Got rear ended by someone without insurance coverage?

[k3n]

Should I pay my insurance, Liberty Mutual, $250 for "uninsured motors coverage" for Maryland residents. Since they believe I'm not at fault, for being rear ended, they said I qualified for the "uninsured motors coverage", but still require I pay $250. They said would "try" to recover the money by going after the person who rear-ended me, but there is no guarantee of success.

Or

Should I file a complaint against the person who rear-ended me, and hope I don't have to pay for anything in the long run?

The car insurance company said I can still come back to them even if my complaint fails.

What would you guys at anandtech advice? Judging by the car's damage, I'd say its atleast $600 to fix/replace the body work.

The owner (not the driver at the time of the rear-ending), did not have coverage with Geico at the time of the accident. I do have the driver's phone number.

Note: I have had licence for the past 5+ years. I have never gotten a traffic violation/speeding ticket. This is my 1st "accident" as a driver of a vehicle.

 

[OverVolt]

I would just pay up honestly.

I had to pay my deductible when my car was hit by a trash truck while parked and I was asleep. He just clipped me which was better than what it could have been, but still $1,500 in damage since he clipped my fender and tail light and pushed my car 2 feet out of its parking spot D:

 

[FleshLight]

Call them and ask if he wants to pay out of pocket or sue him

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Pay the $250.

The person who doesn't have insurance probably won't have any money for you to try to get. Will be a waste of time.

 

[ThinClient]

What a scam. Isn't this what insurance is for? To cover loss to your own vehicle, provided you have something more than liability? Insurance companies are such a racket. Who cares if they can recoup their cost from the other person or not? It's their paid job to repair your vehicle and now they're trying to extort more money from you to do it.

My advice would be to pick a different insurance carrier.

I don't have any advice on what option you should actually choose, sorry.

 

[ThinClient]

Call them and ask if he wants to pay out of pocket or sue him

Actually, I like this idea. :hmm:

 

[OverVolt]

Call them and ask if he wants to pay out of pocket or sue him

To me personally its not worth the effort, even if you won you can't make money appear out of the guy at faults arse. If he doesn't have car insurance he probably doesn't have any money either.

 

[ThinClient]

To me personally its not worth the effort, even if you won you can't make money appear out of the guy at faults arse. If he doesn't have car insurance he probably doesn't have any money either.

Payment plans. Garnished wages. It can happen.

 

[BoomerD]

Payment plans. Garnished wages. It can happen.

But don't hold your breath...Payment plans, without court order are "iffy" at best...and even garnishment of wages only works if the other guy has a decent job...and keeps it.

OP, $600 barely covers the cost of fixing a scratch in your bumper. Get a couple of estimates from GOOD body shops and let us know how much it's REALLY gonna cost.

I'm surprised you don't have UI coverage. I don't think I've ever had auto insurance that didn't include that. IMO, it's worth the extra little cost. IF LM will cover this accident if you add UI...go for it.

 

[SunnyD]

I'm surprised you don't have UI coverage. I don't think I've ever had auto insurance that didn't include that. IMO, it's worth the extra little cost. IF LM will cover this accident if you add UI...go for it.

This.

Granted it's optional, but ffs, with the amount of uninsured people driving around these days I don't know why ANYBODY would carry an insurance policy without at least 25/50 UI/UIM. Hell, I carry 100/300, and it's probably the biggest place I could save money on my policy, but I refuse to reduce coverage because I know as soon as I do I'm going to need it.

For the record OP - if you had UIM on your policy in the first place, it would probably have cost you like $25 instead of $250.

 

[BoomerD]

This.

Granted it's optional, but ffs, with the amount of uninsured people driving around these days I don't know why ANYBODY would carry an insurance policy without at least 25/50 UI/UIM. Hell, I carry 100/300, and it's probably the biggest place I could save money on my policy, but I refuse to reduce coverage because I know as soon as I do I'm going to need it.

For the record OP - if you had UIM on your policy in the first place, it would probably have cost you like $25 instead of $250.

The $250 is probably his deductible. Not sure how much the premium increase is for UI/UIM, but as you say...there are way too many uninsured drivers to take the chance over a few bucks per year.

 

[Number1]

Should I pay my insurance, Liberty Mutual, $250 for "uninsured motors coverage" for Maryland residents. Since they believe I'm not at fault, for being rear ended, they said I qualified for the "uninsured motors coverage", but still require I pay $250. They said would "try" to recover the money by going after the person who rear-ended me, but there is no guarantee of success.

Or

Should I file a complaint against the person who rear-ended me, and hope I don't have to pay for anything in the long run?

The car insurance company said I can still come back to them even if my complaint fails.

What would you guys at anandtech advice? Judging by the car's damage, I'd say its atleast $600 to fix/replace the body work.

The owner (not the driver at the time of the rear-ending), did not have coverage with Geico at the time of the accident. I do have the driver's phone number.

Note: I have had licence for the past 5+ years. I have never gotten a traffic violation/speeding ticket. This is my 1st "accident" as a driver of a vehicle.

