Author Topic: Insurance Deductable Decision  (Read 2656 times)

Xlar

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Insurance Deductable Decision
« on: April 05, 2016, 04:37:35 PM »
So I have been in a minor accident and my insurance has decided that it is the other persons fault (it was, BTW) but the other insurance company is refusing to return my insurance company's phone calls.

The damage to my car looks cosmetic but has moved some body panels about 1/4 inch so their might be more damage once they take it apart. They estimate the damage they can see is ~$2500.

The dilemma that I have is that my deductible is $1000 and my insurance company says there is no guarantee that they will be able to get it back from the other insurance company. My insurance company is a big company you would've heard of, the other company is tiny and I've never heard of them before now. From my Googling it isn't clear to me if my insurance company will be able to (or want to) escalate once I am out my deductible.

The car I have is worth ~$7000 and gets good gas economy. I cannot decide if I should get it fixed and risk loosing the 1k or if I should live with the damage. I have no plans to sell this car and fully intend to drive the wheels off of it. It's only got 65k miles and gets 40mpg so it should last a good long time although it is hard to know what the future holds.

What do you think? What would you do in my position?

forummm

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2016, 05:33:15 PM »
We had this happen as well. We fronted the deductible and hoped that we would get it back. Our insurance company (also a big one you've heard of) successfully got the deductible back from the other driver (who claimed to have insurance from a tiny company I'd never heard of, but there was some question as to whether she was actually insured). It was nice because our insurance handled everything for us. It took a month or two before we got paid back but that was OK. I was prepared to loose the money if it didn't go well.

I would get it fixed. You also don't know what's underneath that they didn't see. And you never know when you will want to sell it.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2016, 05:51:40 PM »
If you car is drivable t seems like you can just wait it out and see what happens. The tiny insurance company should eventually get back to your insurance company. If there is a dispute, then there is court. 

chemistk

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2016, 06:36:51 PM »
I would front the deductible. This happened to my wife last year, she was hit in a parking lot by another driver and her car suffered only cosmetic damage but it was enough to make a noticeable dent in fuel economy. There was also minor pre existing damage to that area that was take care of by the repair .

Our insurance handled everything and told us up front that they only expected to get about 1/2 the deductible back but after a few months, they let us know they would be able to get the whole thing.

Another reason? If there is sheet metal damaged (dented, bent, etc.) you run the risk of having that area rust prematurely.

JoJo

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2016, 06:51:21 PM »
picture?

Depends on the amount of damage  Small, not noticeable dent - OK.  Usually I don't give a crap whether people care if I'm poor or rich but I wouldn't want to drive around in a highly damaged car for years. 

Xlar

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2016, 09:22:10 AM »
We had this happen as well. We fronted the deductible and hoped that we would get it back. Our insurance company (also a big one you've heard of) successfully got the deductible back from the other driver (who claimed to have insurance from a tiny company I'd never heard of, but there was some question as to whether she was actually insured). It was nice because our insurance handled everything for us. It took a month or two before we got paid back but that was OK. I was prepared to loose the money if it didn't go well.

I would get it fixed. You also don't know what's underneath that they didn't see. And you never know when you will want to sell it.

I would front the deductible. This happened to my wife last year, she was hit in a parking lot by another driver and her car suffered only cosmetic damage but it was enough to make a noticeable dent in fuel economy. There was also minor pre existing damage to that area that was take care of by the repair .

Our insurance handled everything and told us up front that they only expected to get about 1/2 the deductible back but after a few months, they let us know they would be able to get the whole thing.

Another reason? If there is sheet metal damaged (dented, bent, etc.) you run the risk of having that area rust prematurely.

This is good advice, I will see about getting it fixed and paying the deductible. I hadn't thought about rust at all, that would really stink!

If you car is drivable t seems like you can just wait it out and see what happens. The tiny insurance company should eventually get back to your insurance company. If there is a dispute, then there is court. 

The thing is, I'm not sure if the claim will progress with out my insurance company being out $$. I think that if they pay to fix my car they'll have more of an incentive to get their money back from the other company.

picture?

Depends on the amount of damage  Small, not noticeable dent - OK.  Usually I don't give a crap whether people care if I'm poor or rich but I wouldn't want to drive around in a highly damaged car for years. 

It looks like my car has a black eye, hahaha. The passenger side fender is all dented up and pushed tight against the hood and passenger door. The door opens but does rub on the fender. The bumper under the headlight on that side is all black from the other persons tire and where the paint has come off. The headlight is pushed back under the fender a quarter inch, so probably around a half inch total since the finder is also pushed back.

NoVa

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2016, 09:36:09 AM »
With doors rubbing and headlights probably no longer in alignment I think you need to get it fixed.

jfolsen

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Re: Insurance Deductable Decision
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2016, 10:34:00 AM »
...My insurance company is a big company you would've heard of, the other company is tiny and I've never heard of them before now. From my Googling it isn't clear to me if my insurance company will be able to (or want to) escalate once I am out my deductible....

I have been in your position and I filed the claim with my own company and paid the deductible.

To address your question above.  I'm going to call your company A and the other company B.  Company A got money from you (premium) and they paid a covered loss.  Right now, they have a cash inflow of say $200 and a cash outflow of $1,500 + expenses.  Company B collected premium from the other driver.  The other driver has now had a covered loss.  They have collected the same $200 from their driver, and they have a potential liability from the crash of $2,500 + expenses.  Right now they have paid nothing.

If you are company B, you don't want to pay company A, but there's a problem.  Company A is likely to be in an opposite situation with Company B on more cases.   If Company B doesn't pay up on the subrogation in your case, company A might not pay up on the others.  This is why your company is in a much better position to get the deductible back than you are.

If legal liability can be attributed to the driver of company B, I expect that they will likely get a decent chunk of your deductible back.  In my case, I got it all back, but it took 6 months.

I can't tell you what to do exactly, but I would expect your company to be in a better position to get it back than you.  Your alternative is a lawyer, but over such small amounts, you may have difficulty finding one where the lawyer comp doesn't destroy the value of the recovery.  Just my $.02.