Parking lot hit & run

[BenWA]

Well, my car got hit by some jerk recently. I don't know when, exactly. It had to have been recent though, since the last time it rained. Probably in the last few days. Maybe even today. The white scrapes wipe away like chalk, so it's pretty fresh. I took lots of photos plus video in case it rains and washes away the scuffs.

They dented/pushed in the fender pretty badly, but the plastic doesn't seem to be broken. It seems that the fender got pushed in and it buckled, causing several dents.

I have uninsured motorist coverage, which covers "hit and run" damage, which this falls under. It's a $300 deductible, unless they find it costs less of course. I have Progressive and they have their own claims (and repair center too?) nearby, so maybe it'll end up costing less than $300, but I doubt it. Maybe my rate won't go up too much from this claim.

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EDIT: I found this bit of info online on a personal injury attorney's website:

Clients frequently ask us if their insurance rates will go up if they initiate a claim. No, you are protected. Washington state law mandates that a policy holder’s insurance rates cannot be affected when using PIP insurance or opening an UM/UIM claim.

So, supposedly they can't make my rate go up for a "hit & run", which falls under "uninsured motorist" since I didn't catch them in the act, and it could have been days ago so there's no way to find out who did it and make them pay up. It's basically as if the person had no insurance at all, since I/they can't force another insurance company to pay up.

[MacGyver]

That's probably $1000 of repair work. In my parts it costs $650 to sand and repaint a bumper with a couple of dents. Way more if the front bumper has to be replaced because it's obviously bent out of shape.

No your insurance company cannot raise your rates for something that was not your fault. This is why we have insurance.

[WindHarvester]

Damn that sucks!

Hope you can get it all worked out without too much trouble/cost on your end!

Time to start looking around your parking lot for a white car with some red paint on their bumber

[ehoff121]

Truly a bummer. Hopefully it's just a small hassle in the scheme of things.

Karma is a b***ch, so bad things are heading that driver's way...

[BenWA]

Damn that sucks!

Hope you can get it all worked out without too much trouble/cost on your end!

Time to start looking around your parking lot for a white car with some red paint on their bumber

It might not be white paint, but rather clear coat. They didn't hit it hard enough to break the plastics, just push in the fender. Plus it didn't seem to take any paint from mine, besides one tiny nick in the plastic part. They basically somehow "brushed" against it without breaking the plastic, but bending in the fender. That's why I didn't visually notice it until I heard the tire rubbing. You have to really look at the fender to even notice it from a distance.

$300 tops is all they can charge me, thanks to UM coverage.

[BenWA]

No your insurance company cannot raise your rates for something that was not your fault. This is why we have insurance.

It actually varies by state. It seems that only some states, by law, don't allow insurance companies to hike up your rates for UM/UIM/PIP claims. Others seem to let the insurance company do whatever they want. (Mostly the "deregulated is better" states)

[BenWA]

Car has been dropped off. They do send it to a third party shop actually. I could have gotten a free rental car... but I opted not to because the damage waivers cost extra. I would have had the same insurance coverage as my car has, but that means I'd also owe money in the event of an accident; even another parking lot hit & run. As it is I'm out $300 for MY car being hit, so I rejected the rental car and paid $1 to come home on the bus. It'll be another $1 to go back, but $2 beats the risk of hundreds of dollars in rental car damage, or paying per-day fees for damage waivers. If I need to go anywhere in the next few days, I'll use the buses for that too.

They said they'll call me no later than tomorrow for an estimated repair completion time. The claims agent called me when I was on the bus home but I couldn't make out what he was saying due to the bus noise, so I told him call me in an hour.

[Strata]

C'mon BenWa...you know you pissed off some female...that looks like the work of a foot...whats her name? Prob. some Matrix driver...


Hope it all shakes out for ya!

[BenWA]

C'mon BenWa...you know you pissed off some female...that looks like the work of a foot...whats her name? Prob. some Matrix driver...


Hope it all shakes out for ya!

Only if the wears a size 50 clown shoe!

The white scrapes were down low on the bumper's edge near the tire too.

Sometime around 2007, my mom who had a 1991 Corolla and she honked at some woman in a parking lot for almost causing a wreck. She went on in to the store. When she came out another customer said she witnessed a lady kicking the driver's side too. There was no damage though.

[tpollauf]

Ouch I feel your pain. This happened to me TWICE. First time was at a party and someone backed out of a driveway and hit me on the passenger side door/fender line. It was dark and the car ('74 Z-28 Camaro) was Black so couldn't see anything. What gave it away was when the girlfriend went to open her door and it buckled due to the crease from the hit. Never found out who did it BUT the friend who hosted the party is no longer a friend! Second time some jerk pulled out of an alley and literally smoked my pass rear quarter panel and pushed me over quite a bit. The punk sped off as if nothing happened. I attempted to chase him but wasn't about to blow through stop signs and red lights (which he was doing) just to kick his A S S .

Any surveillance cameras where your Vibe was parked? If this would have happened in front of my house we would have caught the person and even got plate info! 5MP IP cameras are awesome and I got them everywhere. It's to the point that I think people are afraid to drive down my street

[BenWA]

As I mentioned, I don't know where it happened, but it was probably in a place without cameras, such as the parking lot here. It could have been anywhere in the past week or two. Maybe even longer?!

It didn't stand out a lot unless you stopped and looked right at the fender. From 100ft+ away when parked in the shade, I couldn't even see the damage when I knew it was there.

[vibenvy]

Damn, that sucks ! Glad it wasn't worse though and that it's already being repaired. As someone else already said, "Karma's a b***h"!

[BenWA]

They called back on Friday saying the estimated cost of repairs was $1300-some odd. So yeah, $300 deductible is a lot better. But still.

[BenWA]

I picked up the car last night and all looks well.

They only charged me $250, which is my collision deductible. I questioned them on it, since typically a "collision" claim means my rate would likely go up on the next renewal, where as "uninsured" means they legally can't raise your rate in this state. The lady said they were "honoring the lower deductible", which is $250 for collision. I have $100 comprehensive, but this involved a car hitting it obviously. She assured me it was still a "hit & run" claim. I'll know for sure this December when my policy renews.

It sounds fishy, but... it might be because I didn't take the "free" rental car for 5 days, which would have cost the company a lot more than $50. So maybe whoever higher up in the company who deals with claims, or the computer system itself, decided to give me a lower deductible payment in this case since I saved them a couple hundred dollars in rental car fees.