Accident Question, please suggest

[suyog]

Friends,

I got involved in a minor accident today. at a red light signal there was a car and a van behind that car. My car was behind the van. When the signal turned green, the van started moving and I also started moving. Suddenly the van applied breaks and I barely touched the van from behind since I too applied the break. Later I found that the car ahead of the van was broken down and did not move, thats why the van applied the breaks.

The van driver (another desi) got down and looked at his van's back. He told me that due to the hit, his van has got a scratch. the scratch is not even 1 inch length and is horizontal and is barely seen unless looked carefully. I am sure that it must have been there since before. He took down my insurance details and told me that he will call his insurance to get it fixed. I think this is unfair. I understand I hit (touched) his car from behind, but the impact was not enough to have a scrach on his van. He is just trying to take advantage of this situation.

My question is how do I dispute this case if my insurance gets the claim? Any suggestions or do i have to just pay my deductible and get it on insurance record? There was no police case registered. Shall I call my insurance company and inform them about this or try to settle this with the van driver?

Thanks

[layman]

Friends,

I got involved in a minor accident today. at a red light signal there was a car and a van behind that car. My car was behind the van. When the signal turned green, the van started moving and I also started moving. Suddenly the van applied breaks and I barely touched the van from behind since I too applied the break. Later I found that the car ahead of the van was broken down and did not move, thats why the van applied the breaks.

The van driver (another desi) got down and looked at his van's back. He told me that due to the hit, his van has got a scratch. the scratch is not even 1 inch length and is horizontal and is barely seen unless looked carefully. I am sure that it must have been there since before. He took down my insurance details and told me that he will call his insurance to get it fixed. I think this is unfair. I understand I hit (touched) his car from behind, but the impact was not enough to have a scrach on his van. He is just trying to take advantage of this situation.

My question is how do I dispute this case if my insurance gets the claim? Any suggestions or do i have to just pay my deductible and get it on insurance record? There was no police case registered. Shall I call my insurance company and inform them about this or try to settle this with the van driver?

Thanks[/quote]
Try to settle with the van driver. Insurance companies are daylight bandits. Anything you do with them will result in an increase in premium.

[suyog]

but won't insurance company fight on my side to deny the claim? If its more that my deductible then they will have to pay that amount.

[layman]

but won't insurance company fight on my side to deny the claim? If its more that my deductible then they will have to pay that amount.[/quote]
Why would they deny the claim? You said you hit the car and the other guy says the hit caused a scratch.

[VS007]

You are on a weak ticket. In such accidents always get a police report.
In this case, find out how much the driver wants and if its around your deductible plus few hundred bucks, pay off and walk away.

[abuSibu]

So far so good. Just take the van to get an estimate. Based on your description it should cost $100 or $200. Remember the damage can't be more if you were moving from a stop and hit the van.

You could ask the bodyshop if the scratch/dent was there before. Sometimes based on other deposits in that area, they could tell. If it was there before, just say sorry for hitting and just walk away. Otherwise pay the estimate and possibly one day rental cost for the inconvenience.

Now, to protect yourself
a. Keep a copy of the estimate
b. Pay by check

[suyog]

abusibu, vs007 and layman, Thanks for your suggestions. I am trying to get hold of the van driver, but he is not responding. He said that he will have to replace the entire fender due to the scratch, he was trying to make a big scene out of this.
I think he has been backing off since he knew the car ahead of him was not moving, at the same time I had started from stop and touched his van.
If insurance gets involved, will it go against me on the record? will it increase the premiums and good driver discounts? This is my first accident in last 9 years.
I have not yet called my insurance, shall i call and inform them about this?

Layman, I meant wont my insurance fight with me and try to deny the claim or atleast reduce the claim amount since they have to pay for it?

[layman]

abusibu, vs007 and layman, Thanks for your suggestions. I am trying to get hold of the van driver, but he is not responding. He said that he will have to replace the entire fender due to the scratch, he was trying to make a big scene out of this.
I think he has been backing off since he knew the car ahead of him was not moving, at the same time I had started from stop and touched his van.
If insurance gets involved, will it go against me on the record? will it increase the premiums and good driver discounts? This is my first accident in last 9 years.
I have not yet called my insurance, shall i call and inform them about this?

Layman, I meant wont my insurance fight with me and try to deny the claim or atleast reduce the claim amount since they have to pay for it?[/quote]
What is your deductible? If your deductible is $500 and the claim is $600, insurance co. won't bother. Insurance co. may not bother much any way if claims are in that range. You can go thro' the insurance co. But, my guess is they will remove your good driver discount. If the other party is not willing to talk to you, you have to talk to your insurance. From what you mention that the other party is not responding you have no option but to talk to your insurance co.

[ILuvHyd]

What is your deductible? If your deductible is $500 and the claim is $600, insurance co. won't bother. Insurance co. may not bother much any way if claims are in that range. You can go thro' the insurance co. But, my guess is they will remove your good driver discount. If the other party is not willing to talk to you, you have to talk to your insurance. From what you mention that the other party is not responding you have no option but to talk to your insurance co.[/quote]
Some insurance companies "pardon" one accident/mistake per policy holder per policy. As this is the first accident/claim in 9 years, you may be able to get away with this. On a side note, always get a cop if the other party is not willing to talk as the cop's report is the key. Once same thing happened to me, I barely touched the bumber and it was not even a scratch, not visible, but the other party made a big tamasha by calling ambulance etc etc. Luckily the cop gave the report in my favor as per the actual conditions of the vehicles. Even though I had an accident claim against my insurance policy the other party wasted probably around $400 for that ambulance call :emsmilep:

[suyog]

Thanks layman, you are right. I will try my best to get in touch with the van driver, but I doubt if he will listen to me looking at how he talked to me at the scene.

ILuvHyd, thats for your input. Appearantly the cop arrived at the time to look at the broken car ahead of the van. I did show the van scratch to the officer and the officer said you dont have to inform insurance since this is a minor damage. However the van driver listened to it and just left. Then I took down the police office batch number etc just in case for a witness. But we did not file a police report.