well I went out to pick up my little sister from her school and we were going to save-a-lot and my baby was rear-ended while stopped at the 4-way intersection (behind a very long line of traffic), saw a quick glimpse in the rear-view of a car and boom. the woman made no attempt to even hit the brakes, I don't know if she was texting or what but plowed into me full speed.
I don't know how insurance works and was hoping someone could give me some insight on what goes on. It didn't help either that I didn't have my license with me or my insurance card, but had my social security card and birth certificate in the glove box along with my original temporary insurance paper before I got the wallet card. The officer asked what happened and then came to get my information took down my SS number and picture of my insurance paper and said I could pick up and accident report in 10 business days, didn't bother to ask me what had happened but we were so far from the light I think he knew we were dead stopped and she ran into me. What happens now? any help is appreciated.
Yeah, they will be calling you. Just get an estimate or two from a reputable shop or even the dealer but I prefer private shops. It is really not a big deal other than the hassle and of course you lost your unmolested status on your paint.
got a little lucky all the damage was to the fascia, exhaust tips were not even bent or anything surprisingly considering she went a little underneath the car. Thank goodness I didn't have lowering spings or anything. I think I'll take it to a dealer, have really no idea what I'm supposed to do.
Yep, just go to the dealer. You will get a new bumper. Good thing is, most paint looks different when painted on plastic vs. metal so you probably will not even be able to tell it was redone. What color is your car?
Also, stop worrying about it. Happens thousands of times per day. You will probably get a loaner for a day or two. Should be a two day job unless there is something more hidden.
No, just take it to the dealer and get the estimate. TORRED is non metallic so it will be an easy match. Maybe you will just get your bumper massaged and repainted, I would demand a new one though. They can deform rather easily.
Only her insurance company will care about the report. It will tell them she is the AT FAULT party. UNLESS you have a NO FAULT state, in that case your insurance will just pay.
Call your agent. Step #1 . He will tell you how to proceed.
And, sadly no matter how small the damage is if the accident is reported the cars vin is pegged as "in a collision"....so that will hurt when selling or trading in...doesn't matter if it was just a scratch its just the same to a buyer or dealer
Just take pictures and keep a copy of the repair bill. The next owner will probably not care if they can see what was wrong and what was repaired. If it truly is just a bumper fascia, really not a big deal IMO or for anyone else buying a daily driver type car. Now if the quarter panels got bent or need painted, that is an entirely different issue to me for long term quality.
Glad you're ok and it sounds like the damage is minimal!
I'm not sure why you would be getting a call from her insurance company. You should have gotten her insurance information and filed a claim with them already.
If they're a decent company then they will take care of you quickly. If they aren't responding to your liking then you can always file with your insurance as a comprehensive claim and they will go after her insurance to pay them back for the repairs and to recover your deductible. This will not cause your rates to increase.
You did get her contact and insurance information, right? If not then it will be on the police report.
I have always been contacted by the AT FAULTS insurance company. Again, he may be in a NO FAULT state. Call your agent and he can tell you which company.
But then again, if SHE does not call her insurance, they will know nothing about it. It should be on the police report though.
I've always had to initiate it, both in California and here in Illinois when someone backed into my wife's Pilot recently.
Similarly, when my Challenger was pushed into the Challenger in front of me when I was rear ended, that Challenger owner had to file a claim with my insurance who tacked it on to the claim against the woman who slammed into me.
I would get a copy of the police report first. In some states you can get it online. The report should list her insurance company. I would contact them and get the name of the adjuster that will be handling this case. Ask him/her what they will need from you.
I would not have a dealer do the body work. I have never been impressed with any dealer body/paint people. Ask around and find a good local body shop.
I'm sorry to hear about this but the main thing is that you and your sister are OK. Good luck
Don't worry, your car will be fixed to good as (or better) than new and the paint should match perfectly.
Also the fact that you didn't have your Lic. or Ins. card on you is not a factor in the case.
harley..this is for you.1) call her insurance company and give all of your info 2)do the same with your insurance company. 3)go to the body shop of your choice and get the estimate .let the insurance companies haggle it out,,you just demand they fix your car..she hit you and make sure you get a rental car till you get your car fixed.
