I’ve never been in an accident, not even a parking lot fender bender. Until this morning. An unforecasted 4" of snow that started as freezing rain left the streets a skating rink this morning. I dropped my kid off at middle school, and was leaving the grounds. The exit has about a 20 yard mild downslope to the main street, and the Jeep in front of me stopped (still unsure why) at the bottom of the hill. I tapped my breaks - nothing - them stomped on them and initiated the ABS, which did - nothing. I slid at 5 MPH into the back of her car. I hit the spare tire mounted on the back of the Jeep, doing absolutely no damage to her car, but I’ve got a nice dent in my hood.
I’ve been hit twice in parking lots while I was not in the car, but both times the people left notes and their insurance paid for my repairs. Oh, well, I guess I get to get back a small percentage of the premiums I’ve been paying all these years.
I had almost the same thing happen to me about ten years ago. Was going very slowly - 5 or 10 miles an hour - in a turn lane. There was a van in front of me, stopped & waiting for a change to turn. Even though I hit the brakes at least a couple car lengths before the van, I just slid right into it.
$3K damage to my car. And it looked like what you describe - a little dent. Bodywork is expensive.
Well, Lamar, if you have not already reported it to your insurance company, you should get a repair bid first. If affordable, you might want to pay it yourself rather than risk having the insurience premiums raised.
I agree. It also depends on what your deductible amount is. A “little” accident can mean you pay for the entire repair because it’s less than your deductible, plus they raise your rates. Get a couple quotes.
Check with your insurance company and see if they have a “free first accident” policy, where if you have been accident and claim free for X number of years they don’t hold you accountable for your first claim and your rates stay the same. However, be forwarned that if you use this policy and then you get in another accident in the next 2 or 3 years they will then adjust your rates to include the first accident as well. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.
I have a $500 deductible, but it’s going to be a lot more than that - it’s a Lexus ES330. I’ll check on the “Free first claim” thing, thanks for that advice.