ethics & a neighbour

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dr wogz

dr wogz

Fly caster
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
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Location
Land of Poutine!
So, looking for an opinion here.. how much is too much, and what is not enough.

On Christmas eve, my wife's car got hit.

On Christmas eve, my wife moved here car out of our driveway to make room for 2 family members to park in our driveway. Her car was on teh street, barely a house down the road. I get a call from my next-door neighbor at about 9pm. Our neighbor's girlfriend managed to back out of his driveway, and proceeded to plow into her car. It looks like she got into her car, and then just backed out like normal. Unfortunately, teh wife's car was in the exact spot her car normally occupies once backed out & proceeds to put the car into 'drive'..

Did she look? likely not, or wasn't paying attention.
Was she drinking? Likely, it is Christmas eve after all..

Our damage:
Bumper nicely smashed in, (she hit the driver's side front corner of the car) plastic bumper, so a nice shattering of parts
Fender is bent over, bucked, and is obviously not in the same position it was. (Definitely a test of the 'crumple zone'!!)
Driver side headlight: all mounts broke, and it looks like the rear reflector casing (more plastic) is also split.
No fluids or other parts damaged, just a lot of bent metal (fender) & broken plastic.

So, we are looking at body work & it 'in the shop' for a bit. a few grand at least..


Their damage: a few scratches..


Should they pay our deductible? And maybe the increase to our insurance premiums for the next two years? Should they rent her a car for the next few days? (She uses the car for her work, she's self-employed)

he's a really good neighbor. We call on each other to help with things around the houses, the yard, etc.. But I really don't want this to end out friendship, but at the same time.. you hit our car!!
 
They should pay the entire cost and use their own insurance if they have to. Your insurer should not get involved financially.

If you do contact your insurer (I’m not sure id bother), make sure they know the whole story, so they can also give their advice (they’ve seen everything). At least they can contact the other side’s insurer and straighten things up for you.

There is no reason to lose a friendship over this. You all know what happened.
 
Hi,
If her car was hit let say a the mail, would you ask the same from a stranger...probably not. That's way we have insurances and different coverage. An accident is a lot of trouble and extra cost unfortunately. If your lucky you'll get a bottle of wine :)
Best of luck
-Paul :)
 
Is your area considered "no fault" with regards to insurance and each party files claims on their own policies?
 
If you have not already, gather their insurance info, make claim on their insurance. Maybe call your own agent and make them aware of what is going on (just in case).

"Should they pay our deductible?" No, make the claim with their carrier not your own. In this case you should not file a claim on your own insurance unless you find/found out they don't have a policy current in force. For the reason of making the claim on their policy, an increase in your premiums is a moot point here. Do you have their auto policy info in hand and have you confirmed they have a policy that is current?
 
NateB said:
Is your area considered "no fault" with regards to insurance and each party files claims on their own policies?
Click to expand...
Great point, that varies state by state.

OP, call your agent, let them represent your best interests here they can also confirm if you can (and should) make a claim on their policy.

Best,
 
If the car was legally parked, then they are responsible for the costs of repair including your deductible. Get a police report if you haven't already snd you still can and submit it to your insurance. You'll likely have to psy the deductible but then her insurance should reimburse you for that.
 
I'm not a lawyer and have no special industry training on this, though I've been involved in a few similar things.

1) This should be done (as others have said) most likely entirely on their insurance, not yours. If you are in a state where it's handled no-fault, that may be different, but your car was stationary at the time so it should in any case be covered entirely by the other party's insurance.

2) I know from personal experience that if you call YOUR insurance company, and get them involved in any way, this will show up as a claim on your policy, and you risk losing "claim free" deductible reductions and so forth. I made this mistake of using my own insurance to handle the claim with the other party's insurance, and got screwed. Rates went up and lost my claim free status. I was with Met Life at the time.

3) If you have an agent outside the insurance company (say, a broker) you CAN call them and ask advice.

4) Insist on OEM manufacturer parts. Accept no substitutions. You may have to push.

As others have said, you shouldn't have a deductible because the other insurance is paying. They will also be responsible for rental car costs. And hopefully no impact to the friendship.

I've also been on the other side of the coin: My wife had an organizing professional over, who parked in our driveway off to the side. When I looked in my mirror I didn't see her car. I rammed into it backing up. Did considerable damage to her car. I came in, made her a copy of my insurance card, and told her if she got any static from the company to let me know. I was mortified by the incident.

Good luck!

PS: I presume you have pictures showing position of your car and the path the other car would have taken. Insurance will want these to declare who's at fault. I doubt you would be able to get a cop out to take a report on a "parked car, no injuries" type of accident.
 
Something kind-of similar happened years ago at my house. I had 2 roommates + myself, so 3 cars in a 4 car driveway (2 wide x 2 deep). We all worked different schedules and 9 times out of 10 the first person to leave was blocked in by the last person who got there.