Thanks man, I have no idea what the no fault means but hope my insurance will explain it to me. I feel pretty stupid, I didn't get any of her information (too busy literally crying on the back of my Challenger), I guess I just wait for the report.
I am not an agent, you had questions so I did what I would do, hell, I am not even from Kentucky and I googled their auto law on accidents. I am not saying "don't as questions" just ask them to the right people. You need to talk to your agent, he gets paid to represent 1 his agency and 2 you, and knows exactly all the laws, just bring up "Diminished Value" when you talk to him or her. If it helps google it first and read. Sorry to sound mean, I am not, we are trying to point you in the right direction, so god forbid this happens 5 or so years from now, you will have the life experience to know exactly what to do. Insurance companies just don't send anything, they are in the business of being friendly when taking your money and when you need them to give some back they charge you more (raise rates) for doing so.
I know a lot of people here aren't insurance agents but just wanted some advice on how to proceed with everything so my thanks are for everyone helping me. I'm going to go to my dealership where I bought it and see if they had an appraisal done and then speak with my insurance company about it. Hopefully I can get everything straightened out and get the depreciation covered.
Every state is different. Dont count on her insurance to call you. Every state I have been in you have to start a claim. It would be advisable to call your insurance and get the proper procedures. The officer should have given you a card with his number and or report number on it. your insurance will want that.
Understand you might be young and a first timer, but you need to calm down and take whats being said in here as grain of salt, as every state and every situation is different.
I can tell you, if you get into an accident you do not leave the scene until you have gotten a police report and the others insurance information. Some states you dont have give anybody but police your insurance information. If the other driver takes off before the police arrive you get the license plate of the other vehicle and the make and model. If anybody witnessed the event and saw the person take off, ask if they would be willing to to attest what they saw and get their name and phone number. Since everybody has phones now, after everybody is safe, and the situation is safe, take as many pictures of the accident with your phone as possible. Lastly you then call your insurance and explain what happened and get their advice.
I know this can be a traumatic event and with adrenaline running, emotions can be tough. But you have to quit the crying and why me, and think clear headed and ensure you get everything straight at the accident scene so you dont get shafted later.
Not all states or insurance policies have depreciated value, which pretty much is a claim or guess that in the future your car will be worth less because of the accident. Its advisable to chase this if you can, but the first priority is getting your car fixed right without screwing yourself.
Been rear ended twice. Both at lights.
1st call your insurance co. and let them know.
2nd call their insurance co. They will make a file, but won't do anything till they have the police report.
3rd go to the best body shop in your area. Tell them you want OEM parts. Dealers don't always do the best work.
Don't let their ins co. tell you where to bring it. It's your car.
4th Find out if their policy or yours covers you for a loaner while in the shop.
5th Relax, it'll get fixed.
Someone mentioned diminished value. This is not always successful.
Some Ins Co's won't do this.
Been rear ended twice. Both at lights.
1st call your insurance co. and let them know.
2nd call their insurance co. They will make a file, but won't do anything till they have the police report.
3rd go to the best body shop in your area. Tell them you want OEM parts. Dealers don't always do the best work.
Don't let their ins co. tell you where to bring it. It's your car.
4th Find out if their policy or yours covers you for a loaner while in the shop.
5th Relax, it'll get fixed.
Someone mentioned diminished value. This is not always successful.
Some Ins Co's won't do this.
That is true. its hard to say if the value will ever be affected or not. what if you own the car 10 years with 150k and the car is worth 2-3k, its hard to think the accident will net you any value.
Good luck! I will TRY to be brief. I was rear-ended by a state farm customer in my 2015 Challenger w/ 3k miles on it. Nightmare dealing with body shop where estimate was performed and both insurance carriers; mine (USAA) and hers (State Farm) ... The rear fascia had to ship form Canada and was on backorder for a month or so. The rear end collision caused a ripple in the quarter panel right along the horizontal crease that state farm said they would repair. After removing the rear bumper they changed their tune and said they would not cover the quarter panel repair which was $1200.00 since they claimed there was no evidence the accident caused the damage. TOTAL BS! State Farm covered the bumper repair for $870.00 and bounced. I called and called and they wouldn't cover the damages and my carrier was of no help (USAA) and just wanted to sell me more coverages. Worst experience ever in dealing with insurance. My advice, go to a shop of your choice with a great reputation and use them. Don't let the estimator steer you in a direction just because it is less of a hassle for you to deal with...trust know one. I spared us all a lot of the disheartening details.
