just got in an accident! have a question...
 

i just got rear ended today at about 6:30pm arizona time. a big ol' 1985 ford f-150 didn't see that me and the rest of traffic had stopped and she ran right up my hatch. the cops estimated speed of impact at 40mph. so yeah, the car is pretty @#$%#! right now. my girlfriend and i are fine, just a little whiplashed. the car held up amazingly well. just the hatch part is royally screwed, but the passanger compartment is untouched. i can open all four doors with no problem. the impact was so hard that i ran into the girl in front of me and she ran into the girl in front of her (four car pile-up). i would say we were about half a car length back from the car in front of us. so now my neck hurts. but that's it. sucks, but the car is replaceable (although she only had 4481 miles on it at impact). i'm just really glad that my girlfriend and i are okay.

so here's my question: anyone know anything about progressive auto insurance? i heard they make you go to one of their places to get an estimate and they quote you for refurbished or generic prices instead of new genuine part prices. i need a new hatch, a new rear hatch window, new tail lights, new front bumper, and some other things (all in the hatch area). i am not sure if the frame of the car got damaged at all, still waiting to see what happens. the bad thing is, i am leaving to go back to california tomorrow, so i don't know what's going to happen with the insurance company. can anyone help? is there anything i can do to get them to honor the dealer's estimate? i have 25/50 coverage, so i should be covered, right? the ford f-150 didn't have insurance, so does that make a difference? this is my first accident, so if anyone can help, that would be great.

my insurance is going to go up like a mopho in february when i have to renew my 6-month policy (i'm 23, single, male, had an accident with a friggin new car, live in the #6 car theft capital of the US, etc.) what insurance company is going to be less than 1500 for the 6 months? thanks in advance!

when i got in an accident i went to the place my insurance told me to go and the estimate was $1300. then i got my friend to do it for my and saved like 500 bucks. mines is AIG though. and make sure the place u go to uses dupont paint or something that's the same quaility.

I know in NY, it is 100% illegal for any insurance company to require you to use a certain shop.

And it is also illegal for them to require the use of aftermarket parts - I believe that is a nationwide law.

State Farm insurance had major lawsuits a few years back because of this - the policies read that they would return the car to "pre-accident condition" - yet the use of aftermarket parts is NOT honoring that - pre-accident condition precludes the use of OEM parts, no exceptions.

Not sure what the law is in Arizona concerning the shop you have to use. I would do an online search about this issue, and find the laws.

~HH

we had about the same problem you did. we had got rear ended and knocked into someone and it caused a 5 car pile up. we have progressive and picked one of the shops on their list. the one we went to done an awesome job. we asked around before choosing one and most people said they had picked some very good people and there were very few they said to stay away from. supposedly we got all new parts and it has held up 100 %...so far. good luck.

You don't have to worry there are no LKQ parts for your car. so you will get OEM.

the truck did not hit you at 40mph. might be closer to 20-25. At 40mph the trucks front bumper would push the hatch in to the back seat. you would hit the car in front of you at around 15 to 25 mph and then you would have appox. $5000 damage to the front end.


your car would be a total loss :eek:

we had gotten hit 40-45 mph and about the only thing that is original on ours is the 4 doors and top. ours wasn't a total loss even though it looked like it. and it was well over 5000. hmmm, maybe progressive sucks?????

with any insurance company they will always opt to repair the car before replace it. They will weigh the total damage against the current value of the car. If the damage is cheaper to fix, they will try and fix your car even if it looks like a bus accident.

It is illegal for any insurance company to force you to go to a specific body shop. Most insurance co's will give you a alist of body shops they do regular business with to speed up the process. Also, if you don't own the car yet (Are still making payments) then the insurance check will not be made out to you-only to the body shop you will have the work done at OR the lender that currently owns the title to your car.

