Oh joy, here we go again, auto insurance claim...

Last week the wife went to visit family at a park. She got out of her car (which was parked by itself with nothing else around) and went to the passenger side to get out our six month old. While she was doing that, a car pulled in to the spot next to her driver's side, and then her mother walked over to get our 2 year old out of the driver's side. While getting her out, her mother accidentally pushed on the door, and made a door ding/scratch on the other car (a ratty 01-ish Lexus ES). The lady who was driving the other car (her boyfriend's) saw it and flipped out.

My wife's mother gave the lady all of her own information (and not my wife's) and immediately offered to pay for a repair (honestly, a dent puller and detailer could knock it out in an hour). The car in question has already had an obviously poor repaint and has other body damage, including ones worse than this.

Fast forward to today and a claim magically appears on our policy. Somehow this lady got my wife's info (nether my wife nor her mother provided it) and filed a claim. She is claiming that they need a whole new door, rental coverage, the works.

Needless to say, we are pissed. The damage just can't be more than our deductible (even if they painted the damn door) and it wasn't us who caused it anyway. Mom is offering to cover everything, but this still is going to take our time and possibly affect our rates.

Any advice?

Your car, your insurance, unless Mom pays the bill.

Yup, what he said. And, fixing a scratch on a bumper costs $500 these days, so your belief that it should be under your deductible to fix it is unrealistic. However, most states have a minimum amount for a claim to be before it can become 'chargeable' and effect your rates. In my state it's around $1200. So if the damage is less than that, nothing will happen.

It's unfortunate and really sucky that it happened, but it did happen and it was your MILs fault. The car will have to be in the shop to be repaired thus the rental car part of it. That's just the way it works. You have a claim unless Mom pays cash.

And don't go automatically blaming the lady, this is almost certainly the insurance company. I got bopped in the rear of the old beater truck. Insurance company is the one that said new bumper and such. Sure, 1/2 hour with a come along would have straightened it, but that's not the way it works. Which since finding a rear bumper takes time, as does mounting it, meant my truck sat in that shop yard for over a week, and I drove a rental.

By chance did anyone take pictures of the damage with their phones? That might go a long way to proving it does not need a door...

Ratty to you does not mean ratty to the owner.

No deductible on liability insurance, FWIW.

I am coming down on the side of the other car as well here. There car was damaged and it sounds like at no fault of there's. Your perception of the condition of there car is irrelevant. I hope the MIL leans from this.

I have actually asked people to more there car so I can get in / out of mine. I have had to call the cops once since the owner of a vehicle could not be located. That got the car towed. About the only thing you can claim here is that they were not parked properly. IE: parked to close to you and even if this is true it is a he/she said deal unless you got photos of the situation and even then they could claim that you parked next to them (scum bag move but nothing surprises me these days). If how they parked there car was found to have contributed to the damage then even best case would be a 50/50 split since the MIL opened the door in to the other car.

One thought would be to go and measure the size of the parking spaces and see if they are code compliant if they are not your insurance could then go after the property insurance of the lot owner but again all this is making a mountain out of something that in the long run should be handed to the insurance company and forgotten about. Best to just pass it on to the insurance company and move on.

oldopelguy wrote: Ratty to you does not mean ratty to the owner.

Exactly. While I understand Jav's side of it, I just went through something like this from the opposite perspective. If something of mine is not perfect, that doesn't mean I don't care about it becoming more imperfect.

Man I really can't stand it when people ding one of my cars. Especially right in front of me. It does sound like the Lexus folks went a bit overboard, but still your MIL hit their car and , had they not been there, more than likely walked away from it. We don't drive our 09 Solstice GXP Coupe very often, but I did bring it into work a few months ago and parked in the garage, drove to lunch, then parked in a different section of the garage. I drive home with no stops and park it in our garage. When I walk around to the passenger side I see a ding with white paint on the rear 1/4. The car was like new and has a little over 8k miles. When I get to work the next day I ask security to take a look at the camera footage....cameras weren't working in the first section I parked in and my car was just out of view in the 2nd section....so much for berkeleying security cameras. Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I really hate it when one of my cars gets dinged.

Sorry, I shouldn't have harped on the condition of the other car so much. I'm just pissed that they didn't give MIL a chance to make it right, and are now making a mountain out of it. (Seriously, a new door?!?)