Anyway, one of the roommates pulled his car out of the driveway to keep from blocking me when he went to go take his shower. In that area, temporary parking on the street is legal, but doesn't happen very often.

The neighbors wife backed out on her way to work and hit his car right as I was walking out the door. Minimal damage was done to both cars, nothing that would cause any drive-ability issues or broken lights etc.

At the end of the day, those two worked it out among themselves. I think he just left the damage on the car as it wasn't that nice of a car and her husband did the heat gun trick to the bumper and used touch-up paint.

Where I live now, I almost always have a car or two on the street (neighbors, not mine) and so it has just become habit to actually look carefully when backing out. Its not that hard and is generally what we should all be doing anyway. . .

Sorry for the problem, but stuff happens and that is what insurance is for. I would assume they would volunteer to handle it on their end, as she is the person who hit your car, but its hard to say what people consider personal responsibility now-a-days. Good luck.

Sandy.
 
dr wogz said:
So, looking for an opinion here.. how much is too much, and what is not enough.

On Christmas eve, my wife's car got hit.

On Christmas eve, my wife moved here car out of our driveway to make room for 2 family members to park in our driveway. Her car was on teh street, barely a house down the road. I get a call from my next-door neighbor at about 9pm. Our neighbor's girlfriend managed to back out of his driveway, and proceeded to plow into her car. It looks like she got into her car, and then just backed out like normal. Unfortunately, teh wife's car was in the exact spot her car normally occupies once backed out & proceeds to put the car into 'drive'..

Did she look? likely not, or wasn't paying attention.
Was she drinking? Likely, it is Christmas eve after all..

Our damage:
Bumper nicely smashed in, (she hit the driver's side front corner of the car) plastic bumper, so a nice shattering of parts
Fender is bent over, bucked, and is obviously not in the same position it was. (Definitely a test of the 'crumple zone'!!)
Driver side headlight: all mounts broke, and it looks like the rear reflector casing (more plastic) is also split.
No fluids or other parts damaged, just a lot of bent metal (fender) & broken plastic.

So, we are looking at body work & it 'in the shop' for a bit. a few grand at least..


Their damage: a few scratches..


Should they pay our deductible? And maybe the increase to our insurance premiums for the next two years? Should they rent her a car for the next few days? (She uses the car for her work, she's self-employed)

he's a really good neighbor. We call on each other to help with things around the houses, the yard, etc.. But I really don't want this to end out friendship, but at the same time.. you hit our car!!
Click to expand...

Unless you were blocking their driveway, they pay Using their insurance. Like someone else said, have your insurance company contact theirs for payment.
 
This may vary with jurisdiction and the insurance company, but when someone hits you, their auto liability insurance covers the damage to you. There is typically no deductible on a liability policy.

Conversely, if you damage one of your own vehicles, say you drive into a tree or somesuch, or if you are hit by an un-insured motorist, that is covered by your comprehensive damage policy, and you will pay a deductible on that claim.

If you are ever hit by an un-insured motorist - that is a crime in many states, please make sure they are cited for it.
 
If there is personal or property damage we always call the police. They act as an independent 3rd party to document what happened.

After that, turn it over to the insurance... let it play out. That's why you have insurance.

The fact that it's your neighbor has zero bearing on the situation.
 
We had an incident that was marginally similar. My wife was driving and and stopped behind a delivery truck in a left turn lane. The truck driver decided he didn't want to turn after all and started backing up to change lanes, running right into our car. The trucking company basically paid for our repair (~$1K) directly to keep their number of insurance claims down. I suspect that it was below their deductible, and so they wouldn't benefit from a claim anyway. We kept contact and insurance information until the body shop bill was paid. The trucking company owner was mortified that the accident happened and was very interested in making sure that we were happy. I believe that we chose the body shop and just sent over the bid before work started.

If the neighbor offered to pay for the repair themselves and you were satisfied that the agreed upon body shop would do decent work, and they offer to pay for it, then you might take them up on it. Otherwise, just go through their insurance as previously discussed.
 
Take pictures of all the damage on your car and theirs. Exchange insurance information. File a police report. Have your insurance company contact their insurance company.
 
I don't know how it works in the land of poutine. Here in the land of disco fries, both parties are supposed to report the incident to their respective insurance companies. Then the companies work it out between themselves. Your neighbor would have to pay the deductable in the form of a bill from his insurance company, and, sadly, his rates might go up. But, and this is the important part, it would all happen without your imtervention. I've been on both sides of this process. It's painless.
 
File the claim with their insurance company. No need to notify yours. Your neighbor wont pay a dime out of their pocked unless they are fixing their car. They may see an increase in their premiums if they have had other accidents/infractions. This is what insurance is for... and as long as your car was parked legally, you have no fault in this incident. Losing a friendship shouldnt be an issue. If this friend is an upstanding citizen and acknowledges their family member was at fault, I doubt they would have an issue with doing the right thing and filing the claim through their policy.
 
