I backed into my neighbor's car should I pay out of pocket?

Here's the link to the article on the $750 thing:

http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2005/03/claim.html

I'm blown away that you only pay $285/6 months. I pay close to $90 a month for a $500 deductible, and I drive a friggin' Hyundai -- no accidents, no tickets, about your age. Guess I need to call State Farm, sounds like their rates are fantastic.

I would suggest paying it out of pocket. $600 isn't a huge amount to pay but you never know how the insurance company will react. $285 twice a year? I'd definitely make sure I kept that rate.

I've had a couple friends do the same thing and they all paid out of pocket, but their accidents were inthe $300-400 range.

Pay it out of pocket.

pay out of pocket FOR SURE!

Let the insurance company handle it. A bunch of people are going to post war stories about how they handled everything under the table; but it's not worth it. From your neighbor turning into a greedy asshole to the body shop finding more damage, things can get out of hand. Highly doubtful they will; but not worth the risk. And that's why you buy insurance, so the insurance company will assume the risk for you.

Weldon, just call your insurance company and ask them. Usually the rep's won't care about telling you what could happen especially if you are a valued customer. Telling customers their rates is part of the deal of getting insurance from them. Since you're not divulging the real story they can't change your insurance. In other words, it doesn't hurt to ask so why not see if you can get off without having to pay?

Out of pocket. You will lose that $285 deal in a big way if you report it.

By report it, I mean actually file a claim. It will cost nothing if you just your rep ask a question or two to make sure.

Perhaps you should get it in writing that your neighbor won't sue you later on.

If your neighbor is in any way an ass you wanna CYA just in case, but with rates that low I'd do what I could to avoid getting State Farm involved.

By the way, I did a similar thing when I was in high school. Although I just drove off and never told my neighbors. They have since moved.

I suck.

I hate car insurance. I've probably paid in $15k over the last 17 years, never had a claim. Been with the same company for 10 years. If I got in an accident, they'd raise my rates. Seems like my rate should only go up if I cause enough damage to exceed the total I've paid in over the last 10 years.

Thinking about dropping all coverage except comphrenesive and liability and just banking the rest. I'd be way ahead if I'd done that all along (I don't drive fancy cars). Anyone ever done this?

Go ahead and cancel your health insurance too. You're probably hardly ever sick, right?

That's a stupid response.

Thanks for adding nothing to the discussion.

Cat Fancy wrote:Thinking about dropping all coverage

The first day after you do that, you will get into a nasty accident

No Cat Fancy...that was a great response. Insurance is for the "just in case" expenses. I'd much rather have paid for it and never had to use it than not pay for it and have something happen to me.

The health insurance example is dead on...would you rather pay health insurance and not have something happen or not pay and then get sick/injured/die? I would guess the consequences of not having any sort of insurance would far outweigh the costs of just paying for it in the first place.

Carnivore 69 wrote:

By report it, I mean actually file a claim. It will cost nothing if you just your rep ask a question or two to make sure.

Not true. I did that with a potential homeowner's claim and (I filed no actual claim) and it was counted against me when I tried to get my new house insured.

rockville wrote:

Weldon, just call your insurance company and ask them. Usually the rep's won't care about telling you what could happen especially if you are a valued customer. Telling customers their rates is part of the deal of getting insurance from them. Since you're not divulging the real story they can't change your insurance. In other words, it doesn't hurt to ask so why not see if you can get off without having to pay?

What do you mean i don't have to reveal the real story? What should i tell them?

Hardly. Insurance covers a liability you can't cover yourself. I have health insurance because I can't afford to spend a quarter million dollars on health care if I were to come down with cancer, for example. I have home owners insurance because if my house burns down, I can't repay the mortgage company what's left out of my pocket.

Comparing that to insuring my $7,000 car is laughable.

But, Cat Fancy, if you get in an accident and someone is injured, how will you pay the legal fees? If you lose, the medical expenses? Etc.

Damn insurance companies infuriate me. Pay your ass off for years, then have one small accident and they jack up your rates to cover it. What in the hell have we been paying for prior to the accident?