You need to contact the Insurance Company ASAP!
I believe you are REQUIRED to do so ASAP!
That is probubly a stipulation of your Insurance Company.
They have a whole Firm of lawyers at their disposal. It's what they DO!

 

Well I can't speak to wanting to involve a lawyer but getting your insurance involved isn't a bad thing when you will be reimbursed for your deductible and are not at fault for your rate to increase. So I would ask what's the harm in having your insurance work on your behalf?

 

Lets see....
Your car was in a wreck.
Your car most likely hit another car.
I'm quite sure the other Party has Insurance.
I'm quite sure the licence plate, make and model are on the Police report.
I'm quite sure it is entered into a Database.
I'm quite sure that your Insurance Company is looking at a Computer screen wondering WHY you have not reported it yet.
I'm positive that you won't be very happy when your Insurance Drops You for not reporting a accident.

 

Who is paying the lawyer? The owner is not injured. No ambulance to chase here. Hard to substantiate pain and suffering when no one is injured.

 

Some of the advice in this thread is just plain crazy.

It is certainly Okay and probably advisable to get your insurance involved as a courtesy, but they're not going to jump on subrogation and pursuing the other parties insurance until such time as this has played out a lot more and you have expressed dissatisfaction that the remedy offered by the other party isn't fair and doesn't meet the standards of your collision policy. And you really want to avoid making a claim on your own insurance if possible, both for the out-of-pocket deductable and because it can influence your future rates.

And you may at some point want to get a lawyer involved, but again, they're not going to be able to do anything on your behalf until the assessment of damage has occurred and you see what kind of settlement is being offered.

These things take time. You've got a rental car being provided free of charge. Chill.

- Mark

 

All Insurance companies Suck ! They are only looking out for each other !

Ok contact your insurance company, but most insurance companies don't give a s**t about you or your car; they will settle with the dealerships insurance with the least amount of effort.

They don't care if your car came in without a flaw as long as they can say its fixed. End of story.

This is why you need a lawyer to make sure you get what you deserve, a new car, and money in your pocket for the dealerships error of crashing your once perfect Mini.

Sure it was an accident but they we're driving not the owner. Why was their driver so close as to hit another car and how fast was he driving ?

You will get the short end of this deal unless you have a lawyer in your corner.

I would not take the chance if it we're me.

 

Updates :

No update from the dealership or from their insurance company.

I have contacted mine though and while a claim hasn't been opened they did start a file. For future people who have this problem you do have to advise your insurance company about the incident, even though the dealership is dealing with everything.

--Terminal

 

I have contacted mine though and while a claim hasn't been opened they did start a file. For future people who have this problem you do have to advise your insurance company about the incident,

First - you must notify the company within X days of an incident ... you can not call in the insurance company a year after the event. You could decide to never involve them .... I don't recommend that but ...

It apears 'your' company is now talking to 'their' company .... and since there is no 'claim' there would not be an impact to you. You have asked your insurance to negotiate with another insurance company ... 'your' company is going to ensure the other side pays it . . . with no impact to you .. I hope .. if they raise your rates, get a new company.

 

Yes, there is a time frame in which you have to advise the insurance company.

However, I have yet to ask my insurance company to rape the other company. They are currently taking no actions unless I ask them to intervene - as I said they have opened a file but that's it.


--Terminal

 

My truck was stolen and recovered. The insurance company fixed the vehicle, the repair cost total around $7000.

My insurance rate never went up.

Within 2 months apart, my truck was hit by a drunk driver ($8000 in repair), and then in my other vehicle, I was rear ended. I went though my insurance company and I didn't pay deductible on the first instance, on the second accident, I paid the deductible out of my pocket but it was reimbursed.

When I was rear ended, my vehicle was repaired and I and another passenger was awarded for pain and suffering. My insurance paid for medical expenses of both my passenger and I.

My premium never increased.

Are you actively talking to the dealership as to what is happening with the process? I would be. They just don't give a shi... Nobody but you do.

 

Maybe just saying to the dealership " If this matter is not wrapped up soon, I will be contacting a lawyer to assist you "

Alittle push can't hurt, right ................

 

Completely wrong approach if u ask me. It takes time for these types of things to get settled. The dealership has a heck of a lot more resources than most average people. If u think veiled lame threats will get you somewhere go for it. You ultimately will get the short end of the stick. In this case the "little push" as you stated would probably backfire. If I heard that and was the Principle of the dealership I would dig my heals in and give you a run for your money.

