Is it worth dealing with insurance company?

Dr. Gonzo

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I was at a gas station this afternoon and as I was waiting for a pump to open, someone backed into the passenger side on my Z06. It was a light impact and the only visual damage is the fender popped under the door so it won't open, and a tiny crack in the paint. He admitted fault, I took pictures and I got a police report to cover my ass. The guy has Geico, which are notorious for being terrible. Is it worth dealing with his insurance and having an accident on the cars record for what appears to be a simple repair?
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BlksvtCobra01

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I was at a gas station this afternoon and as I was waiting for a pump to open, someone backed into the passenger side on my Z06. It was a light impact and the only visual damage is the fender popped under the door so it won't open, and a tiny crack in the paint. He admitted fault, I took pictures and I got a police report to cover my ass. The guy has Geico, which are notorious for being terrible. Is it worth dealing with his insurance and having an accident on the cars record for what appears to be a simple repair?
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I probably would because it won’t cost you anything. Pick a shop of your choice. Keep pictures as a record if you ever sell to show the next owner why it shows in the car fax jmho.


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CV355

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I probably would because it won’t cost you anything. Pick a shop of your choice. Keep pictures as a record if you ever sell to show the next owner why it shows in the car fax jmho.

^This. Should be cut and dry. I would submit the claim to his insurance company. My wife's brand new F150 got hit head-on 3 months after she got it, we submitted the damage to the offending party's insurance, done and done. We pushed to have it fixed at the shop of our choice.

Have them fix it and also push to get depreciation valuation. Honestly, something like that probably won't even affect the car's value.
 

My94GT

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What insurance company do you have? Personally I’d avoid the claim through Geico as that have horrible parts usage plans, and cut labor time a lot.

Now I would definitely make a claim though because in the 17 years I’ve been in collision repair, I’ve rarely seen cash deals go well for the person that isn’t at fault. Also I’d look into diminished value laws for your state.
 

tones_RS3

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Damn, that sucks.
Yeah, I would want it repaired if it were my car.
Good luck!
 

Dr. Gonzo

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Already submitted a claim with Geico. Since it was asked, I have Travelers. I'm not a body shop guy, but I will be surprised if a new fender is needed, or any new parts for that matter.
 

RedVenom48

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@Dr. Gonzo Going through this myself with my now totaled 1999 Corolla. Person came flying down a residential street and smoked my sister in law's car which smashed my car in front of our house....

I have Progressive Insurance and this individual had a 2nd rate insurance company. While I was skeptical, his policy was legit and active according to the responding officer.

Even still, I decided to go through MY insurance. I have ZERO patience for dealing with this kind of thing, and I detest having to fight with someone else's half ass insurance company. So, I filed a claim with my insurance. Sent them plenty of pics and a photo of my copy of the police report. In less than 5 days I went from smashed car to a totaled value that I agreed with that I can get a check for.

Only thing that sucks is that until Progressive gets delivered an official police report via their legal dept or they get the other Insurance company to accept fault, then they will deduct my comprehensive deductible. Once they get the report or they smack the other company around to accept obvious fault for the crash, Ill get my deductible back.

Theres no way that a parked car with no one in it could have caused the crash so its all just a formality at this point. Apparently the other insurance agency assigned an adjuster to the case, but has yet to call back my insurance.

Your insurance company has an army of lawyers and professional adjusters to work on YOUR behalf. You pay good money every month on a premium to carry a policy. Make your insurance company work for YOU! Yes, you may be out of a deductible in the short term, but the benefit of just getting your car fixed and letting the insurance company deal with the brain damage is priceless.

I must say that while I find their rates a little high, I have received excellent customer service and prompt attention to my claims from Progressive. At least, compared to other insurance providers Ive heard of. This also includes the sideswipe my 2014 Lexus CT200h received April of 2018. Relatively fast, courteous service and no fight with the body shop I chose for the repairs.

I may be conservative, but Progressive insurance has earned the nod so far for my business. My Shelby will probably be going Haggerty as they are partnered with Progressive to offer collector car insurance.
 
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SHOdown220

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Get insurance involved for sure, you never know when there is more damage than you expected. When I was rear ended on my motorcycle the police officer wouldn't even write an accident report because "the damage was so minimal" and instead just exchanged our insurance info. Turns out my "minimal" damage was almost $4,000 worth of damage that we couldn't see until someone who knew what they were looking at checked the bike over.
 

Zemedici

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Eh entirely depends.

Get a quote by a reputable shop for repair, cash price.

Bring him estimate and ask for check for that amount to avoid going through insurance.

Damage seems minimal, i would want to avoid a claim as well as value for vehicle will take a hit and everyone will pull the whole ‘BUT ITS BEEN WRECKED’ bullshit when / if you try to sell.
 

RedRocketMike

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Yea, get an estimate and take the check, have the fender reset and leave it alone.
 

08mojo

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Pull the fender off to see how bad the crack is. The fenders are stupid easy to take off.

If the cracking is extensive, push as hard as you can for OEM parts...you will be very surprised to learn how much OEM C6Z fenders cost.
 

BlckBox04

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how much is your deductible? I had geico and they were actually awesome when my brother totaled one of my cars.
 

Dr. Gonzo

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Eh entirely depends.

Get a quote by a reputable shop for repair, cash price.

Bring him estimate and ask for check for that amount to avoid going through insurance.
I would do that but the guy looked him he didn't have $0.02 to his name. I was shocked he actually had valid insurance. On top of that, he lives in the Bronx.
 

Corbic

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Pull the fender off to see how bad the crack is. The fenders are stupid easy to take off.

If the cracking is extensive, push as hard as you can for OEM parts...you will be very surprised to learn how much OEM C6Z fenders cost.
Surprisingly Cheap?

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Dr. Gonzo

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Pull the fender off to see how bad the crack is. The fenders are stupid easy to take off.

If the cracking is extensive, push as hard as you can for OEM parts...you will be very surprised to learn how much OEM C6Z fenders cost.
I would pull the fender myself but my luck will be Geico will reject the claim saying I damaged the fender. Now that insurance is involved, best to let a reputable shop look at it and give me a quote and go from there.

Anything carbon fiber is expensive lol. If it turns out a new fender is needed, I'll fight for OEM because I hate aftermarket body panels. I've been down that road before and will pay the difference if they don't budge.
 

AustinSN

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Do not pull that fender.

Also, if they are dragging their feet and they don't want to pay the costs of the specialty shop, submit the claim with Travelers and let them subrogate.
 

svtfocus2cobra

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From my experience working as an estimator at a shop and dealing with insurance companies, Geico was actually a good one to deal with. Their reps usually took care of the repair process very well and they were easy to work with.

I would definitely go through insurance or give the other party the option to pay out of pocket if you can get a good deal on it. It isn't going to be a cheap repair because the door will have to be blended, and possibly the hood because red fades faster than any color so depending on whether your paint has faded much the new paint may come out noticeably brighter than the factory paint. Could easily put that small repair at $600-700.

Shouldn't need to replace that fender either if it is just that small crack that you pointed out. If the fender is damaged to the point of needing replacement there likely won't be any options other than OEM. They dont make them aftermarket and used will be hard to come by, but you would be better going with a used one if they won't cover the cost of new.
 

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