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billbenson
10-18-2012, 12:03 AM
Wife was in a fender bender today. I haven't been in an accident in 20 years so I don't know what the protocol is. They pulled off on a side road so they didn't block traffic. Left rear quarter panel on our car probably has $800 to $1k in damage. It's not bad, it's just that with paint and banging this dent out and that one ads up.

The officer that came to the scene took the information from both drivers and then sent my wife on her way and went to talk to the other driver. My wife didn't get a ticket and wasn't at fault. My wife thought the other driver may have been intoxicated, but not badly. I have no idea if the other driver was ticketed, arrested etc.

The officer gave my wife a printed accident report and the insurance and policy number of the other driver.

I have a recommended body shop through a friend. My thought is to go to them before calling the insurance companies (mine or the person that hit my wife). The body shop guy deals with this stuff every day and comes recommended. He probably can give some good advice as to dealing with the insurance adjusters. I don't want to go and get three estimates and the lowest bidder win. I want a decent repair.

Anybody have any advice.

Gabe
10-18-2012, 06:35 AM
Hey Bill. First, I'm glad to hear your wife's alright. I don't have any definite advice, but I think you've got a good idea in contacting the body shop guy first to get some insight. In the end, the insurance company will tell you how to proceed (i.e. recommending a body shop, asking for quotes, etc.). Either way, I wouldn't wait too long before calling the insurance company.

fayt
10-18-2012, 08:15 AM
My girlfriend had an accident about two months ago, she wasn't at fault. She went to a recommended body shop and they were extremely helpful. When the insurance company got involved they said she must get a quote from another body shop, by force. They were really rude and high priced. She said she would not use them and only wants to use the one she went to first, so they finally agreed and wrote the check. She couldn't be happier about the repair and service.

Freelancier
10-18-2012, 09:20 AM
Yes, get a quote if you like, but the usual first step is to get the information off the accident report about the other person's insurance and contact their claims department. If they aren't helpful, call your own, because they should also handle it and bill the other insurance company for you or at least walk you through the steps you'll need to take to get your claim handled.

Also, by this morning, your wife may find she's sore or has a bad headache, so she might need to go to the doctor to get checked out. I'm just pointing this out without specific knowledge of the angle of impact or anything like that, but when you get hit from behind, you can get bounced around or tense up and that can often leave a medical issue behind.

Good luck with it!

KristineS
10-18-2012, 12:03 PM
I don't really have any advice for you, but I'm glad your wife is o.k. Hopefully there are no aftereffects.

billbenson
10-18-2012, 06:09 PM
I took the car to the body shop that was recommended to me by a friend (my auto mechanic). Glad I did. He gave me an estimate of about $1400. The body shop guy gave me an estimate. He said it will probably be about $300 more than what the insurance company will offer me. He pointed out several things that should be done to do the job properly. What he showed me make sense. He said it becomes a big game. He said he would negotiate with the insurance adjustor and does it all the time. So now I have to wait for the insurance adjustor to come out and make his offer. After that, I'll probably have to get the insurance adjustor negociating with my body shop guy.

I spent well over an hour on the phone with insurance companies today and had to go by the body shop. Blew a good part of my day.

I looked the woman up that hit my wife’s car in the county records. She has one arrest for misdemeanor shoplifting with prior arrests. The prior arrests were in different counties, so they weren't listed.

Kind of wants you to make your county clerks office a favorite on your pc.

So we'll see what happens next.

huggytree
10-18-2012, 09:50 PM
its good to get the estimate, but dont have the work done until the other guy's insurance is ready to pay

the other guy has like 30-60 days to report it to his insurance...but its always good to be in contact with HIS insurance company anyways...i had an accident when i was young when the other guy DIDNT report it to his insurance company....it took me a while to get them to pay(but they did)

you can take it anywhere you want...make sure they do it right....sometimes the insurance company will dictate a part be reused (like door trim)....i had this issue....they remove the door trim which is held on by a sticker....then they heat up the old trim and try to stick it back onto the car...in my case it started to peel back off....i returned it and they put a new trim piece on....it took them trying to get the insurance to do it the correct way the 2nd time...

i hit a lady a while back with my work van....since it was around $1,000 i offered to pay it w/o insurance companies....she came back with a weird estimate which included some extra's and tried to collect for it.....i called the body shop and they told me the truth....she was trying to get me to pay for things i didnt do....i wrote her a check for the damage i did and she backed down.....these types of situations can make cheaters out of people....so insurance companies are wary of everything...they may question things......

i was rear ended when i was 16.....i was accused by the insurance company of the damage being pre-existing to my bumper...the other driver said he didnt hit me very hard....i had a great come back....the passenger of the other driver smashed the windshield with her head...severly damaging the windshield(but somehow not her head)....i asked how that could happen at 2-3mph?

its good you got a police man to write it up....typically the cops dont want to come if its under $1,000

billbenson
10-18-2012, 10:49 PM
After I got the estimate, I contacted her insurance company (Allstate) directly. They are going to have their adjuster look at my damage next week. They might drag their heels a bit, but I doubt very long. Since my last post I've found out that she got a DUI last Monday (two days before my wife's accident). I don't know if she was licensed to drive at the time of my wife's accident. She didn't have a license, but she had some document that may have permitted her to drive.

I did some searching and she has been arrested for theft and selling prescription drugs in the past. My wife suspected she was under the influence of something at the time of the accident. I'll look in a couple of days to see if she shows up on any arrest reports. I'm betting she was arrested.

Allstate is certainly going to want to cancel her policy so I don't thing they will drag this out. I'm sure they will try to jerk me around as to how much they are going to pay.

Harold Mansfield
10-19-2012, 01:35 PM
It really depends on your state. In MI where I'm originally from and first started driving it's "No Fault" insurance. Everyone pays for their own. Here in NV it's a personal injury carnival so everyone is jockeying for position after an accident.

The last time I was in a fender bender, I was working for a Limo company. They have their own in house insurance, and body shop. If you get into mild accident on the street, they send a guy out from the company that literally pays off the other driver in cash right on the spot. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

I once had a car break down on the strip on a Saturday night. Our in house truck came, hooked it up, and we were on our way. Right in front of the Venetian (which was under expansion) we hit a huge bump and the car (Lincoln Navigator) came lose from the tow rig and started rolling down the Las Vegas strip all by itself. It went up on the sidewalk where people were diving out of the way (mind you, it's night and this large black car is rolling silent with no lights on) like a keystone cops silent movie. It finally hit a hydrant and stopped.

It was horrifying at the time, and funny later after we knew no one was seriously injured. Our guy came out, passed out money to each person that claimed they skinned a knee, with the police supervising, and we were on our way again. No ticket.

That probably doesn't help, I just wanted to tell that story. :)

huggytree
10-19-2012, 04:01 PM
when it comes to $1000-$2000 im sure they will pay quickly....its not much...its penny's to them

they worry about the $10,000+ ones