They filed it as a collision claim with our insurance. We have a $500 deductible. When my wife's car got dinged it was around $350 to get it fixed, and we happily worked with the other party.

The Lexus lady is just being a shine happy person.

They can't file it as a collision claim with your insurance. Collision is only for your cars on your policy (or a rental you borrow). That's what's called 1st party coverage. Damage caused to someone elses' car is under your liability portion of the policy, known as property damage. You should have no deductible for that.

Also, it is completely out of your control. If they wish to present the claim against your policy, they can do so. If the Lexus owner is being a shiny happy person, that sucks, but it is what it is. Your carrier should do their due dilligence and note any prior damage the vehicle may have had and not pay for those repairs. But as ddavid said, small scratches are $500+ to fix now. That's the way it is...and no, that's not insurance companies fault.

Sorry, Jav.

Sounds to me like she is just covering her bases.

Since there was no police report filed, she really only has 2 options...

• file with insurance

• trust a total stranger to give her the cash and hope it turns out OK.

If she called her insurance, it's pretty likely they would follow up with your insurance. It was YOUR car that hit hers, regardless of who was in control, or what the details were.

You don't get to decide what the value of the damages are. That's the adjuster's job.

Would you have rather her call the police and make a scene on the spot for the vandalism caused to her property by your MIL?

Truthfully, she has paid for a policy with certain coverages, and she has a right to claim those coverages if they are applicable, including the car rental. Her insurance company has a right to seek restitution from your insurance company or you, in whatever manner is in accordance with your state laws.

If you go the insurance route, your companies adjuster will look at the damage and say how much they are willing to pay. Probably dent repair and repaint.

This is why when you suspect a crazy (flipping out over a scratch on some beater is a good indicator) you call the cops and let them sort it out on paper.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: This is why when you suspect a crazy (flipping out over a scratch on some beater is a good indicator) you call the cops and let them sort it out on paper.

Which has zilch to do with the insurance claim.

foxtrapper wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: This is why when you suspect a crazy (flipping out over a scratch on some beater is a good indicator) you call the cops and let them sort it out on paper.

Which has zilch to do with the insurance claim.

then what good are the po-po ?

In reply to wbjones:

Here at least, there would need to be a police report filed before the insurance company would even offer to do anything.

Also, TAKE PICTURES OF THE SCENE, DAMAGE, ETC......

No real comment on the accident itself, but repair costs have gone up substantially. According to a body shop owner / friend, one of the big reasons is the cost of paint. If you use a decent quality paint, prices have risen quite a bit.

foxtrapper wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: This is why when you suspect a crazy (flipping out over a scratch on some beater is a good indicator) you call the cops and let them sort it out on paper.

Which has zilch to do with the insurance claim.

It has a lot to do with the insurance claim when it turns into some sort of he said she said thing and you've got a cop on your side claiming he couldn't figure out which scratch was yours either.

Datsun1500 wrote: I did that a few weeks ago. I came out of a restaurant and someone was parked a few inches away. I asked the hostess to see if she could find the owner. She came back 5 minutes later and said "He said you will just have to wait, he's having dinner" so I called the police. They showed up with a roll back right behind them. He came down then but the police told him once the tow truck driver is there, he's taking the car. Here is the photo. The way the gravel is laying, it looks like there is a line and I am on it, but there were no lines, just gravel.

Good on you and good on the cop. That is just assinine behavoir on the other driver's part.

sorry to hear about your troubles Jav, hope it gets sorted quickly. I'm sure your MIL feels horrible about the whole thing.

In reply to Datsun1500:

That's a bit confusing to me.

I am not suggesting he was very nice, but how do you define where people are supposed to park if there are no lines?

Also, how do the police have the authority to tow a car off of private property?

Got it.

Restaurant owner changes the picture.

My things have changed. when I was in college parked at my apartment I heard a thud and looked out the window at my car and the crystal hanging from my mirror was swinging. a very intentional hit with a door. When I yell out the window they flipped me off. Then the next morning I put a concrete nail next to each tire. If the had rolled forward they would have dropped. When I came home they had 4 flats. The paint was still fresh on my car and tore. That was in 91