Martha in GA Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 My dd was in a minor fender-bender tonight. She said it scratched the other car's paint a bit, but no dents, etc. She exchanged insurance info with the other driver. BUT, we have a $500 deductible, AND this would be her second accident in two years. Can she call the other guys insurance and ask to pay out of pocket without going through our insurance? Would the other insurance company automatically call our insurance since they exchanged info.? Is it legitimate to do this, or is this something that shouldn't even be considered? Are we required to call our insurance in any case? Thanks in advance. Martha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawana Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I think that she would need to contact the guy directly and offer to settle out of pocket. I have never heard of settling out of pocket with insurance, but what do I know. Lol 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martha in GA Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Unfortunately, she didn't get a phone number for him. Would it be weird if she tried to get contact information for him via the internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Martha I think is a possibility you could void your insurance by doing that, The $500 Deductible probably applies to damage to your car, not the car of the 3rd party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martha in GA Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 That is what I was wondering -- if she would get in trouble for not calling our insurance about the accident. Maybe if she calls the other guy's insurance provider, she could find out the legalities of it all. She didn't notice much/any damage to her car, so we weren't going to make a claim on it. I just don't want our insurance rates to go up : (. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I live in an area where people love to take each other to court. I would call my insurance even for a fender bender. You don't have to claim your damage, but you have to cover yourself for the other guy. One time I nicked a guy in the Costco parking lot. He claimed that he wanted to settle without insurance, but I told him that we needed to exchange information and that I would be calling my insurance. He didn't have to claim if he didn't want to. I fully intended not to claim on my vehicle (a mom van with many dings). When I called my insurance, I realized that his card that I took a picture of with my phone had actually expired. I suspect that he wanted to settle without insurance because he didn't have any. I never heard from him again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Well, I don't know, but I thought the deductible pertained when paying to repair one's own car and not the other guy's car. Anyone know that? I am assuming you mean paying to fix his paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Well, I don't know, but I thought the deductible pertained when paying to repair one's own car and not the other guy's car. Anyone know that? I am assuming you mean paying to fix his paint. Deductibles pertain to damage done to your own car in and accident if you in fact have comprehensive and collision insurance only your car. Liability insurance is for damage and injuries done on the other car or person and there is no deductible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 (edited) Deductibles pertain to damage done to your own car in and accident if you in fact have comprehensive and collision insurance only your car. Liability insurance is for damage and injuries done on the other car or person and there is no deductible. That is what I figured. So if she caused the accident she would not pay a deductible to fix his car. If he caused the accident she could get the deductible back. That might take FOREVER, but we did get our deductible back when it wasn't our fault. Edited October 20, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 If you can get in contact with him, then you can possibly settle without notifying any insurance company. I've done that several times on both sides of the accident. Once, the guy who my kid hit ended up deciding not to bother the ding. Yay, me! Another time, the person my kid hit got an estimate, and we just sent a check. One time, when I was at fault and readily admitted it, the person I hit never contacted my insurance . . . I didn't get HER info, as I was distracted and not thinking clearly. I'm guessing she wasn't legal to drive, as I probably did 1000-2000 in damage to her car (wrecked her back bumper). Maybe you'll get lucky like that. :) I regretted having even CALLED My insurance since my own car's damage was minor and wouldn't be claimed, but I had just assumed that the person I hit would call my/her insurance company(ies) since the damage was significant. If that happened today, i would try to avoid using insurance in the first place. Anyway, in *our* community in WV, most people are happy to exchange contact info and settle w/o insurance. I *always* prefer to do that for any damage under 2k or so (and have never had a claim over 2k). We have 4 drivers, soon to be 5, and I know that it's much better for us to cover minor problems out of pocket . . . Of course, if there was a bodily injury or serious vehicle damage, then I'd want/need insurance involved. But, short of that, I do my best to avoid it. And, yes, I'd try to google up his contact info if you can. It might be weird, but worst case, he won't want to talk to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 That is what I figured. So if she caused the accident she would not pay a deductible to fix his car. If he caused the accident she could get the deductible back. That might take FOREVER, but we did get our deductible back when it wasn't our fault. Hmm I've never had that. When we were in an accident that was someone else's fault our insurance didn't handle it at all. They would have if their was a dispute. But since the other guys insurance accepted it as his fault they just cut a check for us. I guess if their is a dispute then our insurance would have handle d it under comprehensive and collision and then require the deductible. Then once it was cleared up the deductible would be reimbursed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martha in GA Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Thank you everyone. I did call his insurance and he hadn't made a claim yet. The insurance agent said we could settle outside of insurance directly, but, if the client called, they would process the claim. It turns out the guy she hit was a dr. so she was easily able to find contact info and has left him a message that she would like to talk to him about insurance. I told her to assure him that we would go the insurance route if he felt more comfortable with that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Hmm I've never had that. When we were in an accident that was someone else's fault our insurance didn't handle it at all. They would have if their was a dispute. But since the other guys insurance accepted it as his fault they just cut a check for us. I guess if their is a dispute then our insurance would have handle d it under comprehensive and collision and then require the deductible. Then once it was cleared up the deductible would be reimbursed Well the dumb thing was the other insurance tried to argue it was not their customer's fault. It was CLEARLY the other person's fault. So our insurance paid right away minus the deductible. We had to wait for it to go to third party arbitration and then the other company cut us a check for the deductible. It took about 11 months to get it back. The other person hit my husband coming from a parked position on the side of a road. He was in traffic. Her reasoning as to why it was not her fault was that "she signaled". I can't believe the other insurance even bothered to argue about it, but whatever. Maybe they always do to see what they can get away with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Thank you everyone. I did call his insurance and he hadn't made a claim yet. The insurance agent said we could settle outside of insurance directly, but, if the client called, they would process the claim. It turns out the guy she hit was a dr. so she was easily able to find contact info and has left him a message that she would like to talk to him about insurance. I told her to assure him that we would go the insurance route if he felt more comfortable with that. If it is some scratched paint, me might not bother doing anything. I don't think I would unless maybe if I had a lease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 That is what I was wondering -- if she would get in trouble for not calling our insurance about the accident. Maybe if she calls the other guy's insurance provider, she could find out the legalities of it all. She didn't notice much/any damage to her car, so we weren't going to make a claim on it. I just don't want our insurance rates to go up : (. I would not contact the insurance company of the other party. I do not remember the details, but I think if you try to hide anything from your own insurance company, or go around them, you may find yourself without any insurance. There are legal reasons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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