Scratch/Reimbursing

[args_123]

Last week when I pulling my car out of a (tight) parking spot, touched the car before me. The driver from the other car made a big deal about it and demanded that I give out my insurance info.

I gave my contact info and in retrospect I should not have given my insurance info. Technically we should have filed a police report instead if she wanted a 3rd party opinion.

I took pictures. I asked her if I can buy scratch kit rather than going through the insurance. She did want to do it herself and want to go professional shop.

It seems when she went to professional shop, the guy told her "she is stupid for painting/refinish" for such a small scratch, it seems she told her "just give me an estimate, so that she can get reimbursed from me". She is sticking with me a bill of $600 directly payable to her. Otherwise she is saying she is going to report through her insurance.

Can you please advise what is the right thing to do here? I got a estimate of $250 or less to same the job. However she claims she has right to go to the above $600 shop. It is borderline blackmailing.

I am trying to do my part here. I am not rich or anything. Can not afford hundreds of dollars like this.

Any advice? Should I offer something close to $200 for her in the form of the check? or take a risk to let her report insurance.

Most probably she will be denied for such a small scratch/claim. There is not even a dent, just scrape.

Anybody gone through similar scenario. Help is much appreciated.

 

[Josh]

In most states a claim this small won't hit the threshold of raising your rates. You're right, in most states you should call a the police if only to get a documented third party to verify what happened. The reality is that if you had simply left and ignored it (although wrong) odds are she would have had a difficult time proving anything.

Situation as it sits right now, she just wants the cash and there is a good chance if you give her the $600 she'll just pocket it. The insurance company won't fall for that trick. If I were in your situation I would simply tell her to feel free to contact her insurance company and advise here that you will not be paying her or having any further communication.

Her insurance company is going to contact your company to try to get them to pay for it and at that point I would talk to your company, but other than that I wouldn't do anything.

Next time you're in an accident, call the cops, exchange insurance info. From there, let the insurance companies handle it, that's what you pay them for. I would *never* pay someone directly.

 

[Sales71]

You can have her claim it on your insurance. If its under $1000 you will not be dinged on your insurance rate.

 

[Josh]

You can have her claim it on your insurance. If its under $1000 you will not be dinged on your insurance rate.

Depends on the state. In NY just filing a claim (paid or not) can impact your rate.

 

[deadhead]

In NC once the police are involved a ticket is issued. Insurance won't pay without a ticket.

 

[benmay]

Just to add a little to the excellent advice given by Josh, by turning this over to your insurance company, not only are you relieved of the aggravation and expense, but they will document the entire incident and have the appropriate documents signed verifying that you have fulfilled your responsibilities.

 

[args_123]

thank you guys for advise.

When I emailed my insurance with the following info, they just offered with couple of their approved places, rather than great advise provided here. you guys are awesome.

I am trying to settle with the other driver with out involving insurance. It is a small scratch. Can I talk to you or a claims person to get some help?

Can you help me with couple of clarifications:

Can other driver make me get it repaired at their favorite place, even though it is expensive?
Once it is repaired, should i get a something in writing from the other driver?
I think other driver is looking to get to some cash by making noise, there is nothing really to be fixed as couple of my friends agreed once they saw the pictures.
Your help is appreciated thanks. I can send the picture, couple of my friends though $100 is more than enough, love to get your thoughts.

Appreciate your time.

 

[Milkman1265]

If YOU MUST settle it with each other without insurance, i would make an offer for a reasonable rate.

Get another estimate and offer her the money BUT if she takes the money, you get her to sign a release stating that she will not claim you or your insurance any further if she accepts your money for the repairs done today.

document everything!

 

[Josh]

thank you guys for advise.

When I emailed my insurance with the following info, they just offered with couple of their approved places, rather than great advise provided here. you guys are awesome.

I am trying to settle with the other driver with out involving insurance. It is a small scratch. Can I talk to you or a claims person to get some help?

At this point, just have her file a claim.

Can you help me with couple of clarifications:

Can other driver make me get it repaired at their favorite place, even though it is expensive?

Yes. The insurance company is on the hook for it. I get the impression she is just shaking you down for money so she got the most expensive quote possible.

Once it is repaired, should i get a something in writing from the other driver?

Once you pay, it doesn't matter if she gets it repaired. It's the same with the insurance companies. They'll cut a check and that's it. If she gets it repaired, great. If not, great. She's been indemnified.

I think other driver is looking to get to some cash by making noise, there is nothing really to be fixed as couple of my friends agreed once they saw the pictures.
Your help is appreciated thanks. I can send the picture, couple of my friends though $100 is more than enough, love to get your thoughts.

She is probably just shaking you down. I'd be fantastically surprised if she did anything with the money that remotely involved repairing it.

The insurance company, if they feel the claim is warranted, will cut the check for what they think a reasonable price is. From there, if she wants to have it done and Bob's Expensive Auto Repair, they're on the hook for it, but they will only pay Bob's Expensive Auto Repair directly.

 

[Accelerated]

If the shop she went to said they could fix it without repainting or refinishing the entire section of the vehicle, that little factoid will arise when they deal with the insurance adjuster.

The adjuster will show up, document the damages to the claimant vehicle and request estimates from a couple of shops. She can submit her estimate from "Bob's Expensive Auto Repair", but when the adjuster calls the shop and the shop says "yes, we can fix this without all the extra work she wants done", a price will be negotiated for a reasonable fix.

This is the kind of thing that you purchase insurance for. While I do not have anything to do with the premium or rate increases resulting from a loss history, I can tell you that the upside to handling this via your insurance is that you will no longer have to deal with this person. An adjuster will handle it, and once the adjuster is involved, she no longer has the threat of "taking it to the insurance company", and thus the potential for a "shakedown" is dramatically reduced. Insurance carriers (for the most part) neither wish to pay too much or too little for a loss. They want to pay, to the penny, what it takes to return whatever was damaged to pre-loss condition. In this case, it sounds like a small repair rather than a large one, and the adjuster will be aware of this, and be able to deal with the repair facility of the claimant's choice with that knowledge.

An alternative would be to directly contact the repair facility and ask what it would take to make it look like it never happened, rather than the larger scope of work that the claimant demanded an estimate for. Subsequent to that determination, you can decide whether you wish to offer to pay the shop directly for the repairs or have your carrier handle it. Once you have the knowledge of the value of the actual damages, you can make a more informed decision without the claimant having leverage over you.