Fender Bender question

[buddy]

Riding down the parkway this morning / Wife and daughter were passengers / got rear ended (don't get excited, Marine!) / No injuries / Other drivers at fault / damage to my bumper, rear hatch and right tailight / We both have the same insurance company (State Farm) /

Question - Should I give him the opportunity to settle before contacting State Farm?

Question - With both of us having the same insurance company, how will State Farm handle this? Will they cut me a check or make me take this to one of their repair shops?

Thanks,
buddy

 

[Agent 0659]

You can always take your car to your own shop. As long as the estimate is reasonable, they will pay. Just turn it in, if he wants to settle let him contact you. State Farm may wave his deductible since you both have their insurance but that doesnt mean anything to you since you wont be paying anything. Make sure you get a rental car!

 

[ScreaminPain]

Whats a "parkway". Don't you "park" there?

Glad to hear no one was injured. It's going to be a pain in the ass getting everything taken care of. Good Luck

 

[fattymanboobs]

Buddy

Buddy

I work as a claims adjuster so here is the scoop, although State Farm may be a little different.

You don't necessarily have to give him an opportunity to settle. I would report the accident asap, regardless of injuries etc and give your recorded statement. Because it will be a dual-loss (both people being insd by state farm) you can have your damages covered, then they would subrogate your deductible, if you had one under your collison coverage, which they would cover it under. However, if you don't have rental on your policy, you won't be entitled one under his policy until he is contacted and they make the liability decison. But ultimately, make sure if you are not at fault, that they assign him the fault and subrogate the damages out of his policy. It could end up affecting your premium if they dont settle that. Also, your adjuster will probably write their own estimate, and then try to come to an agreed price with the shop (that is at least how my company does it).

Depending upon if you still have a lienholder on your vehicle, your insc company will either cut the check directly to you (no lien holder) and possibly put the name of the body shop on there, or if you have the title make the ck payable to you and the lien holder if you don't have the title, and they (your lien holder) will also have to endorse the ck before it can be cashed.

Also, if your car is driveable you don't have to get the car repaired. You can have a friend do it, or source your own parts and take the ck (if no lien holder) If you have a lien holder, they need to be notified, and will probably monitor the whole repair process. A lot of people that own a vehicle believe they need to have their car repaired, which is not true. The ck can be made payable to you and have uncle vinnie fix the car for a 6 pack.

Hope I helped out a little bit.

 

[Agent 0659]

I work as a claims adjuster so here is the scoop, although State Farm may be a little different.

You don't necessarily have to give him an opportunity to settle. I would report the accident asap, regardless of injuries etc and give your recorded statement. Because it will be a dual-loss (both people being insd by state farm) you can have your damages covered, then they would subrogate your deductible, if you had one under your collison coverage, which they would cover it under. However, if you don't have rental on your policy, you won't be entitled one under his policy until he is contacted and they make the liability decison. But ultimately, make sure if you are not at fault, that they assign him the fault and subrogate the damages out of his policy. It could end up affecting your premium if they dont settle that. Also, your adjuster will probably write their own estimate, and then try to come to an agreed price with the shop (that is at least how my company does it).

Depending upon if you still have a lienholder on your vehicle, your insc company will either cut the check directly to you (no lien holder) and possibly put the name of the body shop on there, or if you have the title make the ck payable to you and the lien holder if you don't have the title, and they (your lien holder) will also have to endorse the ck before it can be cashed.

Also, if your car is driveable you don't have to get the car repaired. You can have a friend do it, or source your own parts and take the ck (if no lien holder) If you have a lien holder, they need to be notified, and will probably monitor the whole repair process. A lot of people that own a vehicle believe they need to have their car repaired, which is not true. The ck can be made payable to you and have uncle vinnie fix the car for a 6 pack.

Hope I helped out a little bit.

See what I mean, as soon as an adjuster gets involved it all gets confusing. :fingerc:

 

[fattymanboobs]

THat was a mouthful

If you have title: you can keep the ck and do as you wish

If you have lien holder: your options are limited, but you can pick your own shop

That better???

 

[buddy]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

Btw, the car is driveable.

 

[gardenweasel]

were the "paparazzi" involved?

 

[buddy]

were the "paparazzi" involved?

 

[SixFive]

I would report it ASAP. Even small B.G. has a S.F. collision center, so I would expect you will have to take your car there after you make an appt.

My wreck last year was a small fender bender in my pos car. Other guy's fault, and my car booked for about 600 bucks. He had State Farm. They were very slow because the idiot disputed fault and they had to investigate. They sent me a check for 1495 bucks. Why, to this day, I'll never know why the guy cut me a check for this much money. Logically I would say he did it because his insured was a jerk and I got hassled and inconvenienced a lot, but I know that's not how it works. I never fixed my car, of course, so I didn't mind the money.

My initial problem was reporting the claim to the other guy's insurance. Do you know how many thousand S.F. agencies there are, lol?? I had to call 5 before I was finally given a central 1-800 number that could help me.