I am not happy

The BBQ Pit
1

First, a little backstory. I’m currently a high school senior. For the past two years, I’ve been working my ass off doing programming for a consulting company, saving up for a car. I turned 16 this summer, and got my license in November.

I bought the car of my dreams a week after I got my license, a “pre-owned” 2003 BMW 325Ci. Electric red, black leather interior - this car rocks.

This weekend, I had already merged onto the highway here in CT. It was around 5:30, already rather dark out. I switched into the right-center lane to avoid the slower traffic in front of me. I was in the lane for about 2-3 seconds, when I see a black shape rapidly approaching my driver’s side. Before I can even process what I’m seeing, I hear a tremendous crash. My car tilts to the right at what seemed like a 45 degree angle. As the green jeep that hit me scrapes by, I can see that he had his right-turn blinker on.

We pull over to the shoulder and call the cops. Neither of us get out, since the shoulder was very narrow. The cop decides that he can’t tell who was at fault (no skidmarks or anything), and leaves without giving either of us a ticket. My passenger, who saw the whole thing, tries to explain what happened to the cop, but he frowns and says “I don’t want to sit here all night arguing with you.” He tells me that the other guy has no damage, other than some of my paint on his tires. His jeep was so filthy, there’s no way he could see out of his windows.

When I get home, I stop and look at the damage. I have three large dents and a few smaller ones, spread across the entire side of my car (front bumper to rear quarterpanel). The paint is scraped up, and there are two arc-shaped tire marks on front of the front and rear fenders.

I don’t want to file an insurance claim, since my rates will rise into the stratosphere. Getting quotes from the local bodyshops, it looks like the damage will cost about $2800 to fix. The front fender needs to be replaced, and the door, front bumper and rear quarterpanel need dents repaired and repainting.

I’m not quite sure why I’m so upset about this - I plan to keep the car through college, and after five years the fact that I had a few dents and scrapes fixedwon’t matter so much. The repair will be expensive, but I can deal with it. I’m not angry with the other guy - everyone makes mistakes. More than anything, I guess I’m just annoyed at myself for not managing to swerve out of the way, hit the brakes, or do anything before he hit me.

2

Not necessarily–if the insurance company decides you weren’t at fault, they may not raise your rates for a single not-at-fault accident. May want to look into that avenue more.

Also, are your quotes for new parts?

3

Call your insurance company right now.

This sort of thing is what you pay them for. Tell them your side of the story, and let them worry about making the other guy pay for your damages.

4

I had the exact same reaction after my first accident–with my license all of one month old. But then my friend was in an almost identical accident and did manage to swerve out of the way—right into a tree, severly injuring her passenger. Point being: Don’t beat yourself up about what you did or didn’t do–for all you know “reacting” could have made things infinitely worse.

Sorry about your car though–it sounds like you worked hard for it. Good luck with the repairs.

5

Sorry about your car, but I’m glad no one was injured.

FWIW, I was broadsided on the highway last summer (the moron fell asleep). The police gave him a ticket for the accident and all information went to our insurance. They recovered everything from the other insurance company, including our deductible; however, the rates went up so much because of the accident (that was in no way, shape, or form my fault) that we had to switch insurance companies. Go figure.

6

The quotes are for a new fender - the bumper, door and rear quarterpanel can be repaired (apparently).

The problem with the insurance company is that, while the cop said he couldn’t determine who was at fault, his report says that he believes the other guy’s story (that I “drifted” into his lane, and he couldn’t avoid me because there was a car on his left) over mine. Of course, the story makes no sense: he could’ve honked, hit the brakes, and his blinker certainly wouldn’t have been on. Also, the tire marks on my car show obviously that I was in his blind spot.

While I could certainly try to convince the company otherwise, I don’t want to take the risk of them not taking my side. I do have photos of how dirty his car was (taken through my sunroof), but I don’t want to take the chance.

$4,000 yearly for insurance is quite enough already, thank you.

7

And also, I should add, my rates (as a young driver) rise like a rocket regardless of whether it was the other guy’s fault.

My rates would even go up if one of my parents got into an accident. The whole industry is one huge scam.

8

Again–not necessarily.

I’m not quite as young as you, but I’m still young enough to get gouged on car insurance (I’m 22). I was in a not-at-fault accident, and it didn’t seem to affect my premiums much, if at all (it’s hard to say exactly what effect it had, because I switched policies due to an interstate move soon after the accident).

9

How much could it go up vs. paying $2800 for the repairs yourself?

Even if your insurance went up $200 a year, it would take 14 years before it added up to the $2800 you’d have to spend right now. Maybe 12 if you had a deductible also.

Plus, your insurance company probably has standard “at-fault” breakdowns for different types of accidents. In a lane-change type accident (if I understand your OP correctly), it’s probably about 50-50.

I say just let your insurance company pay for it, otherwise what’s the point of even paying that $4000 a year?

10

I have a $1000 deductible. That was stupid, in retrospect.

I just got a quote from a guy that a friend of my parents referred me to for $1200. The friend says he’s reputable, does excellent work, and all that, but I keep wondering about what the line is between a good deal and lesser-quality work. The BBB has no complaints registered about him, but I’m still a little wary. He says that the other places are charging more because they’re saying they’ll replace my fender, but that the fender is actually not too badly damaged and that all they’ll do is beat it out and say it was replaced.

So far I have one quote for $6000 (the dealer’s shop), two for around $2800, and two for around $1200.

