Parking Lot Accident

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

After a day of fuming I am finally calm enough to post this. My wife drives the Leaf to work every day now because her commute is longer 60-65 miles roundtrip. So 2 nights ago while she was working someone hit the car in the parking lot. Where she works at has cameras and we are waiting for them to do their investigation. It can get confusing here but she works for a large package delivery company but works at a shipper's building (basically a large distribution center) and that's where it happened at. She let her boss know about it today (he was out yesterday) and he promised her that he will do everything in his power to get it fixed. I had her do an estimate on it and the estimate came back at ~$1,100 dollars. Scratched paint and a big indenture on the driver's side front quarter panel just above the tire. I called our insurance and they could get it fixed once I pay the $500 deductible.

Here's another thing I'm concerned about. We are planning on getting a Tesla this December (Already ordered) and the last thing I want is for insurance to go up. Right now we got 2 decent offers to insure both cars at our current full coverage except for $1,000 dollar deductibles on each for ~$200 a month which I consider fair as I'm 24 and she's 21. She also has an accident on her record (long story but insurance didn't pay either party but put it on her record anyhow no police report done) and a speeding ticket both from early last year.

I figure that we have 3 options
1. Have it repaired and pay for it out of pocket (OUCH!!)
2. Have it repaired and let insurance pay minus the deductible
3. Leave the damage on there as it doesn't interfere with the driveablity of the car.

If we decide 1 or 2 then we will be without the car for 4 days. We have a spare ICE but rarely drive it. Option 3 I would really hate to do because the car is soo new and wouldn't want it to be a "beater up" car this early on in it's life. I'll be driving it once the Tesla comes since her commute is out of comfortable range during the winter (running heat).

So what advice do you all have for me?
BTW 30,000 miles just achieved in this 2013 Leaf WOOHOO!!!!

 

[Wufnu]

$1100?

You could either leave it as-is and wait to find the culprit so that their insurance can pay for repairs or pay out of pocket. Your deductible is likely a large portion of that and I don't think having your insurance do it would be worth it. You should speak with your agent and she can guide you on the right path and answer questions such as "will my premiums go up if I report this?", etc.

 

[MikeinDenver]

As your wife was not driving rates should not be affected as she is not liable. However you may want to check with your agent as I am not as familiar with IA as other states.

 

[IraqiInvaderGnr]

Agent was very little help. They didn't know if it would raise our rates our not. It would be on our record as a not at fault accident but the agent said that has to go through underwriting and he doesn't know what the result would be. Just talked to the wife who talked to the head of security for the place where it happened and he said that they don't have cameras on the parking lot till after everyone leaves but that someone did witness it. When the witness brought it to the attention of one of the security guards he did nothing and he now doesn't remember who witnessed it. Very frustrating. The Head of security said that he personally was going to question people about it and try to get it resolved. It most likely was a truck he believes and as I suspected due to how high the damage is. I was thinking about going over there one night after work and looking for my paint on someone else's car/truck.

Thinking more deeply about this I was wondering could the company be liable in any way? I know it's probably a stretch but I might try that option but if worse comes to worse the wife will not be working there once we get the Tesla. Dashcams could be a solution but where it hit I'm unsure a dashcam would have caught it.

 

[garsh]

You could either leave it as-is and wait to find the culprit so that their insurance can pay for repairs or pay out of pocket. Your deductible is likely a large portion of that and I don't think having your insurance do it would be worth it.

Agreed on all points here. Find out who did it, and call THEIR insurance company to have it covered & fixed.

You should speak with your agent and she can guide you on the right path and answer questions such as "will my premiums go up if I report this?", etc.

Most likely, the agent WON'T be able to give a definitive answer on this particular question, but the answer is most likely "yes".

 

[Wufnu]

You can also try calling your insurance company, if your agent can't help you. Even if your rates don't go up, you may lose some other ancillary benefit such as "zero claim discount", etc.

You'll notice that if you try to get an insurance quote they ask if you've had any claims or been in an accident within a certain period of time. They always point out "whether you were at fault or not".

 

[apvbguy]

My wife was hit in a parking lot in the LEAF, however she was in the car and caught the culprit.
their insurance covered the repairs and my insurance company had no involvement. If the OP cannot recover the costs of repairs he'd be foolish to report the accident to his insurance company because he will still be paying AND he will get a ding on his record and a bump in rates.
As for the Tesla, the OP needs to shop around for coverage, I've seen rates all over the map, I just added my Tesla to a policy for only $53 a month more. Shop around before buying

 

[greengate]

You are buying a Tesla and you are concerned about $1,100?

 

[lkkms2]

Type up a note with day and date of the accident, include picture of your damaged car. Ask for any witnesses to contact you/ your wife. Make many copies and put under the windshield wipers of the cars that park in the same area where your wife parked that day.

The sooner the better before too much time passes. You may want to do this do this more than once. Give copy to the security guards too.

Good Luck

 

[MrIanB]

Pay it out of pocket yourself, don't file w insurance and recover if you find out culprit. If you are buying a Tesla, 1k should not be an issue unless you are borrowing the money for Tesla from 401k or second mortgage.

Ian B

 

[MikeinDenver]

My wife was hit in a parking lot in the LEAF, however she was in the car and caught the culprit.
their insurance covered the repairs and my insurance company had no involvement. If the OP cannot recover the costs of repairs he'd be foolish to report the accident to his insurance company because he will still be paying AND he will get a ding on his record and a bump in rates.
As for the Tesla, the OP needs to shop around for coverage, I've seen rates all over the map, I just added my Tesla to a policy for only $53 a month more. Shop around before buying

You know for a fact that his rates would go up? I call BS.

 

[kubel]

You know for a fact that his rates would go up? I call BS.

If your insurance pays a portion of the claim, it's almost a guarantee your rates will go up. That's how the industry works.

 

[johnrhansen]

Everything gets damaged eventually. That little ding probably didn't diminish the value of your car as much as the repair would cost. Makes sense just to pocket the money if you get it and leave the ding there. $1000 is the threshold insurance companies use. If the payout is less than that, it doesn't count. Small potatoes.

 

[MikeinDenver]

You know for a fact that his rates would go up? I call BS.

If your insurance pays a portion of the claim, it's almost a guarantee your rates will go up. That's how the industry works.

Interesting because I work in the industry and that is not a fact.

 

[apvbguy]

You are buying a Tesla and you are concerned about $1,100?

could one reason that he can afford a tesla be that he is concerned about $1100?

 

[apvbguy]

You know for a fact that his rates would go up? I call BS.

If your insurance pays a portion of the claim, it's almost a guarantee your rates will go up. That's how the industry works.

Interesting because I work in the industry and that is not a fact.

that seems to have been the way it works for me, if it is not a 100% non chargeable event rates are increased