Car Wreck GRRRR

[MaynardMeek]

hey all.. first time i have ever been in an accident... i was stopped waiting for traffic to lighten up so i could make a turn, when out from the darkness came a red little pontiac sunfire .. right into me..

for me the damage was only the lower bumper part of my car..

i know this may sound really dumb but i don't know what to do next.. she has insurance .. as do i... because she hit me, does her company cover any and all payments that i need as well...

if not...


does anyone know where i might find a 2003 dodge stratus RT 2 door rear bumper, and bumper cover...


Thanks!

:burger:

 

[bpmartyr]

Providing her insurance company finds her at fault they owe you to return your vehicle to pre loss condition and loss of use (rental car) for a reasonable repair time. You can use your own company but you will have to pay your collision deductable. Your insurance company will then try to recover their assets through subrogation and if sucessfull will reimburse your deductable as well. First thing to do is call her insurance company and file a claim. Depending on the company they will either have you drive to an inspection station (which may be an auto body repair facility that they have a direct repair program with) or send an adjuster to you who may work for the company or be an independant hired by them. What company does she have?

 

[MaynardMeek]

She has Nation Wide Mutual.... could they not find her at fault though she hit a car that was at a total stop?

 

[bpmartyr]

She has Nation Wide Mutual.... could they not find her at fault though she hit a car that was at a total stop?

Should be pretty cut and dry as far as liability but if she gives a diff story than you it can sometimes come down to he said she said.

Nationwide will probably want you to use one of their direct repair shops. You have the right to have the veh repaired anywhere you would like but it can make the process a little smoother and quicker to agree to use a direct shop. I used to work as an estimater/parts manager for a Nationwide preferred shop. They were not bad do deal with IMO but experiences can vary from region to region, adjuster to adjuster etc. I presently work for an Insurance company as an auto claims adjuster. I wont tell ya the name but if you were dealing with me you would be in good hands.

Please, feel free to ask anything you want to know. It's what I do.

 

[MaynardMeek]

Thank you very much, I just got off the phone with their people to report my claim. I will keep you up todate..

thank you again for your help......is there any secret hand shake or something... something that i should say.. i pretty much only know to say what happened.. and as for her telling different story.. i hope not.. she even told me that she had no idea i was there.. while she was infront of the cop filling out paper work...

 

[bpmartyr]

Thank you very much, I just got off the phone with their people to report my claim. I will keep you up todate..

thank you again for your help......is there any secret hand shake or something... something that i should say.. i pretty much only know to say what happened.. and as for her telling different story.. i hope not.. she even told me that she had no idea i was there.. while she was infront of the cop filling out paper work...

NP.

If you had an officer at the scene the odds tip considerably your way towards a favorable outcome so it is good to hear one was there.

No special anything. Just tell the facts and be polite. The claims adjuster is just trying to do their job and they will do it all the better with someone who is likeable. If it is any consolation I was rear ended and pushed into another vehicle a couple of weeks ago. Totalled my car. I bought that car wrecked and put a lot of loving care into putting it back together and dressin it up real nice so I suppose I would be somewhat justified being angry about it but it is just a car. A hunk of steel and plastic that gets me from point a to point b. There is also a fair amount of time spent dealing with the insurance company and in your case the body shop as well. Making arrangements for a rental and waiting for people to call you back and so forth. Bottom line is, keep your chin up and don't let a little thing like this get ya down. I see it everyday and it makes me sad when I see people so upset about so little. I do understand that you have never been through this before and I just want to encourage you by assuring you it will all work out just fine. Thank god you were not seriously injured right?
Again, any questions, please ask.
BP

 

[CDB]

NP.

If you had an officer at the scene the odds tip considerably your way towards a favorable outcome so it is good to hear one was there.

Always get the cop report is good advice. I got sued once for an accident where I was admittedly at fault, but the prick lied several times in his deposition and I got me a dismisal because, to be blunt, the judge didn't believe a word he and his wife said, and a few of things he lied about were shown to be false by the police report. One example was both their claims of a back injury causesd by the accident. Turns out he had sued a ski resort for a fall off the lift that caused the exact same problem, and she had sued her former employer for once more the exact same injury she said the accident caused. That's fairly big apparently, you often legally can't claim to get the same chronic injury twice in the exact same way in the exact same spot, and both of them claimed the accident had aggravated a previous injury and somehow that got in the record from one the cops on the scene. Who knows if my lawyers would have found that out otherwise, maybe, maybe not. Injuries can be aggravated, but not caused twice you know. After those and few other instances of BS the judge dismissed the suit with predjudice. I loved it. I felt bad about the accident, but it was an accident, they did seem fine, and it seemed the millions they were asking was more than unreasonable. Hell, I've been hit before, even have some recurring numbness in my right shin from an accident a while back that wasn't my fault, and I've never sued before.

So, Maynard, if this ever happens again make sure some hurried asshole or some conveniently crying or hurried bitch doesn't talk you out of getting that report. It won't affect your respective insurances, only making a claim does that, or if the insurance runs a check and finds out about the accident. A lot of times they don't want to do that because they don't want to raise rates and lose customers they don't have to. It does give you an official record of what happened though, and often what people claimed the effects were right then and there after it happened, which can be very different from what they claim later after they start seeing dollar signs. From experience that record is, in the end, more important I would say than a possible rise in insurance rates.

