Pls give me yr opinion (civilly) or experience re auto accident/contesting estimate

[ellenrr]

Pulling out of a parking space, I pulled into the path of a vehicle. My fault. I checked my mirror, but did not check the blind spot.
(my first moving violation after 50 years of driving)

Cop was called, ticket and points issued to me.
I looked at the other vehicle, she had a few scratches on her bumper, no dents, a few scratches.

I'm thinking I got off light, and told her let's do this without insurance.
so she sends me an estimate of over $1000. cuz she needs a new bumper.

I don't think she needs a new bumper.
I now have the option of going thru my insurance company and higher rates.

but I'm wondering is there no way to contest this estimate?
Isn't there some standard of reasonableness?

suppose she decides she needs a new paint job, cuz the new bumper doesn't match? Am I responsible for that too?

[Avalux]

1. Without insurance involved, it's really just a gentleman's (or woman's) agreement.

You said let's do this without insurance and I'll pay for the repairs. She gives you an estimate, but you think it's somewhat unreasonable. But there's nothing legally binding involved so there's no way to contest the estimate.

You will need to weight the pros and cons of going through insurance, it may be worth it to just pay the repairs and be done with it.

Since there's a police report of the accident where you are at fault, it may affect your insurance anyway.

[JJChambers]

2. Sticker shock sucks but that doesn't seem excessive

You caused an accident, damaged the bumper, and that's the estimate for a new one. Whether or not you think she needs a new one really doesn't factor in. I'm not trying to be mean, just direct.

[boston bean]

3. Pay the grand if you can and avoid the points.

You will end up paying more than that over 5-7 years for your insurance.

[msanthrope]

7. She won't avoid the points that way. nt

[FSogol]

4. The way many cars are built today is that the bumper is a molded piece of the front end and is

connected to the panels. Even a small ding to the bumper becomes costly to repair. I would contact the insurance company and not worry about the rate increasing. You'd had 50 years without an accident (hopefully with the same insurance company) and are not a youth. Your rates will not go up much. I'm always astounded by people who have insurance, pay for insurance, but refuse to use their insurance when the opportunity comes up. Call them.

My 2 cents.

[JVS]

11. this

[Jazzgirl]

14. What you said.

A lady lightly rear ended my brand new car a few months ago. You could barely see it but since it was new I wanted it fixed. I couldn't believe they couldn't just repair it. They had to replace it. Crazy.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Someone did that to me recently while I was laying on the horn and

she simply did not look, nor listen and drove into me. In my view she was reckless, negligent and should thank her lucky stars I was not a pedestrian or bicyclist trapped behind her careless disregard for others.

[msanthrope]

6. Go through your insurance company. Given the

ticket and the points, you may face higher rates anyway. And you have no idea what this person is going to come back with---an "injury" or something else. Take advantage of the fact that you've paid insurance for a long time, without incident.

Did you take pictures, etc? Can you contest the points? In many states, if you take a driving course, you can get the judge to cut you on the points.

[2pooped2pop]

8. consider your insurance deductible as well

and you can always counteroffer but stand a chance of her getting pissed and going through insurance anyway. Call and check on prices to replace the bumper so u will know better how much I new bumper that she doesn't need would cost.

[LisaL]

9. How much is your deductible?

Will it be worth it to go through the insurance company? Personally I think going without insurance company would make sense if police were not called. But they were called in your case, so would insurance company find out about the crash anyway?

[JVS]

10. My first thought is that you'd be surprised at how easily bumpers get damaged in an expensive manner

I had a honda back in the 90s and I got rear ended by a buick. It was fine, but more recent cars seem to make the bumper more of an integral part of the body and I've seen cars take light bumps and end up with very expensive repair bills.


Now, to your situation. When you are asking to settle things without the insurance company, you are essentially agreeing to pay what the other person wants in order to keep it from the insurance company. If they want too much in your opinion, then do things through the insurance.

[sharp_stick]

12. You can always say no

but then she can go to court. If I were you I'd tell her that it's too much and you'll have to go through insurance. My wife once bumped a guy and I was pretty sure he was uninsured. He said he'd like to do it cheap with no insurance but came back with a BS high offer. I told him I was calling my insurance company to make the claim because I couldn't afford it...the price came down by half right away.

If you're really sure it's not worth that much call your insurance company and tell them that you may need to make a claim. They'll check the damage and look at the estimates. If you've got a clean record for so long they'll probably forgive one accident without question. If they try to jack your rates start looking around for new insurance.

[mercuryblues]

13. your insurance

company already knows you were involved in an accident, your rates may go up anyhow. Put in a claim. Some insurance companies have accident forgiveness, check and see if you have that on your policy. If you do, your rates won't go up unless you have another accident.

You have paid them well over the last 50 years so use them.

[Sheldon Cooper]

15. Depending on the model, even a tiny bump

Could be expensive. I once had a car with a backup alarm system. When I got rear-ended, the damage to the bumper was barely noticeable. When I took it for the estimate I was told that in order to keep the backup alarm system warranteed, the bumper would have to be replaced. To the tune of $1800. I got it replaced because it was covered by insurance. If I'd had to pay it out of pocket I would have forgone the repairs.

[REP]

16. Thank your lucky stars it's only $1,000.00

Some idiot ran a red light and hit me. The damage didn't look that bad - bumper and quarter panel - but she also took out my suspension. It cost her insurance over $9K to fix what her stupidity did.

[DrewFlorida]

17. I'm always suspicious of such a clean round number as a quote, however,

$1,000.00 does not seem out of the realm of reason for replacement of a bumper. I don't find it unreasonable for someone to want a new bumper with no scratches, if that's what they had before. It's also not unreasonable for you to find an alternative quote for the same work, is that possible? Can you get the make model and year and go to a dealer or other quality body shop and get a quote on your own, if for no other reason than to make your own comparison? I think you'll find that auto-body work + parts are very expensive.

Best wishes to you!

[Brickbat]

18. Why pay insurance if you won't use it? It's their job to deal with this kind of crap.

[alarimer]

19. Let the insurance handle it.

It may end up costing less that way.

[MineralMan]

20. If there is a police report, go through your insurance.

If you don't, you may lose the insurance, since they will be notified.

Don't do a private thing if the police responded to the accident.

[ellenrr]

21. thank you all. I appreciate your thoughts

Soon as I get her estimate in the mail, I will speak to the body shop. I don't expect they will change the estimate. Then will go to my insurance company.

...
here is a thought which expresses another angle on this, better than I could, from a friend:

The attitude everyone takes is "bring it back to where it had been". You really can't undo scratches, so they replace parts entirely, and the cost is almost always outrageous. I see no way out in our current cultural set of expectations. It is part of our social structure relative to insurance coverage.
Each party says, not my problem, it's covered. The insurer days, not our problem; we'll up the premiums. No one cares in theory about anyone else: not my fault. That's the "arm's length" concept of capitalism, or "free enterprise."