On Friday, a 22 y/o rear ended my wifes Honda CR-V. She called me and said there was minimal damage and asked if she should call the cops, mainly because the kid didn't want to go through insurance. I told her that's fine, about the insurance but definitely call the cops in order to get a police report. So she did, 3 cops came and did the report. The kids father showed up to and I think was the one who didn't want to go through insurance. I guess the kid was on his policy and his rates would go up or the kid wasn't on his policy or whatever. I did a quick estimate on the damage with a high/low range to give my wife an idea of the damage. I came up with a range of $1,005-$1,440 before taxes. So yesterday I took it to a local body shop that I've dealt with in the past and Ive been very happy with and got an estimate. They came up with a repair cost of $1,279.
Now my question is, what are the concerns with accepting payment for repairs outside of their insurance? I assume the main concern is with any medical issues. My wife is fine and the hit was not hard at all, just enough to scuff the back of her car. Another one would be having the "guarantee" of the repair(backed by the insurance company). However I feel the shop will do a high quality repair so I'm not worried about how the repair with do over time. It's replacing a textured oem bumper, an oem factory painted trim panel, and painting one side "bumperette" so no structural damage at all. A final concern would be that additional damage is found once the repair work has started and then Id have to ask for more money from the guy. However, I'm not worried that there may be more damage under the bumper that would be found once removed and the guy at the body shop feels the same way with such a light hit. Also, is it "legal" to accept outside of insurance or are they "required" to report it? I just want to make sure I'm not limiting myself by accepting the 1,279. Oh and should I only accept cash or a bank check?
