Jerk or Justified ??

[SE4ME]

Last week I was heading home from work......the traffic bunched up pretty quickly in front of me. I stopped, but the guy in back of me didn't.
He didn't hit me that hard...I got out and looked and could see there was a little damage to the rear bumper cover on both sides of the license plate. Just some small digs in the plastic and the bottom of the bumper cover was all scuffed up. My first thought was to just forget it...you know with xmas coming and all. But, then I thought of how ticked off I'd be in the good weather (I like to shine it up & wax it) because the car would have these dings and marks in it. So I got the guy's info and started a claim against his insurance. He had an older car (1987)but my 2002 Solara SE V6 represents a pretty big financial committment to me......why should I let it be dinged up? I already had to fix a small dent and scratch last year when my Father-in-law hit it with his plow when it was a month old - out of my own pocket.

So, was I a jerk for not saying "forget it, it's nothing"......or am I justified for going for the claim and getting the minor damage fixed on his nickel??

[SC V6]

its worth it.... anyone who messes w\ my car will pay.. no matter what... its all worth it... why should u pay to have ur car look as good as it did, before they fuc#ed up and hit u????
later
Scott

[HKSV6SLE]

ok first of all, you should always stand your ground. a bitch hit me on the 405 like 6 years ago and only cracked my license plate and scratched my car, i told her better give me your insurance. you should never let anything go. fashion-central-united-kingdom him, make him pay for your damages and if you can find a crooked shop you could tell your insurance company that you had a custom rear bumper or something ( providing the guy who hit you isnt into cars). and make the other guys insurance pay for your "custom bumper" of course this isn't really legal, but if you can get away with it. and oh yeah even in minor accidents, your trunk lid may not be even, after that bitch hit me my trunk lid was a bit off center. so i say go after him.

[SolaraFun]

......why should I let it be dinged up? I So, was I a jerk for not saying "forget it, it's nothing"......or am I justified for going for the claim and getting the minor damage fixed on his nickel??

You shouldn't let it be dinged up. It was that persons mistake for hitting your car and they are responsible for fixing it. I personally would go to a shop you trust and get an estimate. You could also go to multiple shops and get different estimates and decide on the one you want and are comfortable with. Then call the guy and ask him if he wants to pay that amount to the shop to fix your car or if you should call his ins company. Sometimes people would rather handle the situation themselves instead of involving the insurance company because they don't want their insurance preimiums to go up. Just make sure you can fax him the estimate and he pays it before you get any work done on the car.
Yes, you are in every sense justifying your right to have your car put back to the condition it was in before he hit it.

[hari-bhari]

yea go for it man, dont feel bad. over summer, this guy i know hit me from the back and dinged my bumper and caused the paint to crack. had to get the whole bumper repainted and stuff. his parents were hesitant to pay, and just offered me 50 bucks, so i went and got quotes from a few places and took it to his friggin house and shoved it their face. they finally agreed to file an insurance claim and pay for the damage. all i can say is, you deserve to have your car in the condition it was before it was hit.

[cdssolara]

Yes, get him or his insurance to pay for it. I just had the same experience with our G35. We were on the freeway, and all of a sudden traffic came to a stop. I stopped; the teenage girl behind me didn't. Not too much damage, just some dents and paint scrapes on the plastic bumper around the license plate. It will always be noticeable to me, just like yours will be to you. I plan to get her to pay; you should, too.

[fotodad]

You are absolutely NOT a jerk. This is why we have insurance. I would have done exactly the same thing you did. Look, the person who hit you screwed up. They know they screwed up, so he or she should pay for it. Smart move!

[Jackass-Jeff]

It happened so you are entitled to what the cost of the repairs are.

[krawzyazn]

It happened so you are entitled to what the cost of the repairs are.

don't forget the pain and suffering of that whip lash thats an extra 3 g's with a lawyer haha

[kubi]

My friend had a Z28 and some old lady rear ended him. He got out, looked at the car, there was no damage so he just let it go and didn't get her information. Later that day he realized his subs didn't work anymore.

Anyway, if it's only a few scratches his insurance probably won't even hold it against him. I know when I was first starting to drive this girl in front of me plowed into the back of an Explorer and I didn't realize she was stopping since she never hit the brakes. Her car was totalled, but I did like $100 worth of damage to her rear bumper and she still claimed it. My insurance said since it was under $150 or $250 or something that it didn't count against me, though. After that incident I don't think I'd have a problem holding anyone accountable for anything.

[offthahook]

if you can find a crooked shop you could tell your insurance company that you had a custom rear bumper or something ( providing the guy who hit you isnt into cars). and make the other guys insurance pay for your "custom bumper" of course this isn't really legal, but if you can get away with it

^Dude, that is shady and ignorant^. Yes, he should get his car to pre accident condition. It might require a new bumper cover which could run in the high hundreds. Stuff is expensive, so "blowing it off" is not a good idea. You could try to work it out with him, but BEWARE. He may have a friend who can "fix" it. It might be ghetto though. Get estimates and try to work with him. If not, go through insurance provided he has it in the first place.
If dude is a punk or just noncompliant, then go to his insurance company. DO NOT try to make millions off this.

[lupous]

hit from behind?
you're not the jerk they are. your car shouldn't have to pay for it. you should get as much money as you can from those insurance bastards as possible...because thats what they're here for, and they will try to screw you.

[PEITRUS]

its good that you claimed the accident to the insurance, but dosent that mean that you now have a point on your record for getting into an accident? even though it wasnt your fault? and isnt there a certain number of points you can get on your record before something happens to your license? i dont know..i need more info on this