I Rear-Ended Someone

Hey all,

Just a couple quick questions to anyone that might have the slightest
idea...

So I rear ended someone today. We were stopped at the red light merging
onto a highway. He was about to make a right turn, I glanced, thought I
saw him take off and slowly moved forward while checking for oncoming
traffic..

Turns out he didn't go and I hit him at about 2 miles per hour. He was
driving a brand new Honda CR-V and I was in a 99 RX300. I feel like a
jackass for hitting a guy in a new car but I can't really beat myself
up over that fact. Anyways, I gave him my license information and my
insurance information. The thing is, there is not much damage to his
car (a couple paint scuffs on that big extra wheel thing on the back,
no dents or anything major like that). I didn't even hit the actual
body of the car, just that spare tire thing hanging off the back.

I've never gotten a ticket/been in an accident before. I didn't even
get a chance to get his information (STUPIDDD ME). I'm hoping that he
won't file an insurance claim because I don't think the damage is that
major or anything but now I don't even know what he will do. Do you
guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
insurance?

I was wondering if Honda fixes things like that since I'm sure the car
must be covered by warranty or something. The car was so new it only
had a temporary license plate hanging fromt the rear window. I'm kinda
in a frenzy now because I don't know what will happen from here. I
don't even know if I should call my OWN insurance company...

Please help me out guys...I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

In article
. com>,
wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> Just a couple quick questions to anyone that might have the slightest
> idea...
>
> So I rear ended someone today. We were stopped at the red light merging
> onto a highway. He was about to make a right turn, I glanced, thought I
> saw him take off and slowly moved forward while checking for oncoming
> traffic..
>
> Turns out he didn't go and I hit him at about 2 miles per hour. He was
> driving a brand new Honda CR-V and I was in a 99 RX300. I feel like a
> jackass for hitting a guy in a new car but I can't really beat myself
> up over that fact. Anyways, I gave him my license information and my
> insurance information. The thing is, there is not much damage to his
> car (a couple paint scuffs on that big extra wheel thing on the back,
> no dents or anything major like that). I didn't even hit the actual
> body of the car, just that spare tire thing hanging off the back.
>
> I've never gotten a ticket/been in an accident before. I didn't even
> get a chance to get his information (STUPIDDD ME). I'm hoping that he
> won't file an insurance claim because I don't think the damage is that
> major or anything but now I don't even know what he will do. Do you
> guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
> insurance?

-You- hit him, he's going to file on -your- insurance.

> I was wondering if Honda fixes things like that since I'm sure the car
> must be covered by warranty or something.

By what stretch is this something that Honda should be held
responsible for?

> The car was so new it only
> had a temporary license plate hanging fromt the rear window. I'm kinda
> in a frenzy now because I don't know what will happen from here. I
> don't even know if I should call my OWN insurance company...

Always notify your own insurance, especially when you were at
fault.

> Please help me out guys...I would really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks!

"N8N" > wrote
> wrote:
>> Turns out he didn't go and I hit him at about 2 miles per hour. He was
>> driving a brand new Honda CR-V and I was in a 99 RX300. I feel like a
>> jackass for hitting a guy in a new car but I can't really beat myself
>> up over that fact. Anyways, I gave him my license information and my
>> insurance information. The thing is, there is not much damage to his
>> car (a couple paint scuffs on that big extra wheel thing on the back,
>> no dents or anything major like that). I didn't even hit the actual
>> body of the car, just that spare tire thing hanging off the back.

The problem is that the spare tire is attached to the hatch, which might
have taken damage.

>> I've never gotten a ticket/been in an accident before. I didn't even
>> get a chance to get his information (STUPIDDD ME). I'm hoping that he
>> won't file an insurance claim because I don't think the damage is that
>> major or anything but now I don't even know what he will do. Do you
>> guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
>> insurance?

The only reason that he would file through HIS insurance is if you
don't actually have insurance and he has to file under his un-insured
clause (if he has it.) It was your fault, after all (unless you're in a
no-fault state.)

>> I was wondering if Honda fixes things like that since I'm sure the car
>> must be covered by warranty or something. The car was so new it only
>> had a temporary license plate hanging fromt the rear window. I'm kinda
>> in a frenzy now because I don't know what will happen from here. I
>> don't even know if I should call my OWN insurance company...
>>
> Unless you specifically told the other party that you would be willing
> to handle this on a cash basis and to call you before calling the
> insurance co., he has probably contacted your insurance company already
> or will do so shortly. Therefore it is in your best interest to call
> your ins. co. ASAP before they get around to calling you, so it doesn't
> look like you're trying to skip out on something.

Nate is perfectly correct.

Please note that the CHEAPEST most of these repairs are is around $500.
Even re-finishing a bumper cover is about that. If the hatch has to be
repaired you're easily looking at $1000 or more.

