Hit a Box in the Road (Progressive Insurance)

[rwaggoner]

Okay, here is my situation.

My wife and I were driving a couple months ago and hit a box filled with tools or something in the road at night and it was hard to see. It was a narrow road yet had a high speed limit of 70 (Texas), so I could not swerve to the edge of the road, and oncoming traffic prevented me from going into the other lane. It dented in the front fender of the Prius pretty good, so I am sure the cost to fix won't be cheap.

It was not easy to see, so I started slowing down, but I still hit it pretty fast.

Would I get charged most likely for this with my insurance, and if so, typically how much more a month would it cost?

I have Progressive, if anybody here is affiliated with them.

I am betting they would say "you should have seen it, and it's your responsibility to avoid obstacles" etc., which would tick me off.

Thanks for any tips. I did contact a local office, but they could not tell me. If I called the claims hotline, they said I would be making a claim regardless at that point.

 

[FullAuto]

If the box is sitting still in the road and you hit it, it's a collision claim. Had the box fallen off a trunk in front of you and been bouncing, sliding or in some kind of motion when it struck you, it's a comprehensive claim.

With a collision claim, you are likely to get a surcharge and lose any accident free discount you may have. With a comp claim, generally those don't effect your rates as much if at all.

If the damage is limited to the fender only, Prius fenders are actually pretty cheap. A new one from Toyota is in the $220 range.

If you can keep the shop from blending into the door, the entire repair with replacing the fender should only run $750-800ish. If you have a $500 deductible, IMO you should just pay for it yourself. If they have to blend into the door, you're looking at closer to $1k.

What color is the car? You won't blend a black. You won't get away from blending on a silver or red. White you'll have to negotiate and maybe give the shop some tint time.

Also, with Progressive, they may write the estimate with an aftermarket CAPA fender and keep the cost even lower (paying you less after your deductible). At least that's what would happen here.

 

[djs]

Ditto on what FullAuto said.

Same with hitting a pothole, which is the one that gets me, but as a driver, you are responsible to drive at a reasonable speed for road conditions. I guess technically, if you can't see because its dark, then you might be driving a bit fast for the conditions, though hey, cars are usually much easier to see and we don't expect toolboxes in the middle of the road!!!!

Get an estimate, see what the damage is really going to be and go from there. Prices vary a lot from state to state, so its hard to say what the repair bill will be.

Dan