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Pickup owner's door hit my Model 3, Sentry caught on camera. What now?

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What insurance company? Maybe start shopping around.

The insurance company couldn't identify anyone, but what did the police say?

I was in a not at fault accident last year and my insurance company paid out $160,000 and my rates didn't go up a cent, because I was not at fault.

Yes, you were not at fault like I was but here's the difference: Your insurance was able to collect from the other driver's insurance company. My insurance company was not able to collect. Therefore, I had a "charge" against my insurance company which goes on my record for all insurance companies to view.

"what did the police say?" No police were involved. I did not know a truck's tire rubbed against my car. There was no bump or grind, nothing except a loud sound that almost sounded like a loud aftermarket truck horn. I looked over and saw a white pickup was very close to me. He went ahead of me and off the freeway.

I did not know that I was hit until I got home, got out of the car and saw the tire rub markings on the passenger door and looked at my car's videos of the event.

My insurance company, Mercury, called to let me know they could not find the plates on record. They thought maybe it was a policeman's truck and had to do a deeper investigation. I never heard anymore beyond that.

I purchased another Tesla and went with Tesla insurance and it was them that raised my monthly rate and told me why and that was because I now have a "charge" on record against an insurance company
 
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My last car was A Q50 hybrid. About four years ago I got rear ended in a McDonalds drive through. Yes, it takes a special kind of stupid to rear end someone in a drive through. The damage was minor to the rear bumper fascia. The repair costs were about $800. I was so pissed at that a-hole I asked my insurance company to get my $500 deductible back.

So, I went to trade the Q50 in on my short lived Leaf. During the negotiations the sales manger asked "was the car in an accident? CarFax said it was in an accident." If I would have just paid for the $800 dollar repair I would probably be ahead of the game. So think about it.

I have two other horror stories about CarFux. Some other time maybe.
I just did a chat with Geico, and they said that after the repairs are complete, I can contact his insurance company (USAA) and file a diminished value claim (the car only has 14,000 miles on it). I didn’t even know that was an option.
 
Last time I filed an accident report ( not my fault )with my Insurance Co., our rates went up dramatically. Changed companies after a length of time.
This is why you go directly to the insured’s company in a case like this and file a claim there and you don’t worry about subrogation that way. That’s what my insurance company instructed me to do when I reported it.

You would potentially have to deal with the CarFax hit still. But depending on the damage amount it might not show up, not sure.

In this case for sure (based on statements so far) I’d do paintless dent repair and hope for good results and just do touch up of the (presumably minor) paint chip. Likely not worth redoing the paint on the door.
 
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This thread has been so helpful - thank you all for sharing your experience! Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. If another car hits you and you have their insurance info, go to their insurance company directly.
2. If another car hits you and you do not have their insurance info but have the license plate number, consider going to your insurance company so they can go after the other insurance company.
3. If another car hits you and you don’t have any of their info, you’ll be better off paying for the repairs if they are inexpensive so the accident doesn’t go on your record. But make sure the shop doesn’t report to Carfax.
 
If another car hits you and you do not have their insurance info but have the license plate number, consider going to your insurance company so they can go after the other insurance company.
Clarification: My insurance company took the plate number I gave them and ran it, cross-checked vehicle type to be sure, told me who it was, which insurance company he was covered by, and recommended that going directly to them was the most expedient route to a solution in the simple case I was dealing with.

So even if you don’t have the insurance info you don’t have to have your insurance company do anything except look up the plate (which they said does not always work for various reasons but usually does).
 
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Yes, you were not at fault like I was but here's the difference: Your insurance was able to collect from the other driver's insurance company. My insurance company was not able to collect. Therefore, I had a "charge" against my insurance company which goes on my record for all insurance companies to view.

"what did the police say?" No police were involved. I did not know a truck's tire rubbed against my car. There was no bump or grind, nothing except a loud sound that almost sounded like a loud aftermarket truck horn. I looked over and saw a white pickup was very close to me. He went ahead of me and off the freeway.

I did not know that I was hit until I got home, got out of the car and saw the tire rub markings on the passenger door and looked at my car's videos of the event.

My insurance company, Mercury, called to let me know they could not find the plates on record. They thought maybe it was a policeman's truck and had to do a deeper investigation. I never heard anymore beyond that.

I purchased another Tesla and went with Tesla insurance and it was them that raised my monthly rate and told me why and that was because I now have a "charge" on record against an insurance company
My insurance company paid out on my underinsured motorist policy and on my collision policy, so no, I'd say they were not really able to collect from the other driver's insurance company.
 
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This thread has been so helpful - thank you all for sharing your experience! Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. If another car hits you and you have their insurance info, go to their insurance company directly.
2. If another car hits you and you do not have their insurance info but have the license plate number, consider going to your insurance company so they can go after the other insurance company.
3. If another car hits you and you don’t have any of their info, you’ll be better off paying for the repairs if they are inexpensive so the accident doesn’t go on your record. But make sure the shop doesn’t report to Carfax.
That sums it up pretty well.
 
