Got Rear Ended!

[L84THSKY]

DAMN

I just got on the expressway going home from work Friday. Some kid in his parents car rear ends me. The impact wasn't too hard. We pulled over. Here is the damage. I put on my original tail lights, since the left rear was damaged.

It was entirely his fault, and the police report will say so. That is good cause he will end up paying my $500.00 deductible.

Went to GEICO Saturday morning for a claim. They took pics, did the estimate and cut me a check. The interesting this was this. I told him I added that bumper, and stated what it cost. He told me without a rider, GEICO pays only for OEM parts.

Then he looks up the details on my car, and asks me, "Is this an M-series model?" I was stupid and said no. I began to wonder, does my VIN# give away whether my car is an M-tech or Base model? Since I had almost all the M-tech items retrofitted, he probably couldn't tell by looking.

So in the end, the estimate was $2270.00. He sutracted my deductiblke and cut me a check. I went immediately to my shop that has done my paint work, and explained what happened. He told me I should NEVER , 1. got to GEICO headquarters for the adjustment, and 2. Always come to me first. He said the dye was cast, and it will now be hard for him to make money.

I did ask all the right questions at GEICO, like what if my shop says they need more money to fix it. GEICO says they come out and renegotiates. But my shop says, it's better if I went to GEICO with his estimate first. I would have gone to his shop first, but they weren't open yet.

Oh well. The good news is the bumper can be sanded and repainted, no need to buy new one. Second, the quarter panel is fine, only the rear metal seam needs replacing. They just cut off the strip with the hole, and weld on a new seam, and paint.

[Kraln]

Rawr. I would have thrown it into reverse and driven up over his car like a madman on cocaine.
I don't know if Geico can see it, but the BMW dealer knows exactly what model car I have, and what options were installed, just based on the VIN.

That sucks, man. What was the lil' idiot driving?

[Juni]

Looks similar to when I got rear ended. I glad to hear that your okay.

[Tyler]

Ouch L8,it doesn't look too bad. Look on the brightside it could've been alot worse.

[L84THSKY]

He was driving a Honda Accord. Like maybe a 2005 or 2006. His front right was really messed up. Cheap plastic bumper.

Originally Posted by Kraln

Rawr. I would have thrown it into reverse and driven up over his car like a madman on cocaine.
I don't know if Geico can see it, but the BMW dealer knows exactly what model car I have, and what options were installed, just based on the VIN.

That sucks, man. What was the lil' idiot driving?

[mohaughn]

L8- Why did you claim it against your insurance? You should have gone to his insurance company and put the claim against his insurance.. Since you did it against yours, even if his insurance company reimburses your company, you still have that accident affecting your premiums..

If you were not at fault, you should have filed with his insurance company. There was no need to get your insurance involved unless you were to blaim, a hit and run, or an issue where the other driver was not insured.

Also filing with his company means you don't have to chase anybody down to get a deductible back..

[L84THSKY]

GEICO said I could claim with his insurance company. I was afraid they would give me a hard time. Hey, I haven't been in an accident in 23 years, what do I know!

Originally Posted by mohaughn

L8- Why did you claim it against your insurance? You should have gone to his insurance company and put the claim against his insurance.. Since you did it against yours, even if his insurance company reimburses your company, you still have that accident affecting your premiums..

If you were not at fault, you should have filed with his insurance company. There was no need to get your insurance involved unless you were to blaim, a hit and run, or an issue where the other driver was not insured.

Also filing with his company means you don't have to chase anybody down to get a deductible back..

[mohaughn]

You may just want to doublecheck with Geico on how they classified this claim. I think you want to make sure that it is a "non-chargeable" incident, meaning that you were not at fault, and somebody else is supposed to be reimbursing them for your deductible and the damages that they payed out.

You'll also want to make sure that the accident has been reported to the other parties insurance so that you can get your deductible back.. I think now you have to wait until their insurance company pays Geico back.. Then Geico should reimburse you.

[aparatchik]

Dude, that sucks!! Luckily it looks like a minor issue, and at least you can live with the satisfaction that it hurt the other guy's car (and ego) far more. I busted up my mom's car once, many years ago... That was the worst, having to drive home and confess.

[L84THSKY]

You are absolutely correct. That is exactly what GEICO told me. The accident won't hurt me, since it was his fault, but I will have to wait till they get my deductible from the other guys insurance company.

