Car Accident - Car Insurance Question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. I would notify my insurance company at a minimum.

+1

There is zero reason to call his insurance co.
There would be a very big conflict of interest there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. I would notify my insurance company at a minimum.

+1

There is zero reason to call his insurance co.
There would be a very big conflict of interest there too.

This is stupid. If you call your own insurance company and tell them what happened, they'll probably just tell you to call his anyway. His insurance is responsible for fixing the damage to the bumper. Even dumber is the fact that guy (gal?) wants you to use insurance at all. Fixing a bumper is a few hundred bucks and it's almost certainly better for him to pay it out of pocket and not have his insurance company involved.

[Anonymous]

I called mine in this situation and they took care of everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. I would notify my insurance company at a minimum.

+1

There is zero reason to call his insurance co.
There would be a very big conflict of interest there too.

This is stupid. If you call your own insurance company and tell them what happened, they'll probably just tell you to call his anyway. His insurance is responsible for fixing the damage to the bumper. Even dumber is the fact that guy (gal?) wants you to use insurance at all. Fixing a bumper is a few hundred bucks and it's almost certainly better for him to pay it out of pocket and not have his insurance company involved.

Not necessarily a few hundred. Someone rear ended me, and I have three pieces to my bumper They all had to be replaced and repainted. Cost about $1200 and three days which I needed a rental car for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. I would notify my insurance company at a minimum.

+1

There is zero reason to call his insurance co.
There would be a very big conflict of interest there too.

This is stupid. If you call your own insurance company and tell them what happened, they'll probably just tell you to call his anyway. His insurance is responsible for fixing the damage to the bumper. Even dumber is the fact that guy (gal?) wants you to use insurance at all. Fixing a bumper is a few hundred bucks and it's almost certainly better for him to pay it out of pocket and not have his insurance company involved.

Not necessarily a few hundred. Someone rear ended me, and I have three pieces to my bumper They all had to be replaced and repainted. Cost about $1200 and three days which I needed a rental car for.

I definitely wouldn't count on it being "just a few hundred." When I got rear-ended, the adjuster estimated damages based on what he could see on a visual inspection. Once the body shop got the bumper and rear panel off it turned out that there was an additional $1500 worth of damage that you couldn't see from the outside. And because of the need for a second visit by the adjuster, who couldn't get there right away, combined with the additional work required, I ended up with a rental for seven weeks. We couldn't have known any of that in advance, and no way would I have trusted the driver who hit me to pay any of that out of pocket once we found out. As it turned out, she and I had the same insurance company so we both spoke to them and were assigned separate representatives, who worked together to officially determine fault before that person's rep took over the remainder of the process.

[Anonymous]

You're getting a lot of misinformation.

First, you should always start with your own insurance company in an accident that the other party has admitted fault. Their insurance company owes you nothing. They have a vested interest in protecting themselves and their client, e.g. the guy who hit you. They and their agents will do their best to minimize whatever costs they have to pay out. If it is possible to interpret an assessment of damage, they will not pay for anything that they can get away with not paying. Geico is the worst. I have seen then try to actually claim that damage caused by the accident was prior damage and try to get the repairs for that damage eliminated from what they paid out.

If the other party is at fault and has admitted fault, your insurance company will not be able to charge you anything. They will pay for damage repair and your rental (if your insurance policy covers that), up front, excepting the deductible. But, if the other party is at fault and is proved to be at fault (especially where they admit to the fault), then by subrogation they will take over the management of your damage repairs and once they have a payout from the other insurance company will reimburse your deductible amount. Also, your insurance company will pay for all damages and repairs to your car and will then bill the other company. They will not argue about damage with you, they will not try to cheat you out of repairs, and they will not try to pressure you into signing agreements that certain things be excluded from repairs, all things that someone else's insurance may try to do. And, by law, if the other party admits fault and their insurance pays, your company cannot adjust your premium rates for an accident where you were not at fault. They can only do it if there is a determination of no-fault or you are at fault.