If you have video evidence and can clearly read the plate, then a) it’s a hit and run, and b) he should pay for it. Even if you don’t end up getting it fixed.
Was out eating dinner with my son, and parked far away from everyone else against a curb. Sure enough, a Silverado parks right next to me. We finished eating and ran to the car because a storm was brewing. Didn't notice the scratches and rear door ding until I got home. Was doing some stuff in the garage tonight when I noticed the damage.

Basically, there's a small chip in the rear driver's door and some light scratch marks that I was able to mostly rub off (I'll have to see the full extent of the damage when it's light outside). From what I can tell though, there are no dents in the aluminum, just scraped and chipped paint. Kinda bummed as the car has been immaculate since I bought it.

Anyway, I went back and found the Sentry footage, and the guy was farting around with his driver's door open. The strong wind (which I mentioned above) caught the door and slammed it into my car. He goes over, observes the damage, then hops back in his truck and drives off. Luckily, the camera clearly caught his license plate in full view.

With that evidence, is it even worth going through insurance for some door dings and a door that will need to be repainted? I don't even know how to go about things as I've never had actual video evidence before when this happened in years past with previous cars. I have Geico, BTW.
almost exact same thing happened to me. I filed a hit and run police report. Then filed a claim with my insurance and told them I had it on video. They tracked the guy down through his insurance (which happened to be the same company as mine), and filed a claim against his insurance policy for the repairs. The video even has the guy come around back and stare at where he hit my car.
 
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almost exact same thing happened to me. I filed a hit and run police report. Then filed a claim with my insurance and told them I had it on video. They tracked the guy down through his insurance (which happened to be the same company as mine), and filed a claim against his insurance policy for the repairs. The video even has the guy come around back and stare at where he hit my car.
Did the police say anything about whether they will charge him with hit-and-run or do the police not do that anymore for only property damage?
 
I wouldn’t put up with it either. But be prepared for a goose chase. The wife’s car was substantially damaged in a parking garage hit and run and despite an eyewitness, the cops were totally lackadaisical.
In the end the other insurance company paid but it was a huge PITA.
Good luck!👍
that's because even though it's soooo important to us (these are our babies) the cops could care less....they have bigger things to worry about
 
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These a*holes get away with hit and runs because no one does anything to them. If they get reported to police and/or if they have to pay for the damage, maybe they will be more responsible next time. And with guys like that, there will be a next time.

You assume that police has nothing better to do than chase after minor insurance disputes.
A very precarious assumption, indeed.

I purchased another Tesla and went with Tesla insurance and it was them that raised my monthly rate and told me why and that was because I now have a "charge" on record against an insurance company

Nice.
Very classy move by Tesla.

that's because even though it's soooo important to us (these are our babies) the cops could care less....they have bigger things to worry about

Bingo!


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If you have video evidence and can clearly read the plate, then a) it’s a hit and run, and b) he should pay for it. Even if you don’t end up getting it fixed.
I’m so late to this thread lol I’m new to it. Yes report him please if you haven’t already. Even if you get nothing. Maybe he will be nice and give you 500 or pay for it to get fixed professionally. Let me know what happened. I realize I’m a month or 2 behind
 
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Similar thing happened to me. Reported it to my insurance, they said they can’t see the insurance on the car but will send a letter. Probably code for “you will never hear about this again”. Paint chipped pretty baldly on our side. Not sure what else to do. I have the license plate and video of the person checking the damage.
 
Keep in mind as soon as you report it you might end up with a CarFax ding. Even if not your fault and his insurance pays.

Ideally he’d pay out of pocket, but that’s not likely to happen. If you do pursue, contact your insurance company and let them go fight it on your behalf.

If it’s easy to fix it might not be worth going after him. Might get your own estimate first.
Minor damage will not show up in a carfax, especially when you are not at fault.
 
Quick follow-up. Car came out of the repair as good as new about a month ago. Repair bill was roughly $3,000 including blending the paint in on the drivers side. I was only out my $250 deductible.

Got an email today from Geico informing me:

We are filing a claim against the responsible party for the total amount of damage to your vehicle, including your deductible of $250.00.
It usually takes about three months from the date we make our request to receive reimbursement. However, if we do not receive full cooperation from the responsible party, it could take longer.
So far so good. I also contacted his insurance company, USAA, today and filed a diminished value claim. Took about 15 minutes to get all of my information down and initiate the claim, but I don’t think I’ll have any issue there either.
 
Good on you for following through with reporting/repairing. That dude was going to leave you high and dry.

The only thing I am not clear on from this thread is how you are supposed to find the guys insurance company? Call your insurance and hope they will look up the info for you?
 
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Contacted Geico; it was so easy (that a caveman could do it). When I told her that it was the Tesla that was hit and that I had video footage with the license plate, she was practically giddy with excitement at nailing his ass.

Already have an appointment setup with the collision repair shop for next Friday and the rental car is setup. I’ll pay my $250 deductible, but they’ll fight his insurance (USAA) to get that back.

The only thing that sucks is that I’ll have to get gas for the rental… yuck 🤮🤣
Well done! Good job not letting the jackwad get away with it
 
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