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Rear ended, pictures and questions regarding the damage

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by unit333, Jan 4, 2013.

  1. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    And this is the rediculous policy.
    AVOID driving through NJ unless you have to
    Special Auto Insurance Policy
     
  2. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    What I've read is diminished value claims are legal in all 50 states. But I don't live in NY or NJ. But just in googling diminished value claims or experts, all their faq pages say for all 50. Sounds like to me you will have to go after the guy directly.
    Not to knock your insurance, but some of the stuff sounds bogus. Why replace a taillight if its fine? A good body shop will need to remove it to paint and blend your quarter panels anyhow. Have you checked the gaps between your quarter panel and passenger back door? Compare them to the drivers side. After my accident my panel either sits in, or my door sticks out about 1/16 of an inch or so.
     
  3. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    Hey
    That gap is fine, the only gap on the side of the car is between the taillight and the side panel, its sort of pushed about half a centimeter. No real issues with door or anything. I don't think he hit me directly enough to get too much frame damage. It's really the Geico guys writing this off, I haven't even gotten to the shop people to look at it yet.
    In terms of the car depreciation I just have to read more on that one I guess.
     
  4. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    That's lucky then. Maybe its because most of NY drives a car thats been damaged one way or another. d: I know in Georgia you can file a diminished value claim with your own insursnce even when you're at fault. Did the geico rep think you meant to file it with them? Cause I know that's not allowed.
     
  5. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    No but he did mention Georgia as being the only state that allows the diminished car value in question to happen. This is just so all over the place:)
    I am gonna spend some time researching all that stuff before I decide I guess. In the meantime I just want them to fix the car and get it over with.
     
  6. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    He is correct and incorrect. Georgia is either 1 of 2 states, or the only state that allows the at fault party to file a diminished value claim against their own insurance company. I lived in Oregon and filed a DVC against Safeco (2009,) and I live in SC now and am in the process of filing one against State Farm (2012.) They were accidents that were NOT my fault and I filed them against the at fault parties insurance.
    In Oregon I was awarded about $1,300 in diminished value for an accident that caused about $10k worth of damage. I shouldn't have settled so quickly because when I went to trade in that same car the value had dropped more like $4k.
    It's legal in all 50 states to file a DVC, you personally just can't file a DVC against Geico. It would have to be against the individual directly since they don't have property coverage.
    I should also mention that the at fault parties insurance paid my $500 deductible before I went to pick up the car. It couldn't hurt to contact that at fault party, not his insurance "company", but the actual person and ask them to pay your deductible, otherwise you will take them to court to recoup it.I may seem like a bit of a hard a-hole when it comes to this type of thing, but I've been in a handful of not at fault accidents, including 1 hit and run and the cop didn't site the at fault party because he was 92 years old. Even though pulled out in front of me on a hwy where the speed limit was 55mph.
    I was also rear-ended by a pubescent teenager who was texting and I showed up to her court date as a "victim" (at the officers request) to insure that she didn't just get a slap on the wrist.
    Accidents are a terrible thing to have to go through, minor or major it adds a whole lot of unnecessary stress.
     
  7. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    That's great info thank you. I am contemplating whether I should just let Geico try and collect the deductible via Subrogation instead of calling and dealing with the other people personally. If they come empty handed as far as the deductible goes I might just do my research on the loss of value of the car and send a few official letters to the other person asking him to reimburse me for both losses. If he refuses or ignores me then I just take him to small claims court, as long as I can do that (NJ has a ton of weird laws to protect NJ residents even when they are at fault). My case is similar to one of yours, the guy who hit me was old, with a handicap sign on his car, barely speaking english. I had to talk to his son on the phone to go over what happened, he even tried to ask me not to call the police (obviously requests like that I personally don't comply with)
     
  8. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    That is quite strange for him to ask you to do that. If you didn't, then you would just have to pay for your car to be fixed out of pocket. I'm pretty sure insurance requires a police report, unless the damages are less than $1,500. Did he offer to pay for your damages himself? If so you'd think he would have the money to pay your deductible.
    Food for thought, you may also want to get in contact with a NJ lawyer. They often will provide you with information for free. Ones I've talked to have been pretty honest as far as if they will take the case or not, obviously if there is no money in it for them they will suggest a way for you to deal with it on your own. Try a property / accident lawyer of sorts maybe. I don't see how the NJ guy can get away without paying for damages to your car, if everyone had that insurance it would be like bumper cars out on the highway.
    On a side note, how do you like Geico?
     
