So the inevitable happened, I screwed up today with hitting someone's car. That caused damage to the fenders and a bit to the doors as well. I have included a few pictures, I was wondering if it was worth going through insurance? I do have a $1k deductible.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
At fault accident fender/door damage, worth going through insurance?
- Thread starter The_Observer
- Start date
Birdsfan
Member
Shelburne
Member
I've been told by several people including my insurance agent that unless the damages are more than $5000 it's cheaper in the long run to pay the costs out of your own pocket. That's because of the increased premiums you'll be paying for years after your insurer covers the damages. That figure is relevant to Massachusetts and may be higher or lower in other states.
rpiotro
Active Member
For me it would depend on the cost to repair. If you go through insurance it may wind up on CarFax as "totaled". Weigh the pros and cons.
Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit but it will almost certainly show up as "in an accident" without any further explanation. No way for a potential buyer to know the extent of the damage. When I went to trade in my 2014 Infiniti Q50 the CarFax report said "in an accident" There was a bit of discussion with the dealer as to the value of the car and I'm sure it hurt.
I was rear ended in a McDonalds drive through. Yes, it takes a certain kind of stupid to rear end someone in a drive through. The rear bumper fascia had a scrape and needed to be refinished. Had I known the impact on the CF report I would have paid the damn $800 instead of making a claim against the other drivers insurance.
Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit but it will almost certainly show up as "in an accident" without any further explanation. No way for a potential buyer to know the extent of the damage. When I went to trade in my 2014 Infiniti Q50 the CarFax report said "in an accident" There was a bit of discussion with the dealer as to the value of the car and I'm sure it hurt.
I was rear ended in a McDonalds drive through. Yes, it takes a certain kind of stupid to rear end someone in a drive through. The rear bumper fascia had a scrape and needed to be refinished. Had I known the impact on the CF report I would have paid the damn $800 instead of making a claim against the other drivers insurance.
E90alex
Active Member
Aren’t you going to have to use insurance to pay for the other cars damages anyways?
Unless they are going to pay out of pocket for the damages to the car they hit, they will have an insurance claim anyhow, so it probably won't make any difference if they have insurance repair their car as well.
Knowing Tesla parts cost and backlog, you are looking at 2 body panels + mirror housing + wheel replacement, and repaint of the right hand side of the car. At least.
Easily north of $5K on your car. Plus the cost of damaged to the other party's car.
Intermediating and validating the other party's claims is alone worth the effort to bring your insurance onboard.
If you are not willing to use your insurance now, why have it at all!?!
That doesn't sound right, at all.
Unless you are on the brink of getting dropped by your insurance company for prior accidents, or are under 25 y/o, making one claim may results in minor premium increases for 1-3 years, or in no premium increases at all. $5K worth of premium increases would imply ~$1.67K of extra cost per year. That's just not happening on 1 car policy.
HTH,
a
Shelburne
Member
"That doesn't sound right, at all.
Unless you are on the brink of getting dropped by your insurance company for prior accidents, or are under 25 y/o, making one claim may results in minor premium increases for 1-3 years, or in no premium increases at all. $5K worth of premium increases would imply ~$1.67K of extra cost per year. That's just not happening on 1 car policy."
I live in MA. A friend backed her big SUV into my M3 two years ago, doing over $9000 in damage to my car and virtually none to her's except for a dimple in her bumper that she chose not to have fixed. We both own only 1 car. We both have the same insurance company, but have different independent agents. Both her agent and mine said that if the estimate had been under $5000 it would have saved money to have the work paid for out of pocket. Her policy has gone up over $70 a month since the accident, and I believe she said it would stay at that higher rate for about 3 years. Clearly, with a $9000 repair bill, insurance was the way to go, but if it had been under $5000, the higher cost in premiums would have, over 3 years, come close to equalling paying out of pocket.
Unless you are on the brink of getting dropped by your insurance company for prior accidents, or are under 25 y/o, making one claim may results in minor premium increases for 1-3 years, or in no premium increases at all. $5K worth of premium increases would imply ~$1.67K of extra cost per year. That's just not happening on 1 car policy."
I live in MA. A friend backed her big SUV into my M3 two years ago, doing over $9000 in damage to my car and virtually none to her's except for a dimple in her bumper that she chose not to have fixed. We both own only 1 car. We both have the same insurance company, but have different independent agents. Both her agent and mine said that if the estimate had been under $5000 it would have saved money to have the work paid for out of pocket. Her policy has gone up over $70 a month since the accident, and I believe she said it would stay at that higher rate for about 3 years. Clearly, with a $9000 repair bill, insurance was the way to go, but if it had been under $5000, the higher cost in premiums would have, over 3 years, come close to equalling paying out of pocket.
Yeah, I guess I was a bit of panic and distress when I was making this post. I have already submitted the claim, so I am just waiting for them to proceed on what to do from here. I am in my late 20s, so I am expecting a bit more raise in premium from this, I guess a lesson learned on my end as well.
