My hubby came out of work last night to find his car had been hit & he has some pretty bad damage. Front quarter-panel is scratched, frront door is dented & scratched & the rear door is scratched (on a Mercedes--thinking a very expensive repair). Since he was in a hurry to get from his clinic to the hospital, he didn't call the police.
What should we do now?
Call the insurance co first?
Get estimates for the body work first?
I'd really hate for our rates to go up, and our deductible is $1000
Ugh, my hubby's partner, who has some experience with repairs like this, says he thinks it'll be about $5k to fix. Double ugh--insurance claim here we come :(
Hope y'alls days are going better!!
Was wrong about our deductible--it is only $250, so that will DEFINITELY be a worth while claim.
Get an estimate. Compare it to deductible cost, you get the idea. Also, keep this in mind, your rates may not go up NOW, but when the policy is due for renewal your company will do a 'loss history' report and that could make the rate jump, or if you are considering going to another insurance company, they will look at this report as well.
Like Bethyskids said, check security cameras!
Does his work have security cameras? It might be on tape. Worth a check anyway.
I had this happen, makes you want to scream! You can claim it against your insurance but it can effect your rates. I would get an estimate first and see where you are. If it is just a bit above the deductible then just get it fixed.
I called the police straight off, even pointed out the van I am pretty sure did it. They could do nothing. :(
I could see not leaving a note for a little bumper tap but scraping along the whole side of my car (which was only a month old) I can't imaging what kind of awful person does that. :(
Oh Bethy that was the best part, I was parked right in front of the camera but they don't turn those unless *they* have something to protect in the parking lot.
OOH Kate!!
I'm sorry!! this happened to me yesterday!!! I called our insurance company. My damage isn't bad - but it's noticeable. I can take it to a repair shop and they will access the damage and how much it will cost to repair - our deductible is $500 - so I'm not really sure.
So call the insurance company first. then call the police non emergency number and file a complaint (that's what my insurance had me do).
GOOD LUCK!!
When I was hit & run when living in Chicago, the idiot tore my front bumper off at the intersection of LSD & Belmont, making a left turn in front of me from the right turn lane. I called the police and filed a police report, and I definitely claimed it on my insurance...if I was paying for full coverage, I was certainly going to use it. Since it was a H&R, I'm not even sure I actually had to pay my deductible...I honestly don't remember what the terms of my insurance was at the time. My rates were not affected by the single incident...it's when a pattern appears or there are multiple incidents that the rates become impacted, IIRC.
You need file a police report and then decide if you will use insurance to pay for the repairs. You don't have to call the police for something like that as soon as it happens since there were no injuries (although it would be nice if karma paid the hit and run person a visit huh).
If you do decide to use your insurance for repairs then give them a call and they will send someone out or have to take the car to a location to determine the damage and cost of the repairs. When we've had repair work done the insurance has cut us a check directly and we worked with a local shop to get the repairs done at a cost that really wasn't much more than the insurance check.
In my opinion, you need to file a police report. It sounds like your husband is busy and didn't have time to deal with it when he discovered it, but he should file a report now.
Many times, the first question insurance adjusters will ask is...."Was a police report filed?"
I would think you definitely have to notify your insurance if you want them to cover the repairs.
Is it $1200 in damages? (Just a number I threw out there).
If that's the case, you would be better off just paying for the repairs yourself. You already would have to pay the deductible of $1000. $200 wouldn't seem worth getting your insurance premiums raised.
It depends on what the damages are and you may or may not be able to recover from another party.
I would report it to the police though.
For all you know, another car was also damaged or their were witnesses.
Best wishes.
You can still file a police report. I would. Then call your insurance agent, they'll tell you the next step. Unless this has happened a few times before, it's unlikely it'll effect your premiums much.
(Grrr, stuff like that makes me lose faith in the human race, you know? Geez, how lame can you be hitting someone's car and then taking off)
:(
I would call the repair places first. See what quotes they can give you. Depending on the cost, it may be worth it to pay out-of-pocket and keep your long-term rates down.
Not sure that the police would have done much at that point, but you would need the police report to file with the insurance company (I think).
Call your insurance company. Since it was a hit and run, it should be covered under your underinsured motorist provisions and your deductible does not apply. I always wished that the girl would have kept on going when she hit me so my deductible wouldn't come into play. Her insurance company totally ignored me and since I didn't have the money to pay my deductible and rent a car, I'm stuck with the damage!
You can turn it in and pay the first $1000. Your insurance will most likely go up.
Or
You can pay for the repairs out of pocket.
I guess you could file a police report & wait to see if they "solve" the crime, but I wouldn't hold my breath....
If you have Uninsured Motorist coverage, file a police report pronto. You can't file on your uim coverage without a police report. They would put it under your collission coverage and your insurance will go up.
1) get police report filed 2) call your insurance and file the claim. Give them the police report number 3) Wait for adjuster to call you and give you instructions. Be sure to ask for a rental car and reccomendations for the repair. 4) In the meantime, get an independant estimate to be sure everyone is on the same page. 5) Deductible for UIM in Tx is $250, not sure in IL. If you don't have uim coverage, it will go under your collission, subject to whatever deductible that is and will be a surchargeable accident on your insurance claim history. You normaly pay your deductible when you pick the car up from repair facility.
Well, you do need to file a police report, especially if you plan to file on your insurance. Our deductible is $1000 as well and I would be inclined to repair it out of pocket.
That said... we drive Mercedes, 3 in our family. Do you know your dealer well? We met a guy, through our dealer who works on the side and does EXCELLENT work on high end cars. His work is impeccable and a fraction of the cost of the dealership.
We used him when hubby hit the garage door by accident. His bumper would have been $2000 on his E350 and the repair was $400. The garage door repair (total replacement) was $1000!! Daughter had a slight scratch on her CLK and he fixed it for less than $200. Same for me, I drive the SL550 and hubby, NOT ME, turned too close to a curb without realizing how low my car sits and messed up the bumper. The repair guy came to my house and repaired it for less than $400.
Find one of these special guys!
At least in TX. you have to file police report. Then you file on your Inc. for uninsured under insured. if you have that. Then find out from then what you need to do. The deductable could be lower once you have the police report for that that is what we had to do for my husband.