I guess I should find out how much my rates would go up. I doubt it would be just $200 / year - if it was that low I’d definitely claim it. I’m thinking more like $1000-$2000. I have a friend with an '93 Toyota who pays $5000 / year because his mother was in an at-fault accident a few years ago.

Every time I call the insurance company, they start trying to pry info out of me: “If I could just have your policy number, I could be of much more help”. Riiiight.

11

Unless you’re dealing with a Direct Writer (Allstate, for example), you should have both an insurance broker and an insurance company. They are two vastly different entities. Your insurance broker works for YOU. Call them up and tell them that you’re not sure if you want to file a claim yet, but you’d like some information on your consequences and options. Any broker worth their salt will be able to guide you in the right direction. Good luck.

12

My insurance is with State Farm - are they a direct writer? I have a State Farm agent, but I think he only handles policies with State Farm - no one else.

13

I want to reiterate what others have said about your insurance rates. Not long after I got my license, I had an accident in the snow (the road was a sheet of ice, and my Corolla coasted into the back of a Tahoe). It was pretty much no one’s fault, as I was being supremely cautious, but if the insurance companies were going to blame anyone, it would’ve been me.

And then the lady in the Tahoe started claiming that she had whiplash and severe injuries and couldn’t work. She tried to hold up my insurance company for thousands of dollars. Everyone knew she was full of it, but the insurance company decided to give her some nuisance change to make her go away.

Nevertheless, my insurer did not raise my rates one penny.

14

Hey man, if you’re young and in an accident, the cops will always screw you and not the older guy. Not their fault–they weren’t there and statistically, it’s more likely to be our fault. But the same thing happened to me.

This lady in a Jeep Grand Cherokee made a left turn into the right lane (this is illegal). Exemplary driver that I am, I turned left into the left lane and was situated next to her. Problem is, the right lane on this particular street ends rather rapidly. So here I am driving home from a hard day of work in my small POS Mitsubishi Mirage when BAM this lady in a fucking tank nails me in the side.

My car is fucked. There’s a huge gouge in the right side (thank God I wasn’t carrying a passenger, he probably would have had some pretty extensive injuries). I get pushed into oncoming traffic. Luckily, those drivers are much more aware of their surroundings than this lady, and they avoid me.

All the damage is on my car. I am clearly the victim, having been hit in the side when I have the right of way after the other driver made an illegal turn. Case closed, right?

Cop shows up, and the bitch claims I was trying to race her. Which is why she felt it necessary to rape me with her SUV. And so I go home with the ticket. Fought it tooth and nail and took her money. Restored my faith in the justice system, it did.

15

Yes, they are. I’ve never had any experience with direct writers, but it’s my understanding that the agents who work for them are employees of State Farm.

16

You’ve been a programming consultant since you were 14??? You can afford a near new car at 16 with your own money???

Holy crap, dude!

17

I would just like to take some time to commend you for saving up money on your own to buy such a nice car in the first place, not to mention your great attitude about this whole ordeal. Well done, young man. You should be very proud of yourself.

Haj

18

Not always true. When I was merely 17, I T-boned someone making a left turn across traffic. When the police showed up they claimed I’d been speeding, and was unable to stop in a safe distance.

The officers response:

“If he’d have been landing a 747 on his side of the road, it still would have been your fault.” :stuck_out_tongue:

Talk about a jump in faith in the system. (later he told me that w/o skid marks, the damage to the cars didn’t look like enough to presume I’d been speeding.)

-C

19

I don’t think the teenage driver is always put at fault. When I was 17 I was hit from behind at a red light…the other guy’s insurance paid for everything. My insurance didn’t move up at all.

'Course, it’s kind of hard to claim someone’s at fault in an accident like that one. And it didn’t hurt that there was a cop on the other side of the intersection. All in all, seeing as nobody got hurt, not a bad “first accident” to have.

20

Thanks for all your help, advice, and compliments. :slight_smile:

I came back home from NYC last night to find a “Sorry We Missed You” card from the USPS. They apparently were trying to deliver a certified letter from State Farm insurance.

Perturbed, I called my agent and was told that someone had filed a claim on my policy this past Wednesday. Gee, I thought, wonder who that could’ve been. They couldn’t give me any more information that night, since it was past regular office hours, but they told me to call back in the morning to talk to someone from their claims team.

Which I did. I told them my story, along with the fact that the cop believed the other guy. The representative said it didn’t matter who he believed - without witnesses or skidmarks, its apparently impossible to determine fault in a lane-change accident. The cop’s only reason for believing the other guy was the pattern of damage on my car - he said it showed that I was turning into him. But, confirming my thoughts on the matter, the rep. said the damage would look the same regardless of who turned into who. He actually called the cop lazy for putting that in his report. So, they’ll refuse to pay the guy’s claim, and even though they know of the accident my premiums won’t go up because they don’t have to spend any of their cash.

I decided to go with the repair shop that quoted $1200 - I took a look at the work he did on my friend’s BMW, and he managed to make damage that was far worse than mine invisible. The guy has absolutely no advertising at all, not even a sign outside the building, so I figure he must be pretty good if all his business comes from word of mouth. Since that’s only $200 over my deductible anyway, there’s no sense in claiming it. He has time to do the work in two weeks.

So, everything’s settling down again in my little corner of the world. That is, until I start finding out from colleges in a few weeks. :slight_smile: