So, I went to the parking lot after work to find a guys back door ajar and resting against my 8! Behind it was a decent sized ding and paint damage. The guy wasnt there and I had to go to the airport, so i left him a note, took pictures of the damage, his car door and his liscence plate and called my insurance.

I talked to the guy later and according to him somebody broke into his car, stole his stuff and must have hit my car with the door during the robbery. My question is, who pays in this instance? I've got a 1k deductable so i hope its not me!

Thanks!

 

If you are willing to pursue it (if his story is true), then his insurance must still pay for it. It's still his car that damaged your door.

 

I'm sure you can get it fixed for under 1k

 

you should be able to file it through the same claim... assuming he is filing a claim.
otherwise, small dings are pretty cheap to fix via PDR...if it's a door ding, i can't imagine it being much more than $50

 

as long as its not over 1k, insurance wont pay out
just call some paintless dent removal places.

 

That does not make sense, unless he was negligent in some way. They're both victims.

Ken

 

Right, that's part of my concern too. I was hoping maybe someone around here may have had some experience with this. I havent filed a police report and I m not sure if he has. There is paint damage down to the primer so its more than just a small ding. Going to get a quote tomorrow.

 

It makes perfect sense... this is exactly what comprehensive insurance is for. Just find out if he is going through insurance. If he is, there should be no problem getting your car covered.
Otherwise, I'd just fix it for $50 or live with it.

*edit, just read above post.

Take a picture of it, if it's down to primer it's gonna be a lot more $$ then you might think.

I'd try and find out if he's going to claim or not. As long as he's working with you, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

call your insurance, should be covered under your comp with no deductible

 

Well, this is a learning experience! Called my insurance and apparently my deductible on my comprehensive coverage is 1k as well! I don't remember signing up for that, but that just goes to show you that you really need to pay attention to what you're getting. I'm changing my policy now.

That aside, because it's car on car damage, and even though nobody was in either car, it's still covered under collision and his insurance will likely cover me. Still have to wait and see about that one.

 

Comprehensive is coverage that you pay for to cover your own car. It covers fire and theft, usually glass, and maybe vandalism. The other guy's comprehensive does not cover you.

It also does not matter if he's going through his insurance...if he's at fault, he pays. It goes easier if he reports it to his insurance company.

The problem here is that the other guy claims this was all done by thieves. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but without witnesses or evidence victims can get screwed.

Ken

 

everything says on your insurance card you carrying

 

Incidents like this are why I keep a low comp. deductible. figure 'why am I gonna have the extra stress to pay a higher deductible for something's that not my fault?'
I keep our collision higher as a punishment for doing something stupid.

 

Ken nailed it. His comprehensive coverage covers first party claims - a claim made by an insured under a policy. You are not considered an insured under his policy. You have access to your own comprehensive coverage, but as you say, the large deductible rules this out.

As far as his insurer is concerned, you are a third party claimant. As to his liability coverage, the terms of this will vary from policy to policy, but in general an auto liability policy will contain language to the effect that the insurer will cover injuries or damages "that an insured person is legally obligated to pay." If a thief actually broke into his car and that caused the damage to your own car, it's hard to see how he would be "legally obligated" to pay for your ding. Absent some unique aspect of California law (which I am not at all familiar with), you are probably out of luck.

That said, you probably should file a police report, and get a copy of the one he filed. If he did not file one, that casts doubt upon his claim that his car was broken into.

 

Its his word vs. your word.

Fact is you will never win a dime from his insurance company with any amount of pictures or whatever unless you get an unrelated 3rd party witness file a police report with you.

 

Ok, just as an update, according to my insurance guy his collision will cover my damages. Things got a bit more interesting though. I gave him my insurance guy's number to contact about the situation. He calls him up and tells him that he believe that I stole stuff out of his car and that I may have been the one to break in in the first place!!!

 

I really hope your wrong on that.

 

Typical. You should focus only on the fact that his door dinged your car. Don't even acknowledge that he's accusing you of something just to get out of it. He has to prove that anyone broke in to his car. Either way he is responsible for what his car did to your car. Everything else is between him, the Law, and his insurance. You and your insurance should just focus on getting your car fixed by his insurance. Sorting out who did it is not your problem.

 

did you file a police report?

 

did you notice any signs that someone had broken into the car?? you did take pics..

 

After I heard about this I filed a report with our security on base. This actually occured on federal property. Haven't filed a report with the police.

I am starting to wonder about this guy's break in claim. I've been making sure that the people i've talked to (security, insurance) understand that it is only a claim he's made and there's no evidence. He hasn't filed a police report either.

 

Follow Shaun's advice to focus only on that his door dinged your car. That's the only thing you really know, and the only thing that matters. If your insurance company asks you what he may have said, then answer as best you can. But the shorter and more relevant you are, the better off you and your inusrance company will be.

Ken

 

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like its almost certainly to be covered by this guy's insurance. Here's what i walked outside to see

 

Perfect. That is all that should matter to you and your insurance company. The rest is between the other guy and his insurance company.

 

hha hd to read back a bit because when i saw the pic just now I thought- "or maybe this guy had a ding there already, saw the other guys door was unlocked and opened it just to take the picture"

and now i scroll back and see thats what the other guy is claiming