Rear ended. First accident..ever advice?

[mswlogo]

Go to Tesla on this one.

They'll replace the bumper with a pre-painted one from inventory. My cost was $1,125 and it took 50 minutes.
I'll repeat that: 50 minutes. They could literally do it while I waited.

If you have some damage underneath, that'll go up, but the guy said the most common from typical rear-enders is a cross bar getting dented, which would have cost an extra $300 to replace.

I doubt if there's any diminished value issues here.

Diminished value isn’t caused by the value of the damage or how cleanly it can be repaired. It’s the vague reports that are filed once police or insurance companies are in the loop and haunt you later when you go to sell or trade.

The person that hit the OP should have offered to cover it 100% no questions. But the fool called the Police. Their insurance will probably cost them way more than what the repair cost.

 

[Burrito]

so both body shops i called said they DO NOT report anything to carfax (seems they've both been asked before given the way they answered), they said its insurance. so police, body shop and insurance all seems to have different stories. i havent done anything but seems the other person contacted and started a claim already (her car was more f'd than mine), she called the police at the time of accident too, so 2 of the potential carfax hits are in motion due to her. ugh, going to bring it to a body shop at this point since theres now no reason not to.

i stopped by telsa today in NJ, they claimed non of the NJ stores do repairs and do not have bumpers to sell, everything goes through the approved shop network here. ill do whatever i can for a diminished value if/when i can confirm my car is carfax dinged. i love the car but it was a stopgap to a model Y so i am concerned on trade in value.

thanks for all the advice so far

 

[C141medic]

The person that hit the OP should have offered to cover it 100% no questions

I agree, with the amount of damage, this would’ve been the optimal choice. However; the only way to truly protect yourself is to have a police report. There’s always a possibility that the other party changes their mind and not honor their initial deal of paying for the damages. Yes, you can always file a report after the fact especially since there’s dashcam evidence. And the fact that a police report was filed doesn’t mean that you have to file with your insurance company if an agreement between the two parties is reached and carried forward.

 

[mswlogo]

I agree, with the amount of damage, this would’ve been the optimal choice. However; the only way to truly protect yourself is to have a police report. There’s always a possibility that the other party changes their mind and not honor their initial deal of paying for the damages. Yes, you can always file a report after the fact especially since there’s dashcam evidence. And the fact that a police report was filed doesn’t mean that you have to file with your insurance company if an agreement between the two parties is reached and carried forward.

I know, it stinks. You have to make a public record then it bites you later.

 

[Garlan Garner]

So made it almost 20 years driving without an accident but some lady rear ended me yesterday. Teslacam caught it too. I had a police report and insurance has it all.

My agent hasn’t called me back yet (farmers) but the person who hit me insurance did today (progressive). What should I be doing in this process? The damage is minor, about an 2 inch sq of paint is gone, no dent. Just a bunch of scuffs outside the missing paint.
I’m very anal about my car so I want it fixed. Can I just have her insurance pay to have a pre painted bumper installed at Tesla?

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ONLY deal with HER insurance company.

Don't file a claim with your insurance company....its non of their business.

Let HER insurance company get your bumper painted at a "Tesla certified body shop" or at the "Tesla service center".

 

[Burrito]

ONLY deal with HER insurance company.

Don't file a claim with your insurance company....its non of their business.

Let HER insurance company get your bumper painted at a "Tesla certified body shop" or at the "Tesla service center".

curious why? not challenging you since this is new territory for me but want to understand why? her insurance called me already and wanted to start the process (did so in less than 24 hours), i told them to chill back as i havnt done anything yet and i'd call them back. my insurance said they can start a claim as well and it would be 100% no fault and paid by the other party. is this one of those even though its not my fault any claim is a claim kinda thing and best to limit it to her insurance and not both?

 

[mswlogo]

ONLY deal with HER insurance company.

Don't file a claim with your insurance company....its non of their business.

Let HER insurance company get your bumper painted at a "Tesla certified body shop" or at the "Tesla service center".

Actually, you let YOUR insurance company deal with HER insurance company.

 

[Burrito]

Actually, you let YOUR insurance company deal with HER insurance company.

thats what farmers told me (my insurance), my insurance pays me/the bodyshop for repairs and they go after hers to get reimbursed. not sure if this is standard or farmers policy but what i was told. i choose how and where to fix

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

thats what farmers told me (my insurance), my insurance pays me/the bodyshop for repairs and they go after hers to get reimbursed. not sure if this is standard or farmers policy but what i was told. i choose how and where to fix

No, mine got out of the way and let me work directly with their insurance company. However, I did keep them in the loop.

Using your insurance company puts you at risk they might categorize this accident as your fault and use it as an excuse to double your insurance rates or drop you.

 

[Garlan Garner]

curious why? not challenging you since this is new territory for me but want to understand why? her insurance called me already and wanted to start the process (did so in less than 24 hours), i told them to chill back as i havnt done anything yet and i'd call them back. my insurance said they can start a claim as well and it would be 100% no fault and paid by the other party. is this one of those even though its not my fault any claim is a claim kinda thing and best to limit it to her insurance and not both?

2 reasons.

1. If you start a claim with YOUR insurance company....you are then limited to 30 or so days of car rental if it takes that long. If you start a claim with HER insurance company...they will have to provide you a rental for the duration of the repair...no matter how long it takes.

2. If you start a claim with YOUR insurance company....your premium stands a chance to go up simply because an accident has been reported. If you file a claim with HER insurance company...and the accident is NOT your fault....then your insurance company will never know - therefore your rates won't go up due to the accident.

See my post below this one for further explanation.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Actually, you let YOUR insurance company deal with HER insurance company.

