Rear Bumper Hit in Parking Lot

If you go the high-clearance plate bumper route, the dented portion of the bedside will be cut away.

 

I had the same thought I think the dent is in bumper though, and a paint scuff on body? Either way...fixes paint/dent issues and prevents future issues of the same nature. Let em hit your plate bumper at low speeds all day...

 

Just pray they don't hit the bumper in the middle, where the license plate is.

 

I backed up into a tree this past weekend and the damage looks exactly the same. Two minutes with the ratchet strap and it lined up and the dent just gave it more character. Just use the insurance money for upgrades.

 

My rear bumper has been an f'n white van magnet. I've had both sides hit, this weekend was the most recent. The bumper is as strong as tinfoil...

 

I like that thinking. It would get rid of the paint chips in the bedside and the dented bumper.

 

If his insurance would not have paid, then it would've been too costly for me to go the legal route against the driver. I look at it as if I even traded a stock bumper for an aftermarket steel bumper. How did I lose on this vs. paying attorney fees/court costs to go after $1200?
As for the OP, parking lot accidents are more difficult to contest since the police are never involved unless there are injuries. Don't be surprised if his adjuster questions you on the accident but I hope that's not the case.

 

You wouldn't have paid attorney fees or court costs...your insurance should have handled all of that for you, at no cost to you. Or, if you took him to small claims court and won your case...the loser pays all fees associated with the proceedings. Most, if not all small claims courts have an upper limit of $5,000...which you were well under. In my state/county it costs no more than $50.00 to file in small claims, which you get back when you win.

Either way, I believe that the small claims issue is moot, as your insurance carrier should go to bat for you at no additional cost/risk of increased premiums, as that is why you pay them in the first place...to protect you from loss

 

But... if you were worried about a slight misalignment of the stock bumper, do you have the stones to take a cut off tool to your bed sides?

 

The most sensible post I have seen in quite some time.

 

thank you, sometimes the things I say make sense...to some anyway

 

Valid point. If I did the damage myself, say dropping off a ledge and draggin bumper, I'd be fine with any misalignment. It would be my fault. But when a guy in a parking lot uses my bumper for braille backing up, then yeah, i want him to fix it.

And my stones are huge. Wheres that damn dremel??

 

Any man with huge stones would use a hacksaw. No need for stinking power tools.

 

Fixed

 

Thank God for insurance, that's all I can say. But beware... things always seem nice and easy when everyone's friendly, but people turn nasty. Lucky you had an additional witness in case things turn and his insurance starts denying it (which is their job). The adjuster should come out and quote a replacement bumper at minimum, so take that check and run right to your plate bumper shop and cash it in. That's what I did when I got rear-ended.

 

Meeting with the insurance adjuster (provided by my insurance) tomorrow morning to estimate the claim total. Stay tuned...

 

Insurance adjuster quoted replacing the bumper at $530.02 total. I don't think his replacement bumper is color-matched from the dealer, but he said it should come painted. The searches I do for the part number supplied don't show anything about color. Internet picture searches all show black...

 

Don't always settle with their first estimate. After six emails back and forth, I finally convinced him that the original estimate was NOT for a color matched bumper. I called his distributor for him . Now the total is $794.92. That's a bit more like it

 

That's plate bumper money, right there alright

 

Too bad. In my rear-ender, USAA gave me just over $1200 to replace my sport bumper (color match). I took the cash and bought plate steel instead.