My neighbor backed into my car...need advice.

[Scarpozzi]

My neighbor was backing out of his driveway (across the street) and his truck brushed up against my fender. It's dented in a little and probably just needs to be popped out and repainted. I'm just wondering how I should handle this. I got his information down (his name, number, insurance company, father's name, number, etc). I then called the police to file a report.

I'm thinking about taking some time tomorrow to get an estimate on my own and bypassing their insurance if they choose to after I give them my independent estimate.

I'm not out to make money on this, but figure since the guy's 20, he's got 5 more years of high risk. Should I do this to help them keep from getting raped with insurance premiums or should I protect my interests and go by the book? I think the fender will only run around $550-600.

 

[rudeguy]

Does he have a hot sister?

 

[dartworth]

CYA

 

[FleshLight]

Get an estimate at a body shop of your choosing. Hand them the estimate and tell them that they can either pay you or go thorugh insurance.

 

[Ns1]

tell him to pay cash for the full amount or go to insurance.

 

[TallBill]

I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: rudeguy
Does he have a hot sister?

Or a milf since he is only 20.

 

[AlienCraft]

Depends on how you want to "be" in the neighborhood.
I woould say just get it fixed, give them the bill, and forget about it. If they pay you ANYTHING, you have basically decent people for neighbors.
But I wouldn't sweat them on it.
Let it be a window onto their character and integrity.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Ns1
tell him to pay cash for the full amount or go to insurance.

I nicked a car in a parking lot and a guy did this for me. It saved me a ton of money.

 

[alfa147x]

how about asking how they want to deal with it give them 2 options

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: FleshLight
Get an estimate at a body shop of your choosing. Hand them the estimate and tell them that they can either pay you or go thorugh insurance.

That's what I would do. Just try to scam them or anything.

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: dartworth
CYA

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I then called the police to file a report.

Since you've done that, wouldn't the incident be on his record anyway?

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I then called the police to file a report.

Since you've done that, wouldn't the incident be on his record anyway?

Depends on municipality, how lenient the dept. is, etc.

I'd like to think that they wouldn't issue a citation for a minor scuff, but it's not like they are obligated to let it slide. From the sound of it, a citation for this would cost the kid as much or more than repairs for court costs and costs of citation itself.

Now insurance record? Prolly. They are buzzards.

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: Kelemvor

Originally posted by: FleshLight
Get an estimate at a body shop of your choosing. Hand them the estimate and tell them that they can either pay you or go thorugh insurance.

That's what I would do. Just try to scam them or anything.

Not a nice guy but I guess if it places a few extra $ in your pocket.

You forgot a don't in there.

 

[ed21x]

yeah, just be a nice guy and get the estimate from a dealership so you get genuine parts for replacement. let the kid pay you out of pocket... it'll save him a ton of money and you get to save the hassle from going through his insurance.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

second

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

There can always be weird shit if you don't use insurance. My sister backed into another car in the school parking lot. My mom wrote a check to the owner of the other car to cover the costs, maybe $300. Then a few weeks later, he's calling back saying that there were actually more problems and needs more money. She called his bluff and he dropped it, but it could have gotten ugly.

On the flip side, my wife scraped another car in a parking lot. The driver said that he'd be cool just taking a check. We filed it with insurance and never saw it again or any rate raises.

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

Sure, no weird shit now, but there are no guarantees that something won't pop up later. It's not uncommon for people to come back later complaining of neck pains or extra damage to their car. OP, just go through insurance to be safe. And why are you looking out for him? It's his fault he hit your truck so it's his fault if his rates go up.

 

[Agentbolt]

Get an estimate. Get a GOOD estimate, too. The problem you may run into here is that if you go to a discount garage, when they see this is an out of pocket thing they'll try to keep their prices down as much as possible and you may get substandard work as a result. Wherever you get the estimate, make sure they offer a lifetime guarantee on the repair.

Also, I've never seen fender damage other than a minor paint scratch that wasn't over a grand. When you hand the kid the estimate, let him know he has X days to pay for it, or you'll file a claim with his insurance (nicely, of course). In my experience 85% of the time, the person who caused the damage sees the estimate, panics, and start stalling to an insane degree. This kid might be part of the other 15%, but don't screw around. If he doesn't pay up in a reasonable amount of time, call in the claim. I've had people report claims years later with the other person still swearing up and down they'll come up with the money somehow.

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: Xanis

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

Sure, no weird shit now, but there are no guarantees that something won't pop up later. It's not uncommon for people to come back later complaining of neck pains or extra damage to their car. OP, just go through insurance to be safe. And why are you looking out for him? It's his fault he hit your truck so it's his fault if his rates go up.

I got the impression the OPs car was park and unoccupied. The OP cannot be at fault no matter what pains the other kid manufactures. There's a police report to back this up, it sounds like. There's no risk in going out of pocket here as long as the car gets fixed somewhere that'll guarantee the repairs.

If the OP was in the car when it was hit, he needs to report it NOW. It doesn't matter how blatantly at fault the other kid was, it needs to be officially done to rule out injuries and liability issues ASAP.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: Xanis

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'd never settle things off the insurance books. To much weird shit that could happen.

NO weird shit here, no injuries since it sounds like no one was in the car, just a small thing. Get the cash and use it however you like OP.

Sure, no weird shit now, but there are no guarantees that something won't pop up later. It's not uncommon for people to come back later complaining of neck pains or extra damage to their car. OP, just go through insurance to be safe. And why are you looking out for him? It's his fault he hit your truck so it's his fault if his rates go up.

So you're saying avoid confontation with the neighbor that might be a good person that made a mistake. Because of this mistake you want to file an insurance claim for a small bump that could raise his rates by several hundred dollars a year.

Be a decent human being and TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOR. He might eventually be able to help you out and you never know you may NEED his help in the future. Think he's going to help you if you screw him over?

If there was no one in the car then you should get an estimate and present it to the neighbor with the options:
1. Fix my car, it should be around (estimate amount) but could be more
2. I go through insurance and you fix my car but your rates go up

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Get two estimates, the "insurance" estimate and the actual cost to fix the damage estimate, they're different. Give the neighbor the actual cost estimate as it will be lower and let him decide. If he wants to pay that out of pocket, fine. If not then you submit the higher estimate to the insurance company. You're probably being optimistic about the price though. It's hard to breathe on a fender without it being a $1000 estimate.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Give him the option of:

A. Pay you money out of pocket, no insurance problems

B. Go through insurance

Just remind him in a non-threatening manner that you will take legal action if any funny business comes about.