yet another accident thread: would you file a claim?

[nageov3t]

got into my first ever accident in my car today.

I was stopped at a traffic light on a one-way street, waiting for the light to go green so I could go straight through the intersection. there was a giant SUV parked on my left side and no one in front or behind me.

rather than doing the sensible and waiting for the light to turn green and me to advance before pulling out of her space and proceeding behind me, the lady decides that she'd rather cut in front of me (despite the fact that I'm already camped out on the white line before the cross-walk)... dick move under any circumstances, but she seems to be an especially bad driver because in trying to pull out of her space, and completely scrapes up the side of my car (and indeed, must have driven another 3-4' after first impact, scraping up my car the entire time while I'm blaring on my horn trying to get her to stop)

approx. paint illustration:

I filed an accident report and the officer seemed to roll his eyes when the other driver tried claiming that she didn't hit me and all my damage was pre-existing (nevermind the fact that we now have matching white streaks and scratches along our cars). I need ATOT's suggestions on whether I should file an insurance claim or not, though. if I do, this will be my first claim ever.

on the one hand, my car is 11 years old and I'm planning on getting rid of it within the next 2-3 years regardless. but on the other hand, I feel like this damage will completely destroy the trade-in value of my car (which, despite being 11+ years old, only has about 65,000 miles on it)

 

[highland145]

Her fault, her insurance, no brainer.



And you need some Jeeebus MS paint classes.

 

[dbk]

Hmm so youre weighing the cost of fixing the car (which would be covered by insurance) against what exactly? That your premium would rise? Im confused.. I would do whatever i could to make sure that bitch is held responsible.

 

[Brainonska511]

Wouldn't the person at fault's insurance cover it?

 

[nageov3t]

Hmm so youre weighing the cost of fixing the car (which would be covered by insurance) against what exactly? That your premium would rise? Im confused.. I would do whatever i could to make sure that bitch is held responsible.

yep, that's my only worry.

 

[SaurusX]

File a claim with your insurance company to get the ball rolling quickly. You'll get money to get things fixed and your insurance company will recoup the claim costs through subrogation with the other driver's insurance.

 

[highland145]

yep, that's my only worry.

Nope...her insurance.

 

[NoCreativity]

First off, fuck her.

Second, I would make the claim and get the car fixed. Assuming you have a decent company your rates shouldn't rise for one not at fault accident.

 

[nageov3t]

claim has been filed :thumbsup:

looking more closely at my car, it seems like the front bumper may possibly be cracked.

 

[surfsatwerk]

claim has been filed :thumbsup:

looking more closely at my car, it seems like the front bumper may possibly be cracked.

And your horrific case of whiplash is giving you migraines, which caused a sudden unexpected case of PTSD.

 

[highland145]

And your horrific case of whiplash is giving you migraines, which caused a sudden unexpected case of PTSD.

Don't forget the carpel tunnel and sudden onset pregnancy either.



A visitor at one of my former rentals stepped in a hole and broke her ankle. Her lawyer sues me for, among other tings, carpel tunnel.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Common sense thread. I guess the OP is lacking it.

 

[surfsatwerk]

stepped in a hole
carpel tunnel.

It was a deep hole.

 

[SamQuint]

Pretty much you should always file an insurance claim.

Auto body and paint jobs are a lot more expensive than you would ever think.

Never trust anyone that says "lets not get insurance involved I will pay for your repairs".

 

[highland145]

It was a deep hole.

Nah just a lawyer was involved.

 

[nageov3t]

Common sense thread. I guess the OP is lacking it.

inexperience thread

I've only ever been in one accident before, and didn't file a claim in that instance because I was at-fault (plus, the other driver in that case didn't have insurance, so no worries about him filing a claim against mine)

 

[halik]

Her fault, claim that shit. Especially for being a lying cnt.

6/10 on the ms paint illustration

 

[highland145]

inexperience thread

Gotta start somewhere. Just keep your B.S. filter clean around here.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

ABSOLUTELY file a claim.

Even better that it's a 11 year old car and you're about to replace it. Hell it might total it. Or leave the damage, and put the insurance check towards a new car.


I can't stand people who try and act like damage was pre-existing. It would certainly be enough to cause instant back pain.

 

[Jimzz]

Pretty much you should always file an insurance claim.

Auto body and paint jobs are a lot more expensive than you would ever think.

Never trust anyone that says "lets not get insurance involved I will pay for your repairs".

To add to this don't believe police and their estimates on how much it will cost.

I had 1 friend and the cop wrote less than $500 damage. Ended up costing over 2 grand to fix.
My motorcycle accident I was taken to the hospital and the cop said they pushed my bike to the parking lot near and it did not seem to bad. the forks were bent, front wheel crushed, radiator leaking, etc... it was totaled.

Good body work is not cheap but worth it if you want it to look like it did before.

 

[DrunkenSano]

As long as the police report backs you up, your premium shouldn't go up and all the money will come from her insurance company.

 

[artemicion]

If OP lives in a no-fault insurance state, *supposedly*, as some people have told me, it's possible that your insurance premium goes up even if you're not at fault, so his question wasn't stupid. I have no personal experience with no fault insurance policies so, who knows.

I'd ask an insurance broker in your state to be 100% sure and (no offense AT:OT) I wouldn't accept what people say in this thread as gospel, unless the poster has personal experience with insurance laws and policies in YOUR state and with YOUR insurance company. Insurance laws vary from state to state and policies vary from company to company.

 

[bruceb]

You should have used your phone to take a photo of the vehicles after being hit, plus a view of the other car showing the paint on it, so as to disprove the claim of "pre existing damage on your car" .. These SUV drivers are some of the worst drivers out there. They have no idea when their blind spot is clear or not. NJ is a No Fault state. Your rates should not go up for this, as you were at a Full Stop when you were hit. And NJ cops are not really into taking accident reports. They just don't want to do it, unless of a serious injury or worse.

 

[nageov3t]

funnily enough, as of 12:00 am today, my deductible changed from $500 to $250 (changed it manually when renewing my policy when I noticed that the difference was only about $30/year, and the new policy went into effect today).

just got off the phone with my insurance company... from the sounds of it, as long as the police report backs up my claim (and the pictures I have seem to pretty much destroy her claim that she didn't hit me and the damage to her car was from ice/snow), I won't be on the hook for anything. just need to take my car in for an estimate on Monday.

You should have used your phone to take a photo of the vehicles after being hit, plus a view of the other car showing the paint on it, so as to disprove the claim of "pre existing damage on your car"

yup. I didn't post them to ATOT because the pictures have other people, license plates, etc in them, but the first thing I did after reporting the accident was taking a picture of her car (esp. to get her license plate in case she drove away). I've got a photograph of 4' of white scratches along the bottom of her passenger door that match up exactly height-wise to the damage on the driver-side of my bumper.

 

[gorb]

Her fault, her insurance, no brainer.

^^