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My car's side door got dented by a UHaul trailer in our apt. parking lot. It dented the bottom part and scraped some paint. I'm trying to decide to take it to insurance or just pay for it myself.
That royally sucks. The decision to deal with your insurance would depend on your deductible. Because you were not in the car when this happened, your rates should not increase. Did you happen to get in touch with the moron driving with the UHaul trailer? After all, their insurance should be covering this. Having said that, that looks like it will not be easy to repair. As for a repair cost, who knows. I would stop by a few shops and get some estimates and go from there.
I'd estimate between $800-1000 at a competent bodyshop. The creases are sharp and the paint is scraped hard so that a PDR guy won't be able to do it. The creases go across the plastic door guard and across a sharp bodyline, so it'll take quite a bit of time to straighten before filler goes on (you want very little filler, so a lot of the dent has to be hammered out). Then you have to replace that door guard, which will be a hundred bucks or more. Paint materials cost is going to be $300 itself and it has to be blended across that whole door and onto the front door as well, with clear going fully across both doors. Labor is a couple hours per panel for paint, on top of the labor for the bodywork and prep. It adds up pretty fast.
My car's side door got dented by a UHaul trailer in our apt. parking lot. It dented the bottom part and scraped some paint. I'm trying to decide to take it to insurance or just pay for it myself.
Any thoughts?
The cost will vary depending on the area of the country you are in, and the quality of the shop you go to, but the only way to get an accurate cost will be to get quotes from a couple of local body shops.
That being said, it is going to be expensive, I would appear that only one door is damaged, but there is a lot of labor involved to repair the metal work, possibly some parts, and the entire door, perhaps more, will need to be painted in order to blend in the paint for a good match. Metal work is expensive, and paint, material and labor is expensive, so something that appears small is not necessary inexpensive.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see you get estimates upwards of $2000 for a quality repair.
You say it was damaged by a U-Haul trailer, so you must know who owns the trailer, I would be going after their insurance company for the repairs. You shouldn't have to pay and have your insurance rates go up if the damage was caused by someone else.
You most likely have deductible, so if you go through your Ins company, you will still have some out of pocket expenses, and you will see a rise in your next insurance premium when the bill comes. When your ins company has to pay, you will eventually have to pay...
Good luck....
You most likely have deductible, so if you go through your Ins company, you will still have some out of pocket expenses, and you will see a rise in your next insurancepremium when the bill comes. When your ins company has to pay, you will eventually have to pay...
Good luck....
In the OP's situation, won't generally be subject a rate surcharge, unless the OP was the person driving the U-Haul. The liable party is usually the one who is subject to a rate surcharge.
This sounds like it was probably a hit-and-run, but somehow the OP knows a U-Haul did it. Was there a witness? Anyone get a license number from the U-Haul? In any case, a police report can probably be filed for the damage (even on private property, in most jurisdictions), and also report the circumstances to your insurance, if you decide to file a claim. The insurance may require the police report, if you are claiming hit-and-run, and don't know the identity of the party who caused the damage. I've never been able to rent a vehicle without showing proof of liability insurance, so the renter almost had to be insured.
If you file a claim under your own insurance, you will have to pay a deductible, but if the U-haul driver can be located, your insurance will pursue recovery from that party, to include reimbursement of your deductible.
if you know who did the damage, go after their insurance, since they caused the damage.
if you dont know who did the damage, then before you go to your insurance company, get a few estimates for repairing the damage, and check your deductible.
a third option would be to hit the salvage yards and find a replacement door for your car. you might get lucky and find one painted the same color as yours is, so you can just swap the doors out, and change over the interior parts as necessary.
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I saw the Uhaul trailer earlier in the day parked next to me when I came home from work. How would my insurance company track them down?
I'm going to take a look at some estimates, but I made the appointment for Tuesday for an insurance inspection.
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I saw the Uhaul trailer earlier in the day parked next to me when I came home from work. How would my insurance company track them down?
I'm going to take a look at some estimates, but I made the appointment for Tuesday for an insurance inspection.
If you are just assuming the U-Haul trailer did the damage because it was parked next to you, you would have to be able to prove it, and that might be extremely difficult, if you don't even know who was using the trailer, especially if it is no longer around.
Ask the complex if there are security cameras on the premises, that would be a start. See if you can find out who was moving in or in that day, but the mover may be long gone and the trailer returned to the rental agency. If the trailer was damaged and you can fund where it was rented from, that would help. The renter would have had to pay U-Haul for damage on a returned trailer, that could be evidence, but how would you ever track that trailer down?
Even if you find the trailer, unless it had damage and paint transfer that matched your cars damage, you have a long road to travel.
In other words, from just what you have told us, your chances don't look good.
I'd take it to my insurance co, especially since it wasn't your fault and you weren't driving.
I actually hit a tenant's car when trying to parallel park, when I was a resident apt manager LOL. I gave her my insurance info, my insurance called me to verify, and they took good care of her - paid to have the body work done. My insurance didn't go up much at all, even though I was driving and at fault, and hit a parked car (pathetic, I know).
Anyway, I doubt it will affect your insurance much, if at all. Hopefully, you don't have a huge deductible :-)
I had a dent the size of a golf ball yanked out and it cost me $350
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