I don't understand why you are paying the $600 for her hitting something. If she is old enough to drive she is old enough to take care of her mistakes.
That really depends on the actual relationship and the way the family deals with things. My mom probably would have made me pay off such a thing
(the damage that the DD did, not that the brother did) in chores and foot rubs (she worked retail when I was in high school and was always in need of foot rubs).
My dad, who has been a co-signer on my first half-brother's house leases since he first went to college (brother is now 31 and dad is STILL co-signer b/c otherwise brother can't get a rental), has paid tens of thousands of dollars for damage that brother and his not-on-the-lease housemates did. Of course, it's in his name so he has to, but he hasn't made his third child pay a penny back. Just the way their family works.
I've tried to read all the replies. My dd just turned 17 this month. My deductible is 500. No way am I turning this in. My insurance went up about 2400 when I added her last June. Her car was brand new in July, 2013 when I purchased it. I didn't pay almost 29,000 for some lax kid to hit it and mess up the bumper. Just because it didn't hurt the driveability doesn't mean she should have to live with it. As far as the other mistake she made, I need to have that fixed because it is already starting to rust.
BTW I have already heard how I should have bought her a trash car as her first car. Well the plan was for her to drive it until she gets out of college. She heads to FSu in August and that is 8-9 hours away. I didn't want her to be stranded on the road. I grew up like that, and I dont' want that happening to her. So please, I've already heard it enough, and don't need to hear it again.
Another thing is his father told him he was too close to his sister's car, but he didn't listen. Then stepmom told him he was getting ready to hit her car. He shrugged and did it anyway. Then he wasn't even going to tell her. Dad told her and brother shrugged. I'm getting his mother's number to get his insurance info.
Thanks for the info. I won't be calling my insurance at all.
Not sure who here has told you you should have bought her a beater car? I didn't see it. And I think it's a great idea to get the safest car possible. In my case, it was my mom's 1955 Chevy Bel-Air. Stepdad had installed seatbelts (his dad was a towtruck driver on the CA coast and they had seen too many heinous wrecks before seatbelts were required) and the car was an absolute tank, so it was way safer than his Mustang 3 or my mom's Pinto wagon.
Are you aware that AARP isn't perfect? And did you notice that in the cases being talked about, someone had *filed a claim*? If you really read the article, you'll see that it's not just them taking notes, but claim numbers were assigned, etc. The reps were either messing up or not understanding. It's not what you're saying.
I remember the AARP article about "what to do when your spouse dies" telling us that we should get something like 10 certified death certificates.
Oh look, they are still saying that. "Get duplicate death certificates. You may need a dozen certified death records to complete upcoming tasks". We needed 3, and that was actually 1 too many. Almost everyone allowed us to FAX them. Only one agency needed it to be mailed, and they mailed it back almost immediately. I got everything done for her, she never missed a single pension or SS payment, inside of one month, with 3 certified death certificates. $18 x up to a dozen unnecessary DCs...yikes.
AARP is decent, but not perfect.
I personally would trust umpteen people here (including me) who have filed a not-at-fault claim with our own insurance company (mine was another story not told here) and NOT had their rates raised, over 4th person stories with an inaccurate agency of inept agents actually filing claims when *asked a question*.
The half brother is 21. He's an adult. Although it would be nice if her father would pay to repair the vehicle as her father, but he has no responsibility to pay for the damage caused by his adult son.
I'd pay what I felt I needed to pay, let her father pay for what he feels he needs to pay, and have her approach her half-brother (hate that term - siblings are siblings...) about the rest. Side note: If he can't afford to pay his way at the half-way house, I doubt he can pay for car repairs...
Meh. I like being exact. Especially in a story like the OP's, it's good to be exact otherwise people would wonder why the OP wasn't talking to *her son*. There are some families where everyone is so close that they are simply siblings. There are others where there's a difference. Regardless, it's exact. I even have ex-step-siblings, and step-siblings (though are you still related once your mom has died and her last husband has remarried?) who are ALSO my step-second-cousins (eek!). I like being exact!
Different state, different situation. And the person you were quoting didn't use absolutes, so they can't really be that wrong. But it's good to make sure someone phoning the police is aware that the police MIGHT not do anything at all. Better than leading a person to assume something will be done, thereby possibly freaking out if the police say no.
