Ouch! Dinged nose.

[TheBard]

Went grocery shopping tonight, as I do once a week. Parked with my usual car, well lit parking garage, near a security camera. Left the car for half an hour between 18:15 and 18:45 and...



Some #@nk&^ runs into the left front corner with what looks like a large SUV tyre. The black marks have not washed off, and there are a couple of chunks of plastic missing. Luckily it doesn't seem to have damaged the bumper mount itself, and the panel gaps don't seem to have shifted.

Typical luck though, the security camera was facing the other way... Ah well, now to see what my insurance firm suggest. Any tips, as this is my time claiming in the USA?

Cheers,
Ian

[Monty]

Sorry to see that Ian, just hope it does cost u to much.

[TStevens]

It might still come off.....

Get some meguires paint scrub, its designed for removing road-tar etc, I used some on my mums wing mirror the other day to remove a large red paint mark.

I've also used it on my car before to remove marks from rubber/black plastic, due to not so careful drivers.

[Matt RI]

Sorry to see/hear about the damage, Ian.

It is a shame that people don't take responsibility for their actions...

As for claiming in the US, I would assume that the insurance companies on this side of the pond are similar in their business practices to those in the UK: Make as much money as possible.

You will probably want to get an estimate as to how much it will cost to repair before going to your insurance carrier. If the damage is not more than your deductible (or even slightly over), then it is probably not worth going through your insurance to fix. It may just be my experience and my opinion, but if even if the damage amounts to $505 and your deductible is $500, your insurance company will raise your rates. It is one thing if there is a party responsible who your insurance company can go after- then it is quite useful to report it to them (I had someone pass me on a residential street over a double-yellow line and hit the front of my car on the way back in- his insurance company offered to pay me HALF of my damages stating that I was half at fault for being out on the road that day...). but if there is no one to pin it on they could be out of pocket and want to recoup the cost many times over- from you.

First thing they generally require when making a claim is a police/accident report, but I am sure that you can clarify with your agent. Talking with him or her about your options before going through the process of reporting might be beneficial.

What I would do in this situation rests on how much the damage is to repair vs. what my deductible is and that would determine whether it is worth it to bring my insurance company in.

Best of luck!

[Dico]

Could have been worse

[Ekapol]

Sorry to hear that Ian. I hate it when thing like that happens