Never.

I would never file a claim with MY insurance company on an accident that isn't my fault.

Why would you notify your insurance company? For what?


As you might now.....I just got finished with a 3+ month repair on my Tesla after getting rear-ended and my insurance company didn't hear a peep from me.

My insurance company would have given me 30 days of car rental. I ended up having the rental for 100 days which came to over $2k in costs. Her insurance company had to flip the entire bill of the repairs and the rental....AND more importantly it was HER fault. The accident being HER fault was a HUGE determining factor as to how I handled things.

My insurance company would have ended up forking out a $23k+ check - and then having to chase down her insurance company. While I would have ended up forking out over $1500 in cash for my rental.

Why would anyone do that? Just have the other persons insurance company pay the entire thing.

 

[mswlogo]

Never.

I would never file a claim with MY insurance company on an accident that isn't my fault.

Why would you notify your insurance company? For what?


As you might now.....I just got finished with a 3+ month repair on my Tesla after getting rear-ended and my insurance company didn't hear a peep from me.

My insurance company would have given me 30 days of car rental. I ended up having the rental for 100 days which came to over $2k in costs. Her insurance company had to flip the entire bill of the repairs and the rental....AND more importantly it was HER fault. The accident being HER fault was a HUGE determining factor as to how I handled things.

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You are not making a "Claim" with your insurance. You are asking for their assistance. That's what you pay them for.

 

[Garlan Garner]

You are not making a "Claim" with your insurance. You are asking for their assistance. That's what you pay them for.

That's not how it works.

If ANY insurance company does any work on an accident and fork out any payments for rental or chase down another insurance company....then YOU HAVE to file a claim.

Then after filing a claim...an adjuster is comes and evaluates the accident...and the dominoes start falling from there.

There was no way that my insurance company was going to "do me a favor" and help me out to make sure the other parties' insurance company was doing the right thing.

The OP is wondering about the Claim....not about asking questions. Sure....ask all the questions you like to everyone involved. However to provide a suggestion to the OP concerning the Claim....Always file a claim with the insurance company of the person at fault. Which is probably why the other person's insurance company jumped on this so fast.

 

[dmurphy]

2. If you start a claim with YOUR insurance company....your premium stands a chance to go up simply because an accident has been reported. If you file a claim with HER insurance company...and the accident is NOT your fault....then your insurance company will never know - therefore your rates won't go up due to the accident.

Horsehockey. Maybe I can CLUE you in. Here’s a CLUE. There might just be an industry-wide database. Whether you report to your company, or another, they might just leave a CLUE behind. It makes no difference.

and, if not at fault, that certainly doesn’t mean an automatic premium increase. I’ve shown previously where this wasn’t the case, but here’s a CLUE - I didn’t report it to my insurance company, but it still comes up in said database. That said - I still have accident-free rating on my vehicles.

Here’s another CLUE. My wife had the misfortune of hitting a deer today. Already spoke with my (awesome) agent. This will be a comprehensive claim, and not at fault. Will not affect my rating at all.
Zero concerns.

PS - in case it wasn’t clear, the database name is CLUE. And any claim you make - whether against your own policy or another’s will be in there.

 

[Burrito]

Sorry about the enclave Dennis, those deer seem to be out in force lately.

 

[TheTonester]

To those saying don't contact your insurance company, most policies stipulate that you're required to report all accidents.

 

[Sherlo]

So my insurance company just called me, they said it’s 100% not my fault, obviously, and won’t impact my insurance although like msw said another provider might raise rates.

about the car fax report, my insurance guy said it’s not the claim or the police report but the body shop/dealer that the repair is done. He mentioned I can try and talk to the shop and ask they don’t add anything to car fax and that might help.
Diminished value claim needs to be initiated by me to the other person insurance and my insurance will help if needed.

lastly he said given the cost it might be best to not even file a claim and pay for it. Because of the car fax bullshit

Appears Carfax gets data from both repair and police reports:

How Carfax works, and why you should take it with a grain of salt

 

[dmurphy]

Sorry about the enclave Dennis, those deer seem to be out in force lately.

The trooper who responded told me it was the 5th one they had TODAY. Crazy!

We’ll see how bad the damage is and then make our next move. If they total it, could be a Model X in our future ... we’ll see.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Horsehockey. Maybe I can CLUE you in. Here’s a CLUE. There might just be an industry-wide database. Whether you report to your company, or another, they might just leave a CLUE behind. It makes no difference.

and, if not at fault, that certainly doesn’t mean an automatic premium increase. I’ve shown previously where this wasn’t the case, but here’s a CLUE - I didn’t report it to my insurance company, but it still comes up in said database. That said - I still have accident-free rating on my vehicles.

Here’s another CLUE. My wife had the misfortune of hitting a deer today. Already spoke with my (awesome) agent. This will be a comprehensive claim, and not at fault. Will not affect my rating at all.
Zero concerns.

PS - in case it wasn’t clear, the database name is CLUE. And any claim you make - whether against your own policy or another’s will be in there.

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First of all... you can't make a claim against the deer's insurance company....so your example is not applicable here.

We are talking about making a Claim. We are talking about making a Claim. That's what we are talking about.

It matters NOT about CLUE.

NO insurance company I've ever had HAS EVER increased my rates when I didn't make a claim with them.

Has yours?


1. Someone hits me.
2. I file a claim with their insurance company.
3. They fix my car and covers all costs.

4. And then my insurance company raises MY rates.

Now that's Horsehockey. I wish they would.

 

[Garlan Garner]

To those saying don't contact your insurance company, most policies stipulate that you're required to report all accidents.

Link?