Get a hold of the driver at fault and see if he want's to pay for the repairs. If not, pay you deductible, get the car repaired and let the insurance company worry about getting their money back from the guy.

Good luck.

 

[ThinClient]

The $250 is probably his deductible.

$250 is the premium for UI coverage from LM, according to the thread starter's post. He already has coverage from them, he's already paying the premium, but they want $250 more to add UI coverage to his policy... or so it would seem to me with how he worded it.

 

[k3n]

I'll try to get an estimate amount by a trusted mechanic. But can I at least file a complaint with the cops, to make sure this uninsured driver gets fined/or off the streets.

BTW, the driver literally lied to me... TWICE. Gave me the wrong insurance information, & second, claimed the vehicle was owned by his employer/company, when it was owned by a Geico customer, that I'm guessing was his girlfriend (different surnames). Had I not taken the cars plate number, this would have been much more difficult indeed.

 

[BoomerD]

$250 is the premium for UI coverage from LM, according to the thread starter's post. He already has coverage from them, he's already paying the premium, but they want $250 more to add UI coverage to his policy... or so it would seem to me with how he worded it.

That could be...seems VERY high to me...but I'm old and pay much less than the youngsters here pay...

I'll try to get a claim amount by a trusted mechanic. But can I at least file a complaint with the cops, to make sure this uninsured driver gets fined/or off the streets.

Mechanic? No...auto body shop. Totally different type of work.
IIRC, Liberty Mutual has a group of "preferred body shops" that they will refer you to. Just be sure to insist on original equipment parts if they have to replace anything. Even used parts are usually better than the aftermarket "OEM" crap that some shops use to save money.

 

[SunnyD]

The $250 is probably his deductible. Not sure how much the premium increase is for UI/UIM, but as you say...there are way too many uninsured drivers to take the chance over a few bucks per year.

UIM shouldn't have a deductible... It'd be his collision that would. If that's the case, then something wasn't explained to him very well. I'm not sure why UIM was even brought up though. If the damage is minimal, and there's no major medical issues or other property damage, UIM is essentially worthless. It's the OP's collision that is going to take care of the damage, and his insurance company may or may not try to go after the at-fault party to recoup the $600 or so.

I was actually pricing out insurance yesterday (adding a car to my policy). For me, 100/300 UI/UIM is about $60/6 months. 25/50 I think was about $37. (Average across multiple insurers)

 

[mizzou]

I always look at insurance, as prepaid legal counsel and a nest-egg in the situation when I fuck up, not necessarily as a free-bee when a rock hits my windshield.

Even then though, I can't trust them to have my back in most circumstances...

 

[madoka]

A month after I bought my first new car, I was sitting at a red light when I was rearended. I got out of my car and went over to the guy who hit me. He was still sitting in his car chomping on a Whopper. He confessed that he took a bite of his burger and wasn't paying attention. He was in a 30 year old beater (Datsun I think) and said he had no insurance. My car was scruffed up, but no body damage so I figured I'd just let it go. As I left, the other driver started insulting me, saying that I was being irresponsible for not calling the police. It's just pointless arguing with crazy losers.

 

[rasczak]

go through ins. get what you paid for.

 

[slag]

Call them and ask if he wants to pay out of pocket or sue him

x2

 

[slag]

What a scam. Isn't this what insurance is for? To cover loss to your own vehicle, provided you have something more than liability? Insurance companies are such a racket. Who cares if they can recoup their cost from the other person or not? It's their paid job to repair your vehicle and now they're trying to extort more money from you to do it.

My advice would be to pick a different insurance carrier.

I don't have any advice on what option you should actually choose, sorry.

Sounds more like he is paying a deductible.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Apparently, you do not have UI/UIM
You have a deductible for collision.
Pay the deductible, insurance takes care of the rest.
Now if you want to expend effort trying to get your $250 back, that is up to you.

Consider paying the extra from now on for the UI/UIM - it is well worth the few $$.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Paying $250...they will try to get money, but if they don't, YOU STILL DO if it is an Uninsured Motorist Insurance Policy.

This happened to me 10 years ago. My Jeep got totalled and the woman had no insurance. I paid $200 at the time and they ended up writing me a check for $8500 to replace my vehicle....and yeah, they totally lowballed me on the vehicle's fair market value.

When you're in an accident, you lose. It's rare that some millionaire hits you and wants to pay you cash to keep from going to court.

 

[Midwayman]

You'll go through way more than $250 in hassle trying to recover the money. The insurance company will send a threatening letter, and in general be better at shaking him down than you will. Let them deal with it. If they don't recover, nothing stopping you from going after him yourself. You'll just need to turn everything over the $250 to the insurance company.

 

[BoomerD]

In SOME states, Uninsured Motorist Property Damage is incorporated into your collision coverage...but not ALL.
If it's not...and you don't have it, they may not pay for damage caused by an uninsured motorist. (you MIGHT claim hit & run...but that's not legal)