Learn Me: My Daughter Totalled the berkeleying Car...

So yeah...everybody is okay and it was the only car involved. She was not charged.

It's registered in my name and I have collision on it, but I suspect that they would only give me about $4000 for it. Should I report it to the insurance company or would I be better off just absorbing hit myself?

Before seeing it, the plan was to trailer it home and figure things out. I stopped by the towing lot this morning and the car looks exponentially worse than it does in the photos.

On the bright side, the berkeleying raccoon survived without a scratch.

File a claim, get your money from the insurance company.

Ouch.

Did she learn that she is more important than wildlife?

Yeah, why are you not reporting this to your insurance to get money back? How many accidents have you reported to your insurance in the last ten years?

That has been discussed repeatedly through the years. Perhaps I wasn't speaking loudly enough...

I'd report it to my insurance. That's what you have it for, no?

iceracer wrote: I second what Stuart said. That is what you have collision for. You might be surprised on how much they will pay.

I'm more concerned about how much I'm going to have to pay in the future.

If you've had a number of claims over the years then yeah, you may pay more. If you haven't had a claim in a long time then you won't see a rate increase with a single claim. This is why I asked what your claim history looks like. If you share information you can get better answers.

Glad your daughter is ok, that's certainly the most important. Impressive wheel carnage, did that corner hit a big rock or tree?

I would also call insurance company. Your rates will probably go up, but on the order of $4k (or whatever they offer on the car) seems unlikely.

That's a Honda. You're going to get PAID.

Woody wrote: I'm more concerned about how much I'm going to have to pay in the future.

Why have collision on the car if you are able to write damage like that and afraid to use it?

Me? If I could eat it - I would. The less paper out there with your name on it the better. And I'd stop paying for stuff I don't use.

Looks like trade in value is about $5k on the car so figure on that being the payout minus your deductible.

Woody wrote: On the bright side, the berkeleying raccoon survived without a scratch.

Time to drill it into her head again: STAY ON THE ROAD, WILD LIFE BE DAMNED.

From everything I've heard, wild life damage is a no-fault collision. You hitting a tree trying to avoid wild life is your fault.

Woody wrote:

iceracer wrote: I second what Stuart said. That is what you have collision for. You might be surprised on how much they will pay.

I'm more concerned about how much I'm going to have to pay in the future.

So, I know this may seem a bit harsh but...

Your daughter is going to be paying for some of the damages, right?

Hell, even better, file the insurance claim. Have her make up the $xx per month your insurance goes up. That should lesson the huge overall burden, but still provide a lesson... Because totaling a car to not hit a raccoon would leave me frothing mad.

If you can easily absorb the loss, do so, and correspondingly reduce your insurance coverages. (At that point, you would be "self insuring" yourself for small to moderate damages. By doing that, you should be "paying yourself" premiums instead of the insurance company.)

Otherwise, report it, take the check, and run.

It's great that your daughter is ok. This is a great time to try to teach her that running over an animal is a better option than going into a ditch or a tree at a high rate of speed, even if it's the cutest deer ever.

I notice you're in CT. Has she been enrolled in this yet (assuming she is a younger driver): http://skipbarber.com/teen-safety-survival/

How old is the daughter? Is she living on her own? Make claim, then drop her from your insurance and make her get her own policy elsewhere, if she can. If she isn't on our policy anymore, then your rates shouldn't be affected. It is the drivers that are risky, not the cars.

My insurance company told me that they were dropping me because my ex kept bashing into inanimate, stationary objects. We had just divorced and I still had her on the policy while she transitioned. I informed the insurance company and they kept me on. I had to send them proof that she was no longer a member of the household, however.

Uh.. Yeah, report to the insurance.

I'm glad she's OK Woody.

Glad to hear the raccoon is ok.... but I second what everyone else has said. Claim it, drop her, be done.

One datapoint: my wife clipped a car pulling into a parking space, causing $1300 of damage to the other car. Once I made the report, USAA handled the whole thing and we saw no premium increase.

To belabor a point others made, if your first inclination is to eat it, you shouldn't be paying for collision in the first place. I've saved thousands and thousands over the years by moving cars to liability only once their value approaches $5k or so. Ultimately, more than those cars have actually been worth.

File a claim. To echo what everyone else has said, unless you file claims on a yearly basis, your rates aren't going to rise. And if you're that worried about it, why are you even paying extra for collision?

So why aren't you parting out the car yourself?