OT: Minor Automobile Accident

[The Stan]

Last night my daughter was involved in a minor accident. No injuries.

She was driving a 2003 car with 150K + miles, worth about $1500-2000.
The other driver admitted fault, and we have a few witnesses. We have his info, etc.
There is damage to two doors and scratches to the panel below the doors. The windows go at least halfway down. There doesn't seem to be any issue with driving, although is seems a bit louder around the windows with wind noise (the car wasn't quiet anyway).

What are the options assuming the estimate is near the value of the car?

If it is not worth repairing, what happens to the car? Do we get a payout, then the insurance company takes the car?

Also do I call his insurance? Should I get an estimate first? Should I call him and ask him if he would rather handle it without insurance?

TIA.

 

[GregInPitt]

Last night my daughter was involved in a minor accident. No injuries.

She was driving a 2003 car with 150K + miles, worth about $1500-2000.
The other driver admitted fault, and we have a few witnesses. We have his info, etc.
There is damage to two doors and scratches to the panel below the doors. The windows go at least halfway down. There doesn't seem to be any issue with driving, although is seems a bit louder around the windows with wind noise (the car wasn't quiet anyway).

What are the options assuming the estimate is near the value of the car?

If it is not worth repairing, what happens to the car? Do we get a payout, then the insurance company takes the car?

Also do I call his insurance? Should I get an estimate first? Should I call him and ask him if he would rather handle it without insurance?

TIA.

Unless you know personally the other driver I would not give him the option of not going through insurance companies. Not worth the risk.

I had a similar issue in some ways with one of my sons, except my son was at fault. The car he was driving, ours, was technically totaled. But since I knew my car was well taken care of I was motivated to have it fixed. I talked to my regular mechanic who also does collision work, still under the oversight of the insurance adjuster, and using "used" parts managed to repair the car for a price that the insurance company was satisfied with.

It never hurts to get an estimate, as it is more information for you to use in your decisions.

It seems to come down to how much you like that car. If you really want to keep it you can pursue getting it fixed. But if not, you can use this accident to possibly upgrade. You could take the payout and use it towards another car of your choice. You just have to find one.....

It sounds like the damage is pretty superficial considering that the car likely is not pristine, due to the miles and age. So another option would be to take the repair payout and then find someone else to fix it cheaper than the estimate, possibly using "used" parts. You could pocket the difference. But if you do this route you are letting the insurance company out of the loop and if there is damage that is not initially identified that shows up later you are assuming that risk.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

If it is not worth repairing, what happens to the car? Do we get a payout, then the insurance company takes the car?

Assuming you have collision coverage on the car, if the repair estimates are more than the value of the car, then 1) you'll get a check for the value, and 2) the insurance company will take possession of the car.

Also do I call his insurance? Should I get an estimate first? Should I call him and ask him if he would rather handle it without insurance?

This one is more of a challenge. Don't call his insurance company -- that's for him to do, or for your insurance company to do. If he calls his company, then they will contact you. If you call anyone, it would be your insurance company.

If you want to work outside the insurance framework, then you should contact the other driver directly. Alas, if he's already contacted his company, then it's probably too late for this. Plus, if the cost of repairs are pretty high (which it sounds like they will be), then it's not in the other driver's interest to work with you outside the insurance framework, unless he's had several accidents in recent years, and is trying to keep his rates down.

You indicated that your car is worth less than or equal to $2,000. I'd say the odds are somewhat high that the repairs will exceed the value of the car.

Good luck

 

[psuro]

Get a police report first.

 

[The Stan]

Get a police report first.

too late for that option.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Get a police report first

too late for that option.

that's not all that important. It certainly helps to have one if there are conflicting stories as to what happened. However, the insurance companies can usually work through the issues to resolve things. In addition, not all police departments will issue reports, or if called will ask if anyone is injured and if traffic is blocked, and if that's not the case will indicate that it could be 1+ hour before they can get to the scene.

 

[The Stan]

too late for that option.

Kelly Blue Book for "good" is $2040, very good $2366

 

[GregInPitt]

Kelly Blue Book for "good" is $2040, very good $2366

But remember, everything in life is negotiable. I had a another car that was totaled in an accident that was 100% the other drivers fault. The car was worth $6K+, and initially the insurance adjuster worked through fixing it. But some of the parts were too expensive and he had to total it. I was not satisfied with his "total" offer, which was based partly on what similar cars were available for purchase in my geographic area. The adjuster reworked the calculation based upon other cars available in my area and upped his payout offer by over $1K. I then found another car, one year newer and with less miles that I purchased.

It was Erie insurance, both parties, and their reimbursement is based upon a calculation that includes similar cars for sale locally on dealer lots, such that you could actually go and replace your car with an actual car available in your area.

Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.....

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Kelly Blue Book for "good" is $2040, very good $2366

that's not what the insurance company will use, so it's not of much value to you.

I forget the specifics of what they use to assign the value. In addition, they only give you a percentage of the value, and I also forget those specifics. Hopefully, someone in the car insurance trade can pipe in and provide you with some of the specifics.

 

[Sproul]

Had the same type of thing happen to me. Car was totaled due to the damage estimate compared to value of car. It was a 11 year old civic that I bought for like $750. Insurance gave me $2500, let me keep the car, then I traded it in, with a salvage title (and got pulled over with a dead title on the way) to the car dealership for another $2200. A friend just had her car totaled and they towed it 2 hours away before giving her an estimate on damages. What a sham.