The only issue now is whether my auto body shop can do the job with what GEICO is offering. There will probably be some haggling on the final amount. All I want is my car fixed with no cost to me.

I think I will get the rear sway bar link support brackets welded in while the car is there.

Originally Posted by mohaughn

You may just want to doublecheck with Geico on how they classified this claim. I think you want to make sure that it is a "non-chargeable" incident, meaning that you were not at fault, and somebody else is supposed to be reimbursing them for your deductible and the damages that they payed out.

You'll also want to make sure that the accident has been reported to the other parties insurance so that you can get your deductible back.. I think now you have to wait until their insurance company pays Geico back.. Then Geico should reimburse you.

[pdxmotorhead]

You can still haggle with the other guys insurance company.

Last time I had the shop make the claim for me against the other guys insurance....
They had to pick up the cost of the specialty poarts involved...

Dave

[StealthBimmer]

Sorry to hear about your accident. As long as the people involved is okay then it's good. Your insurance will get the money from the other party and then pay you back on the deductible. You can also claim the car rental if you have it on your policy.

You should get all the paint and installation jobs while in the shop. Most shop will give you a break on the paint job and installs since they have to work on your bimmer anyways.

[L84THSKY]

Yeah, the shop is a friend of the family. I'm just concerned the shop will feel like they must fight my insurance company to get the amount they feel is necessary for them to do the job.

I'm still waiting on the group buy for the front M-tech bumper. If that thing was here, I could get that painted too.

Originally Posted by StealthBimmer

Sorry to hear about your accident. As long as the people involved is okay then it's good. Your insurance will get the money from the other party and then pay you back on the deductible. You can also claim the car rental if you have it on your policy.

You should get all the paint and installation jobs while in the shop. Most shop will give you a break on the paint job and installs since they have to work on your bimmer anyways.

[mohaughn]

You can also claim the car rental if you have it on your policy.

If you file against the other person you can get the rental even if you don't have that coverage on your policy. Most insurance companies will pay something like 25$ per day. I have three cars so when I was rear ended in my 328i I didn't use the rental coverage that statefarm offered me. So they actually payed me cash for three days of what it would have cost to rent the car.

And you shouldn't have any problem getting geico to pay any extra costs as long as the costs are inline with what a body shop should charge. Those adjusters usually have worked in auto repair for awhile and do a good job on the estimates. I've ended up getting overpayed for repairs last time I had a problem. I think the estimator was 30$ over what the body shop ended up charging for my bumper repair.

Also, the other insurance company should most certainly repair your custom parts. If you file the claim with the faulty parties company your policy doesn't limit what they will pay for. It is just 10k, or whatever amount, in collision and they will cover up to that amount. Just because you didn't have a comprehensive rider on your policy wouldn't matter.

[L84THSKY]

I do have $30.00 a day rental coverage. As for the specialty part coverage, GEICO paid for a new base model bumper $286.00. I told my shop, and they feel they can fix my M-tech for less than that. But I will still contact his insurance company to see what they have to say. I'm waiting to hear back from my shop with their comments on GEICO's adjustment paperwork. Like you said, maybe my shop will agree with GEICO's estimate, if not it will get worked out.

GEICO told me that I can not make a claim against GEICO AND his insurance company. Since I went through GEICO, I may have no way of getting a dime through the other company.

This is all new to me, like I said, I haven't gotten in an accident in 23 years

Originally Posted by mohaughn

If you file against the other person you can get the rental even if you don't have that coverage on your policy. Most insurance companies will pay something like 25$ per day. I have three cars so when I was rear ended in my 328i I didn't use the rental coverage that statefarm offered me. So they actually payed me cash for three days of what it would have cost to rent the car.

And you shouldn't have any problem getting geico to pay any extra costs as long as the costs are inline with what a body shop should charge. Those adjusters usually have worked in auto repair for awhile and do a good job on the estimates. I've ended up getting overpayed for repairs last time I had a problem. I think the estimator was 30$ over what the body shop ended up charging for my bumper repair.

Also, the other insurance company should most certainly repair your custom parts. If you file the claim with the faulty parties company your policy doesn't limit what they will pay for. It is just 10k, or whatever amount, in collision and they will cover up to that amount. Just because you didn't have a comprehensive rider on your policy wouldn't matter.