That's my thinking on your suggestion.

 

I would just inform the OP's Insurance Company of the prolonged delay and let them take it from there.

 

My 2 cents worth. Asked a friend that works for a Cadillac dealer in town and he told me that its there policy; and they have only had to do it once, but they replace the car for comparable model and price. He has also heard of Ford dealers doing the same thing. He was not able to tell me if individual had to pay in difference or not. But that is what I would settle for, Car replaced with comparable model and options.

 

Update!

I just heard back from the dealership's insurance company.

The on-lot appraisal of damage came in at just under $10k worth of front end damage. However, it is not considered totaled yet - they want to take it to a repair center and have a proper tear down to find any more damage which, I guess, would then raise it past the total threshold...

Given that it's been two weeks since I've been notified of the accident, I can't say I'm impressed with how this is going so far - an initial estimate shouldn't have taken this long!

Before the call from the insurance company I was told by my service advisor that I should hear from one of their operations guys today - hopefully I'll get some information about what the dealerships plans are at that point. I'm not holding my breath though, they have thoroughly unimpressed me throughout this entire process.

--Terminal

 

That is some sneaky tactics, two weeks?! Really? They probably called five or more estimators to see how low they can go. Really shady IMO.

 

No matter who is repairin it

1.) you have the right to choose your parts.
2.) you have the right to refuse repairs
3.) You have the right to demand another vehicle and not take a repaired one.

 

While I want them all to be true, do you have any documentation or resources for the third option?

 

I'm curious'
"rights" under what?

if I get in an accident I have the 'right' to basically demand a new car? New one on me

inquiring minds want to know . . .

 

10K in front damage.. Are they replacing the engine?

I fixed up a salvaged mini. 10K in front damage alone IMO is a lotta damage. Surprising 10K in front damage is Not a total for your mini. They must be buttering the inspector like hell to have it not totaled.

It is a very hard sell when front end damage in obvious components adding up to 10K and engine not being involved.

Tell them to take the vehicle and give you an equivalent one with similar mileage. Take the vehicle to your repair facility of choice and have them come up with the estimate. They can do a lot of things for you. Like bumping up that extra few hundred dollars in the estimate. I am sure they wrote the estimate with non OEM parts. If you just run the figures I am sure it will be higher with OEM parts. I suppose you can ask for OEM parts as that was what u had and this incident was not at your fault.

I wouldn't take that car home even it is repaired unless I am compensated for loss of value of the vehicle and potential damage that may appear in the future.

 

As an insurance underwriter, I'm not sure that numbers 1&3 are at all true unless you have some new documentation to support this. I've never heard of it. You do have a right to refuse used parts, but you will likely have to pay for the difference between used parts and new parts (in this case you would have to reference the dealer's policy). You also have the right to choose the shop where it's repaired. The dealer will likely be sending your car to one of their insurance carriers preferred facilities and they may actually find the damage to be less than the figure that was initially estimated.

At this point, I would recommend that you watch over the process very carefully and make sure that no repairs are authorized by you until you get a handle on what you want to do next after the ensuing estimate. Don't be surprised if the next estimate is less than 10k and If they start repairing the vehicle at this other facility, you may be past the point of no return.

 

You brought them a "Un-Repaired" Vehicle in good faith for warranty or other mechanical work. They can not just turn around and give you a repaired wreck without loss compensation. Don't accept it, You didn't wreck it, they did.

http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum/...ed-my-car.html

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...16-months.html

 

Lemme scratch that , this is a FAQ on repairs I found

http://www.autoexinc.com/fr.htm#repair/faqs_body.htm

Tho it does not really adress the Dealership wreckin your car.

I'd pay the difference and get a new car, at a substancial discount, let them sell the wrecked one.

 

Update (wow, 2 in one day!)

Just finished a discussion with the GM of the dealership.

The car is now considered totaled which is great news and simplifies things considerably.

He is also now spearheading the whole 'make it right' process, which should hopefully streamline things and end up with me sitting in something comparable to what I had.

Next update should be tomorrow - this is definitely an interesting way to spend the holidays!

--Terminal

 

Good luck! I hope they do the right thing here!