Neighbor backed into truck what to look out for when opening frunk and repairs

[Robocop]

The driver was 15, no license and not on the parent’s insurance so yeah. I was out of town on business and got the call from my wife at 3am saying the neighbor backed into your truck. Thinking oh ok, going to be a headache but not that bad probably. Then I saw the pictures. The parents did call the cops and have a police report for what ever thats going to be worth in this process.

This is the key bit right here. A minor with no license and not on the parent's insurance. This situation sucks but the ultimate outcome is likely going to be better for you because the Police are involved.

Your insurance policy should cover you for this loss, this is why you have insurance. Your company will pay your claim / repair your vehicle and will typically see if they can try and recover anything from anyone. On the other hand, the kid's parents are going to be required to report their vehicle stolen by their insurer in order for their own vehicle to get covered / repaired under their policy. It is up to the Police to lay the charge and the system may prosecute the matter.

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[RocketGhost]

Depending on the insurance company's internal policies and state laws, filing a claim on your own insurance may be grounds to raise your rates even if you were not at fault and even if they get reimbursed by another party. The claim is now on your record and statistically you're now more likely to have another in the future.

OP hasn't mentioned yet who's paying. But even though the other driver wasn't insured, the car was, and I suspect they will cover it.

Don't know if the driver had a permit or not. When my kid got her permit our insurance didn't require her to be added as a driver on our policy (I checked). Only when she got a license to drive by herself did I have to add her.

 

[hturnerfamily]

right - we are all from potentially DIFFERENT states, where rules are different, even for the SAME exact insurer, or policy type, etc... it may seem to make sense that we all have the same rules, but, since, well, we live in 50 states, and another area called 'DC', and all are ruled by a separate and stand-alone Insurance Commissioner, for each...

yes, it's confusing, that's why many times you'll hear someone from the insurance company saying "thank you sir, let me refer to your policy and your coverages to give you the appropriate answer"... there is no 'same policy' for everyone, even within the same insurance company, on what seemingly would be the 'same' coverage, from one person to another. it's just not, but that's a whole different conversation for another time...

while it would seem to make sense that anyone who gets behind the wheel of an insured vehicle would be required to notify their insurer, some insurers make be more lax about this. But, making the assumption that a young driver with a Learners Permit will have their Parent, the vehicle owner, and the policy owner, sitting next to them while they are 'learning', is, well, an assumption. A Learners Permit may allow that young driver to 'learn' with someone that is NOT the vehicle owner, and has nothing to do with the vehicle's insurance, such as an older 'friend', an Aunt or Uncle, etc. In that case, the insurer would have NO CLUE as to who is driving THEIR insured vehicle, and, as you might imagine, would not be happy that the Vehicle's owner allowed this to happen, without notifying them, first. Friends, and Aunts and Uncles are well-meaning, and may seem to have good driving records, but, you really never know. The Insurance Company will certainly want to know, beforehand, in case there is an issue... it might seem mundane to have to go to all that trouble, but, it's YOUR vehicle that's being insured, and it's THEIR vehicle that they are insuring, and their policy CONTRACT is Only with YOU, not other drivers.

I've always told my customers that it is very risky to allow ANYONE else to drive your insured vehicle, EVEN if you think you 'know' them, and you would 'swear' they are a good driver. When the accident happens, none of that will matter for THEM, but it will cost YOU dearly. Don't do it.

 

[chl]

right - we are all from potentially DIFFERENT states, where rules are different, even for the SAME exact insurer, or policy type, etc... it may seem to make sense that we all have the same rules, but, since, well, we live in 50 states, and another area called 'DC', and all are ruled by a separate and stand-alone Insurance Commissioner, for each...

yes, it's confusing, that's why many times you'll hear someone from the insurance company saying "thank you sir, let me refer to your policy and your coverages to give you the appropriate answer"... there is no 'same policy' for everyone, even within the same insurance company, on what seemingly would be the 'same' coverage, from one person to another. it's just not, but that's a whole different conversation for another time...

while it would seem to make sense that anyone who gets behind the wheel of an insured vehicle would be required to notify their insurer, some insurers make be more lax about this. But, making the assumption that a young driver with a Learners Permit will have their Parent, the vehicle owner, and the policy owner, sitting next to them while they are 'learning', is, well, an assumption. A Learners Permit may allow that young driver to 'learn' with someone that is NOT the vehicle owner, and has nothing to do with the vehicle's insurance, such as an older 'friend', an Aunt or Uncle, etc. In that case, the insurer would have NO CLUE as to who is driving THEIR insured vehicle, and, as you might imagine, would not be happy that the Vehicle's owner allowed this to happen, without notifying them, first. Friends, and Aunts and Uncles are well-meaning, and may seem to have good driving records, but, you really never know. The Insurance Company will certainly want to know, beforehand, in case there is an issue... it might seem mundane to have to go to all that trouble, but, it's YOUR vehicle that's being insured, and it's THEIR vehicle that they are insuring, and their policy CONTRACT is Only with YOU, not other drivers.

