What to do, what to do?

[Abbie]

We've been incredibly lucky (knock on wood!) with regards to car accidents but we have been rear-ended four times in the last 30 years. First one was dealt with through insurance, second time was just a broken taillight which the other party insisted on paying, third time was more expensive. We were leaving one of the kids' sporting events in two cars...DH was hit from behind, and that pushed him into me. So he had damage to both the front and the back of his truck and my van's back was pushed in. That went through their insurance too.

Now this week he had just picked up his car from the shop ($1000 worth of repairs ugh) and left for NJ for the day and yup, was rear-ended. It truly was just an accident, someone just not paying attention. The other driver was very upset. DH got a business card (I think) but for some reason they did not exchange insurance info since the other driver wanted to pay for any repairs without going through insurance.

We are not sure what to do. The back of DH's car is not dented in or anything....just two puncture spots where the other car's license plate jammed in to the back. They are not even all the way through but you can tell if you push on them, the little circles will fall out, looks just like someone took a hole punch to it. But really not bad, just minor cosmetic. If we decide to repair it will no doubt be expensive because the whole panel, which wraps around the back of the car, will have to be replaced. And unfortunately it's a sporty kind of car so anything done to it ends up being expensive. We are inclined to just let it go rather than present this huge bill to the other guy....I do feel badly for him. If it were the truck or even the van I'd brush it off because we are comfortable with dings and scratches on them but I'm not so sure with this one.

What would you do?

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

If it's so minor, I wouldn't do anything. It's not worth all of the expenses.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I would get a quote and present it to the other party. If they paid I would get the work done, if they didn't, I would let it go

 

[Darcy03231]

I'd get the quote, give it to the other party and let them decide how they want to handle it, OOP or insurance.

This happened to us when someone backed into DD's car. The driver ended up opting to pay OOP rather than turn it into their insurance ($800).

I don't think its up to you to not have your car repaired. Any dents, dings, etc. decrease the value when you go to sell/trade it in.

 

[merekc]

In the future I would get the person's insurance information even if you do not plan to pursue a claim through them. At this point, I'd be concerned that you have no proof that he hit you. Your word against his. A business card does not indicate responsibility like someone giving you their insurance info. Whatever you do, I would do quickly before this person thinks about it too long.

Personally, like you indicated this is probably an expensive repair due to the type of vehicle and what it will probably take to fix. It depreciates the value of your car. I would try to get it repaired.

 

[Abbie]

In the future I would get the person's insurance information even if you do not plan to pursue a claim through them. At this point, I'd be concerned that you have no proof that he hit you. Your word against his. A business card does not indicate responsibility like someone giving you their insurance info. Whatever you do, I would do quickly before this person thinks about it too long.

Personally, like you indicated this is probably an expensive repair due to the type of vehicle and what it will probably take to fix. It depreciates the value of your car. I would try to get it repaired.

I know you're right about the insurance, I didn't get on DH for not getting it though because there was nothing to be done at that point (after he got home that night). They were both shook up and I guess just not really thinking. The guy that hit him is a pastor so we are just hoping he will let his conscience guide him if we present him with a bill!

I hadn't thought about what this will do to the resale value....we usually keep our cars for ten years+, until they are just done and worth a couple hundred at trade. This one still is worth quite a bit, even now, so I will have to think about that some more!

 

[akcire]

OP-- I wonder if you are letting the profession of the man that hit your husband's car influence your decision making? If the guy was an insurance salesperson and not a pastor, would you be so inclined to let it slide? Just food for thought...