Minor car accident in US

Manoyanamano · Post by **Manoyanamano** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:15 pm

I had minor car accident yesterday, sombody hit my car from the rear, I got the police report. There is not much damage, few scrtaches on the rear bumper(Probably needs repainting). Now my question is how should I handle the claim. What is wise in this case, to file a claim on my insurance company or with other party's insurance company ? Should I inform my insurance company about the accident ? what are the consequences on my premium after policy renewal ?
Please share info if anybody has some experience before.

dheeraj_handa · Post by **dheeraj_handa** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:40 pm

Manoyanamano;89058I had minor car accident yesterday, sombody hit my car from the rear, I got the police report. There is not much damage, few scrtaches on the rear bumper(Probably needs repainting). Now my question is how should I handle the claim. What is wise in this case, to file a claim on my insurance company or with other party's insurance company ? Should I inform my insurance company about the accident ? what are the consequences on my premium after policy renewal ?
Please share info if anybody has some experience before.

if you have police report and it says that the other party is at fault, you should get other partys insurance company pay for it. you can also get rental car from them till your car is in garage. you should not claim from your company, if you dont know the other party or if it was hit and run then get it painted at your own expense if its minor accident as you said.

layman · Post by **layman** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:43 pm

Manoyanamano;89058I had minor car accident yesterday, sombody hit my car from the rear, I got the police report. There is not much damage, few scrtaches on the rear bumper(Probably needs repainting). Now my question is how should I handle the claim. What is wise in this case, to file a claim on my insurance company or with other party's insurance company ? Should I inform my insurance company about the accident ? what are the consequences on my premium after policy renewal ?
Please share info if anybody has some experience before.
[/quote]
If you are sure that the fault is the other person's you need not worry about anything. In my experience most of the whites own up their mistakes. It is us Indians (because we read lot of vedas and what not) who indulge in lying and corruption :emteeth:. I don't think you can talk to the other person's insurance company directly. They will pay you and collect the money from the other insurance co. You have to talk to your insurance co. If the fault is adjucated to be the other person's there is no impact to your premium or record.

moneyIsNot_funny · Post by **moneyIsNot_funny** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:57 pm

If someone rear ended you, it will almost-always be their fault.
I typically file a claim with both insurance companies so that its on record. The claim with your insurance company is just for records, so that they can be involved if need to be. Your main claim is going to be with the other person's insurance company (that is why you collect their details at the accident site).

moneyIsNot_funny · Post by **moneyIsNot_funny** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:58 pm

By the way, elsewhere, Layman mentioned that there may be internal damage to the bumper that makes it worthless - so get it checked out.

layman · Post by **layman** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:00 pm

moneyIsNot_funny;89072If someone rear ended you, it will almost-always be their fault.
I typically file a claim with both insurance companies so that its on record. The claim with your insurance company is just for records, so that they can be involved if need to be. Your main claim is going to be with the other person's insurance company (that is why you collect their details at the accident site).[/quote]
But, if you claim with other person's insurance co, will they pay? They have to protect the interest of their client, not you. Anyway, this is news to me. I always talk to my insurance company and provide the other person's insurance info.

Manoyanamano · Post by **Manoyanamano** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Thanks for all your replies .
The person who hit my car yesterday , just came to my house asking whether we can sort it out without bringing the insurance companies in picture.
He asked me to give an estimate .

Do you think it is wise to do this ..?

layman · Post by **layman** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:06 pm

Manoyanamano;89075Thanks for all your replies .
The person who hit my car yesterday , just came to my house asking whether we can sort it out without bringing the insurance companies in picture.
He asked me to give an estimate .

Do you think it is wise to do this ..?[/quote]
It is entirely up to you. There are chances he can back out of his promise later. Is it possible for you to get an estimate and get money from him right away? Insurance cos usually will allow some time, like 24 hrs, for you to report the accident.

moneyIsNot_funny · Post by **moneyIsNot_funny** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:08 pm

layman;89074But, if you claim with other person's insurance co, will they pay? They have to protect the interest of their client, not you. Anyway, this is news to me. I always talk to my insurance company and provide the other person's insurance info.

Yes - but they also have an obligation to address the liabilities of their insured, in case of damage, which is why you file a claim with them. Typically they will have two claims on record - from their insured, and from you. They will quickly evaluate damage (rear ending in California is typically a open-shut case of rear ender's fault) and pay accordingly. Both insurance companies will send their accidents investigators to take pictures for record.

If their insured gives faulty version of the events, thats when you get your insurance company involved. It happened to me once (an earlier person made a comment about "indians" - forget it, replace that word with chinkus). It happened to me once, and my insurance company proved to them that they were at fault. They agreed and paid up.

moneyIsNot_funny · Post by **moneyIsNot_funny** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:09 pm

Manoyanamano;89075Thanks for all your replies .
The person who hit my car yesterday , just came to my house asking whether we can sort it out without bringing the insurance companies in picture.
He asked me to give an estimate .

Do you think it is wise to do this ..?

Its legal. Its allowed. It happened to me once. I still filed a claim with my insurance company just for records. They explained to me that if the other person offered to pay up directly, its legal and allowed and put the claim on some 'inactive' status since we are settling directly. That way, if some problem occurs, you can go through the insurance company.