In 30 years of driving, I have gone both ways when dealing with insurance. Twice I tried going through someone else's insurance and both times it was a major hassle, the other insurance company tried to cheat me out of repairs and tried to minimize their costs. Twice I went through my own insurance and everything was much easier, they took care of the details and I just took my car where they sent me, worked with the body shop to get repairs and drove away with my sanity intact. One time I had to pay the deductible and it was returned to me a few weeks later. The other time, they didn't even make me pay the deductible and they handled it with the other insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're getting a lot of misinformation.

First, you should always start with your own insurance company in an accident that the other party has admitted fault. Their insurance company owes you nothing. They have a vested interest in protecting themselves and their client, e.g. the guy who hit you. They and their agents will do their best to minimize whatever costs they have to pay out. If it is possible to interpret an assessment of damage, they will not pay for anything that they can get away with not paying. Geico is the worst. I have seen then try to actually claim that damage caused by the accident was prior damage and try to get the repairs for that damage eliminated from what they paid out.

If the other party is at fault and has admitted fault, your insurance company will not be able to charge you anything. They will pay for damage repair and your rental (if your insurance policy covers that), up front, excepting the deductible. But, if the other party is at fault and is proved to be at fault (especially where they admit to the fault), then by subrogation they will take over the management of your damage repairs and once they have a payout from the other insurance company will reimburse your deductible amount. Also, your insurance company will pay for all damages and repairs to your car and will then bill the other company. They will not argue about damage with you, they will not try to cheat you out of repairs, and they will not try to pressure you into signing agreements that certain things be excluded from repairs, all things that someone else's insurance may try to do. And, by law, if the other party admits fault and their insurance pays, your company cannot adjust your premium rates for an accident where you were not at fault. They can only do it if there is a determination of no-fault or you are at fault.

In 30 years of driving, I have gone both ways when dealing with insurance. Twice I tried going through someone else's insurance and both times it was a major hassle, the other insurance company tried to cheat me out of repairs and tried to minimize their costs. Twice I went through my own insurance and everything was much easier, they took care of the details and I just took my car where they sent me, worked with the body shop to get repairs and drove away with my sanity intact. One time I had to pay the deductible and it was returned to me a few weeks later. The other time, they didn't even make me pay the deductible and they handled it with the other insurance.

I forgot to add. Yes, the latter two times, my insurance company took down my statement and then instructed me to call the other company to give them a statement. Once I called the other insurance company and gave them a statement, then my insurance company took over all communication with me. I didn't have to deal with the other insurance company any longer and my company took care of everything. I got a call back when the other insurance company admitted liability (essentially they called their client who confirmed he was at fault). They also helped coordinate the repairs for me so that I had to do minimal work. They coordinated and called me each step of the way, so I didn't have to call and coordinate with anyone else. So nice to have someone else manage it for me.

[Anonymous]

Related question: What if the two insurance companies are the same company (ie: both insured through the same company)?

[Anonymous]

I’m a 25+ year insurance defense attorney and used to work in-house for an insurance company doing auto claims. You’ve gotten some good responses, but some of them are a bit off base. Here’s my input:

In this situation, where fault has been admitted, I’d deal directly with the other driver’s insurance company. They’ll do an estimate and provide a rental if necessary. If you think you are getting a run around, you can always involve your carrier. Be aware that you may have to pay your collision deductible if you go through your own carrier and the other carrier does not accept liability (very unlikely in this case). If you go through your carrier and the other carrier won’t pay, your carrier can file an arbitration claim against the other carrier and hopefully get your deductible back. I was recently involved in a parking lot accident where I was not at fault although the other driver said I was. I went through my insurance company and paid my deductible but my carrier was able to get it back from the other company. If you are not at fault, your premiums should not go up, although that is not always the case depending on the carrier and the circumstances.

To answer a question posed, it is common for both drivers to be insured with the same carrier. In that case, two different claims adjusters are assigned and there is a wall set up between them. They have to treat it like an arm’s-length transaction. Both claims adjusters act in the best interest of their insurance.