You can go down to the Police department and file an incident report. I got hit coming out of the mountains on a dirt road that was wide enough for two cars. As I was approaching a corner I moved to the extreme right. Another car came around the corner on my side of the road a hit me head on. My truck was undrivable until a forest ranger pulled my bumper back into place . After I got home I called our insurance company {USAA} and gave them his info. They handled everything. At one point his insurance company called an wanted to make a deal. I told them no I wasn't on the wrong side of the road and if they didn't pay the whole thing including a rental car I would call a lawyer. They paid. I agree with the others. Make your claim with his insurance. If that doesn't work have your insurance go after them. You shouldn't have any out of pocket costs or have this affect your insurance rates. Having said that it may come down to what carrier you both have.
 
teepot said:
You can go down to the Police department and file an incident report. I got hit coming out of the mountains on a dirt road that was wide enough for two cars. As I was approaching a corner I moved to the extreme right. Another car came around the corner on my side of the road a hit me head on. My truck was undrivable until a forest ranger pulled my bumper back into place . After I got home I called our insurance company {USAA} and gave them his info. They handled everything. At one point his insurance company called an wanted to make a deal. I told them no I wasn't on the wrong side of the road and if they didn't pay the whole thing including a rental car I would call a lawyer. They paid. I agree with the others. Make your claim with his insurance. If that doesn't work have your insurance go after them. You shouldn't have any out of pocket costs or have this affect your insurance rates. Having said that it may come down to what carrier you both have.
Click to expand...
USAA is the absolute best insurance out there. Been my insurance company since '93 and I'll never leave.
 
heada said:
USAA is the absolute best insurance out there. Been my insurance company since '93 and I'll never leave.
Click to expand...
If you're eligible they're fantastic. Whenever I've been in an accident (all not my fault, so far), I've let them handle it, including dealing with the other insurance company, and it's about as stress-free is it could be.
 
heada said:
USAA is the absolute best insurance out there. Been my insurance company since '93 and I'll never leave.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I had a single car incident with a deer a few years ago and they were absolutely horrendous. Their entire assessment of the damage to the car was based on a single photo i submitted with the initial claim on my phone. Then they created comps for the cars value using vehicles from a nearby salvage yard. It took months to get sorted.
 
Thanks all!

Yes, up in Poutine land aka Montreal, Quebec.
Insurance here is 'no fault' so we each pay our own. We did teh exchange of info on Christmas eve, and have called our insurance people. We have the adjuster coming tomorrow.

1640707198056.png 1640707223905.png 1640707256839.png
 
No fault sucks. We just got rid of here in Michigan. My old truck dropped $20 in insurance cost due to that alone.
If I were you, choose your repair shop carefully. Let them order parts, get the paint codes and have them paint the parts prior to dropping off your vehicle. That way they will only need the car one day. Drop off in morning, pick up in evening. Solid color so blending isn't necessary on adjacent parts (Hood & Door).
The only way No Fault worked here in Michigan prior to them getting rid of it was if you were legally parked and out of the vehicle.
Then the person At Fault had to pay. I don't know what it's like in Canada, but it's worth looking into.
If you turn it over to your insurance company and it works that way there, you get the increase in premiums, and they go to the other person's insurance company and get reimbursed. Should have gotten a police report, could have saved you if being legally parked makes a difference.
 
rfjustin said:
I had my doubts but you cant make this stuff up. "When I get there, I realized they were already drunk"... :cheers:
Click to expand...


According to this report, the perpetrators will be sentenced to “supervised diversion”, which means a law enforcement officer will watch as they perform an activity that diverts their minds from tedious or serious concerns, such as a recreation or pastime. Maybe their parole officer will watch them build a rocket. Hopefully they have learned that forcing people to eat their own beards is not an acceptable diversion, and they should get better hobbies.
 
ThirstyBarbarian said:
According to this report, the perpetrators will be sentenced to “supervised diversion”, which means a law enforcement officer will watch as they perform an activity that diverts their minds from tedious or serious concerns, such as a recreation or pastime. Maybe their parole officer will watch them build a rocket. Hopefully they have learned that forcing people to eat their own beards is not an acceptable diversion, and they should get better hobbies.
Click to expand...
Better hobbies, like small engine repair, perhaps on lawn mowers, specifically red ones?
 
rfjustin said:
Better hobbies, like small engine repair, perhaps on lawn mowers, specifically red ones?
Click to expand...

That would be a good hobby for them. And maybe they could learn to make some beer money by buying mowers for $20 and flipping them for $260 to their drunk friends. A nice side gig. Just don’t let your drunk friends find out…
 

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