insurance question and car accident

[tvguy]

Thank you for clarifying the self reporting.

But again that is not the case where I live. Police will respond to any incident. While they can not write a ticket on private property they can file a police report taking info from both parties and a description of the scene.

I get it that where you live police don't help people as much as they do in other areas. I'm saying if police help in one's location they should always call or be prepared to not get their car taken care of by the other party.

Nothing wrong with calling Police, just understand they may not come out or take a report depending on where you live. And these days when everyone has a cell phone camera, take photos, lots of photos.

 

[Dznypal]

funny cause is so camera and posting what they had for dinner she never thought of taking any pics

 

[_19disnA]

It tends to vary by state if the police will come out for an accident not involving injuries. You should trade insurance information with the other driver and then report it to your insurance company and the police. NEVER admit 'fault' or get into discussions about who was wrong. NEVER make 'side agreements' (i.e. pay cash, not call your insurance company, etc.) with the other driver since you have NO idea it is some sort of scam regardless of the story they might provide you.

Let YOUR insurance company handle any additional communications with the other driver and their insurance company. That is part of why you have car insurance.

 

[MillauFr]

Situation we had is my daughter got hit in a crosswalk when she had the walk signal. A car who was blinded by the sun bumped into her and she ended up going to the ER. Even though she was fine the medical bills were around $1,000. Of course it was the motorist fault no questions. Still I thought the proper procedure was to reach out to the motorist's insurance company. Wrong. We got stonewalled by them. Talked to our insurance company, Amica, and the bills were paid quickly. I have no idea if they collected from the motorists insurance company but I don't really care either.

 

[Dznypal]

small update on the accident

now my friend was contacted by her insurance com since the person that hit her is now claiming that she bascially caused he accident
so now the 2 insurance comps are saying they each were at fault and between the 2 com they will take care of the repairs
so now this means friends insurance is involved which she doesnt think is right
yet then there was first person she talked to from the guy that hit her insurance saying oh dont worry well take care of everything even the rental
so now she has to pay the deducible along with hoping they wont raise her rates
the damage to her car was along the back 2 panels from the back door and the panel behind it
Im not sure how old the car is but at what point do they usually consider a car totaled
any other advice or tips I could pass on to my friend

 

[sam_gordon]

Whether a car is "totaled" will depend on the cost to repair vs the value of the car. That's up to the insurance company.

Without a police report, it's a "he said, she said" situation. If your friend was the first to talk to the other driver's insurance company, whoever she talked to responded based on what she was told. After the driver contacted them and gave his side (even if false), yes, insurance will change their mind.

 

[_19disnA]

Too late to change what has happened, but at least they now know what NOT to do next time there is an accident. File a report with your insurance company and the police. DO NOT speak with the other insurance company or strike 'side' deals with the other party. Some states have 'no fault' insurance which could also be a factor in how the claim gets settled.

 

[Tink3815]

Always try to involve the police at the accident site for your protection. If they will not come, leave the cars in the accident position even if it causes traffic backup. They normally will come if the accident is blocking traffic.

 

[kymom99]

In my state, if the repairs are more than 75% of the value of the vehicle, it will be totaled.

 

[Dznypal]

I know body work is very expensive but would anyone have a ballpark figure on what the repairs will be just for the fact of the back door panel and the panel behind it is all scrapped and dented
it looks like all of that will need to be replaced
it looks to be all body work she still can drive it
I know this would be hard for anyone to do with out seeing it
but just for the basic bodywork

 

[tvguy]

Always try to involve the police at the accident site for your protection. If they will not come, leave the cars in the accident position even if it causes traffic backup. They normally will come if the accident is blocking traffic.

And write you a ticket for blocking traffic!

 

[tvguy]

I know body work is very expensive but would anyone have a ballpark figure on what the repairs will be just for the fact of the back door panel and the panel behind it is all scrapped and dented
it looks like all of that will need to be replaced
it looks to be all body work she still can drive it
I know this would be hard for anyone to do with out seeing it
but just for the basic bodywork

Body shop will give you an estimate for free. No way for me to tell but I had an issue with my wife's car and the body shop here said figure on $500 per panel JUST for paint.

