Okay, a month ago, someone hit me. http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=35520


This is my first accident and it's very minor thank goodness. I'm a total newbie when it comes to insurance claims. Keep in mind that she does not have any of my insurance information, only my drivers license number, and my mailing address. She doesn't even have my license plate number (no plates :wow:). Oh, and I reside in California.

Here's the deal, she decided to file a claim with her own insurance. Her insurance calls me, asks me for my statement of what happened etc. Now, I have a few questions.


A) I want to file a claim through insurance to have my damages replaced. Who should I contact? Her insurance or have my insurance deal with her's? Whats the process?
B) If I file the claim and they award me lets say $500 to repaint the bumper. Can I use that $500 and buy myself a mtech kit and have it painted?? :wow:
C) Since the cop said that fault is probably 50/50, is there anyway my claim will go through?
D) Since she only has my mailing address and my driver's license, is there a way for her to contact my insurance? I do not want my insurance involved period because I do not want my rates to go up over something stupid.

b) I think you need to submit the receipt for the repair and they reimburse you, they dont just give-away a check for $500 :P ..

Don't I need an adjuster to look at the repair cost? Wouldn't the insurance be pissed off if they money is being used for something else?

Doesn't the insurance also inspect the car after repairs?

A) You should contact your insurance company, particularly since she has filed a claim AND the police did not fault her outright. Given the ambiguity of the police report, her insurance company could try to shift the blame to you.
b) Answered earlier... though you do need to have an adjuster take a good look as these cars can be deceptive, with damage appearing minor on the outside but with more serious and expensive damage unseen without a detailed look.
C) Yes there is a way the claim could go through and it could go against you, call your insurance company.
D) Sorry, they will be able to track down your insurance company, and the fact that she has already filed a claim means they are going to find out. If the other party were clearly at fault, it would not affect your rates. But given the lack of clarity from the police report, it could end up affecting rates if you are somehow found at fault.

You need to contact your insurance company and let them work for you, you don't want to be stuk alone withe the other inurance company.

Right. Your insurance company will work in your behalf, and I believe the term is "subrogation." It may be different in CA than in MA (everything regarding auto insurance is different in MA!), but if the gendarmes showed up for the accident, and she's already filed, you need your insurance company working for you.

What is your deductable.

Mine is $500 so the first $500 is on me!

CAlifornia residence here too. I just went thru this. My son was involved in an acident a few months back. Completely the other guys falt. I ended up having to pay the deductable out of my pocket and my insurance company filed a claim on my behalf with the other guys insurance to get my deductable back. Finally after 3 months I received my deductable back from the other insurance company. Really took a long time. Hope this helps

Pretty easy case if i knew what happened, but judging at the pictures it looks like you have been rear ended. So in my case i would call the insurance and tell them the situation, i just got rear ended, and in rear ended cases your 99.9% a winner even if you pay for the $500 now you will get it back from the other party, and plus you can go to a quality autobody shop to get it fixed right the first time or ask them if they can switch out to m-tech kit and you pay additional for it that's what i would do it's a better situation for you. YOu win and you get a new kit or new paint job, but you have to fork out the $500 first, your insurance will argue for you to get your money back.

Hey Mike,

I'm on the east coast and California is known to have some very unique laws, but generally a property damage claim on a 50/50 case is subject to your deductible since they cannot subrogate the claim. If you make a claim for the damage to your bumper it will be handled under your collision coverage, not your comprehensive. In essence it will be treated as an at fault loss which is a rateable offense. This simply means that an insurance company can justifiably increase your premiums for such a claim. It looks to me like its not worth it. If a body shop wrote an estimate for $800.00 and your deductible is $500, you'll recieve a $300.00 benefit with the risk of increased premiums and then still have to pay the balance with the body shop up to the $500.00.

Now, if it were deemed to be 100% her fault, you could proceed through her liability coverage, go to a shop, get an estimate, have a check issued in the name of you and the body shop and then use that as credit toward painting an M kit.

Good luck,
DRP

P.S. too bad the PDC wasn't on at the time in your car....