hey it may not work, even though other rs'ers think it will as well. Why not give it a shot (after a claim is made ) and save some cash?

sucks to hear what happened, but if you are able to drive a nicer car than a lot of ppl, expect to pay for the expenses that comes with the privilage of car ownership

maybe consider this as a lesson of parking closer to security cameras if possible next time

Actually, non government regulated insurance companies becomes healthier for consumers. More choices means more competition for better prices. But since icbc is government regulated it is better run then some hole in the wall insurance joint. Still doesn't compare to sgi in saskatchewen though. Best insurance company on the planet.

just buff it out or pay me $100 and I'll detail your whole car

How can you compare Saskatchewan to here? I've never lived there, so I cant say how it is. As the customer, you might save a little going through private insurance. But turn around time from reporting the claim, to having the repairs finished, takes a lot longer.

Private companies take forever when it comes to approving claims submitted by shops.

good god, parking in richmond is bad enough with all these clai's.. and with boxing sale... big time :failed: (not to OP, but to the bad drivers)

Have you ever worked at an shop? I have. I had a much better experience dealing with private insurance companies over ICBC and would prefer them any day over ICBC. Easier to deal with, faster to approve the claim, no "road" guy... you do it all over email and phone. Take a bunch of pictures, create a claim form and email it off. Often I would have approval within an hour. Whereas with ICBC it was frustrating as hell. Took days to get approval, if there was hidden damage that was not on the original estimate we would have to wait for a road adjuster to come by. With private, I picked the phone up... called them told them what's up, sent a few pictures and would have the revised claim emailed to me within no more than an hour.

As a matter of fact, I do. You haven't worked at an ICBC Express shop I take it. We don't need to deal with a roadman. Submit an estimate, and unless there are any issues, claim is approved within 2 hours or so. I understand waiting for the roadman is a pain. But honestly, in my experience, I don't see how that is any different.

Yes, with private companies it is all through e-mail/phone. Have you ever had them approve of something, then turn around and deny it? I'm not specifically pointing fingers at 1 company, but what really is frustrating is that you submit an estimate in the early morning, get no response, call, no reply, and it takes days to approve claim. Meanwhile, the customer is wondering why repairs haven't started on their vehicle.

I have yet to have a private insurance company authorize a claim within an hour. Unless you are one of their preferred shops. (no personal experience on that, so I won't comment there) To each their own I guess.

such a common occurance in aberdeen.

I watched a new sienna SE (y'know sport one with all the fancy stuff) back into a guy's cavalier and scuffed his front bumper.

the chinese guy in the sienna just booked it after realizing what he did.....

about a minute later, the cavalier guy just walks to his car and doesnt notice anything. I ended up giving him a post it, with the sienna's plate and my number.... POS cavalier or not, one should have at least have common courtesy to leave your number if you backed into another guy's car and leaving some sort of damage.

I got a call from icbc in regards to that incident. im pretty sure the sienna guy is fucked. at times like these, i wished i had one of those cams running while im driving around.

Wish someone did that for me...

So looks like it's a $700 fix not including the price for replacing the headlight washer cover and mechanism. Thanks for all the help guys.

lol, def make the claim first. i think the claim is good for 3 years?? ( cant remeber exact year)

i got hit n run once in metro parking lot but dont really have spare money to fix it, luckily or you could say im unlucky that someone hit and run me once again in the same spot and made a huge dent.

i didnt go through icbc again but used my old claim and got a new bumper.

Def felt better for the same price i had to pay to polish up scratches

Ive seen numerous hit and runs at aberdeen parking lot. All the asians just stand there and do nothing. I think i saw that happening too :lol

Your ICBC claim is good for 2 years.

If you really want to save the $500, and can live with the minor scratches for some time, given that you probably will go to Aberdeen many times in the next 2 years, and given your family cars being hit and run magnet ( 4 times in last 6 months you said), I would just leave it as is and "hoping" that someone would hit your bumper again at Aberdeen and hoping that the driver is decent enough to leave a note next time, so you can have ICBC to pay for new paint for the whole bumper.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have any ill wishes for you, and I feel for you (I was a victim just like you a month ago), but I think it will SUCK big time if you pay the $500 now to have it fixed and then get another parking lot hit in 2 months...