Hey guys, I need some help. I got in an accident this morning and I am not sure what to do. I was merging on to 279 and a guy hit me in the rear right at my drivers side tire. We pulled over and exchanged info and he apologized and said it was his fault and that he was looking in his mirror to see if my lane was clear when he moved into me. The damage isn’t too bad, just a bent rear fender and scratched bumper. He said that he wanted to pay out of pocket for the damages.
I want to report the claim to my insurance but I am worried that if my insurance company goes after his, then he will change his story and say that it was my fault. I don’t really care what happens as long as my car gets fixed, I don’t have to pay a ton of money, and my rates don’t go up.
Have you ever had someone tell you that they want to pay out of pocket for damages in an accident? How do you handle it?
Do not turn it into your insurance, if you do, then YOU started the claim and the damages will count against you. If going through insurance, you need for him to turn it into his insurance.
You were hit in the rear, he can change his story but you were rear ended… he will end up having to pay.
If the damages are light then out of pocket is fine. Its the bigger hits that its a PITA… like if you went to get an estimate and it was $1300 and he says sure, that’s fine… then you take it in and your final bill is over $2000 because of hidden damage… then you have to chase him down for the difference, etc… That’s only on really big hits tho. Take it to a quality shop and get an estimate, ask the estimator if he thinks there will be any hidden damage because someone is going to be paying out of their pocket to fix the car and you need a fairly solid number.
If the estimator says, Im not sure, there might be hidden damage, then tell the guy that hit you, that you want to go through his insurance because there might be hidden damage and you want to make sure the body shop gets paid in full so that you are not stuck with a bill.
Make sure you get the money up front from the guy.
I would get his insurance information and call his company. If he wants to pay out of pocket then you are going off of a verbal handshake that he will fix it. It sounds like he is trying to buy you out of reporting to his insurance.
What if he doesn’t have the money to cover your damages? Then you are screwed and by this time it’s too late to report it.
Were the police involved? Did they mention who was at fault? if you are merging on and he hits you, technically it would be your fault since you were merging into his lane. But if he was crossing lanes and rear-ended you, it may be a different story.
I would get his information from him. Let an adjuster take a look at it.
Well I called him this morning after the accident, and he said that he is calling his insurance company, so that sounds to me like he is filing a claim. I am just worried that he was trying to screw me over and tell me not to worry about it and that he would take care of it. I figured if he is calling his agent, then I should call mine too. Here is a pic of the car to give you an idea of where I got hit (but the damage is on the drivers side). You can see that the rear fender goes up to the roofline and then the entire length of the car. Do you think that entire piece would need replaced? If so, that is going to cost a ton of money. I didn’t know if they usually just pound out the dent or if they would actually replace that whole entire piece.
He was merging off of 279 and I was merging on. I had plenty of room and as I moved over, he sped up and hit me just behind my rear wheel. He said that he was looking in his mirror so that he could merge over into the lane that I was coming out of and that he didn’t see me.
We didn’t call the police because it was rush hour and they never would have come anyways.
You guys are thinking this out too much… we have people pay out of pocket all the time down here and we rarely have problems with people paying. You don’t need the police involved… 90% of the time they won’t even come out of no one is hurt or there is no property damage, so there useless anyways.
Let him call his insurance company… DO NOT call your insurance company, it just makes more of a headache for you. There not paying, so they don’t need to know, simple as that. If the douche or his insurance company jerks you around, then its time to call your insurance company. Until then… screw em.
Take a picture of the damage, ill let you know if it needs to be replaced. If it does need replaced, you better take it to a good shop, a quarter panel is the worst panel you can damage on a car. It needs to be cut off and welded back on, you need to blend into the roof line, rear body panel, rocker panel, etc… and it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to fix, depending on how bad it is. Plus with your color, you will need to blend the paint into the liftgate and the rear door, which all need taken apart.
Nope… not one bit… a buddy of mine just filed a hit and run claim like 3 months after he got hit… we also fixed a car one time almost a year after the accident and it went through his insurance company, no problems at all.
Erie is a good company, we are a Pro shop for Erie as well… so you don’t need to deal with an adjuster if you decided to come here. With us being a direct repair, literally all you need is to drop the car off here and give me a claim number… that’s all you need. You get a free rental car, you owe nothing at all. Its really simple actually. The only thing you need is a claim number. Once he calls in the claim, his ins company will contact you, get all your info and once they are done, they will give you a claim number. They might name some other pro shops in your area and that’s your decision, you can take it there, but if you want to take it here, just tell them Roberts Auto Body in Monongahela and they will fax everything down here.
Just got a call from the guy who hit me. He said he started a claim with his insurance company but it sounds like he neglected to mention the fact that he admitted fault when it happened. He told his insurance guy that he was merging and I was merging and that we hit each other. So he said that we should just both file claims and see what happens. I will let you know what happens and if I can, I will have the repairs done at your place.
Sounds like this guys is trying to make it so each of your own insurance company covers your own cars, which is bullshit if it is his own fault. Did he say if his insurance company is going to be contacting you? I would still wait for them to call you. Tell them that he admitted fault… you should have asked the guy… did you make sure you told them it was your fault?
If you go through your insurance company, it will be a mess, you will have to pay your deductible, it will count on your policy, and you will have to pay for a rental car if you don’t have it separately on your policy, which is all bullshit… just wait to hear from his insurance company… when all else fails, then call yours.
I have been through this a million times… you always have the option to make a claim with your insurance company down the road if he jacks you off.
Usually if it is the other drivers fault, handle it all through their insurer, yours doesn’t need to find out. But if he’s calling in to save his butt, you better call it in to protect yourself. Geez…I saw 2 accidents on the way in 279 this morning, not including yours. Civic got completed smashed in the rear. Hope nobody was in the back seat. Then a k car rear ended a Taurus. People need to cease sucking at driving immediately or be forced to take the bus.
DO NO WAIT… call HIS insurance company. they will not contact you… they will wait for you to contact them! if you exchanged ins info then just call his ins company and give them HIS policy number and tell them you wan tot file a claim against his insurance. if you wait then thats all youll be doing. Im surprised you havnet called already. dont call yours just call his. if they refuse to help you then call yours and let the two of them battle it out.
What are you going to protect yourself from? If his (dude that hit you) insurance company says our driver says it was your fault… then you call your insurance company and tell them the story and tell them to not pay out a claim on his car… then both the companies will settle it out in court if need be.
Before you call your insurance wait to hear from his. If they dont contact you in like 2 days, then call your insurance, tell them what happened but also tell them that you DO NOT want to open a claim under your insurance, you are just calling them to inform them about the situation.
I would just wait and see what they say, if they give you trouble, then call your insurance company.
You could call his insurance company, but when he calls in and reports a claim, they ask him for jph’s information. Then they are required to contact jph for a statement. Some people don’t wait for them to call… which is fine, you can contact them, but they should contact you automatically.
