Agghhh stupid accident

Never know you might even have a new friend or someone who might need some help in that case.

Years ago a girl rear ended me when I had my Chevy truck. Barely scratched the plastic bumper in the middle (split) and her license plate bent which I fixed. Ended up getting to know her a little and she was a nice lady.

 

With a Buick I bet they take the money & keep driving the car

 

Update: The owner called me this morning. Nice woman, but wanted to exchange insurance information and we left it at that. I just filed the claim on my end. So much for the beers and some cash idea.

 

Wait a minute, was all of that damage to the Buick caused by your truck? Or was some of it preexisting?

 

Can't say for sure, but pretty positive it was all from me. The car is old but is in good shape, no other body damage that I saw, and when I clipped it, it got stuck against wheel well and dragged, so I had to reverse it back out. It was a very odd accident

 

Pics of the damage to your truck?

 

Pics of damage.... The wheel well was dented in but I popped it back out. There is a small dent in the lower left corner near the door, not sure what I can do with that. May just leave it. Most of the scuffs I'm pretty sure I can get out with a good clay bar but we will see

 

So I just called the lady back and asked her if we can try to get this fixed without insurance, she said "Yea absolutely, the easier the better. You seem like a nice person and I dont mind doing that" . She is going to get an estimate tomorrow or Monday.

So based on the picture in the OP....anyone have any idea how much that may be to fix? Ballpark.

I need to figure out a limit on cash I want to shell out of my own pocket, before it makes more sense to go through insurance

 

Find out for sure if you have the forgiveness and what the parameters of it are. If you do then it's easy, $500 or less pay it yourself.

 

Ok, so I called GEICO. "Accident Forgiveness" doesnt apply to CA. So I am screwed there. She said if property damage is over $1000, my rates will increase but she couldnt tell me how much.

Also, I have no deductible. So they take care of everything.

So now I need to figure out at what $$$ amount it makes sense to pay for this on my own. Let's say its $1500, and I want to pay for it on my own so my rates don't increase. Is that smarter than having insurance pay for it (so I pay nothing up front) and having my rate increase, would it increase by more than $1500? over a time period? Ughh too many variables.

 

Not sure about CA but my guess is in MA it would be about $200 a year or so. I'd wait and see at the moment..who knows, the shop might even advise the lady just get a few bucks and don't fix it.

 

Where did the red come from that's on her bumper?

 

I have no idea. Wondered that myself. But I have no way of proving that damage wasn't all from me. Maybe that red is a layer under her paint I have no idea

 

Yeah that's what made me wonder if some of that damage wasn't your fault. Old people tend to hit things with the corners of their cars as their vision gets worse.

 

Ok here is the latest...

The estimate is going to run around $1000-$1200. I offered to give her $500 cash instead if she wanted to bypass the insurance and "live with" the bumper as is. She said she would think about it. The reason I came up with $500 is I have NO deductible. So if we went through insurance they would cover it 100%. The $500 is to just keep the accident off my record. Do you think that's reasonable? Or should I have offered her $1000?

I know my insurance will raise if the claim is > $1000 (GEICO confirmed), but I have no idea how much. Im guessing not a ton given my record and the type of accident this was.

Thoughts on my "counter-offer"? Should it be more? Or is it too much? It sounds like she is going to go through insurance but isnt 100% sure yet.....

 

Good karma on you, but it would be wise to counteroffer a bit higher and see what happens. Even if more than the deductible you save in the long run.

Quick story: Someone at work reports a hit and run on their car in our parking lot. Minor bumper damage, but it was on a very clean S2000. I guess folks don't see the big camera bulbs on the corners of our building and we ran the video back. We found exactly who did it and they were confronted. Needless to say excuses ran rampant, insurance was exchanged and hit and run employee no longer works here. This happened 2 months ago. Karma is always keeping a close eye.

 

But that's what I was saying...I have NO deductible. So $500 is a lot in my mind. If I had a $500 deductible, I'd probably offer $1000.

I only have a $500 deductible if the damage on the claim was to MY vehicle. For the other parties vehicle I have NO deductible.

 

If your insurance premium goes up after this accident, I would be shopping for another insurance provider. Especially since you have a clean record. You are the kind of customer insurance companies want. You may not be able to find a better deal, but it never hurts to shop around.

 

Latest update...(hopefully final)

So the body shop she took it to told her it would be very difficult to find a replacement bumper for her old Buick, and would take a lot of time. She called me back and said she wants to take me up on my offer of $500 cash and just be done with this. I am happy with that. Keeps it off my record, and in the case I happen to get into another accident (hopefully not) I wouldn't have multiple accidents recorded. I am happy with this. I would have been ok had it gone to insurance, but I am more pleased with this outcome. I am considering it a $500 stupid mistake on my part, end of story.