Regarding the other drivers insurance:Yes, file a claim directly with the other drivers carrier Progressive. You are NOT out the $500 deductible, it doesn't work that way. You are a claimant to Progressive, so there is no deductible in this situation. Also, tell Progressive you will need a rental car while your car is out for repairs. You were rear ended by their insured and the other driver has already admitted liability, you will not pay a dime, and you will be taken care of appropriately by his carrier.

Now, if you want to file with your carrier, and let them handle the situation, you can. You will have to pay your deductible initially, and then wait for subrogation to return you the deductible. If Progressive isn't causing problems, there is no reason to go through your own carrier.

Also, a carrier can not require a certain repair facility (Shop Fixing), so you can still go anywhere you want. Make sure the repairs are guaranteed for the life of the car, and you will have no problems.

I bet if you call in the claim to the other carrier, you'll be amazed how smoothly the process works.
Sorry about your accident.

 

^^^^^^^^^Great advice, ElonCooper! Pay attention to this, Toastie! You should NOT have to pay a cent! :smile:


Clover

 

Yeah.. if you ever have to pay a single penny for someone else hitting you.... something is wrong.

repairs and rental should be covered... every bit of it.

 

Sorry to hear about the crumples, girl.

I have felt the sting of the accident bug more than once - the worst of which was watching a guy in a delivery van BACK INTO the nose of my '73 BMW 2002 a few years back. Oh, and did I mention I was 8 floors above where it happened? At least it was fixed at the other driver's expense, which certainly helps mitigate the feeling of "WTF were you thinking when you crushed my baby?".

One important lesson to learn here is this (and I learned this from a state trooper years ago): your car should NEVER be in neutral while you're moving. It is illegal in many states because you CANNOT get power to the wheels immediately in an event like this, or to avoid oncoming traffic in worse situations.

Please folks, leave your car IN GEAR while coasting, stopping, whatever. Knowing that I have handily avoided at least one rear-end collision and one head-on.

NOW make haste in repairing your hot Indi Blue bootie.

Marty

 

Taking your foot off the break was a good move. When I was a kid in the 60's my father parked at the curb in front of our house with the transmission in neutral and without using the parking break (we lived on a flat street). His parked car was struck by someone going about 20-25mph. It absorbed all the impact by rolling about 20ft. up over the curb. The front end of the other car was demolished and the driver slightly injured. Our car was almost unmarked.

Glad to hear that there were no major injuries, but get that neck checked out and be sure you're OK before you settle. There can be consequences with that kind of injury that don't show up right away. I was a passenger in a rear-ender years ago. My sore neck got better in a couple of days, and I signed off with the insurer. About 2-3 weeks later my neck went "out" and was stiff and sore for weeks. It got better, but went out again after a couple of months. For years I had a "trick" neck that could give me trouble at any time. It hasn't gone out on me now in a few years, but it does snap loudly at odd times when I turn my head.

Good luck.

 

You would think, with a mother who's a paralegal for a personal injury attorney and an uncle who owns a body/repair shop that SOMEONE would have told me; "Uh, no... if you file a claim through their insurance, you don't have to pay your deductable."

Well... someone did -- my coworker. Thanks mum. Thanks Uncle Mart.

It makes a whole boatload of sense to me now -- I've been trying to understand how, in America, someone can cause an accident and leave me on the line for cleanup.

I've called his insurance and set up a claim (he hadn't) and now I'm just waiting for confirmation that he agrees with my story and admits to whamming my boot. I felt like a complete a_ _ hole dodging the adjusters questions about whether or not I was injured, but I'll not shirk the benefits of being prudent.

Taking my foot off the break saved me, I think. My bumper *seems* loose, but then I hadn't previously had much occasion to waggle my bumper around. How much play does a normal MINI rear bumper have? Perhaps I just got off with some nasty scratches... :smile:

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

 

Hope no owies show up.

As for the car - I woudln't be surpised if you muffler was bent. I seem to recall that it's a pretty expensive item that could be replaced with an aftermarket one....

 

When I had my wreck my initial call was to my insurance company (they asked lots of questions)....and that got things rolling as far as the shop evaluating the extent of damage, parts being ordered, and stuff like that. My car was at a shop I had selected (my MINI went there on a tow truck ). The shop just happens to be owned by the same local dealership that also sells MINIs. Same day (or was it the next day? ) I called the other driver's insurance company (per the instructions given by my insurance claim rep) and I also told them what had happened. They asked a bunch of questions, too. That company had to verify things (details of the accident) with their policy holder (the other driver) and that took a few days. In the end they did determine (as they will in your case) that their policy holder was at fault and work continued, but all the charges to date just rolled over to the other driver's policy, including my rental which started out on my policy and wound up on the other policy. I did not pay one dime.

I'm also persuing a diminished value claim thanks to a suggestion I got here on NAM. We'll see how it goes, but I'm somewhat optimistic.

I asked a lot of questions so as to cover my bases, and all involved were very informative and nice to work with. If you have a question, ask for guidance from your insurance company. I think they know how tuff this all can be and they want the matter resolved to your satisfaction.

 

he he he he hehehehehehe....

 

Count me in... rear ended by a Kia... $3400 damage.

 

Sorry to hear about your rear-ender. If I were you I'd avoid dealing with the other party's insurance company and leave it to your insurance agent. But the $500 deductible is a bummer. I hope you won't have to pay that. Make sure your agent fight for every penny of repair cost.

