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Hey,
So I recently got a car and today is the first time I had an accident, it was a minor one.
It was in a parking lot, I was reversing and accidentally bumped into a chevy suburban (my car has no damage whatsoever, his car seemed to have a small dent, no bends or anything). It's my first time being in an accident and I made several mistakes.
The guy was cool and all, we didn't file any police report or so. He did take my insurance (i didn't have it on paper so I emailed it to him, and then I realized that the email contained how much my coverage is, while that is NOT what he should know). I didn't take any pictures nor his info, I just have his email. I apologized several times, the guy was really friendly and all. He said he will check if insurance is really needed.....
I only have his email, nothing else! We both went our own ways and that's about it..... I pay $170/mo for liablity only (New driver), no idea how this accident happened!
Will my insurance skyrocket? What should I do? I'm pretty damn worried right now...
Pay it out of pocket. Email him and tell him you want to pay cash for the repair, so have him take it to a shop of his choice and you will pay for the fix.
For starters, you should ALWAYS have a pen and paper in your car, ESPECIALLY as a new driver. If you get into an accident, regardless of who is at fault, you need to ask to see their drivers license, and write down their number, address, etc. Then ask for their insurance info. I'm sure you have a cell phone with a camera, take a pic of their insurance card and drivers license. Then you have all the information about them you need.
Take a picture of the damage. Do not EVER leave the scene without getting a pic of what happened, and the license plate number.
Most likely, the guy will file a claim, and your insurance will be contacted. If he's a decent guy, he's not going to lie about what happened. If he isn't though... he could say you smashed into his "other" car which is full of dents and damage, and get you on the hook for more costly repair.
My advice is to call your insurance company first, and tell them what happened. That way they have your side of the story already. If the guy never bothers to call them, then nothing will come of it.
Pay it out of pocket. Email him and tell him you want to pay cash for the repair, so have him take it to a shop of his choice and you will pay for the fix.
I don't think I would ever accept an offer of cash payment - unless the driver handed over twice my estimation of the damage on the spot and was willing to wait for the repair to be completed to get the overage returned to him.
First, because I believe the report of the accident should be filed right away to avoid problems later with he said/she said, and second because I doubt most people can afford to pay for even the smallest fender bender cash. By the time you have screwed around with them making excuses and delaying until you find out they can't come up with the cash you could have had your car repaired ad been done with it.
Third, because many who want to pay cash, don't have insurance at all, and if they can't afford a monthly insurance of $100 or so, there is no way they will scrape together what they owe and pay you - I just don't think it will happen 80% of the time.
Actually my bad, there is NO DENT, it was a scratch. Eitherway, I saw suburban rear bumpers go for $200-$300 online, and let's say $200-$300 for installation, that's about $500.
Hopefully it doesn't increase my insurance a lot if he decides to file a report... I emailed him
I agree about taking care of it yourself. Even if he reports it to insurance, they still should give u the option to pay yourself. Insurance companies will use any excuse to raise rates.
I don't think I would ever accept an offer of cash payment - unless the driver handed over twice my estimation of the damage on the spot and was willing to wait for the repair to be completed to get the overage returned to him.
First, because I believe the report of the accident should be filed right away to avoid problems later with he said/she said, and second because I doubt most people can afford to pay for even the smallest fender bender cash. By the time you have screwed around with them making excuses and delaying until you find out they can't come up with the cash you could have had your car repaired ad been done with it.
Third, because many who want to pay cash, don't have insurance at all, and if they can't afford a monthly insurance of $100 or so, there is no way they will scrape together what they owe and pay you - I just don't think it will happen 80% of the time.
I would accept cash, after I filed a police report, that was mistake number 1.
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