Here we go again with this damn truck…

Soooo, yesterday i was headed to work and a woman in a Cadillac ran a stop sign and came out in front of me. I laid on the horn, braked, etc… there weee curbs and a median on each side so i had no hope of swerving out of her path. Ended up t-boning her right in her driver door/fender. Truck isnt too bad, basically just the front bumper cover any maybe a support bracket or two. Her car has a gaping hole in the sheetmetal of the door. She had a stop sign, i didnt… Thankfully everyone is ok, low speed traveling about 25mph. Police show up and take our info and provided me with her name, address, contact info, DL#, registration info, insurance info. Called my insurance company right away to report it. I took pictures from all angles of the scene and damage to both vehicles. Ins Co calls me back today to take a statement, blah blah blah then they tell me that the policy listed for the other driver (aslo same ins co as mine) had expired in 2021 and they didn't have a record of an updated policy for her. Theyre doing a dayabase search for her name, DL#, vehicle VIN, etc to see if she has a current policy with any other insurance company but they said it may take a few days to find out. Ok, great. Cant imagine someone with a practically new Cadillac would roll dirty like that but what do i know… Ins Co also said i could pay my $500 deductible and have my policy cover the repairs. Dont wanna do that because it will make my premiums go up.

so now im thinking, if im already totally Efffed i might as well come out of pocket for a bumper upgrade or order my own parts and do the work at home. Either option puts me a couple hondos above my ins deductible.

What would you do assuming the other driver isnt insured?

1) pay the deductible and deal with higher insurance rates?

2) Buy new parts and do the work myself?

3) Lawyer up and sue the lady to cover the costs, time, rental car, legal fees, etc and then pay to have the work done?

Pics for clicks

NO STOP SIGN…





STOP SIGN…



My damage:


Her damage:

 

She should receive at least two tickets then. Traffic ticket, and failure to maintain insurance. Follow through with that. Might also need a lawyer. That driver needs to own their responsibility.

Your truck looks like it came out pretty good. Maaaybe uninsured...or just buy a better(metal) bumper.

 

Man, that sucks. Hope you get it all sorted out with no money out of pocket. I dunno what it is but people are just brain dead on the roads right now. Last weekend I drove from Bellingham, WA down to northern NV, about a 15 hour drive we split up over two days. The amount of people on I5 that tried to actively kill us was insane. I'm talking about no headlights, torrential downpour, passing at 70mph when I'm going 55 in the right lane with the wipers full blast barely able to see

 

Lady rear ended my wife awhile back…then ran to our insurance company to say it was my wife’s fault ,for stopping in front of her at a yield sign..and was trying to get a rental car..turns out she hadn’t had insurance in 4 years.. they still haven’t done one thing to that lady to this day.

 

You could probably sue the lady in small claims court aka no attorney if you go the route of repairing it yourself.. check what the $$ for small claims is here you live


Also the state should F*** her for not having insurance - if you have the free time, you could show up to her court date on the no insurance charge, ask to speak and try n maximize the penalty..

Sadly last time I had to go to traffic court, more than half the people there were there for no insurance; another large portion had no f**ing license - and of course no meaningful penalties bc they were mostly repeat offenders..
Who cares if they take your license when you are just gonna drive anyway - and if you cause an accident, suing is worthless cause you ain't got jack/sh*t to begin with
(rant over)

 

Sadly…that’s the truth though..our insurance company went after her but they said she was bankrupt,living with her parents..been in 2 other wrecks in the last 8 months..and was on drugs

 

Armor up and protect your self and investment.

