Ok, here’s the story: a couple of weeks ago, my car was involved in an accident. The accident was completely the fault of the other party involved, and was ruled as such. Fast forward to a few days ago; I’m talking to the faulted driver’s insurance company, and am informed that while my car is being fixed they will arrange for my use of a rental car. I go down and pick out the car; this is one of the major rental chains, no mom-and-pop shop. While there, they offer me the usual insurance, and being that it costs $15+ per day, and I figure its worth the risk, I decline to purchase it.
Anyway, last night I was out, and had left my car in a public lot. At the end of the night I return, get in the car, and drive home. Upon arriving, I check out the car – I’ve been nervous about someone dinging it and getting left holding the bag, so I check the exterior frequently. Sure enough, there is a very noticeable (about 8 inches long, and fairly wide) paint scrape on the front bumper. There is no structural damage, fortunately; I checked everything thoroughly, and there is no damage to anything but the plastic/fiberglass front bumper. The damage there seems to consist solely of the scraping, with no alteration in the shape of the bumper.
This brings us to now; I’m wondering what my best course of action is. I have a basic “full coverage” insurance policy from State Farm which covers the car that is currently being repaired. (Well, being that it is a financed car, I know that it has more than liability coverage, as collision is required here when financing a car). The deductable on this policy is $1000.
I have not filed a police report yet, though plan to if this is the proper course of action. Similarly, I have not yet discussed this with either my insurer, the insurer who is paying for the rental car, or the car rental company itself.
What, then, should I do to remedy this in the best (and cheapest to me) way possible? If I simply report the incident to the rental company, and they file a claim with my insurance company, will I be responsible for the cost up to $1000? I have an acquaintance who does fairly inexpensive paint work; would it be a good idea to have him do the bumper, and simply not tell the rental company about the incident? If the best thing to do is to go through insurance, who should I talk to first? If I do go through insurance, will this raise my rates – despite it not being my fault?
Ugh. Very irritating situation. Especially the fact that purchasing the “extended warranty”-equivalent would have saved me much hassle, yet I declined it, knowing that such policies are intended to turn a profit for the rental agency.
So, has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Anybody work for a rental car company, an insurer, a mechanic, or anthing else that might come into play here? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.