Another employee at my job crashed into my car, is it worth getting my car insurance involved?

[sophyjo]

Hey everyone, I work at a car dealership and about 30 minutes ago a mechanic at my job driving a new Ford F-150 rammed into my 2000 Toyota Camry. He turned into the right lane where I was at a stop sign and he was not looking at the road. I honked at him multiple times before he crashed into me but the guy kept going. Long story short, he demolished the left front side completely. The car was still running after it happened but the bumper is in pieces.

Luckily I work at a car dealership and the service director came out, took a look, cursed the mechanic out and told me they’d fix everything asap. This place has a good track record when it comes to taking care of their employees from what i’ve heard from other co-workers( I’ve only been here for three weeks).

I myself am fine since it wasn’t a high speed crash just a little shook up.

It’s an old beater car I bought for $2000 to get to point A to B. I am currently under a policy with Geico with nearly the minimum requirements for my state.

Since they’re going to have technicians diagnose and pay for it all i was wondering if I should get my insurance involved. I took multiple pictures and videos and there are three cameras where the crash happened.

Thank you

 

[nilsa]

@sophyjo Unless you have collision coverage, there’s no reason to get your insurance involved.

 

[nwmann]

@sophyjo Well, the car is 23 years old and maybe worth $2,000 at best, so it's going to get totaled if you go the insurance route. This also assumes you were carrying collision insurance which personally I would not have on such an old vehicle. If you did, then you pay your deductible but again, the car is probably totaled.

So you're left with 2 options:

• Let the dealership take care of it all.
• File a claim under the dealership's insurance policy. Of course they'll probably total your car as well. So you're now looking for a new beater.

Given low value of car, circumstances that it happened at your job etc, I'd probably just let the dealership handle it and hope that they really do take care of their employees. Keep the evidence saved though.

P.S. I'd recommend increasing your liability over state minimums. It's criminally low.

 

[sophyjo]

@nwmann Yeah I don’t have collision just comprehensive. They’re going to meet with me at around 1 pm to bring it in the shop and get me in a loaner for now.

 

[roadworker]

@sophyjo Let the dealership have a go at it. They might pay you $3,000+ cash/check (probably taxable) and let you drive a loaner until you find something else.

Insurance is a big pain.

It probably won’t drive the same, but it’s a beater. Milk it for what it’s worth imo.

 

[sophyjo]

@roadworker Why might they pay me that much?

 

[justanewkid]

@sophyjo

It probably won’t drive the same, but it’s a beater. Milk it for what it’s worth imo.

Because sometimes it's better and easier to just pay up and move on with life.

 

[roadworker]

@justanewkid Yup, they will do a cost-benefit analysis: do I pay the new guy $2,000 for his beater. OR do I risk the guaranteed insurance hike of $$$$$$ for my whole dealership?

$2,000 is pocket change. And they’ll probably let you keep the car

 

[dukeyr]

@sophyjo They may just give you another car that gets traded in, if your lucky, kind and work with em, it may be worth more than the 2k car you had?

 

[sophyjo]

I should add this happened on company property as well. I’m also in NJ.

 

[danoded]

@sophyjo That is pretty vital info. You may be able to negotiate credit on a car off the lot.

 

[mlshelton1975]

@sophyjo Unless you have collision on your policy, there's no point in calling your insurance. Regardless of who's insurance you use, be prepared for it to be totaled.

 

[sumby]

@sophyjo I think you may be better off let the dealership fix it. Insurance may total it.

 

[bygracethroughfaith]

@sophyjo You have a contractual obligation to notify your insurance company of all vehicle accidents.

But I know you're not coming here for the correct answer. You just want to know if you'll run into any issues by not reporting this. The answer to that is "no". This happened on company property and police were not involved, therefore no one will ever know about this incident unless you tell them about it. Even if you told GEICO, you have no Collision coverage, so they can't assist with your repairs regardless.

 

[mjb048]

@sophyjo If you have the state minimums (no “collision” coverage) then your insurance won’t do anything in the first place so you can save the call

You can either go through the dealership, or the truck driver’s insurance. your call!

 

[sophyjo]

@mjb048 I should’ve added that the truck was actually a customers car he was driving into the mechanic shop it wasn’t his. Dude can’t drive for shit.

 

[mjb048]

@sophyjo Ooh yeah you definitely should have added that upfront.

That potentially makes things super ugly since it would potentially bring the innocent customer into the scenario. It also explains why the dealer is so intent on settling it outside of insurance.

Personally I’m still going through the dealer but if they start dragging their feet, letting them know insurance will get involved.

It seems they want to keep this off their commercial policy and the truck owner’s policy. And personally I think you should as well. If it goes to insurance you’re looking at a SUPER long ordeal as the three insurances argue