Car accident question

[daughtersrus]

My DD was in a very minor fender bender in the parking lot of the fire station (our polling place). She hit the bumper of a parked car when she was pulling into a spot. The damage is so minor that the police officer offered to pop the spot out (he had some type of tool in his car) but the person is an election official so she wasn't able to leave the building and wanted to see the damage first.

Anyway, is it illegal to offer her to pay for the damage without going through our insurance?

DD is 18yo so her rate is already high. If a claim is filed, she will loose the accident free discount as well as the "steer clear" discount for the next 6 years which I'm sure is far more than the cost of the repair.

 

[SkyMedik]

You are under no obligation to have your insurance pay for it, and it's legal to pay the lady the repair costs. I would perhaps consider having a signed document acknowledging that she received the repair costs from you, or at least be sure and pay by check..... Now as to reporting it to the insurance company in the future when they ask you about accidents, that's a different story.... Largely an ethical question. Personally, if I paid for the damage, it never happenned....

 

[JARNJ3]

I don't believe there is a law that says you must report minor accidents to the insurance company.

Ironically, because insurance is so high in NJ - fender benders are frequently handled without notifying insurance. Once you have an accident, your rates skyrocket.

 

[daughtersrus]

.... Now as to reporting it to the insurance company in the future when they ask you about accidents, that's a different story.... Largely an ethical question. Personally, if I paid for the damage, it never happenned....

With State Farm, all that they have to do is get a report and determine fault and the discounts are removed. It doesn't matter if they pay a cent out or not, they will remove the discounts because they know that the accident happened.

My DD just called to ask if we should call State Farm and I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Geoff_M]

Unless the laws are different in your state, I doubt it. Just like you are not obligated to report it to your insurance company if you are given a speeding ticket when it happens. (However, lying about it if asked on an application is another matter.) A couple of years ago a co-worker of my wife's backed up into her mini-van in the school parking lot. It damaged the tail-light assembly on her car. The husband of the other driver called us to resolve the issue. He offered to buy us a new assembly and we'd not bother to mess with the insurance agencies. I accepted, and fixed the damage in 5 minutes when he dropped the part off.

 

[daughtersrus]

The ironic part is that DD's car was hit last week when she was parked at school. The rear bumper is dented and the tail light cover cracked off but of course that person just left without leaving a note or making a report.

 

[tazdev3225]

The same thing happened to me right after I got my license. Paid out of pocket and that was the end of it. This was also 30 years ago.
I was involved in a minor accident in a parking lot several months ago. A guy pulling out of a parking space backed into me. I got a police report to protect myself but it was never reported to the insurance and he is paying all repairs as soon as I can find the time to get it into the shop. I need the door replaced. There is no law that I know of that says you have to report a minor fender bender.

 

[Patch'sD]

The Rubber Bumper Cover on a car can usally be pushed back into shape with a little Heat from a Hair Dryer.

 

[mjkacmom]

We've always paid out of pocket (DH is famous for little fender-benders) except the time he hit someone's company car, and she said she had to go through insurance - we took a huge hit from our company (here in NJ)>

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[ZachnElli]

I know for a fact that your State Farm agent should tell you to pay for it out of pocket if it is a small amount. Obviously, if it's a big accident you'll need to report it, but a small fender bender that a police officer could even fix does not need to be reported. My dh is a State Farm agent and he would tell you to pay for it out of pocket. Even our underwriters encourage us to have policyholders pay for small claims out of pocket instead of filing a claim (I work for my dh).

 

[daughtersrus]

I would tell the Ins co ASAP. If you do not tell them in a timely manner they are not obligated to represent you. If the person hit ever chooses to sue you, you will be completely un-protected if you don't report it. FIne if you have no assets but bad if you do. I had a fender bender as a 20 yr old and the guy made all sorts of ridiculous claims... AND won.... thank goodness for the police report or he'd have gotten the family house.

I think the report only counts if you actually file a dollar amount claim. If its completely out of pocket, as in it doesn't even get counted as a part of the deductible, I think it can't effect you. Just file the report then keep them out of the loop.

With State Farm, once a claim is filed you loose all discounts regardless if they pay out a penny or not. As for damages, once the car is fixed, I can't imagine what that would be since the car was unoccupied at the time.

 

[daughtersrus]

I know for a fact that your State Farm agent should tell you to pay for it out of pocket if it is a small amount. Obviously, if it's a big accident you'll need to report it, but a small fender bender that a police officer could even fix does not need to be reported. My dh is a State Farm agent and he would tell you to pay for it out of pocket. Even our underwriters encourage us to have policyholders pay for small claims out of pocket instead of filing a claim (I work for my dh).

My DD just brought home the paper from the police officer. It's not even an accident report but an "traffic crash information exchange form".

Do you have any idea what the percent is for the Steer Clear Discount? We've had State Farm for over 30 years and this is the first accident that will be our fault.

The lady is older (84yo) and has State Farm as well so I'm not sure if she'll be willing to have us pay. I guess that I'll see after I call her later.

 

[golfgal]

With State Farm, all that they have to do is get a report and determine fault and the discounts are removed. It doesn't matter if they pay a cent out or not, they will remove the discounts because they know that the accident happened.

My DD just called to ask if we should call State Farm and I'm not sure what to do.

With State Farm, once a claim is filed you loose all discounts regardless if they pay out a penny or not. As for damages, once the car is fixed, I can't imagine what that would be since the car was unoccupied at the time.

