<p>Last week D1 was at work when one of her co-workers hit our car, doing about five thousand dollars in damage to our brand new car. The girl had gotten her license that very day. They called the police, who wouldn’t come because there were no injuries. Zoosergirl got her license information and the license plate number and such, but the girl and her dad told her that she didn’t have her insurance information on her since she was a new driver. The girl told ZG that she’d give her the insurance information the next day, but of course that didn’t happen. It’s now a week and they’re still ducking us. The father begged my DH to let them pay for the repairs so his daughter wouldn’t get her license suspended and wouldn’t have to pay exorbitant premiums for her insurance. We agreed to get estimates, which we did, now the father doesn’t want to pay and wants us to take the car to some guy he knows to do the repairs. I’m not having that since it’s a brand new car. The father’s attitude is (a) you can afford a new car so you don’t need anything from us, and (b) as long as it’s driveable you don’t need it to look nice. I’m steaming mad and ZG is upset because she went to a lot of trouble to give the girl the benefit of the doubt. Now we’re going to have to pay our insurance deductible and the girl, who probably shouldn’t have been driving alone in the first place, doesn’t seem to want to take responsibility. Our insurance company is going to go after her hard, which is a shame, but we really don’t have a spare $5 thousand laying around. Ugh!!!</p>
<p>No good deed goes unpunished.</p>
<p>zoosermom, you’re smart to have your own insurer handle this, particularly with a brand new car. Chances are that once your insurer can confirm details with the other insurer, your deductible may be waived. Let your company handle this, it’s why you pay them premiums! It’s pretty infuriating when a new car is hit like this. I had it happen several years ago having had the car only three days. It didn’t have as much damage as yours has sustained but it’s still upsetting. Good luck, I hope it goes more smoothly now that you’ve contacted your insurer.</p>
<p>I would not advise following the suggestion below to have a lawyer send a demand letter. It’s totally unnecessary to get involved in that if you are insured. In fact, it is up to the insurer to handle this, not you personally, which you likely know due to working in a law office. The investigation, photos, appraisals, all are things that your insurer will do.</p>
<p>Have a lawyer send a demand letter. That sends the message that you are serious without having to actually file suit yet. In Texas refusing to provide insurance information (because that lets you choose your repair shop or dealer, which is your right) constitutes a misdemeanor offense, so you may be able to bring the police in after the fact because the other party is refusing to meet their legal requirement of financial responsibility. Yes, this is harsh but you already know that the other side refuses to do the right thing, and you do have options which are necessary to protect your rights. For example, you want to make sure all of the damage is fixed; there may be additional damage which is not obvious and won’t be discovered until the repairs begin. Obviously, take photos of the car, the site of the accident, and write down everything that has happened up to now. </p>
<p>And remember, you are the good guys here, don’t let the other party try to make you feel guilty for making them do what the law requires, and what they should have done up front.</p>
<p>Betcha the coworker wasn’t on the insurance yet! I’d let your insurance co. go after her, too. $5k in a parking lot means she was probably driving faster than was appropriate. Can you contact the police at this point to follow up and let them know she still has not provided insurance info? That’s a citable offense right there.</p>
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We can’t confirm that there actually is insurance. I suspect that may be the problem.</p>
<p>MBAGrad, that’s excellent advice. Thanks so much.</p>
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Yes we can. Today’s the last day and my daughter is still trying to protect the co-worker, but we’ve got to do something.</p>
<p>zoosermom, has your insurer been in touch with them? If they’re refusing to provide insurance information to your insurer, then I’m sure there is a procedure in place for your adjuster to follow. It isn’t your job to determine who the insurer is, it’s your adjuster’s job. Once the claim is reported, you don’t have to do this work, your insurer is required to according to the terms of your contract with them, and that’s why the advice from MBAGrad is actually very bad advice.</p>
<p>you know you have only 10 days from date of accident right? Or both licenses could get suspended? Filing the paper work, DMV accident report correct?</p>
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Yes that’s today. The father is supposed to meet my husband to discuss, but he’s pretty firm that they shouldn’t have to pay.</p>
<p>Alwaysamom, we’re not going to have a demand letter sent, but we didn’t even think to have pictures taken of the location or anything, so we need to do that today as well as write down the names of the witnesses. I think our insurance company wants to have as much information as possible.</p>
<p>if your deductible is the only cost out of this, I wouldn’t even meet with them. They are suggesting you get it repaired by who they chose, its a brand new car, police should know (as it is really lookin like they do not have ANY insurance at all)</p>
<p>Glad you got some good advice. </p>
<p>My son had a problem too. Someone went through a stop sign and hit the side of his car. The damage was about 2,000. He was a 70 year old (not that matters, but read on) and at least did have insurance. My son called the police and then called us right away. The police did come and there was a police report. The driver who went through the stop sign kept saying that my son must be a “new driver” and he tried to blame the accident on his age (he had been driving for 5 years already, and is a good driver)! He stated this to us at the scene of the accident and called us at home to state the same thing! My H just dealt with our insurance company and they were wonderful. My H did need to be assertive in getting our insurance company to contact the other insurance company to reimburse for our $500 deductible. The police report clearly showed that the other driver had the stop sign, so we were reimbursed for our deductible. The whole thing was a pain, but not as bad as your situation. </p>
<p>Sounds like you tried to be nice and they are taking advantage of that!</p>
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My daughter is too kind hearted. To make matters worse, she is the girl’s manager and has to deal with her.</p>
<p>Good life lesson for your daughter. Good luck.</p>
<p>If you have collision insurance on your new car then won’t YOUR insurance company go after the other party?
I would also notify the employer if it happened in their parking lot.</p>
<p>Also the security cameras should provide a video of the incident.</p>
<p>The employer was informed and there’s video and witnesses of the whole thing. We hadn’t officially reported a claim with insurance company yet because my daughter was trying to cut the other girl a break, but that was obviously a mistake, so she’s doing that today. </p>
<p>Yup. Excellent life lesson.</p>
<p>Oh dear - definitely report this to your insurance! No need to beat around the bush here. Besides - when it becomes an “insurance” matter, it keeps it from being “personal”.</p>
<p>Been there, done that - and don’t make the same mistake I did - call your insurance company and file the claim. </p>
<p>Twenty years ago, I was soft hearted (and there was only $1000 damage) - and agreed to let her friend fix the car. Looked fine at first but then fell apart - and there was no one to go after. Ended up paying out of pocket to fix it again.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t even bother at this point. What if the guy does agree, but reneges later? Just let the insco handle from here on out.</p>
<p>At times it doesn’t “pay” to be a nice guy. They were at fault so don’t feel bad contacting your insurance company and filing the claim.<br>
I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago. The guy rear ended me and was so upset (he had priors) and asked if he could just pay me out of his pocket and not report to insurance company. I took him for his word…MY mistake. After receiving a grand total of $20 out of a $1200 repair bill, and countless phone calls to him - left message to return my call but he never did - I received a letter from his attorney that I was harrasing his client and it better stop or I would be in trouble…Incredulous! I was so angry I couldn’t see straight. I ended up paying it myself, never saw another dime. I will NEVER do it again, no matter how small.</p>
<p>Big lesson learned for me.</p>