 

[sam_gordon]

Guessing $1500-2000. But you have no idea if there's damage underneath.

 

[_19disnA]

None of us can estimate the cost to repair without actually looking at the damage. There may be damage to the structures behind the panel that also have to be replaced. Often times, there is damage to plastic support panels/various mechanisms (i.e. window regulators, etc.) underneath that aren't obvious just by looking at the surface damage.

Repair parts are often easier to find/cheaper on higher volume/recent models. Parts most typically damaged and able to be repaired will be the easiest to find.

 

[Tink3815]

I have never heard of anyone getting a ticket for blocking traffic when they are involved in a traffic accident in NY.

 

[SharonZ]

You should call your insurance carrier and let them deal with the other person's carrier.

 

[barkley]

Guessing $1500-2000. But you have no idea if there's damage underneath.

yup-we were going to go the route of out of pocket when we did what we thought was very minor body damage after slowly sliding into a snowbank. our repair/autobody guy took a peek underneath and said he knew we had a higher deductable but this was probably an instance we wanted to use insurance-several thousands of dollars in damage underneath

I have never heard of anyone getting a ticket for blocking traffic when they are involved in a traffic accident in NY.

not here (WA) either-oldest had car breakdown in traffic a few months ago/blocked a major intersection. the local p.d. there showed up in a hot minute and set up cones/directed around. no traffic ticket but we did find that when the police call and get 'urgent response' towing it costs more than standard (though our insurance paid for it no problem).

 

[cvjw]

Insurance companies can work behind the scenes to figure out fault. And assign a percentage of fault for accidents to figure out how much each company pays for the accident.

Found this out the hard way after son had an accident in high school. Accident was other persons fault - had the police report stating that. Other persons insurance company would not pay the claim until they were satisfied their client was at fault - he was telling them he wasn’t. Took months and a court date to finally settle the claim and the liability for the accident. And all of this trouble even with a police report stating fault.

 

[kymom99]

Insurance companies can work behind the scenes to figure out fault. And assign a percentage of fault for accidents to figure out how much each company pays for the accident.

Found this out the hard way after son had an accident in high school. Accident was other persons fault - had the police report stating that. Other persons insurance company would not pay the claim until they were satisfied their client was at fault - he was telling them he wasn’t. Took months and a court date to finally settle the claim and the liability for the accident. And all of this trouble even with a police report stating fault.

Around here police do not state who was at fault. They just record the facts. However, since my son was issued a warning for improper lane change, that kind of made it obvious.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Insurance companies can work behind the scenes to figure out fault. And assign a percentage of fault for accidents to figure out how much each company pays for the accident.

Found this out the hard way after son had an accident in high school. Accident was other persons fault - had the police report stating that. Other persons insurance company would not pay the claim until they were satisfied their client was at fault - he was telling them he wasn’t. Took months and a court date to finally settle the claim and the liability for the accident. And all of this trouble even with a police report stating fault.

Police do not assign fault. That is the duty of insurance company. A police report can help a claims adjustor get a better picture (especially in the case of diagrams and such) but interviews with people, vehicle damage assessments and more fulfill the rest.

When I was in underwriting and dealt with new business acceptability (and premium determination) the police report was used for things like chargeability in terms of citations but that didn't mean fault. I had to use more than just that in order to not charge you for an accident on your insurance premiums.

A lot of people get confused here but police reports are both necessary and yet not used to merely determine you were not at fault. Police are looking at things from citation standpoints. Police may say "Party A backed into Party B" making an average person think that it's Party A's fault and an insurance adjustor could review it and say "Party B was also backing up" or "Party B's vehicle was a contributing factor" or such and such leading to shared fault. Or it could be found to be Party B's sole fault.