Car accident questions - regarding which way to settle

[DrPizza]

update:
Went with their insurance. Their insurance company called us, said they took full responsibility for the accident, all work guaranteed, etc. With Geico, it would have taken a while before the repairs were started. If we wanted the repairs started immediately, we had to take the car to certain garages; nearest one was 1 1/2 hours away in Buffalo. With their insurance, it goes in for repairs this morning, about 2 miles from where my wife works. And, to seal the deal: they're providing a rental car. Since we have 3 vehicles (actually, 4; one is off the road at the moment), it didn't make sense to pay anything extra for rental on our policy - it's pretty simple to cope without one of the vehicles. Plus, now, we don't have to pay the deductable up front and hope to get reimbursed later. They've been treating us quite nicely so far. If they'd give me a decent rate, I'd switch my rental property insurance, homeowner's insurance, farm insurance, insurance for the 3 cars, boat insurance, and umbrella policy over to them.

-----------------------------------------

Wife was driving back home. On a bend in the road, a car approaching in the opposite direction was going (obviously) too fast for road conditions (and later received a ticket for same.) He slid on the bend; wife tried to avoid him, but there's no where to go. He side-swiped her, taking out the mirror, driver's side door, and sliding door on van. Other side of the car damaged on front passenger side quarter panel, passenger side bumper (thanks to being knocked into the guard rail.) No injuries.

2001 Grand Caravan

Here's the question:
We have Geico. Got the state police report - he's at fault, and admitted to being at fault. He has a different insurance company. Geico said we had the choice: get it fixed, pay our $500 deductable toward the repairs, and Geico would go after their insurance company, including recouping our deductable, which we would get back (assuming Geico is successful.)

Or, according to Geico, we could go directly through their (his parents) insurance company which might result in waiting a little longer before repairs could be started.

And, option 3, but I don't know how it works with insurance companies: get the money for the repairs, and only fix part of the damage. I can live with the crack in the rear bumper; it's only cosmetic (and the van already has cosmetic defects). The passenger side quarter panel is pushed backwards - the cosmetic damage to it isn't too bad - dinged up a bit, but I can live with this as well, assuming we can shove the panel forward again so that the passenger side door will open. (Been there, done that before.) We're planning on driving the van into the ground - we're not driving it and keeping it all freshly waxed as a status symbol, or hoping we can trade it in as "mint" condition; we're using it as a utility vehicle. (i.e. there's a difference between a 35k pickup and a pickup that's actually being very used.) How does option 3 work?




Thanks!

 

[sjwaste]

Who's the adverse insurance company?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

 

[fstime]

Go with option 1 and have Geico go after them, thats why you pay them!

Trust me, assuming he has auto insurance, Geico will get the money from them, they don't give up that easily, how would they be in business if they did.


I have had a situation where I didn't even contract my insurance provider, went straight and called the other parties and the process was not long at all but since you already contacted them, you might as well have them do it.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Who's the adverse insurance company?

Progressive

 

[sjwaste]

Progressive's a big insurer. They'll probably settle it quickly and fix your car. I mean, you're picking the shop, so it'd probably be the same repairs no matter who did the initial work. I guess it depends on whether or not you want to lay out the deductible.

Full disclosure: When I got hit, I let my company subrogate the claim, but I was like 19 so my dad paid my deductible for me

 

[soydios]

If the other guy caused damage to your car, he should fix all of it, not just make it functional again.

I would go through my insurance company. Your rates won't be affected, and your company has a helluva lot more bargaining power than you do when dealing with the other guy's insurance.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

Have to say that what you describe is something I've never experienced. State Farm has always been exceptionally good to me and to my family. Never seen anyone's rates go up due to an accident for which they were not at fault. I would assume that the other large companies are similar.

Very frankly, your worries seem paranoiac.

ZV

 

[Toastedlightly]

Well, if you were here in Minnesota, you go directly to your insurance as we are a no-fault state.

 

[Ferocious]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

Agreed.

I had someone hit me once, with very minor damage. They had insurance and it handled everything fine. Unfortunatley I called my insurance company with a question about the procedure, sort of a hypothetical type question....with no intention of filing any claim with them at all. My rates went up the following year.

 

[Kaieye]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

Agreed...

 

[sjwaste]

You're most likely obligated by the terms of your policy to report an accident to your insurer, regardless of fault. And having had a not-at-fault accident, I can say my rate certainly didn't go up because of it.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

Best path IMHO.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

Have to say that what you describe is something I've never experienced. State Farm has always been exceptionally good to me and to my family. Never seen anyone's rates go up due to an accident for which they were not at fault. I would assume that the other large companies are similar.

Very frankly, your worries seem paranoiac.

ZV

With state farm, my rates were raised due to a non-fault accident. I was told, if you have ANY accident whether you are at fault or not, your rates can increase due the the probability of you getting into another accident.

 

[fstime]

Now that I think back, Geico did raise a family members rates after she called with a simple question (not filing a claim, similar to the poster above) and the rates nearly doubled even though she was not at fault and got a check from the other party's insurer in a couple days..

Surely she switched to another company a week later that offered a quote similar to her old rate.

 

[PingSpike]

We have geico, and a very similar situation happened last year to...incidentally, my wife, as well.

We decided to go through geico. It took them a long time to come out, probably because two days before the accident was an ice storm or something that caused a ton of accidents. They were pretty good about changing the estimate to higher after the body shop found additional damage not covered. However, it took us...9 months I believe, to get the deductable back, since it went to arbitration or something. Which was kind of stupid since they other guy was pretty clearly at fault. Which makes me wonder how well I would have done if I had gone through the other guys insurance company.

