I was involved in a hit-and-run fender-bender about a month ago. It scraped and bent two fenders behind a rear door. I have $1000 deductible. I haven’t even established if the repair cost exceeds that amount.
Yesterday, I was rear-ended by a person who (I believe) was texting and not paying attention to the road. This is major damage. Her car was totaled and my fenders are falling off. I have yet to ascertain whether there is structural damage, but she even squished the trunk such that I can’t remove the spare tire. My uneducated guess is that this is gonna cost about $5000.
(1) One of the fenders that will need to be replaced was one of the fenders scraped last month. Will the adjuster try and deduct some/all of my fender-bender from the settlement?
(2) What about reduced value. Even if all the car’s parts are replaced with new parts, the car will have an accident record. That fact alone will reduce its value at trade-in time even if the car appears normal. Is that part of the negotiations with the other party’s insurance company or is it tough-luck for me?
I have worked in the insurance industry for 20 years, half in claims and the other half as an agent, and I’m not sure I’d do what bob++ suggests. I don’t know exactly what the insurance case law is in your state and I realize it may seem minor but the fact of the matter is that you would be committing insurance fraud if you don’t own up to your prior collision. Claims inspectors are trained to look very carefully for prior damage and, if there is any discernible evidence at all that you’ve had 2 collisions, failing to mention it will not be a good look and may prompt the other insurance carrier to become more suspicious. Typically, it’s best to avoid raising unnecessary suspicion as that may translate into delaying the resolution. By rights, they are not responsible for your prior damage. Insurance laws vary greatly from state to state and I’m not sure what yours says about depreciated value so you’ll have to check to see what, if anything, you are due in your state.
(1) Yes, if he is worth his salt. I was once in an accident where the front bumper hit an obstruction and pushed the driver’s side fender straight back a fraction of an inch. The fender wasn’t scratched in the accident, but when I got out of the car after the accident, the newly-displaced fender got snagged by the door. This scratched the edge of door and dented the fender quite noticeably in the back. The insurance adjuster claimed it was pre-existing damage from a different accident and I didn’t have time to fight with him. I never got paid for it.
(2) Different states will have different rules for whether you can make a claim for “diminished value” after an accident. We’d need to know what state you are in to help answer that question and it would really be a question better suited to IMHO.
It’s actually a tricky question. I was in a similar situation many years ago, but in that case one slight accident scraped the left side of the car, and the second hit the right rear corner hard. Clearly the two damaged areas were separate and the adjuster noted it. I did negotiate with the repair shop to fill and paint the first damage, but that was my money. I got a very good price since they are already matching the paint.
But in your case, if the second accident severely damaged the same area, it seems the resulting damage would be the same whether the first accident occurred or not.
Any competent insurance adjuster will be able to tell immediately that there were two separate accidents, and discount your claim for one of them. They work for the insurance company, not for you.
For your insurance claim, you have a right to take it to the body shop of the dealer of that make of car. They are very good at restoring the car to original condition, and it may even have been “bettered” by the replacement with new parts. There was a time when insurers would actualy discount the settlement for betterment, but I don’t think they do anymore. But in your case, where there is prior damage, they might.
I hit a deer and opted not to make an insurance claim. A month later I was involved in a multi-car accident. The adjuster called me and said he couldn’t figure out how the damage to the front driver’s side happened and I told him I’d hit a deer about a month ago. No big deal.
After my car was repaired, the insurance company dropped me based on two accidents in a 30 day period.
O.P. here. I don’t think there is any way to “fool” the adjuster, and I don’t intend to try. The fender-bender scraped the side, behind the rear tire. Yesterday’s crash was a rear-ender. The entire fender, from one rear tire to the other, will need to be replaced.
FWIW, my wife’s car was ding and dashed by some asshole in a parking lot and it scraped the rear passenger door and bent the rear quarter panel forward of the rear tire slightly. I think they were trying to park next to us and missed badly. The total bill, which was covered under my insurance, was 2700 $CAD. It really doesn’t take much to add up. My In-laws, who drive the same vehicle (Ford edge), were rear ended badly enough last week that the trailer hitch was bent under the bumper. That’ll probably be a $10k touch if the frame has issues, and it likely will.
I’d be honest about it and let them know. I know in Alberta at least, ANY collision with more than $2000 requires a police report and a reputable body shop won’t do the work without one.
It’s the adjuster’s call but he’ll probably try to deduct the cost of the fender. It was already damaged and didn’t have the same value of a new fender. Or maybe he won’t if the previous damage didn’t require replacing the fender and the new damage does, and he’s a nice guy and bad employee who isn’t trying to wring every last nickel out of the deal to benefit the insurance company as he is paid to do.
Them’s the breaks. You didn’t buy car value insurance.
I’m assuming you’re not a fool, and took pictures after the first accident. Also, hopefully you informed your insurance company right away, even if you didn’t file a claim.
Here’s how I’d do it:
I’d call my insurance company and explain the situation. Probably what they’re going to do is have you file a claim with the other guy’s insurance for the rear-end damage, and they’ll adjust the claim based on the previous damage (as documented by the photos), and then pay the balance (or have you pay it out of your deductible, if smaller).
Essentially they’ll fight it out amongst themselves if everything’s properly documented.
For your next car, consider a different color. My wife had a white car (extra-visible, right?) People found a variety of excuses for running into her, at low speeds. Finally, a lady in a Ford Exploder crossed over 3 lanes of traffic to total that car. The next car was green, and nobody hit that one.
And he works in that job and the people posting here don’t.
How can you say it will be obvious ? The scratches may look old, but its not possible to decide when the dent occurred. Even if it looks like the old scratches were put there at the same time as the dent, thats not proof of that.
The thing is that the cost of repairs for the first smash has reduced, and he won’t have to claim it… He’d be better to not claim it.
If the panel has to be totally replaced to repair this second lot of damage, then they won’t care if it was dented before and all the damage gets repaired. They may ask him for the price of the new panel if they decide that the pre-existing dents are why the panel has to be replaced.
Remember: they may just total the car. How it works is the estimate to repair fully is xxxx.xx. The estimate book value of the car is less than that. They calculate the check as follows:
Either they keep the car and cut you a check for the full book value of the car less the deductible.
Or you keep the car and they deduct the salvage value of the car from that same check. In that last scenario, you get a car and a check that is for a LOT less than the repairs, so you better really like that car.