I've always told my customers that it is very risky to allow ANYONE else to drive your insured vehicle, EVEN if you think you 'know' them, and you would 'swear' they are a good driver. When the accident happens, none of that will matter for THEM, but it will cost YOU dearly. Don't do it.

Yes, after I went to law school I stopped letting anyone use my vehicles, and never put myself on the title if I bought my kids a used car either, among other things I was more careful about.

Even so, the driving record of any licensed driver in the family living in our house counted against us on our policy.

"In Virginia, car insurance generally follows the vehicle rather than the driver. Because the state requires auto policies to automatically cover permissive users, insurers must consider all family members of driving age living in your household to accurately assess risk and price your premiums....Insurers require you to disclose all drivers so that higher-risk household members (such as teenagers) cannot be left off the policy to lower your premium. Failing to list them can lead to denied claims or policy cancellation."

Having kids is expensive in many ways...

 

[Robocop]

Depending on the insurance company's internal policies and state laws, filing a claim on your own insurance may be grounds to raise your rates even if you were not at fault and even if they get reimbursed by another party. The claim is now on your record and statistically you're now more likely to have another in the future.

OP hasn't mentioned yet who's paying. But even though the other driver wasn't insured, the car was, and I suspect they will cover it.

Don't know if the driver had a permit or not. When my kid got her permit our insurance didn't require her to be added as a driver on our policy (I checked). Only when she got a license to drive by herself did I have to add her.

so what? an insurance claim isn't the end of the world. Situations like this arise that are unavoidable. The OP clearly wrote in post #1 the driver didn't have a license. The OP is an innocent party whose truck got damaged so it is going to get repaired because OP insurance company is going to pay for it because they are obligated to by the contract. The company will have to make a decision if they pursue the other insurer for compensation over this.

The driver is a minor with no license, so no insurance so the owners of that vehicle don't have any options in this situation. The other insurer doesn't have a contract with this minor and the contract excludes any driver who isn't legally entitled to operate a vehicle [ie. a minor and no valid license]. So they likely won't cover the damage to their vehicle and would potentially have to make a decision if they'll cover the damage to our OP's vehicle (they won't).

Yes the claim is on OP's record and the vehicle has a ding on its 'collision history' or whatever but the loss has happened and it can't un-happen.

 

[chl]

so what? an insurance claim isn't the end of the world. Situations like this arise that are unavoidable. The OP clearly wrote in post #1 the driver didn't have a license. The OP is an innocent party whose truck got damaged so it is going to get repaired because OP insurance company is going to pay for it because they are obligated to by the contract. The company will have to make a decision if they pursue the other insurer for compensation over this.

The driver is a minor with no license, so no insurance so the owners of that vehicle don't have any options in this situation. The other insurer doesn't have a contract with this minor and the contract excludes any driver who isn't legally entitled to operate a vehicle [ie. a minor and no valid license]. So they likely won't cover the damage to their vehicle and would potentially have to make a decision if they'll cover the damage to our OP's vehicle (they won't).

Yes the claim is on OP's record and the vehicle has a ding on its 'collision history' or whatever but the loss has happened and it can't un-happen.

The insurance is generally on the CAR, not the driver, but it depends on the state.

 

[electricpig]

Back to the damage to the truck. Mine got.backed into and ended the bill for repairs was over $5K. Now for a critical point. If you truck is still under warranty, or EAP (aka extended warranty), ONLY allow a Ford certificate shop to work on it and only allow OEM parts, otherwise your warranty or EAP could be voided for those and related parts. The insurance company of the person who damagedy truck wanted me to rush to one of their approved cheaper shops. Had I done so, there would have there would have been potential warranty issues as indicated above. I was lucky and caught on in time, and the insurance company folded when I pointed out that a affected warranty did not meet the contracted requirements to make me "whole" legally.

 

[proprepper]

My guess, parts will be unavailable or backorder. So just part it out! I'll take the passenger side front door!!

 

[chl]

Back to the damage to the truck. Mine got.backed into and ended the bill for repairs was over $5K. Now for a critical point. If you truck is still under warranty, or EAP (aka extended warranty), ONLY allow a Ford certificate shop to work on it and only allow OEM parts, otherwise your warranty or EAP could be voided for those and related parts. The insurance company of the person who damagedy truck wanted me to rush to one of their approved cheaper shops. Had I done so, there would have there would have been potential warranty issues as indicated above. I was lucky and caught on in time, and the insurance company folded when I pointed out that a affected warranty did not meet the contracted requirements to make me "whole" legally.

Another reason to consider a non-Ford extended warranty perhaps?

 

[No Oil HaHa]

Must be something in the water. This just happened to me last Monday. It was my fault.

I got into my body shop for an estimate today. Total is right at 5k and parts will be available within a week.

 

[chl]

Must be something in the water. This just happened to me last Monday. It was my fault.

I got into my body shop for an estimate today. Total is right at 5k and parts will be available within a week.

OMG, plastic is so dang expensive these days!

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