Rear ended. First accident..ever advice?

[Garlan Garner]

Another issue with filing a claim with YOUR insurance company when you aren't at fault is that you might have to pay your deductible.

You won't have to pay anyone's deductible if you file a claim with the guilty parties insurance. company.


I wish I knew why you all are so against filing a claim with the insurance company of the person that hit you -

You can only file 1 claim per accident.

 

[dmurphy]

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

I meant my example from a few months ago where my Cadillac had its lift gate damaged... I filed the claim against their insurance, but it still shows up on my CLUE report. Of course, it's not at fault, and I still have "accident free" coverage, with a rate decrease, so no ill effect. On this, we agree 100%.

I'm certainly not opposed to filing a 3rd party claim - you are absolutely right, there are plenty of times where that makes sense... but doing so does not keep it off your CLUE report. That's what I'm getting at. It doesn't make your own insurance company "blind" to the claim. 'tis all I meant. Plenty of cases where you absolutely should file a 3rd party claim... but trying to keep your own insurance company from knowing about it isn't one of the reasons.

Well, that and I wanted to have some fun with the CLUE pun.

 

[angelman]

so rather than creating a new post I decided to do a search. I have the exact same situation. 27 years of driving and got into my very first accident. A low speed 5mph rear end on the freeway. I have Geico, she has Farmers. I took pictures of everything> minor damage to bumper, no sensors hit or cracks in the bumper. I created a claim on my Geico app for better or worse. Seems to be some confusion as to whether I should just call her insurance and ignore Geico. I don't want to pay my $1000 deductible and i don;t have rental car coverage. Since it's close to Thanksgiving I figured I would wait a bit before I do anything. Should I make an appointment with Tesla SC, or go to Geico place or call Farmers. No police were at the scene. Woman admitted responsibility at the scene. Maybe I should start by calling farmers.. or just call Geico and have them handle everything. I know Geico doesn't exactly have the best reputation (I used to have AAA but for a Tesla they are ridiculous).

 

[Garlan Garner]

so rather than creating a new post I decided to do a search. I have the exact same situation. 27 years of driving and got into my very first accident. A low speed 5mph rear end on the freeway. I have Geico, she has Farmers. I took pictures of everything> minor damage to bumper, no sensors hit or cracks in the bumper. I created a claim on my Geico app for better or worse. Seems to be some confusion as to whether I should just call her insurance and ignore Geico. I don't want to pay my $1000 deductible and i don;t have rental car coverage. Since it's close to Thanksgiving I figured I would wait a bit before I do anything. Should I make an appointment with Tesla SC, or go to Geico place or call Farmers. No police were at the scene. Woman admitted responsibility at the scene. Maybe I should start by calling farmers.. or just call Geico and have them handle everything. I know Geico doesn't exactly have the best reputation (I used to have AAA but for a Tesla they are ridiculous).

You don't have to pay a deductible if you go through her insurance.

You MUST go through a Tesla certified body shop or a Tesla Service Center to continue your Tesla warranty.

There is NO confusion about either of the above suggestions to me.

 

[angelman]

You don't have to pay a deductible if you go through her insurance.

You MUST go through a Tesla certified body shop or a Tesla Service Center to continue your Tesla warranty.

There is NO confusion about either of the above suggestions to me.

I spoke to my insurance and her insurance. All clear now. Just deal with her insurance. If other driver's insurance starts causing issues then I can ask my insurance to help out. I expect it all to be worked out pretty easily.. famous last words! Any advice as to whether to take it to the Tesla SC vs. taking it to a certified body shop?

 

[billionaiire]

I spoke to my insurance and her insurance. All clear now. Just deal with her insurance. If other driver's insurance starts causing issues then I can ask my insurance to help out. I expect it all to be worked out pretty easily.. famous last words! Any advice as to whether to take it to the Tesla SC vs. taking it to a certified body shop?

You are overthinking it for a minor bumper hit. Either way is fine. It’ll all depend on when they can take you in and how far away you live. Go with the one who can do it quicker. Good luck.

 

[Garlan Garner]

You are overthinking it for a minor bumper hit. Either way is fine. It’ll all depend on when they can take you in and how far away you live. Go with the one who can do it quicker. Good luck.

You can never overthink a Tesla accident of ANY kind. There are toooooooo many sensors and electronics that can be thrown out of alignment and require tools that are not privy to the common public.

 

[angelman]

You can never overthink a Tesla accident of ANY kind. There are toooooooo many sensors and electronics that can be thrown out of alignment and require tools that are not privy to the common public.

fortunately in my case I am fairly confident it is very simple. Autopilot and parking sensors all seem to be working just fine. Presumably a body shop would test all these things and verify they are all ok (also they would check for anything not visible say on the frame (99.9% certain there is no frame damage)

 

[Burrito]

So i got my car fixed last week. Took the certified shop over a month due to the backlog of work. Dropped it off on the 20th and had it back on the 22nd. Quick 3 day turn around. Woman’s insurance estimated $800 based on pics and the shop after visual inspection was $2k. I’m not sure where they ended up but I paid nothing and had a crappy wrangler for 3 days. (All enterprise had).

I can’t tell the bumper ever had anything done to it which is awesome.
How do I find out if my car shows a repair on car fax now? If there not report then I won’t bother with a diminished value claim

 

[Garlan Garner]

fortunately in my case I am fairly confident it is very simple. Autopilot and parking sensors all seem to be working just fine. Presumably a body shop would test all these things and verify they are all ok (also they would check for anything not visible say on the frame (99.9% certain there is no frame damage)

I almost agree.

There are things that are broken on my car AFTER the Tesla Certified body shop released my car.

For example: My NOA was working just fine after I got my car back. It stopped working 2 weeks after because my forward facing radar bracket was bent - and the body shop missed it. The forward facing radar sensor was over 12 degrees out of alignment and shut NOA down ( on occasion ). Tesla's service center found the issue and ordered a new bracket.

 

[billionaiire]

You can never overthink a Tesla accident of ANY kind. There are toooooooo many sensors and electronics that can be thrown out of alignment and require tools that are not privy to the common public.

You and I both are the last people to overthink an accident on Tesla.

What I meant to say was that there is no reason to overthink “where” to get it fixed given it’s a minor hit. The simple answer is - whoever can do it first.