Backed into a car behind me when I was trying to parallel park.
Scraped guy’s bumper with mine. I offered to pay him for damage vs going through insurance. He has scratches and autobody shop estimate is $500 to buff and paint. Maybe more when they take it off and see if anything else damaged.
He needs a rental for 3 days while this is being done.
Does this seem right and I should pay him approx 700-800 bucks, or should I call my insurance agent?
Any help appreciated!
Reported for forum change.
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO. Moved.
All indications for this kind of stuff point towards NOT calling your insurance. I don’t know what your deductible will be: $300? $500?
Some companies let long-time drivers away with a freebie, i.e. not raising your rates for a first time accident. Even if you’re eligible for this, I don’t think I’d want to burn my freebie on a scraped bumper.
Eat the costs.
I’d suggest you call your insurance company. It’s tempting to try to handle small things off the record, but doing it that way leaves you with no guarantee that the other guy won’t come after you for more money later. This is why you have insurance.
Do you have $1000 to spare right now? Neither the guy nor the shop has any incentive to save money so it could easily cost you more than you are estimating. If you don’t have the money you’ll end up going to your insurance company anyway.
Here’s the real question though, what kind of car did you hit and how old is it?
It’s a 2010 Honda Civic
And I do have the $ but don’t want to get ripped off. If that’s the case I’d rather pay the money to my insurance in increased premiums and get ripped off by them!
Call your insurance company. This is why you have insurance. There is no deductible for liability, so your only cost will be increased premiums.
They have adjusters who know how much it will cost to repair and how long it will take. They will put him in a rental car, but it will be at a agreed rate with the rental car company and will be for a smaller car; if you let him rent a car, he will rent a full-size car and charge you full price. When you get the insurance involved, they take care of everything.
Call your insurance.
excavating (for a mind)
Being in MA, even for a minor accident the OP is looking at an insurance surcharge. This is why it often makes sense to avoid insurance for minor accidents.
I’d offer the guy $500 cash to forget about it, and make him sign something if he takes me up. Otherwise, off to the insurance company.
Where I live (New York State) insurance companies require a police report for any collision insurance claim. The accident also has to be reported to both your own insurance co. and DMV. If the damage is minor you’re better off paying cash to the other driver. Nowadays even “minor” damage can be expensive to repair. So you need to have the police involved with just about any accident these days.
It would be a liability claim so the deductible wouldn’t apply.