 

[psute]

Get a police report first.

Minor property damage with both cars able to be driven away, not getting a report 99% of the time...

 

[ntlnfn]

I can offer you some expert advice here. Do not handle outside the insurance company. It never goes well or the way you want it to.

If the other driver is at fault 100% then his company can pay for everything. I would still contact your company and allow them to advocate for you. It is what you pay for. You don't necessarily have to have your company pay for the damage but you should have them involved to protect you in the process.

 

[massimoManca II]

Assuming you have collision coverage on the car, if the repair estimates are more than the value of the car, then 1) you'll get a check for the value, and 2) the insurance company will take possession of the car.



This one is more of a challenge. Don't call his insurance company -- that's for him to do, or for your insurance company to do. If he calls his company, then they will contact you. If you call anyone, it would be your insurance company.

If you want to work outside the insurance framework, then you should contact the other driver directly. Alas, if he's already contacted his company, then it's probably too late for this. Plus, if the cost of repairs are pretty high (which it sounds like they will be), then it's not in the other driver's interest to work with you outside the insurance framework, unless he's had several accidents in recent years, and is trying to keep his rates down.

You indicated that your car is worth less than or equal to $2,000. I'd say the odds are somewhat high that the repairs will exceed the value of the car.

Good luck

I'd assume he doesn't have collision coverage.... there's zero-reason to keep 'collision' on a car valued at $1,500-2k

 

[Cosmos]

Last night my daughter was involved in a minor accident. No injuries.

She was driving a 2003 car with 150K + miles, worth about $1500-2000.
The other driver admitted fault, and we have a few witnesses. We have his info, etc.
There is damage to two doors and scratches to the panel below the doors. The windows go at least halfway down. There doesn't seem to be any issue with driving, although is seems a bit louder around the windows with wind noise (the car wasn't quiet anyway).

What are the options assuming the estimate is near the value of the car?

If it is not worth repairing, what happens to the car? Do we get a payout, then the insurance company takes the car?

Also do I call his insurance? Should I get an estimate first? Should I call him and ask him if he would rather handle it without insurance?

TIA.

Stan, you don't call his insurance. You call yours, give them his insurance info and let them deal with it.

Get a repairs estimate and take it from there. But with a car having that much depreciation I doubt it's worth repairing.

 

[Cosmos]

I can offer you some expert advice here. Do not handle outside the insurance company. It never goes well or the way you want it to.

If the other driver is at fault 100% then his company can pay for everything. I would still contact your company and allow them to advocate for you. It is what you pay for. You don't necessarily have to have your company pay for the damage but you should have them involved to protect you in the process.

Yes! Your insurance company will use the witnesses as fodder to get his insurance company to pay.

 

[Cosmos]

that's not all that important. It certainly helps to have one if there are conflicting stories as to what happened. However, the insurance companies can usually work through the issues to resolve things. In addition, not all police departments will issue reports, or if called will ask if anyone is injured and if traffic is blocked, and if that's not the case will indicate that it could be 1+ hour before they can get to the scene.

If the cops come at all! Which is the case in Dallas. "Was anyone hurt? Then just exchange insurance information." Lucky he has witnesses.

 

[ClarkstonMark]

If the cops come at all! Which is the case in Dallas. "Was anyone hurt? Then just exchange insurance information." Lucky he has witnesses.

At least in Michigan you can get a police report after the fact.
I would get one, based on the fact that the driver is under 21, and it seems that she was not at fault. I would want more than "witnesses" to back that up.

 

[meanmiJ01]

Your insurance company isn't going got just "deal with it" for you. You will still have to have you daughter give a statement to the other parties company as they will verify everything before cutting a check. From the sounds the vehicle is "totaled" by insurance standards. Anymore a door or two plus the paint blending and blah blah blah = $3,500.

 

[BiochemPSU]

Glad everyone is safe.

 

[The Stan]

Thanks everyone for the replies and comments. I'll contact my insurance agent and go from there. In the past, they have actually been very cooperative and helpful when we have been at fault, and very uncooperative when it was not our fault and was with a different company.

 

[gogolion]

I can offer you some expert advice here. Do not handle outside the insurance company. It never goes well or the way you want it to. .

I assume you claim to be an expert because you work for an insurance company. I've gone outside of insurance 2 or 3 times and it has always worked out well. Body shops will do the work for much less if you're not using insurance.

Also, as others have mentioned, you may be able to get the car totalled, get a check from the insurance company, and keep the car. I did this fairly recently in an accident that wasn't my fault. However, I did need to pay an extra fee to the insurance company in order to do so. With the payout from the insurance we were able to get the car repaired and keep it. This was the best option because we could not have bought a similar quality vehicle for the amount we were getting (it was a situation similar to yours, my kid's old beater)

 

[Tweedbear]

Definitely use your insurance company.
You don't want a surprises law suit 5 years from now.

 

[katchthis]

Always good to get names of anyone willing to be a witness. Also use your phone/camera to document the accident, the other cars license plate, and a photo of the driver.

 

[Cosmos]

Your insurance company isn't going got just "deal with it" for you. You will still have to have you daughter give a statement to the other parties company as they will verify everything before cutting a check. From the sounds the vehicle is "totaled" by insurance standards. Anymore a door or two plus the paint blending and blah blah blah = $3,500.

Oh no kidding the cost of body work is out-of-sight. Anyway, expect to have to provide info to your insurance. I had to give them a sketch of the wreck. After which I got a check in short order.