Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with collision

Rental Car Accident filter

spacefire — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:43:10 -0800

Hertz fender bender, do I need to file police report, and am I covered? I backing up out of my parents driveway, I hit my mom's car with the rear of my Hertz rental car. Dents and scratches , but no other damage. I have Liability Insurance supplement but no Loss Damage Waiver as that should be taken care of by Visa since I rented using my Visa card. Should we file a police report?

Another question, related: The liability protection states, quote:
Within the limits stated in this subparagraph, hertz will indemnify, hold harmless....which by definition EXCLUDES ANY OF YOUR OR ANY AUTHORIZED OPERATOR'S FAMILY MEMBERS...RESIDING WITH YOU OR THEM..."
I don't live with my parents, I was just visiting, will the liability thing cover the damage to my mother's car?

Trusted collision repair shop in Arlington, VA?

UrbanEconomist — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:33:00 -0800

Arlington, VA filter: My wife had a parking lot mishap when a lamp post jumped out in front of her car; now we need to find a good collision repair place. We drive a 2001 Honda Civic and live nearby to the Pentagon. The car is in fine shape to drive, so we don't mind going out of our way far a good and honest body shop. Thanks very much for your suggestions!

Should I settle directly, or go through insurance?

bkudria — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:51:43 -0800

My boss has an auto insurance policy with GEICO. I had an accident on my boss's policy. I called in the claim. Should we settle directly, or allow GEICO to cover the claim, if I won't be on the policy anymore at the time of renewal? My boss has an auto insurance policy with GEICO. I had an accident on my boss's policy. I called in the claim.

My boss came by and offered to pay out of pocket. The folks I hit were fine with this, and got a quote for $687 (which seems very high).

GEICO called my boss and wants to see a fax of the check, and then plan to call the people who were hit for verification. They said a record of the accident will stay on the policy and be referenced by underwriters when they renew in November. I will not be on the policy anymore by that time.

Questions:

Given that I will not be on the policy at the time of renewal (and hence pose no further risk), are Geico's underwriters likely to raise the rate because the claim was filed?

If the underwriters will raise the rate regardless will they be sufficiently influenced by the fact that there was no monetary amount paid out by GEICO to raise it less, making it worth us taking the hit?

Any advice on getting diminished payment value for vehicle after collision?

Leenie — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:13:36 -0800

Any advice on getting diminished payment value for vehicle after collision? Their insurance company said that there was no diminished value after our car was rear ended by a semi-truck. A few weeks ago my wife was rear ended by a semi-truck in stop and go traffic. The vehicle was fixed, and paid for, by the trucking company's insurance provider. The accident occurred in Washington state, we live in Oregon and the trucking company is based in California.

We have hired a personal injury lawyer for the medical bills that have resulted from the collision.

We hired an independent appraiser for an estimate of diminished value on the vehicle. $3,180.60. Not a lot of money for a 2005 Chevrolet, but it is something we are entitled to.

The trucking company's insurance agency came over to our place to make their own estimate after the repairs were completed. When they finally gave us the diminished value, in their opinion, it was a whole zero dollars. They felt that since the vehicle was repaired using factory parts (we selected the repair facility) there was no diminished value to this vehicle after the collision and repair.

Obviously we could hire another attorney for loss in value of the vehicle, but does anybody have any advice we can use?

Thank you for any information.

Collision and law

comatose — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 01:34:18 -0800

There is a 4 way intersection. 3 ways have to stop and 1 way does not. 2 cars are approaching each other head on, 1 coming to the stop sign, the other not having a stop sign... The car having a stop sign stops at the intersection, and proceeds straight through. The car not having the stop sign turns left WITHOUT THE USE OF A TURN SIGNAL. There is a collision. Who is at fault? (this is in the state of Ohio)

ps. i am looking for legal advice, not personal opinion

He's sick, I'm scared, and I'm 3000 miles away. Help!

fuzzbean — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 08:19:15 -0800

On Tuesday, my boyfriend is having an anterior cervical fusion of C5 and C6 as a result of being on the weak end of a car-bicycle collision. He's in Los Angeles. I'm in Boston. I'm worried, and I have lots of questions. How can I help? He was hit by the car two Thursdays ago, finally made it in to see a doctor (long story) last Monday, and in the intervening week has had four separate and unrelated doctors, including two non-surgeons with no interest in unnecessary surgery, look at him and go, "Oh, shit, it's a good thing you're not paralyzed." So we're pretty sure this is the right thing to do.

Flying out isn't really an option, due to the expense and my job, etc., nor is it particularly necessary; he has family and friends in the area who will be around to help. It's rational for me to stay in Boston and go about my life; it doesn't mean it's what I want to do. I've basically been put on internet research detail, but I feel so very helpless and useless at this. I've offered several times to come out (and have a packed duffel in the hallway by the door), but he is also being rational about this and discouraging it, on the grounds that there will already be lots of people there and I won't be able to help that much; it would be better for me to save the time and money and see him when he's recovered.

Complicating the issue (for me, anyway, although I'm not mentioning this to him as it's one more thing he doesn't need to worry about) is my crippling, bowel-clenching phobia (self link) of doctors, medicine, hospitals, needles, etc.etc.etc. that puts me nearly into a crying, shaking panic attack when I think about all of this too hard.

So now for the questions:

Medical:
- What can he expect in terms of aftermath and recovery time? He's 37 and in good overall health, non-smoker, slender build, very healthy diet.

- Has anyone here had this procedure done? What were your experiences (good and bad)?

- What's the best way to treat a surgical wound so it heals quickly and with minimal scarring? What's the best way to prevent infection? He's considering using something like this, on the grounds that it will seal out everything nasty and won't need to be fussed with for a week. Thoughts? Why would this be a bad idea?

- His doctor has had a single malpractice arbitration judgment against him, for $1.2 million in October of 2004, but says that he hasn't had any deaths. Is this a large enough settlement to be concerned about? I'm taking it with a grain of salt, as I know perfectly well that very good doctors often settle malpractice disputes just to settle without going to court, but I'll admit that the size concerns me.

Legal:
- Is there a maximum inheritable value above which point the estate goes to probate court regardless of the existance of a will, or as long as it's under the $1.5 million mark (for the estate tax) does the will take precedence? (No, I'm not this ghoulish, but he wants to be prepared for the worst.)

- He hasn't contacted a lawyer and is unwilling to sue (variety of reasons). He has health insurance that should be covering all of this, so will they just go after the car insurance and leave him out of it?

Personal:
- What concrete steps can I take to help him from all the way across the continent? As I said, I'm on internet research detail, as he has limited time he can sit/stand upright, so I'm answering and trying to anticipate his questions, but it's so...little.

- How do I get control of my head? I'm keeping busy, knitting him a scarf, cooking, going out with friends, not letting myself be too alone, but often when I am, bad scary things start going on inside my cranium. I want them to stop; they're not helping him and they're not helping me, but I can't. I know some fear is rational, but I know this isn't.

Random:
- He has an returning residency visa for New Zealand, and was planning to move there (permanently) before all this happened. Will this affect his application for an indefinite returning residency visa?

How do I find a vehicle based only on vehicle type and color?

Fat Guy — Thu, 26 May 2005 14:44:16 -0800

CSI Filter: How do I find the person who hit my car given that it was a woman driving a blue SUV that hit my car in State College, PA at approximately 12:11 AM May 26th, 2005? My car was damaged in a hit and run accident in my apartment's parking lot last night while I was sleeping. The only deatils the witness who saw the accident could provide was that it was a woman driving an enormous dark SUV who caved in my driver's side door. No plate number. There is some blue paint on my door handle.