Accident with lots of damage to other car, but minimal damage to cruiser, should we claim w/ insurance or just fix? (2 Viewers)

[formyper]

So my wife was pulling out of our driveway when her foot got stuck and she couldn't hit the brakes in time and slammed into the side of a newer model Rav 4. There is very minimal damage to the Cruiser, will need maybe a new bumper cover, trim and realigning the headlights. The other car looked pretty bad, got hit in both passenger side doors and rear quarter panel, doors open, but still no way it's less than 7 or 10k in damage. So obviously they are filing a claim against our insurance, and we are obviously at fault, so my rates likely go up. But will they increase more if I add a (likely much smaller) claim for the cruiser? I'm busy and it'd be nice to have someone else fix the vehicle and let insurance pay, but then it's on the car's record, and will the increase in my rates be so much its not worth it? In WA state, clean records at least 10 years back both of us.

 

[iwashmycar]

Id toss a aftermarket bumper on and send it....if it happens again there would be zero damage then.

That said, it shouldnt matter if you do have insurance fix it....you have an at fault claim on there, so itll be going up regardless and your adding on that truck shouldnt really matter - it isnt really value based from what I gather.

That may be reason enough for you to, like you said, just hand it off to get fixed....piggy back the open claim.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Depends on your insurance carrier and their accident policies, I'd ask them.

 

[formyper]

Id toss a aftermarket bumper on and send it....if it happens again there would be zero damage then.

That said, it shouldnt matter if you do have insurance fix it....you have an at fault claim on there, so itll be going up regardless and your adding on that truck shouldnt really matter - it isnt really value based from what I gather.

That may be reason enough for you to, like you said, just hand it off to get fixed....piggy back the open claim.

The guy it happened to is a actually a neighbor and a good guy, and I feel bad because there was a lot of damage to their car. We'd probably feel worse if we'd hit them with the big 'ol dissent bumper I'm always eyeing. I feel like not enough people think about their crumple zones and considering other people. I know ARB claims they've done testing, but still.

 

[Super77]

Depends on your insurance carrier and their accident policies, I'd ask them.

This. I’m in WA State too and just had a similar (but smaller/cheaper) incident. My agent said that my company would allow one at-fault “mulligan” per 5 years, but it’s a factor of claims history, risk factor, tenure with the company.

I asked the same question around “if the other party filed a claim, can I just add in the work on my vehicle?” and was told it would be treated as two claims. No word on how that would impact premiums, but the insurance companies always win.

I’ve found the best experience is to have a friendly agent with whom you can have “off the books” conversations. You won’t get a clear answer here.

 

[NE Snowman]

Going to have to talk to your insurance.

I know my plan when my front bumper gets whacked, a nice aftermarket one

 

[formyper]

This. I’m in WA State too and just had a similar (but smaller/cheaper) incident. My agent said that my company would allow one at-fault “mulligan” per 5 years, but it’s a factor of claims history, risk factor, tenure with the company.

I asked the same question around “if the other party filed a claim, can I just add in the work on my vehicle?” and was told it would be treated as two claims. No word on how that would impact premiums, but the insurance companies always win.

I’ve found the best experience is to have a friendly agent with whom you can have “off the books” conversations. You won’t get a clear answer here.

So I just talked with my insurance agent, it will be treated as one claim, I can have them do an estimate from photos and then find out if there's any premium hit from adding the claim for my car or not, $500 deductible, so no reason not to send them some photos and see what the hit is.