 

When I was a sophomore in college, I had a '95 XJ (Jeep Cherokee) on 35's that was up-armored on all 4 corners and didn't have a straight body panel on it, nor a door that closed properly. I was sitting in a wal mart parking lot one day minding my own business when I hear a *thunk* on the passenger side. I wander out and some lady just crumpled her driver side door on my rock rail. She was furious. Like full on irate that my vehicle had the gall to sit there and ruin her car door when she slammed it into me. Told her to fuck off and just drove away. Very satisfying. Armor much recommended against parking lot karens

 

Paying your deductible will not raise your rates. It's still a not at fault accident. If that raises your rates you need a new insurance company. Again it's a "not at fault" accident. Doesn't make you a bad driver or receive higher insurance rates. Pay the deductible and get it fixed properly if she doesn't have insurance.

 

I don't understand. Last time somebody hit me their fault without insurance,
my insurance covered it and went after them.
I believe there was little or no deductible paid, repair was covered
rates did not go up due to not being at fault

typically they will tell you who the fault goes to,
and it will go into a record viewable online of past history

hopefully it can work out the same for you to get a steel bumper so that next time she does the same thing the truck is more protected

dash cam would be cool
I have a Viofo A129 front and rear w/ high-speed SD card I need to figure out how to install

I've watched people open their door into my sliders while sitting in the truck
nothing abnormal to report
I wonder how many times it's happened out of my sight not sitting in the truck

 

Do you have uninured/underinsured coverage? If so report a claim under it. If not you are stuck with a claim under your collision. Lot's of those MFr's out there "rolling dirty".

 

I've been involved in 3 accidents in my driving lifetime. All 3 were were caused by other drivers, or "no fault". 2 of those involved a driver with no insurance. My insurance covered the damage. I don't know if my insurance went after the driver to recover expenses. I hope so, that's what part of my premium should be for. My rates have never increased due to the 2 no fault claims.

 

This right here^^^!!!

 

Well i’ll double check with my Ins co on Monday to confirm if i have to come out of pocket but that is what i was told on Friday. Thanks for the replies folks!

 

Definitely sue her for every penny you end up paying plus your inconvenience. Fortunately it sounds like you're not injured in any way of course.

I'd invest in a dash cam as well, not a bad idea.

 

Would you rather have a new bumper cover or 500? Gotta watch those intersections, I see people roll right thru their stop signs in front of the people who have the right of way all the time. It's even worse around fast food restaurants, lots of unisured motorists on the road. Always presume nobody else on the road gives a shit about you, except for you.

 

I don't know where you live, but in GA your insurance info is tied to your driver's license. When the cops run your license number they know if you have insurance or not. They don't even want to see your insurance card if you get stopped. It is also verified when you get a new tag every year.

 

Always amazes me that the police absolutely refuse, for the most part, to go after insurance deadbeats. Pretty much every state REQUIRES insurance but few actually ticket, seize, impound, and sell/auction off non insured vehicles if the owner doesn't come up to date with it or to make restitution to the not at fault driver involved. Make even vehicles with loans on the books subject to forfeit laws and the owner on the hook for the loan and you'd see lending institutions pull their heads out of their asses. And once it gets out you don't get to drive away, [yes, the runners will STILL run] deadbeat susie Q may put down the box wine and spend the $$$ instead on vehicle insurance.

And I HATE insurance of any kind but you shouldn't get to walk away from paying for some poor soul you caused financial damage to.

 

THIS.

Plus it should be required that your wages are automatically garnished if you don't have insurance to cover a loss, maybe even forfeiture of some assets.

Sorry to bitch but in the past 6 months my mother was put in the hospital by an uninsured driver who was also in the country illegally with no license and wasn't even arrested at the scene..plus my wife being injured and now unable to drive or work because of a texting driver who didn't have insurance either, and it SUCKS

 

My understanding, as limited as it is, is that if you have full coverage (versus just liability), when it's NOT your fault, you file with your insurance company, and while you have to initially pay any deductible, it:

1. Will not affect your rate.
2. Your insurance company becomes the party that seeks redress from the other party (versus you, because THEY are now the party at loss).
3. Assuming they are successful, whether through the other party's insurance or directly, you are reimbursed your deductible.