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-- Car insurance-type stuff - help needed

Car insurance-type stuff - help needed

Hey everyone,

I know a couple of people on the boards work with car insurance. Looking for some advice...

Last night I parked on a side street in Toronto (picture below).

Looks like someone, while exiting the driveway on the left side of the road, has smashed into my car. Front left fender is somewhat dented in, but doesn't look like there's any bumper or door or internal damage.

I took off from the scene without really noticing it (sort of noticed it on the way home). Next day I returned and I think I have found the car that hit my car (though not 100% certain). However, the owner refused to even talk to me (no name, no insurance info, nothing). It looks like there's a scratch on his car (older car, sturdier bumper)

Added twist. I have full insurance and all, however, at the moment the insurance is in a small town about 2 hours from Toronto, while I reside here in T.

Looks like I have 3 options:
1. Just pay for the damn thing myself and not contact anyone. Probably $500 or something like that.

2. Contact the police, report a hit and run, and then contact insurance for money.

3. Just contact the insurance without involving the police.

I'm leaning towards #1.

Any advice from the folks that have gone through similar ordeal or have more knowledge is very much appreciated!

Thank you,

-Roman

Pictar:

i had the same thing happen to me but in a parking lot. I called the cops right away. Got the money $1500 and everything was good. I dont know what you should do because its not right away. I will tell you this though... i thought my damage was only going to be around 250 and it ended up being 1500.

If you are going to put an insurance claim in then it will fall under your collision coverage, which means you will have to pay your deductible and most likely you will see an increase in your rates. If you were to report it as a hit and run to the police it would make little difference from an insurance aspect. Your insurance company needs to confirm the other vehicle involved has valid insurance before they can proceed under direct compensation. It sounds like even if you got the licence plate for the other vehicle the owner would deny any involvement. My suggestion is to just pay for the repairs yourself.....especially if its less than $2,000.00.

Thanks!

The deductible is $500 anyway... I'll get some estimates around and probably fix it myself.

Does it make sense (long-term) to switch insurance to Toronto since I live here? Is there a possibility of the insurance company denying a claim based on where I live vs where i'm insured?

Thanks again for the advice.

As long as you tell your insurance company that you are living in Toronto, they can't deny your claim for that reason. If you tell them you are living in your small town still, chances are they may deny your claim for material misrepresentation (which you don't want).

If all is good, making a claim in this instance will have no affect on your future rates or insurability, as long as you are not deemed at fault in the claim. So you might as well claim it and hope for the best. I'd also report it to the police first, sometimes insurance companies will waive the deductible if you report the incident within 24hours.

quote:

Originally posted by Superstring Thanks! The deductible is $500 anyway... I'll get some estimates around and probably fix it myself. Does it make sense (long-term) to switch insurance to Toronto since I live here? Is there a possibility of the insurance company denying a claim based on where I live vs where i'm insured? Thanks again for the advice.

If you are now living in Toronto then yes you should tell your insurance company....with that you will probably see an increase in your rates. If you don't tell them, as Mortyman said, they could deny your claim on material misrepresentation.


Mortyman: In this instance, there is no guarantee that the insurance company wouldn't increase rates as the third party is unidentified. In order for the insurer to waive the deductible and proceed under direct compensation they need to know there is a valid third party insurance policy. If they cannot determine that then it goes as a collision claim against the policy and its very rare that a collision claim doesn't increase your rates.

Like I said earlier, if the damage is less than $2,000.00 then you are probably better off paying for it yourself and not tell the insurance company at all. The increase in rates over the next 5 years is going to be more then $2,000.00 so you are better off just to take care of it yourself.

On the topic of car insurance, does anyone have any info on weekend insurance? I tried doing research online to learn more, but can't really find anything. I am assuming that most insurance companies don't advertise it. I am wondering how much it generally costs on average.

quote:

Originally posted by me@t k@tie On the topic of car insurance, does anyone have any info on weekend insurance? I tried doing research online to learn more, but can't really find anything. I am assuming that most insurance companies don't advertise it. I am wondering how much it generally costs on average.

your best bet is to call a local broker and ask them

quote:

Originally posted by me@t k@tie On the topic of car insurance, does anyone have any info on weekend insurance? I tried doing research online to learn more, but can't really find anything. I am assuming that most insurance companies don't advertise it. I am wondering how much it generally costs on average.

What are you looking for exactly? A policy to cover you when you drive someone else's car or putting insurance on your own car for a short term period?

quote:

Originally posted by Moral Hazard What are you looking for exactly? A policy to cover you when you drive someone else's car or putting insurance on your own car for a short term period?

It's insurance for my own car. I don't drive on weekdays since I use TTC, but I do use it on weekends. I was wondering if there is a specific insurance I could get for a case like this.

quote:

Originally posted by me@t k@tie It's insurance for my own car. I don't drive on weekdays since I use TTC, but I do use it on weekends. I was wondering if there is a specific insurance I could get for a case like this.

I highly doubt there is a specific insurance for this. As I said before, I would recommend speaking with a broker. They may be able to design a policy that would cover the vehicle from Friday to Monday but I don't think you would save much money over a full policy.

quote:

Originally posted by me@t k@tie It's insurance for my own car. I don't drive on weekdays since I use TTC, but I do use it on weekends. I was wondering if there is a specific insurance I could get for a case like this.

It's exceedingly unlikely that any insurer would agree to write a policy that would exclude coverage for Mondays-Fridays. Your policy will already consider your limited usage as usage/mileage per year is one of the criteria upon which your risk rating is calculated and risk rating multiplied by the amount of insurance requested is what determines your premium.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced Mortyman: In this instance, there is no guarantee that the insurance company wouldn't increase rates as the third party is unidentified. In order for the insurer to waive the deductible and proceed under direct compensation they need to know there is a valid third party insurance policy. If they cannot determine that then it goes as a collision claim against the policy and its very rare that a collision claim doesn't increase your rates.

Direct Compensation only applies if the 3rd party is identified. Otherwise, hit & run is a collision claim, and i know most insurance companies will only increase your rate if your deemed at fault. If your insurance carrier charges you extra premium for something that is not your fault... I'd look into another carrier

quote:

Originally posted by Mortyman Direct Compensation only applies if the 3rd party is identified.

Inaccurate... DC applies if there are a minimum of two identifiable parties involved and at least one in addition to the insured has insurance with an insurer licenced to write insurance in Ontario or signatory to the Ontario No-Fault Undertakings.

quote:

Otherwise, hit & run is a collision claim, and i know most insurance companies will only increase your rate if your deemed at fault.

Incorrect, all collision claims result in a premium increase, non-at-fault collisions are normally DC losses, thus no increase.

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