Help With First Ever Claim
 

Hey guys,

My car got hit in a parking lot Friday Night. I've never had to deal with anything like this before so I am looking for some advice.

It happened in the London Drugs parking lot on Kingsway and Nelson, just east of Metrotown. I was sitting in my car, parked in a stall with the engine off. There was a white Sierra parked right behind me. As he was exiting the parking lot, his driver's side rear bumper backed up into my passenger side rear.

I got out of the car and I took down his Driver's License info.

There's a crack in my bumper about 8-10" long. It's nothing major but I still want to get it fixed.

He says he doesn't want to go through ICBC but he'll foot the bill if I take it to his friend's shop in Delta. I told him Delta is too much of an inconvenience for me because I live in Vancouver. I emphasized I didn't want to go to Delta just to get it fixed. Why should I have to go all the way there? It's not even my fault.

On ICBC's website it says all collisions should be reported within a reasonable time. I am planning to call the driver back on Monday and give him two options:

Option 1 - I take it to a shop of my choice and he foots the bill
Option 2 - I go through ICBC and take it to a shop of my choice

If he goes with Option 1 I will take my car into a shop to get an estimate before proceeding. If he does not accept Option 1 or if I cannot get a hold of him I will file with ICBC.

If I don't report it until sometime next week, is it still considered a reasonable time frame to file a claim?

Is there anything else I am missing? I also made sure to jot down notes and drew out a diagram immediately after the incident just in case I needed it for the future.

Thanks in advance.

I thought all accidents had to be reported within 24h? Sorry if I'm wrong but when I was in an accident my cop kept on emphasizing that I should report it ASAP
Posted via RS Mobile

Call up ICBC, report to them what happened. They will open up a claim# for you and you can go to a ICBC approved body shop near your area to get your car fixed. done. You don't need to do anything for the other guy as it is his fault. Don't bother organizing anything with him there is no benefit to you. Have fun. Make sure you report it soon.

You should be calling ICBC immediately after the incident.

It's coming out of the other party's pocket regardless.

Like the post above me mentions that there's no benefits for you.

I would work with the person, but I'm overly nice..

These would be my conditions:

1. I get to choose the shop, I don't want his buddy potentially cutting corners to keep costs down.
2. I meet him at my chosen shop upon completion of a FIRM estimate with the agreed upon price in writing and have him pay in full before the work begins.

There are no benefits to you except maybe a bit of good charma, the safe bet is without question a standard ICBC claim.

You have a year to file with icbc.

Sounds like small damage. Just get the car fixed thru icbc, and the other guy can either pay icbc the repair amount, or he can have his rates go up.

Either way, don't go to his buddy. In situations like these, if he wants you to repair privately, not only should it be conveniencing you, but he should also pay you extra.
Posted via RS Mobile

Thanks for the replies so far. I think I'm just going to file with ICBC.

As much as I'd like to accommodate the other driver, he doesn't seem to realize it will inconvenience me as well.

File with ICBC now.

Why?

1. You don't owe him shit. He's the one who hit you. It's bad enough that you have to go to ICBC/deal with getting it repaired/be out of your own car for awhile but now you have to go out of your way to help him out? Fuck that.

2. His friend does a shitty repair job and you didn't claim it. Now you're screwed.

3. You take it to a shop of your choice and he doesn't fork out the cash. Now what? More BS?

The only other option I would give the guy is if you get a high estimate at a shop you trust and he pays you...in cash. Now you have no dec's on your car and nothing shows up against the other guy's insurance.

Otherwise, go through ICBC, get it repaired and he can pay ICBC back or let his premiums go up.

Call immediately and make a claim, it is always good to have this as a record. Call the other party and ask that they do the same.

It doesn't matter if the repairs will be through ICBC or not, a claim is a record of what happened. Since you are not at fault, I would suggest you have your ass covered.

IMO, you should b the one to choose the shop for the repairs. I would not trust his friend's shop to do a good job with your car.

If his driving is flawed, his insurance rates desire to be higher than the rest of us. That is the purpose of the system that's been set in place.

Report to ICBC

Go through ICBC, if your bumper is cracked it will need to be replaced and painted. Not cheap, if your looking for a good body shop try Dueck in Richmond.

go thru ICBC and get a claim number and it will be an open claim, he already admitted guilt on his part so if he wants to settle privately after, then ICBC will not have a record on the fix, it is just to protect yourself, rmb in the real world, DTA, dont trust anybody!

Just do ICBC. He can still foot the bill later. Gotta protect yourself!
Posted via RS Mobile

The problem with not going through ICBC is this. Lets say you bring it to a shop of your choice. They give you an estimate, and the other party agrees on it.

What happens when they take off your bumper and they find more damage? (You'd be surprise how much can be damage from a small hit. Trust me, I work in a body shop, I see this happen all the time).

If you were to call back the other guy and tell him you need another $xx. He will most likely tell you to fly a kite.

Safest for both parties, just report it. Go through the claims process (and it is relatively easy, especially if the claim is express qualified, so you might not even have to to the claim center). Get your car fixed, and be on your way.

If he doesn't want his rates to go up, he can pay ICBC back. Less headaches for you.

you're lucky you were in your car, otherwise you'd probably be out 300-500 for the hit and run deductible. from the way this sounds, i highly doubt he'd stick around or leave a note

but like..every other person has said, save yourself the grief and report it

dont wait til next week... lol thats what the other wants...

within 48hrs is how long i would wait.. even then, its still a long time.. Did you take pictures of the damages on the van? if not, thats what you should have done... If he gets any damages fixed before you reported him, then its your loss..

Thanks for the tips... I ended up reporting it to ICBC.

What will happen if the other party doesn't report the crash? I asked ICBC that on the phone and all they said was they would wait and see if he does... pretty useless if you ask me.

They may contact the driver and insruct him to go to a claim centre so they can inspect his vehicle. They will check if the damage for his vehicle matches the damage to yours.

Why not report it?

1. You lose nothing
2. He can buy back his claim (if he wants) and retain his claims-free discount.
Posted via RS Mobile

They'll send him a letter saying his car was involved in an accident and other details. Not sure what happens after if he doesn't report it.
Posted via RS Mobile

Go through ICBC.
If the other driver tries to contacting you, tell them you filed a claim and that is the end of it. Also tell your adjuster that he called.
Keep it as convenient for you as possible b/c i was his fault.

Same thing happened to me but it was my motorcycle. Guy backs into my motorcycle, bike drops on concrete. The person offers to do this outside of court. I get the damaged accessed and email it to him and he disappears for a week. I gave him 24hrs notice before contacting icbc. No reply. Go through icbc they get the damaged accessed. Now if he doesn't want his insurance to go up he can buy out the claim. I had a witness too, so it made my claim super easy.