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Minor fender bender in a parking lot - what to do?

Maintenance/Repairs
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#1

Hi all

So, I accidentally backed into a Jeep last night in a parking lot. Totally my fault. The owner was on a restaurant patio next to his car and totally saw what happened.

Scuff mark on his rear bumper, and his bumper shifted a little bit off the rest of the body. It’s a pretty new 2018 Jeep Cherokee. On my car, a 2011 Honda Accord, less damage, just a scuff mark on my rear bumper.

My insurance deductible for “Damage/Loss” is $200.

Now, if the Jeep owner gets an estimate on the repair and I pay it, almost surely it will be way more than $200. Even if I ask him to get a second estimate at my body shop guy, it’ll be way higher than $200.

Should I just contact my insurance company and file a claim? Under this kind of scenario, would I also have to pay the Jeep owner’s deductible?

Not sure who’s insurance pays what in this scenario, since this has never happened to me before.

Any advice is welcome. My inclination is to go through insurance for this.

The photos here are the damage on the Jeep.

Thanks!

Neel

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#2

Yes, definitely… that’s why you HAVE insurance.

Yes, but your insurance company pays that.

Yours does, you damaged someone else’s car. Unless you live in a no-fault state. None of this matters since the insurance companies will handle it…

Follow that inclination, collision repair is expensive.

6 Likes
#3

Yes , let your insurance take care of this and if their are any future claims or complaints the insurance will deal with it . That is why you have insurance and you really need to understand just what your coverage is.

4 Likes
#4

… as opposed to only partially seeing it?
:wink:

1 Like
#5

Haha, OK, he was on the other side of the car, but probably the crunch sound was enough to know…

#6

Thanks for the advice guys!

1 Like
#7

Usually you tell the other person who your insurance company is. The insurance company has given you a slip of paper that you have with your registration and that’s the info they need to copy. These days they can just take a picture of both sides of that paper, and your drivers license. Most insurance companies say not to admit liability, but this kind of parking lot bump is not a big deal so there’s no real reason to be extra careful about it. If you want you can call your insurance company and tell them what happened, but I would say you should just wait and let the other person decide what to do. The insurance company will call you if there are questions.

1 Like
#8

No fault in Minnesota only covers medical expenses, wage loss, etc.

No-Fault coverage is widely misunderstood. Many drivers believethat their insurance company will cover ALL losses in an acci-dent, regardless of who is at fault. But “no-fault” coverage appliesONLY to expenses resulting from injuries sustained in an acci-dent. Here are some other facts about no-fault:No-fault is a Minnesota law. It was established to help ease theburden of courts and to ensure prompt treatment for accidentvictims.No-fault IS the Personal Injur y Protection (PIP) on your policy,sometimes referred to as Basic Economic Loss Benefits.No-fault covers your medical costs, wage loss, replacement ser v-ices such as housekeeping, and in the event of death, $2,000 offuneral expenses.No-fault claims are first made on your own PIP. If expenses thenprove greater than the PIP limit on your policy, or you attainspecified thresholds, you may make a claim against the other dri-ver’s liability coverage if the other driver is found to be liable.Minimum no-fault coverage is $40,000. That amount is available toeach person injured in an accident; $20,000 is allowed for medicalexpenses and $20,000 may be used for non-medical expenses.Coverage beyond these minimum amounts may be purchased.No-fault usually does not apply to accidents when you are ridingyour motorcycle or snowmobile. You must purchase a separateinsurance policy covering these vehicles, and the policies will notinclude personal injur y protection. PIP coverage for snowmobilesor motorcycles can, however, be purchased separately. No-fault claims must be made within six months of the accident.You must include proof of expenses, complete an application forbenefits, and submit to a medical examination if requested. Billsshould be submitted to the insurance company as they come in.Department of Commerce5

Tester

#9

I don’t see where the OP mentions their state.

#10

Thanks guys. Yes, we traded our insurance info. We are in Ontario, Canada, and we don’t have no-fault insurance.

1 Like
#11

In NY , your no fault coverage is from your car insurer, no matter who caused the accident. The only exceptions are for bicyclists or pedestrians who are covered by the insurance of the car that hit them. If an accident is your fault, your insurance pays to fix the other car with no deductible. If you have collision insurance pays for your car minus whatever deductible you have chosen. No fault is for injuries up to a certain dollar amount and liability is for cars and structures.