At fault incident?

[Brian K]

Driving to work, ~6:15 AM Jan 27, turned the corner to enter highway, accelerated, caught a glimpse of a tree limb but no time to stop. Prob going about 20-30 mph at moment of impact, not sure. It impaled the lower grill area passenger side. Pulled over, with great effort pulled out 2-3" thick limb which apparently had been on the pavement pointed slightly up, in the end-on position, so almost invisible. Penetrated about a foot, hole was about the same size, 3-4" diameter. No body damage. Did not think much about it, other than whether I would replace the plastic grille or not.
Later that evening, driving home, noted "LOW COOLANT - SERVICE REQUIRED" message. When parked in the garage, looked underneath and noted dripping coolant - and put 2 and 2 together.

2015 Model S

Asked my Allstate rep whether this would be considered an at fault collision or more like a rock striking the windshield, ie, not at fault. She replied it would be considered at fault because it was stationary, and so would raise my premium. I elected initially to file a claim, then to withdraw it, figuring premium increase would likely far exceed if I self-pay, and of course goes against my driving record if at fault.

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience, and if based on this info whether they agree with at fault situation.

Car at Kniesel's Natomas (Tesla-approved body shop) now 1 week, waiting for Tesla parts:

1
1005536-00-J. CARRIER

2
1005627-00-B. COIL,LF,PASSIVE ENTRY MODEL S

3
1007256-00-K. ASY, ACTIVE LOUVER CTR

4
1007269-00-F. ASY, ACTIVE LOUVRE RH

5
1038208-00-B. ASM - FRONT END FRONT DUCTING WITH RADAR

6
1038211-00-A. GRILLE MESH WITH RADAR

7
1046827-00-A. Seal, Radar Close-out

8
1051618-00-A. ASY U.HOOD APRON FR, PLSTC SCF, MS RWD

9
6007372-00-A. RADIATOR MOTOR PEM


Estimate before disassembly $2600, now $4200


Thanks in advance for your thoughts,

Brian K
Davis CA

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I googled it out of curiosity, and apparently it is viewed as at fault unless negligence by another party can be shown.

 

[ADEEL421]

I would have used my insurance to pay for it. You can always shop around for insurance and get a good rate by a broker. Insurance is bought for a purpose. If you keep getting scared of premium going high then you will never used your insurance. Might as well cancel it then all together. What’s the point. Use them to pay for it and shop around when your insurance term is over.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

If I'm reading your story to say it was on the roadway, stationary, and you hit it...that's an at-fault claim.

Even if the claim shows up as "Cancelled, payout of $0", it can still be used by companies to increase your premiums (a common way is to remove your good-driving or no-claim discounts). Since you've already opened the door, you may as well walk through it and get the insurance payout because you almost assuredly will see increased premiums.

 

[trm2]

That is at-fault. As far as raising your rates, your agent probably knows what is going on. Insurance companies don’t tend to raise rates for one accident (especially if you’ve been insured with them for a while), but if this not the first one, then they will likely raise your rates.

 

[2101Guy]

It’s at fault. Most insurance companies require the object that hit your car (notice how I worded that?) to be moving, like a dear or bouncing object in the road.

On the flip side, consider yourself fortunate. Another poster ignored the low coolant light and kept driving until the pack overheated and was damaged to point of needing replacement at his cost of ~$22k

 

[ADEEL421]

you are lucky.....watch the video below from wambam tesla cam...it will blow your mind how much damage the debree can cost if its stationary and you run over it...start watching from 2:05.....this happened in chine and battery pack replacement was a fix for $20k.

 

[Brian K]

Thanks to all who replied. Each made a valuable point, and really interesting Tesla China video. Amazing bad luck for that guy!

When I called Allstate a few minutes ago, the agent said it is the amount of the claim that affects the premium, so if I withdraw the claim, ie, no payout, it does not affect the premium, in fact, nothing under $1000 affects it. Perhaps this is a state-by-state rule, FoxSTLtoHOU? Allstate is nationwide, tho...
I reinstated the claim, which will be $5-6k. The body shop is in both Tesla's and Allstate's approved networks, fortunately.

 

[trm2]

Thanks to all who replied. Each made a valuable point, and really interesting Tesla China video. Amazing bad luck for that guy!

When I called Allstate a few minutes ago, the agent said it is the amount of the claim that affects the premium, so if I withdraw the claim, ie, no payout, it does not affect the premium, in fact, nothing under $1000 affects it. Perhaps this is a state-by-state rule, FoxSTLtoHOU? Allstate is nationwide, tho...
I reinstated the claim, which will be $5-6k. The body shop is in both Tesla's and Allstate's approved networks, fortunately.

A $1,000 threshold is pretty standard across companies across all states for Auto insurance. Homeowners on the other hand...

 

[OrbiterTI4]

Thanks to all who replied. Each made a valuable point, and really interesting Tesla China video. Amazing bad luck for that guy!

When I called Allstate a few minutes ago, the agent said it is the amount of the claim that affects the premium, so if I withdraw the claim, ie, no payout, it does not affect the premium, in fact, nothing under $1000 affects it. Perhaps this is a state-by-state rule, FoxSTLtoHOU? Allstate is nationwide, tho...
I reinstated the claim, which will be $5-6k. The body shop is in both Tesla's and Allstate's approved networks, fortunately.

Insurance is regulated differently in each state. I know CA has a rule that a not-at-fault claim cannot be used to increase premiums, so its entirely possible that CA also has a statute that a cancelled claim (or any property damage-only claim below $1000) cannot be used to increase premiums.

One further note of caution: while the agent may be using years of experience on how they've seen premiums change, they are not the group that determines premiums - underwriting does.

 

[Brian K]

Thanks, FoxSTL2HOU, yes, the rep did say that.
I will report back what happens on the underwriting/ at fault query, others might be curious.
Brian

 

[airborne spoon]

Based on the area that was damaged and the pics id say just get the parts from tesla and fix it yourself for like 1/4 of the cost. its all front bumper crap which is easy to pull apart. Really if it was me I'd prob just replace the radiator and the louvers and call it a day as the rest is super minor cosmetic damage. The louver is like $250 and the rad shouldn't be very expensive, both are easy to replace.

 

[Brian K]

Thanks, airborne spoon, if I were more comfortable working on cars I might give it a go, but just not me. I did notice the same thing, tho, nothing very complicated. I wonder if Tesla even sells parts to individuals? And I'd have to go in and take the car out of the mechanic's bay, where work supposedly started already
I'd never be able to bring my car in again if I really needed their repair expertise, and they are the closest body shop to me by far.
Brian