I was in pea soup fog once and luckily saw the tail light of a guy who missed his turn and was backing up. What a maroon.
Me either.
It’s the easiest and safest option for you.
At the accident, did you see his drivers license and insurance card?
Here in California, you are required by law to report any accident to the DMV where the damage is over $750. Which pretty much means all accidents.
I’ve been in 2 situations like this over the past 10 years or so–and each time my insurance agent told me to send a letter with all the details of the incident, and a line saying "at this time, I do not intend to file a claim, although I do not waive my right to do so in the future. "
What’s the downside?—my letter is written evidence of the incident, should I ever need it, but it is not a formal claim, so it doesn’t increase my rates.
Firstly, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your helpful input and support.
I am pleased to report that this morning in response to my e-mail (and a brief phone-call) I received a irreversible electronic payment for the full amount ($1446.68) quoted by my bodyshop. I then prepared the following document which has now been signed by both parties.
[RIGHT]
Friday, March 6th, 2015[/RIGHT]
**Private Traffic Accident Resolution Agreement
**
This document confirms that on the date of Thursday March 5th, 2015 at approximately 12:58 PM on Lousy Driver Lane, Mr. Car Smasher (CarSmasher) drove his vehicle (plate #B4D-DRVR) into the stationary vehicle (plate #1NN0-C3NT) of Ms. Andrea Green causing damage to the front left corner of Green’s vehicle.
CarSmasher accepts responsibility for causing this accident and agrees to pay for the directly-related repairs on the vehicle deemed necessary by Andrea’s Reputable Dealership. The estimated total cost of these repairs is $1446.68. In the event that there is hidden damage (caused by CarSmasher) underneath the bumper that Andrea’s Reputable Dealership discovers while making the repairs, CarSmasher agrees to pay for those additional costs within 48 hours (or on the first day that is not a Jewish holiday that would prevent Mr. CarSmasher from making the payment).
In consideration of CarSmasher’s payment for all vehicle repair costs directly caused by the accident, Green agrees to not make any insurance claim related to this accident. Green further agrees not to report the accident to the Police Services accident-reporting center. Green also agrees to pay for her own costs related to any rental vehicle needed during the time when her vehicle is being repaired.
Green acknowledges receipt of the payment of $1446.68 from CarSmasher as of Friday march 6th 11:30 AM.
Andrea Green Car Smasher
Oh there was one only minor detail I forgot to mention: During the phone call this morning Mr. Smasher briefly broached the subject of my getting a quote from another bodyshop that wasn’t run by the dealer. I politely explained that we have been getting our cars serviced and repaired exclusively by the same place for 20+ years so I trust them. My insurance company has never had a problem with any of the quotes they’ve provided and I think their prices are fair (even if they are perhaps a couple hundred more than elsewhere). I didn’t explicitly state this fact (though Mr. Smasher knew this): my car is considered a luxury sports car (costs 2-4x what lots of other cars cost) so I take extra care who works on it for that reason as well.
He promptly agreed to the quote from my bodyshop and now it looks like my stressful little ordeal is more-or-less resolved.
Why are you paying for your own rental? You wouldn’t need to rent one but for the actions of the other driver.
If he’s offered to make the OPer whole, and does just that, then there’s no reason to go the insurance route.
BTW, many people don’t want to go through their insurance company because they don’t want their premiums to be raised. Or they had another accident recently and don’t want to have their insurance canceled. If I caused $1600 in damage, I’d certainly ask if the other party wanted to handle it privately, especially considering my collision deductible is $1000.
Stuffy: You’re 100% right but for the three days the bodyshop will have my car I can probably make-do without a rental. The other party has been fair and reasonable in general so I felt I would give him a little break. It’s not like he caused the accident on purpose and now he is out $1500 so yeah, I didn’t need to obtain the maximum amount possible, just what was needed.
Ok, that’s reasonable. I was just wondering.
+1
Anecdote, it just happened to my husband. The other guy was really nice, and he paid. People try to avoid getting dinged on their insurance rates where possible.
**Funny update: **I just received a kind offer to join Mr. CarSmasher and his family for a traditional shabbat dinner in the near future. I think I’ll take him up on it, sounds like a pleasant and interesting conclusion to this episode.
If I were you, I’d wait until he’s compensated you sufficiently for the accident.
Dewey: I have already received payment in full for the total amount that I anticipate the repairs costing. There is a slight possibility that there is hidden damage under the bumper but given the slow speed I would be very surprised.
That’s lovely. Bridging social capital being built out of adversity!
andrea_green, I’m glad I was wrong about the guy!
Still don’t see a downside to reporting though, as he would still have the option of paying the damages himself rather than letting the insurance co. pay.
You wouldn’t be liable for the $1000 deductible if your insurance company was paying to fix the other driver’s car. The deductible comes into play if your insurance is fixing your own car.
To be frank, I would not be at all surprised to find hidden damage. Cars are designed to fold like an accordion today, but at the same time to protect the occupants.
The OP apparently got lucky here. But I’d be extremely leery of trusting the other party in such a situation.
Years ago I was stopped at a light and my econo-box was rear-ended by a guy in a sports car. I was hit so hard my glasses flew off and I later found them in the back seat.
The other driver wanted to settle things privately. It turned out that the guy had a record of other accidents in which he was at fault and was insured by one of those expensive last-chance-buster outfits. I had to get an attorney to write him a Stern Letter in order to get him to pay up for the damage.
Fortunately my neck pain resolved within a few days.
I got lucky just this week as well. Lady clipped off my passenger side window pulling into my lane last week. To make it easier I took it to their mechanic and got it done yesterday afternoon. Last summer some dude got similar luck when my wife paid for the damage to his car she dinged in the parking lot. When you’ve got pictures, license plates and contact info it’s easy to press if the guy tries to balk. It’s not just luck people generally pay up. If I can help it I’d prefer to just leave the insurance companies out of regardless of who is at fault.
I am glad to see it all worked out well. You may want to pass his e-mail address on to Diogenes of Sinope.