Aftermarket parts. Beleive it or not the check the insurance co. gives "you" is literally a blank check to fix the damaged parts of your car. If you find an aftermarket spoiler or bumper or anything else that was damaged that you would rather have installed other than the OEM parts you can order them and have them installed. HOWEVER, the insurance won't cover any additional costs for non OEM parts, you pay the difference. But hey, getting an aftermarket body kit and having parts of it paid for is great. It's no excuse to go getting your car wrecked but it can definately be a silver lining.

In my personal experience only, I have Geico for insurance and had almost 14k in damage from my recent accident. Some of you may remember pictures I posted earlier. Geico's policy is that a vehicle is not deemed a total loss unless the damage to the car exceeds 80% of blue book value for the car. I have a 2002 PR5 so at the time of the accident the 2003's weren't offered yet, and the blue book for a car that just rolled 5k miles was extremely high.

Because of my specific situation I knew that OEM parts would be used...including paint, doors, suspension, decklid, etc. For that reason I pleaded with the claims adjustor not to total my car. I have the car back after 3 1/2 months of repairs and there are still some minor problems, but at least I have the car. Having a car that's gonna have a CARFAX report a mile long is better than not having a car and trying to negotiate a replacement...or better yet, not having a car and making monthly payments and the associated insurance while having no car at all.

I don't know about Progressive's policies, I've heard they are a great company, but the designated repair shop is highly suspicious for the reasons others have already stated. My claims adjustor recommended a place that he has other customers getting serviced at, but I wasn't forced to that location. The location is a reputable one and specializes in Mazda and Volvo, so I chose them.

Why would your insurance go up? The accident wasn't your fault. You were sitting stationary in traffic, and hit from behind and pushed into the car in front of you. This accident surely couldn't be construed as your fault. The person that hit you should have their insurance co. pay to fix your car, or your insurance co. should go after his insurance co.

It seems less and less like fault matters in adjusting premiums after an accident. I, for example, was hit by a driver without insurance, and I was the one faulted. My insurance paid her claims and she was not cited at the scene of the accident. However, I was responsible and carry full coverage I'll pay the penalty in higher premiums when the policy comes up for renewal. Meanwhile the uninsured motorist comes out of the accident with her car in better shape than before it happened.

You're on the road
 

The reason yours will go up too is because you have a car and your on the road. This is true for NY and i'm pretty sure for the rest of the country. If you have a car than you are at least 10% at fault I beleive, not sure though. And it also depends on the insurance company. For example, my dad got hit in the rear passenger quarter panel and he was found to has 40% fault when he had none what so ever. I'm pretty sure the insurance company thought that my dad was paying too little so they decided, "hey lets raise his insurance," and the other company said "ok" Needless to say we changed companies.

if you read above he said that the person who hit his car was uninsured so he has to make a claim on his car. Whether or not an accident is your fault if you make a claim then you are prolly goin to have to pay a higher premium

In most cases, ANY reported incident will raise your rates.

I wrote on more than one occasion (the server seems fucked, and searches are not working *again* - otherwise I'd link to the post) about an incident where I knocked mirrors with a cab, and his fell off. He made a claim with my ins. co. (which asked him NOT to do). But I paid the entire whopping $150 bill out-of-pocket, and told my ins. co. I'd send them a copy of my check as proof the issue was resolved. Outcome - my rates went up OVER $200 A YEAR - because it was a "reported incident", and ALL reported incidents add to your overall driving record.

So yes - if you are just an unlucky bastard who gets hit all the time, you WILL pay more than everyone else - even if you are 0% at fault, 100% of the time.

~HH

Sorry to hear what happened to your P5.


I hate people who drives around without insurance.

accident update
 

well, i got a call from the adjustor today... $9300 worth of damages. oh well. i'm going to get anally violated when it comes time to renew my policy. grrrrr. yep, and the body shop estimated time of repair if everything goes according to plan will be "at least" two months. good lord.

this sucks, but i'm in california again, so i'm happy. i'm going to rishie's shop sometime this week or next, so if anyone wants me to pass on a question or something, let me know.