Rear end damage

The worst, most dangerous decision you can make would be to avoid insurance and trust the other driver's goodwill to pay. People who plow into others at 70 mph are generally not very responsible people, and you may never see the first dime. He is 100% at fault, and his insurance company, if he has one, will quickly accept liability. Your insurance will not be affected, and you don't even need to file a claim with them unless he turns out to be uninsured. You could be looking at a $2,000 - $3,000 repair bill. The second worst thing you could do would be to allow a disreputable shop to make the car look OK without repairing the underlying damage. A pretty bumper cover is not enough to protect you in the next accident. The other driver's insurance company will give you a selection of excellent shops to choose from. They'll provide a rental car and a guarantee, and you won't have any out-of-pocket expenses.

 

Do what is in your best interest.

More than likely for ease and no complication, insurance is where it is at.
That is why we have it, and hopefully he has it.
That is no bump or scratch.
Good luck!

 

Insurance. Hopefully, law enforcement was there to establish fault and they should have given you each a report that would include insurance information. Are you in a no-fault state?

From the picture, it doesn't look like very extensive damage, but it could still be pretty expensive. The person who hit you doesn't sound very responsible. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw his car.

 

What state are you in?
I know in Florida if you are in an accident you are supposed to report it to your insurance company.
If you don't, even though it's the other persons fault, they (other driver) could file a law suit against YOU for their
injuries and repair of their car, and your insurance company won't cover you because you didn't file
a report with them or police.
You should have called the police, no matter what the other driver said. And gotten a photo of him
and the car's tag, along with his insurance info.

ALWAYS cover your butt!!!!

P.S. The car could be totaled. Someone in the past week had his totaled with similar damage.
You also have to check out the front of the car because of how the frame is designed to absorb
the shock. If the frame is damages at all, they will total it.

 

What state are you in?
You did the right thing. You can still have him pay, he doesn't have to go through his insurance.
You can go through your insurance company, you have to pay the deductible, but you can go to small
claims court to get that money.
But also consider this, you are without your car for x amount of time. You will go back and forth with the
repair place to get it fixed correctly. If the car is totaled, you will have to spend time searching for another one.
Is your time valuable? Add all that in, and sue the other driver for that coast. Insurance won't pay for that.

I hope it works out good for you. I wouldn't want to loose my Prius. I've done too much work to it!

 

First and foremost, distance yourself from any direct dealings with the other driver and let your insurance company deal with it exclusively. You pay for this service so you should take advantage it. The inconvenience of this happening is never recovered.
If the car is totaled the insurance company will pay you for the replacement cost of the car (do your research) and don’t settle for the first offer. After it’s is settled and done, you can do what you will with the car. You will have to register it as a salvage title but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have the car repaired and drive it.

 

Even though you reported it to the Highway Patrol, there may be other requirements. For example, here in CA, you need to fill out a SR 1 form and submit it to the DMV if there is more than $1k in damage, injury, or death.
Traffic Accident Report SR 1

My wife was rear ended in her Honda Odyssey a few years ago on the freeway, so some tips having gone through that:
photos at the scene, etc.

- we contacted OUR insurance co immediately. Even though the other party was 100% at fault, and our insurance co was not liable, if there had been any issues with the other party or their insurance, it would have been our insurance co's role to deal with that. We turned out to not have issues.

- the other insurance co tried a few times to declare what their "policy" was, for their convenience. Well they found out that I have my own policies for dealing with stuff like that, and mine are more stringent, and generally favor me. So keep in mind what the law says vs. what they may try to push you into. For example, does your state law say you can go to the repair facility of your choice, etc.? The insuruance company may have their own certified favorites, which is convenient for them, but maybe not for you, and does not matter at all if the state law says so. At the end of the day, it is the law and the threat of a small claims lawsuit that will keep them honest.

- we had no problems really, but I have heard MANY stories of apologetic drivers at the scene turn out to be very difficult to deal with.

- careful on the hidden damage. I ended up taking many of the body panels off to reveal structural damage (not too problematic, but it jacked up the number on the check I got) to find them and make sure I was fully compensated.

 

If the car is not totaled, don't forget to claim diminution in value. If nothing else, its a great bargaining chip.

Yeah, that was me..
Upside was that I purchased an identical car with 40K fewer miles.

They total pretty fast, unfortunately. Technically, you should get enough money from the settlement to purchase an identical car in identical condition. But I feel your pain -- there's a difference between driving a car with 67K miles when you put those miles on versus someone else.

You can recover the cost of a rental car during repairs. I don't think you can recover for time spent shopping or inconvenience time. My understanding is that pretty much the only time that is compensable is that lost from work because injuries from the accident prevented you from working. Also, if you go through your insurance, they will take your deductible in subrogation against the other driver's insurance company, so you eventually will get that back.

 

There's a bit of a misnomer in that description. Judging from the picture, you were moving 10~20 mph slower than him at the time of impact?

Yeah but definitely, go through insurance, and it's his responsibility.

 

The insurance won't pay for that stuff. But a persons time has value. You loose work, personal time.
It's called pain and suffering. That is a civil matter.

 

It's pain and suffering when I go to work!

But seriously, while courts in three states have not considered whether personal time is compensable, courts in 47 states have held that you can not recover personal time lost in response to an accident. Rather, there must be a direct loss of income from the time spent in order to recover damages (e.g. you were in the hospital and were not able to work). Here's a TLDR quote from the leading opinion on this:

 

You can sue anyone for any reason. It doesn't mean you will win, but you can do it.
Just get a good lawyer.

 

That's good. I hope they repair it quickly and correctly for you!
Please keep us up to date!

 

Yes, keep us up to date.

That is good news!
Much better than dealing with a headache

 

Sounds like good news!! The world could use a few more people like you.

 

Late to this thread.
I however think the OP is correct in concerns that this could be a very expensive accident.

I had the MOST minor possible rear end collision, that barely indented the paint, on my 2010 Honda Fit, when the smoke had cleared it was about a $1000 repair bill. If you are restoring to pre-accident condition, the costs adds up quickly.

This collision sounds much more severe.
It wasn't the OP's fault.
The OP deserves to have the vehicle restored as much to the condition it was before the accident as possible. Therefore, this is NOT a situation I would handle on a "personal" under the table basis. The ONLY person who really benefits from this is the person who hit the OP. But for the OP?
They are caught "hoping" the person that caused the accident, is willing to pay the full amount, for an accident that's damage could be far more extensive and expensive to repair than you might think.

No, my advice is report the accident to YOUR insurance company, and insist that the damage be repaired through the conventional channels of automotive insurance coverage. That's why it's there, that's why everyone on the road is suppose to have coverage.

 

If this thread had happened in 1980, with the 5 mph bumpers, it wouldn't have made it out of the starting gate...