Car situation - what's the best way to go about this?

[AmyP]

DH was rear-ended last Wednesday. Very low-speed collision, he's fine, but the guy cracked and dented the bumper and knocked it so it hung an inch or so too low. The car is a 98 Ford Escort ZX2.

Anyway, the guy who hit DH wanted to pay for the damage himself and have a friend of his who works in a body shop fix it. DH said okay, and took the car to be fixed today.

The work is shoddy, and it's obvious it's been repaired badly. Basically, they kind of shoved the bumper back together, raised it a bit, and painted it as cheaply as possible. The paint is wavy and I'm not sure it matches perfectly (it's not OBVIOUSLY the wrong color, but it's not an exact match, KWIM?).

DH and I agree we're not happy with the work. DH asked the guy if his friend can repair it again if we're not happy with the work and he said yes.

We're kind of thinking it needs a new bumper. For one thing, with the repair being basically a band-aid job, we're afraid it will crack easily if something bumps it. The angle is wrong and it just looks cheap. I'd take a picture but it's dark out and it wouldn't turn out well.

DH wants me to call our insurance agent in the morning and find out if we're screwing ourselves over by not filing a claim and if we should just go ahead and file a claim. He also said he'd call the guy if need be and tell him we're not happy with the repair and we're taking it to a body shop and he can either pay for the work himself or let the insurance companies deal with it.

So, what would you do? Leave the repair be since it's not THAT bad? Call the insurance company and file a claim? Take it to a body shop and get an estimate and tell the guy he can pay for it or let his insurance handle it? Something else?

[Jenn]

I would absolutely make the other guys insurance pay for the repairs but I'm not sure that they would now that you already tried to repair the car. I'm not sure how it would work now. :dunno: Honestly, I wouldn't have let his friend do the work in the first place.

[BonnieG]

I agree with Jenn here. I think unfortunately, since work has already been attempted that you might have trouble with either insurance companies. They have no way of seeing the original damage...KWIM?

I hope that you are able to work something out with this guy and get your truck repaired the right way!!

[Bridget]

Yah I think you're going to be in a bad state with insurance... but I guess it's worth a shot to call them? :dunno:

Might be worth getting an estimate and giving them the bill on the off chance they will follow through, but my guess is you're going to be stuck with not-so-great work unless you decide to pay to repair it yourself.

[Shanna]

Was a police report filed?

I would have not let them repair it "off the books" in the first place. I agree that you may be in a rough spot with insurance.

[Cami]

I think I'd take it to a body shop of your choice and make the guy pay it. Of course, he could refuse, in which case you could contact his insurance although they might not do anything. (do you have his insurance info? are you sure he has insurance?) Or you could just pay it yourself. I'd keep your insurance company out of it for sure.

[AmyP]

DH wants me to call and just ask the insurance company. They'll tell me whether or not it's worth it to file a claim.

We don't have the other guy's insurance information, but we have everything else - tag number, driver's license number, cell number, etc. So it shouldn't be hard to get his info.

[Melissa]

He probably wanted to pay for it himself because he either doesn't have insurance, or has many accidents on his insurance it is going to be dropped. I really think that your insurance is going to tell you that you have no recourse since you have already "settled" with the other person.

What I would do is get an estimate from a garage that you trust and ask him to pay it.

[AmyP]

He probably wanted to pay for it himself because he either doesn't have insurance, or has many accidents on his insurance it is going to be dropped. I really think that your insurance is going to tell you that you have no recourse since you have already "settled" with the other person.

What I would do is get an estimate from a garage that you trust and ask him to pay it.

You're probably right, but DH wants me to just check with insurance to make sure. We realize we're probably screwed as far as getting insurance to pay for anything.

[Melissa]

And I would too just in case...

[Karri]

Your insurance company won't do anything now that you tried to have it fixed w/o filing a claim. They can't tell what the initial damage was or if you're trying to pull the wool over their eyes and slip some pre-existing damage in there, as well.
Don't forget that you have a deductible to deal with if you had filed a claim. It sounds like the damage was pretty minimal. I would just have them do it again and tell them to do it right or you will make them pay for it in another body shop.

[AmyP]

I talked to our agent this morning and he said we could still file a claim since we didn't sign anything on the work (or something like that). At least I don't think my DH did. The fact of the matter is the bumper needs to be replaced, and they need to do that. Even without the band-aid repair, the bumper is too low.

I left a message for DH at work and I'll see what he wants to do from here. I'd prefer to take it to the body shop we always use and get an estimate and tell the guy we want it fixed there. I don't want this guy's "friend" doing any more work on the car.

We won't have a deductible with our insurance company because the accident wasn't our fault. The only way we would is if his insurance company refuses to pay or he doesn't have insurance or something.

[BonnieG]

Well, that is good new Amy! Now I hope that there aren't any problems on his end with insurance!!

[AmyP]

Let's hope not. We're bringing it to a body shop tomorrow for an estimate. DH wants to call him and tell him EXACTLY what needs to be done and EXACTLY what it is going to cost. If he wants to pay for it out of pocket, fine, we don't care, but we've agreed it's to be done RIGHT, and not by this guy's "friend". He probably made a mistake being nice about it the first time.

[Mandi]

I am shocked your insurance company is letting you do a claim after you already had "repairs" done on the side. But that's good for you, I guess. Hopefully the guy will be willing to pay for it to be done correctly at the place of your choice and you won't have to go through insurance.