  9. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    He said I have a cheap mechanic in NJ which i can take you to. No thanks though, that does not sound like something i wanna do. I think he was perfectly aware that his fathers car insurance was what it was so he was probably trying to keep as little involvement from the authorities as possible.
    I don't really have any complains from Geico. Sure the 1K deductible is annoying but they have been very fast in getting the ball rolling, easy to get in touch with. My rate in NY is pretty good too. I like to do a lot of stuff online and avoid dealing with customer service and waiting on the phone and Geico's website is great for that. There is a lot of things you can check or request without wasting your time on the phone, so overall no real complaints. I would not recommend State Farm, my wife was in a car accident quite a few years ago as a passenger, she had a broken back and State Farm refused to pay for her injuries until her family took them to court which took 4 years to win. So that is just messed up in my opinion.
     
  10. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    That sounded like a shaddy deal. What's sad is some people go for it and get screwed. You should change your deductible amount from 1k. It will increase your monthly payments, but so will this accident.
    State farm for me has been easy to deal with, I've heard from a lot of people that state farm is a pretty straight shooter. So far they have only managed to tick me off by not totaling my car. I had them years ago, but I didn't like them. Progressive has been good, I've just heard geico will randomly increase your rate. We are certainly a generation where doing things online is much easier.
     
  11. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    I've had progressive back when I lived in georgia. Been with Geico for 3 years. They actually won't raise your premium if you are in a no fault accident
     
  12. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    If you use a shop that participates in Geico's DRP, then the repairs will be guaranteed for as long as you own your car by both Geico and the shop. However, as we all know, the DRPs are under immense pressure to meet the terms of their agreement with the insurer - which may result in short-cut repairs in order to meet productivity requirements.
     
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  13. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    Ehh...I'm skeptical about that. All insurance companies want to know if you've made a claim within five years when you first sign up, even not at fault accidents. Once I forgot to add one not at fault accident on my free insurance quote, and when I went to sign up for the policy it went up because they "found" out about it. Insurance companies give me the willies, they are in the game to make a buck and if you cost them money, even by not fault of your own, I still think they find a way to make it back. Even if it's not a raised premium, but some new fee next time of sorts.
     
  14. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    I used one of State Farms preferred shops and was skeptical about doing so for this exact reason. I found out it was a good thing I did though because now that I'm in the process of trying to get diminished value for the car, all the imperfections I point out in the repairs have to be taken into consideration. If I had used another shop they would just tell me to keep taking it back until I was happy and wouldn't take the flaws into consideration when determining an amount.
     
  15. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    After reading the link from Trenton here's what I think is going to happen:

    Geico is going to sue the poor old geezer for the damages (maybe your deductible, probably not as it is not their loss).
    You will have to sue said geezer for the deductible & diminished value. (I don't know if that will exceed the limit for Small Claims Court).

    Geezer is on Medicaid so he isn't going to have any money or much in the way of assets. You may (or may not) be able to put a levy on his Social Security.

    Talk to a lawyer.
     
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  16. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Do you have uninsured insurance with Geico? If you do there is no deductible.

    It is the other guys fault there is no deductible.
     
  17. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    Hey
    Like I mentioned before, I have the uninsured motorist coverage but it only applied to body injuries not for property in this case, so unfortunately is not that easy to recover my loses.
    And JimN yes, i believe this is pretty much how it's going to happen. It's really unfortunate that this type of insurance created by the state of NJ is putting people on both sides in this situation. This accident could have been much worse and things could have been a lot more complicated for all of us. I also find it a bit irresponsible for people to sign up for it when they understand the potential consequences in case of an accident. Regardless of your social status.
     
  18. unit333

    unit333 Junior Member

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    So the results are in, damage seems to be around 2K
    Bumper, some minor body damage, a quarter panel on the side of the car, sort of underneath the rear light, and some sort of a vent that's also on the back/side section around the bumper. The bumper broke right next to that massive metal plate that underneath so that end up intact. Now I need to figure out how to correctly asses the lost value of the car so i can contact the guilty party and ask for deductible and value loss reimbursement. If not small claims court....
     
  19. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Ok Good luck. This is an article on that subject.
    Diminished value auto insurance claims
     
  20. Me Here

    Me Here Member

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    Hey, I just finished my diminished value claim and with 13.5k of damage was awarded 6k. My guess based on hours of research you're looking at $600-$1000 of diminished value. What is hard is proving that and hiring someone cost about $300, which usually you can also ask for, but in this case its doubtful the party would pay that.
     
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