Hopefully, when your new bumper is installed Ollie will give you undiminished motoring pleasure.

 

Toasty..so sorry. But at least the damage seems minimal and you are ok (do get checked though!).

You definitely should not have to pay your deductable. You may end up paying first just to get things moving and cleared up...but in the end, no. If time is on your side, just hold on and let his insurance take care of this, and your out-of-pocket will be zilch.

I fear going through this every time I see in the rearview mirror some bozo (usually in a SUV on the phone, applying makeup, reading, and/or shaving) bearing down on me at a red light. And that happens, say, about every other day? I can definitely understand how someone with weaker overall judgement (i.e., no one here on NAM ) would decide the perfect defense would be to drive a big friggin' truck theirself.

 

let your insurance company talk to there's. It's best to let them fight things out on their own ground. Also you may not get as much back if you handle it directly.

 

I was always told DO NOT go through your own insurance -- go through his directly -
call them and fight with them but make your insurance aware of what is going on incase yo need them -- but since they cover him, and its totally his fault (you do have a police report, right?) then go through them but find a body shop first....

 

I'm not sure why some folks are suggesting not going directly to the other drivers insurance carrier. Like I said before, if Progressive assumes the liability with their driver, you will be fine. As far as your car is concerned, they will have to provide a proper repair, and shops will provide a lifetime guarantee on the work. Besides, what you want back is a car with the proper repair, how would your carrier do more than that.
If they deny liability, or cause you problems, then your carrier could help you.

Also, something I meant to mention on my prior post. Without a police report, or witness information, this situation may be your word against his. I wanted to warn folks to avoid future problems, police reports or witnesses are a must. Other driver could deny it, other carrier is stuck, your carrier would pay, and you would be out $500 in this example.

 

I'm not understanding that either.

I am QUITE experienced in wrecks.... unfortunately. I have had two just this year! Plus a hail damage claim, a hit and run and two other outright wrecks prior to this year.... so I know what I'm talking about.

My insurance company did not even know about my last wreck. I was rear ended, called the police before I even got out of my car... filed directly with her insurance company.. had them come to me to appraise.. got my car fixed at the best shop in town and I never paid a PENNY for the repairs or well over 2 weeks in a rental car.

This is what insurance is for... in case something is your fault or something crazy happens... like my $1900 in hail damange on my old car.... you do not have to pay for other people's mistakes.

 

And I'll give the opposite advice. File directly with their ins company, and leave yours out of it unless you run into trouble collecting. Why? Because even though it wasn't your fault, ins companies have been known to raise rates or drop your policy just for being in accidents even if they weren't your fault. Better that they not know. If you're unfortunate enough to get in another accident a month from now, they might start to look at you a little funny.

If you don't believe it, consider this: It's pretty universal that if someone rear-ends you, it's their fault, right? Well what if someone made it a habit of hitting their brakes to get rear-ended on purpose just to collect the money? How many times will he get away with it before his ins company drops him?

 

I agree, it's not really necessary to call your insurance company unless there's a problem negotiating with the insurance company of the person who hit you. Now they WANT you to call, but I'm not so sure that's as necessary as they make it sound.

 

Well, his insurance company has assumed full liability for fixing my car, but now I'm thinking it's going to be a headache (this may be premature and pessimistic, but still...)

The claims adjustor immediately (of course) began listing their affiliated shops with the soonest available appointments. I told him that I had spoken to my nearest MINI service center rep (New Country, in Hartford) and was told that, while they didn't have a body shop, they send all their MINIs to Airport Auto Body for bodywork. This is, therefore, where I am going to take my not-even-two-year-old car. He reminds me that I have the right to take my car wherever I choose... and then 2 breaths later tells me that they have had "problems" with Airport Sutobody charging too much and that it is their policy to pay what is "reasonable and fair in Connecticut". So if Airport's estimate is too high, I will have to pay the difference.

This flies in the face of everything I've ever been taught about insurance companies: basically that it is my legal right to take my car where I want and their legal obligation (upon assumption of liability) to pay for it. If their adjusters can't negotiate a price with which they are comfortable well then, too bad, so sad, shell out the dough and get me back in my car anyway because your insured caused an accident.



Will there be a time in the near future where I won't spend every lunch break and beyond on the phone with insurance people?

 

See my post above. The threat of increased premiums over an extended period is enough to inspire most "drivers" who are clearly at fault in a minor accident to settle with you outside insurance. I have been trapped in auto insurance claims hell a couple of times in the past - no fun.

 

I'm no expert, but I think your right. I wouldn't trust my MINI to anybody except a shop that was very familiar with the peculiarities of repairing MINIs. What are they saying....."you have rights, but not really?" I don't trust any of these companies and their rhetoric. Same w/ health insurance companies. Grrrr.......

 

Try not to get too frustrated yet.

Have Progressive write you an estimate, they will usually come to your home or place of work, so you are not out the time. Or, have one of their preferred shops write you the estimate, then take your car to the shop of your choice. If the other shop won't fix it based on the estimate the other shop wrote, find out why.

None of us should be surprised there are shops or businesses out there that may overcharge customers or do poor work.

If for some reason, your shop finds additional damage or something, then Progressive will send a reinspector to your shop to sign off on the additional repair.

I know many folks don't trust insurance companies, but there are some normal people at insurance companies believe it or not, and a lot are even car people. Heck some even drive MINIs.

Like I said, don't get too frustrated yet. Just take your car in, and get the repair process going.