Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ok, I apparently nipped a womans side view mirror today as the cops showed up at my house. I really had no idea I nipped her and my mirror has a very very light scrap. The cop was VERY nice and told me her mirror got chipped. It was an older Mitsubishi. He gave her my phone number and she called me right after he left. She said he husband works(or knows) someone at an auto body shop and will get a price of a new mirror and call me and tell me how much it will cost. If it is affordable enough we can settle without going through insurance. I'm not sure of the pros/cons of either going through insurance or not. Any advice on what I should do? Thanks A lot
Small chip can be painted but my guess she will hit you for a full mirror. That can be expensive. Figure at least $250.
Years ago when I drove a company car some young kid clipped my lens in the back. He didn't want to go through insurance. My company agreed and he paid for the lens but they required him to sign a legal release saying he would not sue me or the company. Perhaps that is what you should do.
After paying insurance for almost 40 years and only having two accidents in that time, my attitude is everything goes through insurance now. I paid them enough.
If it is a few hundred dollars it's probably better for you not to go through insurance since that will be charged as an at fault incident and depending in your insurance and driving record could raise you rates.
But how did you not know you clipped it? Were you aware that you came close to the other car? It must have been noticeable to whoever reported you to the police.
My word of advice, from working in insurance over 20 years and seeing these type of situations backfire MANY MANY TIMES - make her sign a release, or at the very least tell her you want a copy of the repair bill with your name on it as the person who paid.
I'm curious how you clipped a mirror and the person was able to get your plate number etc while you were unaware.
My driver side mirror was clipped by one of the town's snow removing trucks. My car's mirrors don't move in, but the actual piece the mirror was in was fine. Just the mirror was chipped. I took the car to the car shop and the mirror only cost about 20-30 bucks I want to say. Depends on how damaged the ladies mirror was.
In a separate situation, last summer I hit the back of someone's car on a slick road day; I actually thought I stopped in time, I honestly don't think I hit him. We exchanged information, but I told him that I would pay for whatever the costs are out of pocket. I estimated the damage to be about $800. He said 'oh, I've done that before and the guy never paid me'. So, he calls my insurance company within the hour. After that call from Geico, I never heard from Geico or the guy again, my premium didn't go up or anything. My theory is that the damage was there before I hit him or he got the repair done cheap.
As people mentioned, get things in writing if you decide to go this route.
Thanks everyone....she's saying it $225 to buy and paint... Think I am going to pay out of pocket and make sure she's signs a release
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