Anyway, our rates didn't go up. They went down, but thats likely because we moved.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Now that I think back, Geico did raise a family members rates after she called with a simple question (not filing a claim, similar to the poster above) and the rates nearly doubled even though she was not at fault and got a check from the other party's insurer in a couple days..

Surely she switched to another company a week later that offered a quote similar to her old rate.

We recently looked to see if our rates would go down by switching. Nope. Couldn't find anyone whose rates compared to what Geico offers us.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Geico has the best chance of being successful. In this case I would say to pay the deductible, get the repairs, and let Geico recoup your money. That would be the path I would choose. If you go directly through their insurance company, you're more likely to get shafted because you won't know all the ins and outs of bargaining with them.

Option 3 is basically the same as option 2, you go directly to the other party's insurance and offer to settle for $X,XXX, which is what it would cost to make the van functional, but not cosmetically-perfect. My issue with this is that there may be non-obvious damage that you can't get paid for because you already settled.

I say to let Geico fight this for you. Your rates will not go up (since you're not at fault) and it's as good as certain that Geico will get the money back.

ZV

I'd have to say that I disagree with this. Do not EVER file a claim with your own insurance company because you run the risk of having them either raise your rates (regardless of whose fault it was) or cancelling you entirely.

First avenue is to make the guilty party's insurance pay. That's what he has them for. Geico is NOT your friend in this matter, whether they try to recoup the cost or not.

Personally, I would have never even told me insurance company I was in this wreck unless I had exhausted my options with the guilty person's insurance.

Again, it is never, ever, ever good to file a claim on your insurance. It's there for emergency purposes only. So unless the other company refuses to fix your car, I wouldn't advise you have your insurance involved any further.
Remember, regardless of what commercials might say, the insurance company is NEVER on your side.
I've known quite a few people whose rates got raised because someone else ran into THEM and the other company paid everything.

Have to say that what you describe is something I've never experienced. State Farm has always been exceptionally good to me and to my family. Never seen anyone's rates go up due to an accident for which they were not at fault. I would assume that the other large companies are similar.

Very frankly, your worries seem paranoiac.

ZV

Well, I wish they were, but they are based in fact and experience.
My dad owned the largest body shop in the state when I was a kid, and I've had a lot of exposure to people's experiences with different insurers.
Your insurance most certainly CAN go up, even if you're not at fault and your company isn't involved in any way. They also CAN cancel you, and both of these scenarios happen daily.

Your local agent...yeah, they're your friend. Usually great folks.
But the actual companies? Not so much. I've had Allstate for a very long time, and I've always had great service out of the local agent, but I still wouldn't trust them as far as my front porch to have my best interests at heart if I had an auto claim.

As far as State Farm goes, well...YMMV. I think they've gotten better, but I remember about 10-12 years ago, there used to be a lot of bumper stickers you'd see that said "If you're insured with State Farm, please don't hit me".
Glad you've never had a problem.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Here's the question:
We have Geico. Got the state police report - he's at fault, and admitted to being at fault. He has a different insurance company. Geico said we had the choice: get it fixed, pay our $500 deductable toward the repairs, and Geico would go after their insurance company, including recouping our deductable, which we would get back (assuming Geico is successful.)

Or, according to Geico, we could go directly through their (his parents) insurance company which might result in waiting a little longer before repairs could be started.

And, option 3, but I don't know how it works with insurance companies: get the money for the repairs, and only fix part of the damage. I can live with the crack in the rear bumper; it's only cosmetic (and the van already has cosmetic defects). The passenger side quarter panel is pushed backwards - the cosmetic damage to it isn't too bad - dinged up a bit, but I can live with this as well, assuming we can shove the panel forward again so that the passenger side door will open. (Been there, done that before.) We're planning on driving the van into the ground - we're not driving it and keeping it all freshly waxed as a status symbol, or hoping we can trade it in as "mint" condition; we're using it as a utility vehicle. (i.e. there's a difference between a 35k pickup and a pickup that's actually being very used.) How does option 3 work?




Thanks!

Option 4: Get an estimate at a reputable shop. Retake possesion of the car once the estimate is done, and continue to drive it. File a claim DIRECTLY with the other insurance company, don't go through your insurer. Once they agree to the damages (they may want to send someone out to take photos), a check should be forthcoming. Once you receive the check, decide how much of it you want to spend to get it fixed. This part is totally up to you. Then do it yourself, get a friend to do it, or take it to a shop, whichever you prefer. Keep the change.

 

[JAH]

I would go to Geico and let them take care of it. For me personally, they are a very good company.

I had my first accident ever few months back and it was determined that both me and the other driver were 50/50 at fault. I paid the $500 deductible to Geico and have them arranged the repair. Geico got the other company to send me a check for half of the deductible (only half because I was partially at fault) a few weeks later. Final cost to repair my car (06 350Z) was over $6K and I thought for sure that my rate would go up. Then a couple weeks ago I got the bill from Geico for the next six months of coverage, and to my surprise the rate was lowered by almost $300!

 

[kalrith]

My wife was recently involved in an accident. The other driver was at fault, the police report said so, and he had Progressive Insurance. We reported the claim on Nov. 13, they inspected the vehicle on Nov. 14, and issued a check on Nov. 26, which is the day that the police report was available. They could not get a hold of their insured for his statement, so they had to wait until they could get a copy of the police report before issuing payment.

The wait would have been a big deal if we had been unable to drive the vehicle. However, the damage is purely cosmetic.

 

[Zee]

what kind of insurance coverage di dyou have?

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Zee
what kind of insurance coverage di dyou have?

If you're asking me, I have full coverage through American Family Insurance. I didn't even contact them regarding the accident, because I wanted the other guy's insurance to foot the bill. I would choose to take a little longer to get the repairs done rather than risk losing my deductible.

 

[DrPizza]

Van goes in for repairs today.