DH was rear-ended this morning...need Ins. help

[StacyWithFourRugrats]

Dh was rear-ended this morning and our new Honda Accord's bumper is totaled. Luckily, everyone is ok. The young girl who hit him was pretty shaken up but she is fine. A police report was filed and insurance information was given to us.

What do I need to do now? Is the first step to contact her insurance company? Will they require us to use a certain body shop (not sure if it matters or not as we don't necessarily know of one)? I assume unless we contact our insurance company, they do not need to know correct?

I want to get our car fixed asap as my dh's family is coming into town next Tuesday from Great Britain. We need another car to go anywhere with everyone. I would *hope* that her insurance would cover a rental, but I do not know.

Thanks!

[CookieMonster]

The first step is to contact your insurance company.

They will tell you how to go about arranging for an adjuster to examine the vehicle. They will contact the girl's insurance company.

I'm sorry to say, but if you want to get this all done through the insurance companies you will have to go on their timetable, which may not get you your bumper by Tuesday.

[plansrme]

My car has been hit FIVE times in 2 years. No. 2 was just 6 days after I got it out of the shop from the first accident. None of these were my fault, and in ever case, the other guy's insurance company paid with minimal fussing. So that said, here's what I learned:
1. I never once contacted MY insurance company and strongly discourage you from doing so unless there's something her insurance will not pay.
2. You can contact her insurance company immediately, but they will not do anything until she has reported the accident or you have a police report to send them (the latter usually takes several days, but the offenders in each of my accidents reported the accidents themselves within a day--one of them called his insurance company while the police officer was still there).
3. None of the insurance companies in my case required that I use specific body shops. They all paid the shop directly.
4. This will likely take a solid week to repair.
5. The insurance companies DO have different rules about where you can get a rental car, but in each case, they paid the rental agency directly. I always demanded a car comparable to the one wrecked (a van), rather than the sedan they offered, and I always got it. The rental agencies have direct-bill arrangements with most insurers for this very purpose.
6. State Farm was the best to deal with--2 of my 5 offenders were insured by State Farm. Piece of cake.
7. If the damage is significant and the car is pretty new, look into a "diminished value" settlement from the insurer. This is the difference between the value of your car before and after the repairs. Rules vary from state to state. In GA, I had an appraiser look at my car after the second accident and give me a single diminished value (DV) figure for No. 1 and 2. The same insurance company insured the other drivers for Nos. 1 and 2. State Farm had offered me a total of about $1,000 in DV. My appraiser ($200 to a guy I found on the internet) said $5,500. They hired their own appraiser, who came in at $5,000. We settled for $5,000. This was for a total of $12,000 in damange to a 7 month old van.
Hope that helps.

Terri

[lynn]

You can get your own estimates, independent if you'd like. The ins company may want to send you to theirs but it's okay to go to your own. Make sure you get a rental car as needed and negotiate with the insurance company if their rate is to low for what you need. Your ins should not go up unless they pay however, they will go after the other insurance company for you. Also, any aches or pains need to be documented and checked out asap and submitted to the ins company. Don't feel rushed by them to sign anything, just keep in contact to get you whole again with car repairs, car rental and any medical claims.

[CookieMonster]

Really? She shouldn't contact her insurance company?

In my experience the other person's insurance company contacted my own anyway, so what would she be avoiding?

[j.griff]

when our suburban was TOTALLED (parked in the street, hit head on by a drunk driver) I called my ins. company first, and they wanted me to file a claim. We had a deductable to pay if we filed with our ins., and I didn't want to file a claim on OUR ins. as the accident wasn't "our" fault at all, and I didn't want any claims in our file for our personaly insurance, KWIM?
So, we ended up going through the other drivers ins. they paid for a rental for us for x number of days so we could shop for a new truck, and we didn't have to pay any deductible this way- if there was one the other driver had to pay for it. They also paid for new carseats for the kids (If there were any in your car, you should have them replaced too).

[OnTheBrink]

When I was rear-ended several years ago, I did stop in and talk to my insurance guy. He said that unless the stupid woman who hit me doesn't have insurance or if her insurance gets all snitty, then call him. Other than that, he didn't need to know.

Also, have your husband see a doctor NOW. Even if he feels fine. Injuries can show up later, esp soft tissue injuries. If he's seen by a doctor now, any later injuries could possibly be linked to the accident and be covered by the girl's insurance. Have him see the doc within the first 24 hours of the accident, if possible.

[Jeanne in MN]

When I was rear-ended I drove 5 blocks to our insurance agent. He took pictures of the damage, advised me to go through the insurance company of the guy who hit us to avoid a deductible, got the information on the kid involved and his insurance agency, asked which repair shop we wanted to go to and called for me! Advised me to get an estimate from the repair shop and have it faxed over and so on.

[Eliana]

How strange!

We've been the not-at-fault party three times over the last 15 years, and every time (two different insurance companies) we went through our insurance company. They paid everything and dealt with collecting the money from the other guy's insurance company. They paid the medical bills, cut a check to cover the replacement car seats (they need to be replaced any time you are in an accident, no matter how minor), etc. Both our insurance company and the other insurance company sent someone out to take photos of the car, and we had to get an estimate from an insurance approved shop.

It wasn't that we had a particularly nice company - the first time was State Farm, and they were horrible (avoid them, please!), but after that experience we switched to Farmers, and they were very kind and helpful.

We didn't have to pay any deductibles, and we were offered pain & suffering money (serious whiplash one time, really minor aches and pains the other two times) to sign off on claims... even when I said I didn't think anyone was injured...

Your husband might be sore tomorrow; if he has a significant discomfort, he should get an exam to rule out any damage - once you have a claim number with someone the doctor or chiropractor won't require payment from you at time of service, they'll be able to bill the insurance company directly... don't hesitate to see someone really promptly, if there is an issue dealing with it asap can keep it minor!

If your car needs to get an estimate and/or be fixed an approved location, you should have a daily rental car allowance (which covers the cost of a a smaller rental car) with a maximum number of days/dollars covered while the car is in the shop.. even, I think, if is there waiting to be fixed.

AIUI, you should be able to choose your own shop for the actual repairs, but I'm certain you need to have the initial estimate done by a shop the insurance company approves.

I would highly recommend that you review your policy coverage and that you get a print copy of the policies the other company operates by - and that you then do some quick online research to make sure you know your rights. Insurance company representatives do lie sometimes - we had one tell us that two things were covered when we really had to choose to be reimbursed for A OR B... she then denied the coverage for the more costly choice. It wasn't pretty. ...and there have been many distressing cases post Katrina. However, if you know the score when you talk with them, you can protect yourself.