That is illegal and probably not true. No insurance company can raise your rate if they don't pay out a claim, nor can they take accident free discounts away if there wasn't an accident that showed up on your DD's record. If she is in an accident and it is reported and it is over whatever your state limit is for reporting accidents, yes they can take that away. This won't qualify for that.

You can pay out of pocket for damage, no problem, not illegal. The issue comes in when people say they will pay and don't. Call the lady and have her get 3 estimates and give her the average of the 3 for the damage (which is what the insurance company will do too).

 

[ZachnElli]

My DD just brought home the paper from the police officer. It's not even an accident report but an "traffic crash information exchange form".

Do you have any idea what the percent is for the Steer Clear Discount? We've had State Farm for over 30 years and this is the first accident that will be our fault.

The lady is older (84yo) and has State Farm as well so I'm not sure if she'll be willing to have us pay. I guess that I'll see after I call her later.

Steer Clear is up to 15%, Good student up to 15%, Driver's Training up to 5%. I say up to because it depends on the coverages and car and some weird formula! Those discounts really add up to a big savings for youthful driver's. Good luck with your phone call!

 

[ZachnElli]

With State Farm, once a claim is filed you loose all discounts regardless if they pay out a penny or not. As for damages, once the car is fixed, I can't imagine what that would be since the car was unoccupied at the time.

That's not true. If no amount was paid out, they don't count it against you and take away your discounts. We also have accident forgiveness for people who have been with us for a very long time. Like the OP said 30 years. She might have it (not the daughter though).

 

[daughtersrus]

That's not true. If no amount was paid out, they don't count it against you and take away your discounts. We also have accident forgiveness for people who have been with us for a very long time. Like the OP said 30 years. She might have it (not the daughter though).

OP here. A few years ago, my older DD was in an accident. She was in a parking lot and hit a car speeding down a one way isle the wrong way. The cop said that he was at fault but couldn't issue a ticket because it was private property.

We also felt that the other driver was at fault so we contacted our agent. A report was made and they said that DD was 100% at fault. There were issues with the other driver so we were sure that he would not file a claim. We then told State Farm that we were going to repair the damage to our car ourselves and did not want to use our insurance. The agent and adjuster both said that was fine but because State Farm already knew that DD was in an accident, they would remove the Steer Clear discount but would allow us to keep the Accident Free discount since it was the first accident for any of us.
Long story short, we threatened to cancel all of our policies (home, boat, trailer and all of our cars) with them because we truly felt that DD was not at fault added to the fact that they were not paying out a penny. The agent wasn't happy with us but did make several phones calls to the Bloomington office. After several weeks back and forth, they finally agreed not to remove the discounts.
This accident involves my second DD. We now have 4 cars insured with them and they are all in DH's name and mine with the girls being added on. Oldest DD is rated on my van, DH is rated on his car, I am rated on oldest DD's car and second DD is rated on the car that she drives. The agent's rep ran all of the numbers on the varies combinations and this was the least expensive way to do it.
If they take the discounts away, I'm assuming that it would only be for the vehicle involved in the accident today since that is the car that DD is rated on. Is that correct or will they take the discounts away on all of the cars?
I'm sorry to ask so many questions but I'm really trying not to call the agent unless it's necessary. I don't want to make things more difficult than it needs to be.
I left a message on the lady's voice mail, but I'll be surprised if she calls back. My FIL is about the same age and it just seems like that generation is leery and may feel like we're trying to take advantage of her.
DD feel horrible but I keep telling her that she's learned a lesson. She did the honest thing and made the report unlike the person that hit her car last week on campus.

 

[ZachnElli]

OP here. A few years ago, my older DD was in an accident. She was in a parking lot and hit a car speeding down a one way isle the wrong way. The cop said that he was at fault but couldn't issue a ticket because it was private property.

We also felt that the other driver was at fault so we contacted our agent. A report was made and they said that DD was 100% at fault. There were issues with the other driver so we were sure that he would not file a claim. We then told State Farm that we were going to repair the damage to our car ourselves and did not want to use our insurance. The agent and adjuster both said that was fine but because State Farm already knew that DD was in an accident, they would remove the Steer Clear discount but would allow us to keep the Accident Free discount since it was the first accident for any of us.
Long story short, we threatened to cancel all of our policies (home, boat, trailer and all of our cars) with them because we truly felt that DD was not at fault added to the fact that they were not paying out a penny. The agent wasn't happy with us but did make several phones calls to the Bloomington office. After several weeks back and forth, they finally agreed not to remove the discounts.
This accident involves my second DD. We now have 4 cars insured with them and they are all in DH's name and mine with the girls being added on. Oldest DD is rated on my van, DH is rated on his car, I am rated on oldest DD's car and second DD is rated on the car that she drives. The agent's rep ran all of the numbers on the varies combinations and this was the least expensive way to do it.
If they take the discounts away, I'm assuming that it would only be for the vehicle involved in the accident today since that is the car that DD is rated on. Is that correct or will they take the discounts away on all of the cars?
I'm sorry to ask so many questions but I'm really trying not to call the agent unless it's necessary. I don't want to make things more difficult than it needs to be.
I left a message on the lady's voice mail, but I'll be surprised if she calls back. My FIL is about the same age and it just seems like that generation is leery and may feel like we're trying to take advantage of her.
DD feel horrible but I keep telling her that she's learned a lesson. She did the honest thing and made the report unlike the person that hit her car last week on campus.

They only remove the discounts for the car involved.

 

[daughtersrus]

They only remove the discounts for the car involved.

Thank you for all of your help!

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Please let us know how it works out. If it's really minor, I don't think you'll have a problem pay OOP. However, at some point, you may be asked if you have ever had any accidents and you may have to report it then.