Turns out I have to contact the person's insurance who hit me, not the crazy old lady who hit him. Which is unfortunate because I really don't see any fault on his end. The traffic was tight and it was rush hour, you can't help it sometimes. Anyway, I'm gonna go check out some auto body shop estimates. I have 3 places within 5 blocks of my house.

 

Pick a really good body shop. Some place that seems clean, organized, to start. Ask around, visit fancy car forums (Porsche, Bentley, etc) and search "body shop". The difference in workmanship between an ordinary shop and a good one is huge. (Of course, if you're not **** about your car, it doesn't really matter.)

 

As a career, I am a claims adjuster for a leading insurance company. It's your call which way you want to go, but the problem with waiting for the other insurance is that it may take a while for them to get back to you. Most states have statutes of limitations, and most are anywhere from 30 - 60 days. That means the other insurance company doesn't have to contact you for 1 - 2 months if they don't choose to.

If you go through your insurance company, you will have to pay your deductible but your car will get fixed much quicker. What your insurance company will then do is subrogate ("go after") the other insurance company to get their money back. Once they get their money back from the other insurance company, you will get your deductible back so it won't cost you anything. The disadvantage to this is that there's always the possibility your company will be unsuccessful in the subrogation.

I'd say wait 3 or 4 days, and if the other insurance company doesn't contact you, do it through your own.

 

btw, PM me if you have any questions regarding the whole process. I'd be happy to help out.

 

same exact thing happened to me... THREE TIMES... but after the first time, (unlike u, i was sandwiched tho.. so both ends were damaged and it was a 4 car accident... i was the 2nd car from the front) i put on urethane ms kit and the baby just pops right back out. saved me a lot of trouble haha. i had to repaint it though after the 3rd time... but same bumper in great shape.

i joke around (but based on truth) and say that i'm always getting "rear ended by women" lol

ps - i am not hinting that women are bad drivers... just pointing out that all 3 times have been by women and thats just cool lol

 

Sorry, but that's 100% wrong. First, anything put on your driving record is done by the DMV, not your insurance. Second, accidents are assigned fault percentages. from 0 to 100%. Sitting at a light while in your lane = 0%. This in no way would ever be held against you by any insurance company. You could be in 50 accidents in one year and if you're 0% at fault in each one it would have no effect on your rates.

Contact your insurance ASAP. When they find that you're in no way at fault most insurances will waive your deductable because they will be getting all the money back from her insurance.

Just call your insurance, speak to a claims specialist or adjuster and go from there. Hoping that her insurance will "be good to you" is a horrible decision to make.

 

Yup. Dumbest comment ever.

 

Finally got my estimates for the damage and it seems kinda odd that I went to two different places and got a $220 difference

First place has everything at $978.99 which seems to be that high for a refinish cost of 190.
Second place ended up estimating it at $757.24.

I ended up going with the second place only because it has a lot more high end import cars going in there, plus its a 3 minute walk from my house.


For those curious:

Rear Bumper Cover = 308
Rear Bumper Guard = 49
rest is labor

 

Sux

 

Same exact thing happened to me but I was pushed into a truck in front of me.

Ended up being a good thing, I got authentic MS front and rear for 400$ out of pocket painted and installed.

 

GADDAMN! how many threads are there in regards to accidents here?? (probably not as many as 'replaced motor' threads) but still a bunch!

Not nearly as bad as mine but still hurtful - sorry to see another 8 hurt...