That definitely sucks! I would like to add something to this, though.
State Farm has "Preferred" shops, you can either get a list of these shops from the claim team assigned to your claim or by asking if a shop that you want to use is on their list. If you're filing through State Farm then using a "Preferred" shop is a good idea for a number of reasons.
- Repairs (and subsequent damage not discovered during the initial repair that is discovered down the road) are covered for as long as you own the vehicle. There is no such guarantee when using non-Preferred shops.
- State Farm pays the shop directly, with non-Preferred shops you will get a check from State Farm and you will have to pay the shop.
- The shop, not a State Farm adjuster, evaluates the damage and writes up the repairs. THIS IS KEY. The adjuster from State Farm walks around with a tablet and enters the damage that he/she sees into an app which then produces the estimate. As with any damage estimate there are likely to be supplementals as the shop tears into the car but it's up to the adjuster to review and authorize those additional repairs. This is where you can get screwed, the adjuster is not a body person. The adjuster is looking out for the insurance company's best interests.
When I was rear-ended I had my car towed to a shop of my choice and it wasn't a Preferred shop, so an adjuster came out and wrote up an estimate. According to the estimate and the claim team, the car wasn't totaled. The shop was saying otherwise and were flabbergasted that they authorized moving forward with repairs.
Not being happy with that result, I had State Farm pay to have to car towed to a second, Preferred, shop in my city. They produced an estimate and spoke with me directly, I mentioned how I didn't want the car back after that much damage had been done and how they should take into account the aftermarket suspension, etc that is on the car that would need to be repaired/replaced, so they amended the estimate to include another $3,000 in estimated supplementals. I called the claim team assigned to my claim after their estimate was submitted and requested that they run the numbers. They called back later that day and said that they would be processing it as a total loss.
State Farm has always treated me fairly at the end of the day, but you do have to watch out for who is calling the shots. This is the case with ANY company.
A Preferred shop may be recommended by State Farm, but that doesn't mean that the shop is going to screw the customer. The shop I used was a shop I had used before for non-insurance repairs on a different vehicle and I would have used them again, so being a Preferred shop was icing on the cake.
The state farm preferred shop and adjustor team worked out of the same location and no doubt worked/looked out for each other. I would never go back to that shop or use State Farm. The shop and the adjustor screwed the customer. They couldn't even wash the car properly when done with repairs. Nothing like getting a black car back washed with dirty water and soaked in tire shine! It is hard to find workers that give the effort to take pride in their work. Choose wisely is all I can say and don't think that the boots on the ground don't communicate with each other...
Sorry you got screwed, but that's not how it's worked in my experience. The adjuster and Preferred shop were completely separate entities and when the Preferred shop entered the picture the State Farm adjuster was no longer in the loop, period. The shop was the adjuster and all communication was between me, the shop, and the claim team.
I wouldn't blindly go with a Preferred shop, I would get recommendations from people I know and then check if any of those shops are on the Preferred list.
I've had State Farm for about 7 years now and couldn't be happier, I've also had Progressive and filed claims with them and they were awesome, too. So if I were to ever leave State Farm then I would probably go back to Progressive.
Not trying to dispute your experience, just passing along my experience as well since it's hard to make a judgement call based on any one experience, whether it's mine or anyone else.
well I got a lot done today, little known fact I actually got my Challenger at a Nissan dealership. They are actually a dealership not a stealership, both my salesman and their finance guy recommended their collision repair and told me what was up with everything. I got an estimate in about 20 and was thrilled with how passionate they were about helping their customers. I then went to my insurance company and started the claim process but need the police report to finish everything up. really satisfied with how smooth things are going so far. and yeah I balled my eyes out this is my first new car, I didn't handle the situation the best I could have but I thought I was losing my car there again I've no idea how accidents worked. it would have sped things up I suppose if I got her info but just wasn't thinking, so just got to wait for the report, the officer took everybodys info down.
I'll keep everyone updated, thank you all for the help.
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