FloydR

In article . com>,
> wrote:
>Do you
>guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
>insurance?

Either way, it will come back to your insurance if it is deemed to
be your fault. He might file directly with your insurance, or he
might file with his insurance which will then collect from your insurance.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

> I thought the idea was that you file a claim with YOUR insuramnce
> company and let them take care of hounding the other guy's insurance
> company?
>
> Might as well make them do SOMETHING useful for all those huge
> premiums you pay, right?

Some states (no fault) require it. However, in dealing with insurance
companies, just CALLING them to ask about a potential or even hypothetical
claim, can cause your insurance premiums to rise, even if you do NOT file a
claim. If you can handle an incident without your insurance company being
contacted in any manner by anyone, that is the best way to handle it. -Dave

Mike T. wrote:
> "Timothy J. Lee" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article . com>,
> > > wrote:
> >>Do you
> >>guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
> >>insurance?
> >
> > Either way, it will come back to your insurance if it is deemed to
> > be your fault. He might file directly with your insurance, or he
> > might file with his insurance which will then collect from your insurance.

> If it was me, I'd go with plan C. As the car still had temp. tags on it, it
> is still within the period of time that it can be returned to the dealer.
> I'd just take it back to the dealer and tell them I changed my mind and
> don't need it.

This must be in some fantasy world with which I'm unfamiliar. The
chance to return a car to the dealer disappeared the moment the car was
driven off the lot if not before. (Yes, Chrysler currently has some
30-day return promotion, but read the fine print and you'll see that
doing so is neither cheap not easy.) I have a new car right now with
temporary tags, but I've already driven it about 9000 miles around much
of the country. You really think the dealer will just let me return it
and give me my money back?

The other driver has undoubtedly contacted his insurance company by now
and either let them handle getting the claim paid by Jason's insurance
or contacted Jason's company directly. Afterall, he has a new car and
will want it to look new, not with some dent even if it doesn't have
any structural consequence.

Jason should contact his own insurance company ASAP to let them know
what happened, his impression of the extent of the damage, and any
information he has about the other driver and car.

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:39:37 -0400, "Mike T." > wrote:

>
>"Timothy J. Lee" > wrote in message
.. .
>> In article . com>,
>> > wrote:
>>>Do you
>>>guys think he will file a claim through his own insurance or my
>>>insurance?
>>
>> Either way, it will come back to your insurance if it is deemed to
>> be your fault. He might file directly with your insurance, or he
>> might file with his insurance which will then collect from your insurance.
>>
>>
>
>If it was me, I'd go with plan C. As the car still had temp. tags on it, it
>is still within the period of time that it can be returned to the dealer.
>I'd just take it back to the dealer and tell them I changed my mind and
>don't need it. Even if an accident is 100% the fault of someone else, your
>insurance rates can still go up for YEARS, just because you filed a claim.
>Not worth it. Just return the car and buy something else. -Dave
>

Some dealerships are advertising 30-day return privs on some models,
but even they have limits on mileage and damage.
The presence or absence of temp tags have nothing to do with such
policies.
--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

> Scott en Aztlán said in rec.autos.driving:
> I thought the idea was that you file a claim with YOUR insuramnce
> company and let them take care of hounding the other guy's insurance
> company?
>
> Might as well make them do SOMETHING useful for all those huge
> premiums you pay, right?

The only problem with that, Scott, is that you will still have to pay
your deductible if you file under your insurance policy instead of going
after the other party's insurance. SO, since you are going to have to
file anyway and do the work anyway, might as well hit the other driver's
policy directly and skip the deductible part - or did you think that
your insurance company is going to do the work for free out of the
goodness of their hearts? As someone else here likes to say, Been
there, Done that...

> Mike T. said in rec.autos.driving:
> If it was me, I'd go with plan C. As the car still had temp. tags on it, it
> is still within the period of time that it can be returned to the dealer.
> I'd just take it back to the dealer and tell them I changed my mind and
> don't need it. Even if an accident is 100% the fault of someone else, your
> insurance rates can still go up for YEARS, just because you filed a claim.
> Not worth it. Just return the car and buy something else

And how does he explain the damage to the vehicle to the dealer?

necromancer wrote:
> > Mike T. said in rec.autos.driving:
> > If it was me, I'd go with plan C. As the car still had temp. tags on it, it
> > is still within the period of time that it can be returned to the dealer.
> > I'd just take it back to the dealer and tell them I changed my mind and
> > don't need it. Even if an accident is 100% the fault of someone else, your
> > insurance rates can still go up for YEARS, just because you filed a claim.
> > Not worth it. Just return the car and buy something else
>
> And how does he explain the damage to the vehicle to the dealer?

To say nothing of the lack of ethics and integrity involved....Not that
he would get away with it.