On the 31st of last month, a co-worker that was parked next to my pickup decides she wants to crank the wheel to back out of her space without looking. She ran her minivan into my rear, passenger side quarter panel. Nice dent and scrape. Dent is obvious, scrape is right by the wheel well.



She works upstairs. Luckily another co-worker, who works in the same department that I do, saw her do it. He comes in and gets me, and we find her waiting for me in the parking lot. She gives me her insurance information: State Farm policy number, agent name, her name, address, and phone, etc. So far so good. I call her agent fifteen minutes later after work was over and started a claim.

Their agent called her husband later that evening after she had gotten home, to verify my story. He tells the agent to put a hold on the claim until he sees some estimates, because he may want to pay out-of-pocket rather than through insurance.

So on Monday, when she tells me they may pay out of pocket, I thought fine, and gave them a copy of the estimate, along with a comment that to repair the dent and repaint that entire section will be at least a day's worth of labor, so I'd need a rental for at least a day, if not two, to get to work. She said OK, and that she'd give the estimate to her husband.

Well, he sees it and goes off all half cocked. He sees "REAR BUMPER" and "TONNEAU COVER" listed, and tells his wife that he will not be paying for a new rear bumper or cover. He doesn't look at the obvious 0.3 hours of labor for each, or the tiny fraction of the estimate it is, to remove them for the paint action, and then reinstall. It even had "R & I" listed next to the part, and underneath that, an explanation that "R & I" means "remove and install," not replace.

I understand that estimates can be confusing, but before you get irate, shouldn't you at least consult someone who understands the material? Evidently not.

So she takes the $685 estimate, and tells me that she will give me $100, and that she will not be paying for existing damage to the bumper and cover. They obviously have no idea how much vehicles cost to fix when it comes to body-work and paint. Then she threatens me with a lawyer if I keep trying to make them pay for things she didn't do.

I told her they were mis-reading the estimate, and that I'd be happy to explain each item to them. Asked if she can meet me after work, or over the weekend (this was June 8th, a Friday). She said she was busy after work, and then she told me we would resolve this at 5pm on Monday, and refused to talk to me anymore.

At that point, I had reached the end of my patience. You hit my car, and now you are laying down terms? I don't think so. She had admitted fault in her emails to me, and my witness clearly saw her hit my unoccupied, parked pickup. She was in no condition to lay down terms.

I called my insurance on Saturday. By Tuesday, her insurance company had accepted liability, and agreed to pay for the full damage and a rental for as long as the repair took.

In the end all I have to say is... I hate the 2011 Chevrolet Impala they rented me.

Just wanted to vent a little and hopefully educate some of the younger guys here like I am... don't ever go out-of-pocket with someone. Always call your insurance agent, not theirs. That is what you pay your insurance company for, to force things like this so that the other guy/gal pays up when they're supposed too.

 

Wow some people are just stupid.

 

Wow, I'm glad you got it resolved at least.

 

wow a $100, cant fix much on a car for that price.... itll all be pretty once again soon

 

What idiots..that's so aggravating. Good luck man

 

People just have no idea what it costs to fix cars these days. My little run in with a mailbox resulted in a new mirror ($80), antenna ($15), and repair of a deep scratch on top of the front fender (@$300 for paint/sipplies), which required R&I of the door, splashguard and bumper cover. All told it was over $1200...so like 2/3 of the cost was labor. Thats why there are so many salvage title vehicles for sale. On older cars, and I'm talking like 10-15 year old cars, so mid/late 90 models) if it is going to cost say $2000 to fix it, the insurance companies will just total it. Glad your getting it worked out. Oh, and at work, I park in the farthest spot I can, against a curb, ao only one side is exposed. We got some reall dumba$$'s here who can't park worth a ****.

 

Yeah, I used to think that I was somewhat immune to stupid parking, due to the fact that I work at a bank. I was mistaken. I never got hit once in the Best Buy parking lot when I worked there for four years while I was in school. I haven't even worked at the bank for a year, and I get hit. I guess people are just idiots everywhere you go.

 

Damn, that blows.

 

Ha ha, I do the same. Reduce chance of mayhem by 50%

 

I had a 16 yo hit my rear tire, and down the box as she pulled out of a parking lot (I was driving down the road) and she drove off, I followed her all the way to her parents house (My brother happened to be in the parking lot and she it, and fallowed to)
Her mom paid the $1300 for the repairs out of pocket, I told her mom shes lucky I didnt call the police, or her daughter would have lost her license, got a fine, and charged with Hit and Run.
In the end I got $400, since I removed my backrack and toolbox, told them not to paint the bumper (as I planned to anyways) or replace the mudflaps. lol

People dont understand how costly it is to fix things.