May 22nd, 2008
My car got wrecked - how I am dealing with it
While driving with Lauren to go see a property management company about my house someone turned out in front of me. Here is what happened:
Here is how I handled it and I think so far its been very effective:
1) Call the police
I called the police right away since it was substantial. Even in a wreck where there is not substantial damage it is still a good idea to get a police report because this will be vital later on as far as determining insurance coverage. If it the other persons fault, such as in my case, you need to establish that the other party is officially the one at fault.
2) Call your insurance agent
As it turns out State Farm wants you to deal more directly with the other persons insurance but if you have an insurance agent that actually gets on top of things for you, you want to get them involved early on. Insurance agents know how to deal with other insurance agents.
3) Take pictures of the damage
Having your own set of pictures is essential in case some sort of dispute comes up later.
4) Get the other drivers information
In this case I got it from police.
5) Call the other persons insurance
I called Esurance and sure enough he had reported the accident but he didn’t say it was his fault or give them any of my information. My insurance had also not called them yet. I got all of the correct information in to them and got them to set me up with a rental car.
This is as far as I have gotten, currently they are inspecting the damage and I am waiting to hear what they have to say. I will, of course, add as things come.
- 8 Comments
- Life
I’m assuming you guys are ok?
Bummer man…a mess to deal with.
I’ve got one more for you: 6) include wrecker guy’s butt crack in photos.
Looks pretty bad… I hope you’re both OK.
Sounds like you have everything under control on the insurance front. Good luck with it!
haha PT, true story, believe it or not, that picture shows it LESS than the others we got!
OUCH!! I gotta assume you’re both ok, your response didn’t say otherwise, and the cabin looks OK. Keep an eye on your back and neck for about a week, sudden stops can take some time to show damage.
Kills me we can work so hard for something, and have it wrecked in an instant. That poor Z….
…AND, just for healths sake - go to your doctor for a quick check-up. Trust me.
The ins will cover it, and you want to eliminate any possibility of medical after-effects after you accept a settlement check. Tell your doc you were in a minor accident and he/she will often check for retina damage, nerve response, and bruising that can occur a few days AFTER the accident. (Gee, how’d I get THAT bruise on my kneecap…)
But you’re OK, and that matters most….now, about the Z, thats a different matter
depending on how bad the damage is, and how old your car is, it might be worth it to contract an appraisor to write you an official report so you can submit for dimished value.
Thanks guys, I have been fine as far as how Im feeling so thats good, but the Z on the other hand, not so good.
@amaranta I am considering that because they are saying about 10 grand in damage. For a car worth 24k, thats pretty nasty.
i had the same experience when i got into a car wreck last year- my car (valued at 17k) had 10k of damages. i paid $650 to an appraisor (my coworker had used them so i know they were reputable) and he took pictures and wrote a report (which includes getting independant quotes to calculate the value lost), which all i had to do is submit to the insurance agent. they wrote me a check that day for the full amount of diminished value ($6100), on top of the amount they had already paid to fix the car!