accident advice
 

well on the 4-26-2010 i was hit on the drive-side door form someone not yielding at a U-turn on 22, in Springfield NJ.

now i got the police report and tried to call there insurance then was told they haven't had insurance since 2008 everyone told me that if you don't have valid insurance you get your car tow automatically but they drove away no ticket or anything and i had to tow my car because the door wouldn't close.

now i have a witness statement on the police report & it was there fault.

what can i do if they don't have insurance? sue? i claimed it with my insurance but i just have basics coverage

do you have uninsured motorist coverage? if not small claims court I guess. I'd talk to the cop who is writing the report about the insurance info.

i do

did you let your insurance company knwo you were involved in an accident? If not, nows a good time to apply for uninsured motorist coverage, and give it a good 24hrs lol. you can sue, but it's goign t o be all tangled up in **** for a while, and getting payment from them may be a challange if they have no money to buy insurance in the first place.

Sue them in small claims court if you dont get compensated by your Ins Co.

dude just call ur insurance co and let them handle it all, thats what u pay them for... ive been in a **** load of accidents and never once had to call the other peoples insurance, i call my guy and he does all the work... better yet since u sed u have unisured motorist coverage, just call them and ask these questions to ur insurance co... beats waiting for other to post on here about their experiences lol

insurance fraud is always a good idea:shock:

where do we get these people from with advice like this?

Seeing as you said you have uninsured motorist coverage, then file with your insurance company ASAP. They will handle everything, and your rate should not be affected. If you have an insurance agent, just call them.

You will probably still be out the deductible amount you carry.

If the car needs body work in other areas, its a good time to get an estimate on making all repairs at once because its generally less expensive than if you go back later to get the bumper painted, etc.

BTW, never hurts to ask for the left over paint, thinned or not. If they only used half a quart, you have paid for a full quart. Its yours. Comes in handy for touch up, customizing, etc. Let them know this before they start.

No offense but that completely false...shops don't charge customers by the quart. A lot of shops will give you a little paint in a bottle as a courtesy but you aren't entitled to anything. They charge a flat rate rate per hour for materials, not by each material used.

Oh, sorry, this is a time to be serious, cannot try to lighten the situation. If you take my post serious, then your stupid, I think anyone with intelligence here would understand that's not the right way to do it, sheesh.

Not false at all. That flat rate covers the cost of the materials consumed by the job, whether its a pint or half a gallon. It all averages out. So if they mixed a quart, sprayed 2/3 of the quart, ask for the left over. The customer has effectively paid for the materials used, including overage.

no. epa says no to that one. like frosty said, they can mix a small amount into a single stage touch up style paint, but they can not give you a can of thinned paint straight from their guns.

thats also why there is a "cleanup/disposal" fee in your bill as well

Are you REALLY going to sit here and tell me the customer is entitled to it? Are you REALLY going to sit there and say the customer "paid" for the ENTIRE quart of paint.

Hey, they should get the clear, the reducers and the sandpaper too, after all they paid for all of it too. Maybe they should get what's left of the buffing pad too, there could be some life left in it too. You realize the "materials" charge covers more than just paint right? There are a TON of materials costs that go into repairing and painting a car.

I guess my 6yr + years and an estimator/appraiser has been wrong, all this time I should have been giving the customer's the materials along with their final bill :rofl:

Sorry if I'm coming off as a douche but it drives me nuts when people give advice regarding subjects they know nothing about. The customer isn't entitled to ANY of the left over materials, PERIOD. As a courtesy shops will give a little bottle of paint for chips and scratches, nothing more. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

You mean your dad doesn't give his customers a box of materials after the job is done? What a rip off. :rofl:

yeah, he is a bum. they will offer to paint bugshields, or other aftermarket pieces if the customer wants to bring them in and use the left over paint though. but then thats more TIME charged for...time is usually cheaper than materials after you factor in the epa's disposal fee

well called my insurance they said if worst comes to worst then they will take all legal action needed. see i didn't know that even if it's the other person fault i still file with my company at all.

but sadly since my car has over 200xxx miles and and over 20 years old they may total it out :( i had this car for years hate to let it go may just turn it into a track car :)

Glad to hear you talked to your ins. co. Good decision.

Gonna start shopping for another car?

have too -.- want a GTA or a vette

even if its "totaled" cant you just get it fixed anyway? it would depend on whether or not you wanna spend the money..

i totaled my third gen (not hard to do but it was kinda bad) but i was gonna have it fixed until i found out the frame was bent... so i just sold it all banged up to some kid in toms river who was going to mechanical school or something..

beat up thirdgen parts car in Toms River? I think I know where it might have went....

:rofl:

"cough" ted "cough"

as far as i know. when a vehicle is "totaled" the company is supposed to take the vehicle , correct? they wanted to do that with my truck, but actually they just said since my truck really wasnt that bad i could just keep it plus the amount the damage was. check with them and make sure, sucks one morning they are coming to take it away without you knowing

From my experience is they'll either take it away or let you buy it back when it's totaled.