 

[max-rot98]

I would recommend you find a place to get your car fixed yourself. If you have a good one. Have been in a few accidents. Once I got hit and a friends mom that worked for the insurance company of the guy that hit me recommended I go to a certain place. It was a terrible experience. Besides dragging their feet they took a lot of shortcuts that were noticable down the road. About a year later i got rear ended and took my car to a place I chose that I knew had a good rep. It was as painless and easy as it could be. I'll never got to the insurance company's recommended place again.

But hey that is only if you know of a good place already.

 

[Squeaks4ver]

maynard that sucks! are you ok? Who hit you! I will fly up to NJ and eat her! :food:

 

[MaynardMeek]

thaks everyone... my insurance company is sending out a guy to take a look at my damage, as well has her company. I filed a claim with them last night.

I have to wait 3 days or so to get the report from the clifton PD... apparently i have the right to have my car built back to how it was before the accident.. and if i am not happy with it, my insurance company will step in and make sure the work is done. my insurance co is NJM.. so far i am pretty happy with them....

Going to the Dr today however... myself and my passanger more so are feeling interesting. Something in her lower back is pinching her...

 

[bpmartyr]

I would recommend you find a place to get your car fixed yourself. If you have a good one. Have been in a few accidents. Once I got hit and a friends mom that worked for the insurance company of the guy that hit me recommended I go to a certain place. It was a terrible experience. Besides dragging their feet they took a lot of shortcuts that were noticable down the road. About a year later i got rear ended and took my car to a place I chose that I knew had a good rep. It was as painless and easy as it could be. I'll never got to the insurance company's recommended place again.

But hey that is only if you know of a good place already.

That can happen but is more the exception than the rule. Usually the Ins comp will have multiple shops to choose from in a given area and you can check into their reputation and make an informed decision. Like I posted earlier, I worked in a BS that had the best rep in town and does excellent repairs, has exlnt cust service and a great warranty but was also a direct repair facility for over 15 Ins companys. The Ins company I work for now offers a lifetime, nationwide warranty on the shops we recommend so you are covered even if the shop goes out of business or you move to the other side of the country.

I deff agree that the shop should be checked out before hand. Ask around and find out what people have to say about their experiences with shops and remember even good business establishments make mistakes from time to time. I judge them more by how they take care of their customers and remedy the situation in the event you are unhappy with some aspect of the repair process.

Edit: I would add that the reason I recommended using their shop is that I am thouroughly familiar with Nationwides DRP (Direct Repair Program) and know what they require of the shops the work with (being that I was one of them). They do a pretty good job of acquiring only quality repair facilities. The are not Geico or Progressive.

 

[MaynardMeek]

Latest and the greatest.

My mother works for a law department for a communications company.. When i told her she put me on with her boss who is a attourny... she has given me adivce and told me i must not ignore the stiff/dull feelings in my neck and shoulder... so i am off to see a dr. ... the girl that hit me did not get a ticket ( we think) NJ is a no fault state and thusly i may have to pay everything anyway... she will not let that happen... they are going to try to check her cell phone records to see if she was on the phone at the time she hit me... yay...

 

[MaynardMeek]

Bringing my car in tomorrow to the body shop... they wanted me to go to a place in NYC, told me i had to.. but then my attourny butted in and said its my right to go to any place i wish... so i am going to.. i really hate my attourny.. she is making me do things i really do not want to do lol...

is nation wide able to get me a rent-a-car whilst it is in for repair?

 

[The Experiment]

I got into an accident once. I barely bumped into a car in a parking lot. All it did was take a little paint off the lady's early 90s model car, with rust on it in many spots. We exchanged information and she made a big deal about how inconvienient it is for her and how that small amount of paint (which was maybe 1-2 square inches at most) was a big deal.

A week later, I got outrageous figures. One place wanted $1350, another one asked for $1000, another wanted $800. I came clean to my parents or else I probably would have sucked it up and paid the $800. We got it checked out by both (myself and the lady's) insurance companies and the figure came out to be something like $150, not $1350. The $1350, $1000, and $800 included a bunch of other stuff the lady wanted repaired.

 

[MaynardMeek]

Update... car looks to be totaled... I had no idea that the floor of my trunk had been pushed in and ripped off... i feel sorry for anyone driving behind me.. gallons of water must have been flying out of it.

Not really sure what happens now..

 

[bpmartyr]

Update... car looks to be totaled... I had no idea that the floor of my trunk had been pushed in and ripped off... i feel sorry for anyone driving behind me.. gallons of water must have been flying out of it.

Not really sure what happens now..

They should do a conditioning report to the vehicle to assist in ascertaining it's market value. They will then pay you the cash value of your car + any applicable sales tax, licensingfees and title transfer. Once you come to an agreed value they will haul the veh off to be sold as salvage and exchange a check for the vehicle title. If you do not agree with the value they come up with you will need to show some documented research as to why.

 

[MaynardMeek]

very cool.. thank you for that info.

this is turning into more of an issue now... dr. x rays came back and for me.. we are looking at a buldging disk, severe whiplash in the neck, spine and hips.. i had NO idea that could happen. My right side of my body is now half as higher as my left... i do not feel all that bad..

 

[Squeaks4ver]

Maynard I am so sorry to hear about this!!! Do you think you have any sort of case. Are you planning to sue? Please feel better! If there is anything you need, let me know!

 

[Mrs. Gimpy!]

ouch....no fun.......

how hard did the woman come at you?

 

[MaynardMeek]

about 35mph :frustrate