do now? I'm stupid when it comes to this because I've never been in an accident of any kind before. He left me his contact information and insurance information in the note. Should I file a claim through my insurance or see if I can get an estimate from an auto body shop and see if he will pay out of pocket. It seems like a minor thing and I don't want to make a big deal out of, I'm not sure how much damage his car has though.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Insurance Question

If you don't see dents or deep scratches somewhere, just let it go. Not that serious to file over a scuff mark that you can get just from parking in any store parking lot on a crowded day.

[snepp]

Re: Insurance Question

If you don't see dents or deep scratches somewhere, just let it go. Not that serious to file over a scuff mark that you can get just from parking in any store parking lot on a crowded day.

Or tell the dude to buy you an expensive bottle of liquor and you'll call it even.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Insurance Question

If you don't see dents or deep scratches somewhere, just let it go. Not that serious to file over a scuff mark that you can get just from parking in any store parking lot on a crowded day.

Yea I don't want to make a big deal about all of this. I will look at it more closely after work and if I don't see anything other then the scuffs I will just thank him for leaving a note and not to worry about it, and never park next to my car again until you learn how to back up.

[fishepa]

Re: Insurance Question

I posted this in the off-topic thread, but it is probably like 3 pages back and lost forever now. Anyways this morning I saw a note on my car from a person in my apartment complex who hit my car while backing out of their parking spot (they were parked next to me not sure how they hit me wtf?) and I didn't see too much damage to my car.

On the passenger side behind the rear tire there is blue and black marks on my car. I didn't see any dents or anything else and not sure how bad his car is because he already left.

My question is what should I do now? I'm stupid when it comes to this because I've never been in an accident of any kind before. He left me his contact information and insurance information in the note. Should I file a claim through my insurance or see if I can get an estimate from an auto body shop and see if he will pay out of pocket. It seems like a minor thing and I don't want to make a big deal out of, I'm not sure how much damage his car has though.

Do what you want. If you feel the damage is enough to warrant repair, then contact his insurance agency. If not, then don't worry about it.

[Cusefan]

Re: Insurance Question

Do what you want. If you feel the damage is enough to warrant repair, then contact his insurance agency. If not, then don't worry about it.

This, if someone hits your parked car it is automatically their fault and their insurance will pick it up. Personally I would take it to get it fixed since it is not on my dime.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Insurance Question

This, if someone hits your parked car it is automatically their fault and their insurance will pick it up. Personally I would take it to get it fixed since it is not on my dime.

Exactly. If it is something permanant, get it fixed. If it's something that can be buffed or rubbed out, then I'd say let it slide.

If you want to get it repaired, you can go through his insurance (you can go through yours, but you'd likely have to pay the dedicutible initially until his company accepts liability...it will just take longer!). Or you can go get an estimate and see if he wants to cover it himself.

A lot of people think these things will be cheap and will volunteer to pay until the get an estiamte for several hundred to several thousand dollars for what does not appear to be a lot of damage.

Regardless, pretty cool of this guy to own up to it. A lot of people would have looked around, saw nobody was looking and taken off.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Insurance Question

The world needs more people like him. My vehicle has bumps and scrapes all over it from other people.

But I'm not one that cares that much about how my vehicle looks, so I let it slide. It's just a thing, and it's not like I'm impressing anyone cruising my '05 RAV4

[Speedy]

Re: Insurance Question

... you can go get an estimate and see if he wants to cover it himself.

A lot of people think these things will be cheap and will volunteer to pay until the get an estiamte for several hundred to several thousand dollars for what does not appear to be a lot of damage.

This is my advice. I had my vehicle parked at my sister's house a few months ago and a guy across the street backed into it and messed the fender up pretty bad...He provided me his insurance but I waited until I got the quote which was about $150 or so ($100 plus my cost to take off work and wait for the guy to look @ it); I told him what it would be and that I didn't call the insurance company yet so he gave me the money and I got it fixed.

Kindly worked out on all cylinders. Plus, I think it would be a bit of a reward for the guy trying to be nice and do the right thing instead of penalizing him not only by paying for your car but his insurance for [x] amount of years.

[ODogg]

Re: Insurance Question

One thing to remember, anytime a car is hit other things than cosmetics can be affected. You should get someone to give your car a once over, either on your own dime (and ask him to reimburse) or by filing an insurance claim. If it checks out that nothings wrong then go from there. But it's possible there could be damage to your transmission and/or wheel rod or any number of things depending upon how hard he hit you. You can't just go by the looks of it.

I realize the guy's a nice guy and all but how will you feel if you do nothing because it seems minor and then in 2 months your transmission starts dying?

[cardsfan2222]

Re: Insurance Question

A lot of body shops will give free estimates. I'd just take the car to a couple and see how much they say it will be. Then you can decide if it's worth getting it fixed or not.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Insurance Question

I went to an auto shop and had a guy look at my car. He noticed some scratches on my rear bumper and on other parts of my car. These aren't from the accident they have been there for a couple years. Anyways he said it wouldn't make much sense for him to just fix the paint on the one location where the guy hit me at.

I tried calling the person who hit me and he gave me a wrong number.

[mgoblue]

Re: Insurance Question

Keep in mind you'll probably still have to pay your deductible, so it's at least 250 or 500 out of your pocket depending on your insurance...

If it's really nothing it's not usually worth calling the insurance for.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Insurance Question

Yea I'm just going to let it go.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Insurance Question

So he leaves a letter with the wrong number. If that was on purpose, what the **** is the point? Does that make him feel better?