OP -- one thing I just thought about was that you might be okay with making your claim anyway, as there wouldn't be much of a benefit to just paying it out of your own pocket.

Obviously you have a $1,000 deductible, but unless it barely costs anything more than that (i.e. $1,100 or less), you might as well just have the insurance company help out. Like I mentioned before, while this would likely be documented as a collision claim, it's not really a chargeable accident (since you weren't driving at the time), so it's unlikely to have an effect on your rates, if that was a concern of yours. You'd have to check with your insurance company to be sure, but that's generally how it works, as I've called a few insurance companies as an agent and spoken to their underwriting departments. But obviously if you were involved in an actual at-fault accident, then there would be a benefit to avoiding an insurance claim if possible when the repair estimate isn't that much beyond your deductible.

As a side note, before 2012, the State of California deemed any at-fault accident with property damage of $750 or more as a chargeable accident (while ones with less damage would get documented but not charged against the driver), but from 2012 onward, they increased it to $1,000. I'd have to double check (so don't quote me on this, but it's my understanding), but in the event of a collision claim where there is no property damage to anything else other than your own car, I think that the numbers that are reviewed would be the payout of the insurance company (which would be the repair costs less whatever your deductible is, as opposed to the total amount of damage to your car), as shown on CLUE reports. Anything less, like I said, would likely show up as a non-chargeable accident.

 

Appreciate your insight into the insurance side of this!

 

Thanks DeeezNuuuts83 for the insurance info, although my head is spinning from it...

 

Haha yeah... I tend to be long-winded but it's not something that you can explain in one sentence

 

In GA hit-and-run is covered by uninsured motorist. State Farm had me file a police report when I got hit in the parking lot and it was covered at the lower deductible.

CA is strange, but every state is a little different.

 

That's basically it... ultimately it's up to the insurance company and their claims department to decide if they want to cover it (or under which coverage they will apply the claim to), but the department of insurance of whichever state dictates the rules, which is why some states have coverages not available in other areas -- PIP (personal injury protection) is an example, as you can get it in places like Florida (required on all owner-operator policies), Michigan, New Jersey, etc.

My guess is that California's Department of Insurance doesn't lump hit-and-run claims into uninsured/underinsured motorist claims due to its frequency and increase likelihood of fraudulent claims. We are among the most populated states in the country and certainly the biggest automotive market, and given those factors, I assume that at some point, fraudulent hit-and-run claims may have been so bad to the point where they were no longer able to be classified as UM incidents, so the "victim" would still be subject to their collision deductible, compared to having no deductible under a UM claim (at least here in California, as some states have separate UMPD deductibles), which I'm sure does help deter at least a few fraudulent claims.

 

sorry to see this, op. some people are just arseholes.

 

Thanks and unfortunately some people are indeed A holes!

So I had some good news after speaking with the ins. claims adjuster finding out that the damage was considered collision vs. comprehensive and that my collision had a $500 deductible vs. 1K for my comprehensive.

Body shop I went to is State Farm approved and claims person sent over all the claim info directly to body shop. Body shop wrote it up and the total for the repair is $1200 and 3 days work.

AIRMIKE I really appreciated you turning me on to your friends body shop but after finding out I had 500 deductible and using an approved body shop would make my life a lot easier. Plus the body shop I'm using is walking distance from my house and work.

Only downside is that the body shop is booked up for another 2 weeks but at least car drives fine and the repair isn't urgent.

 

Good to hear that things are getting resolved. But I could help but notice...

It's odd that your comprehensive deductible is higher than your collision deductible (though it worked out in your favor), as some companies won't let you do that for reasons that I won't explain, unless you like reading my insurance essays. I'd recommend calling your agent and reducing your comprehensive deductible since $1,000 is high, plus the comprehensive coverage aspect of your policy doesn't account for nearly as much as collision coverage does, so I'd toy around with something lower. I have a $250 comprehensive deductible (with $0 safety glass deductible) and a $500 collision deductible on my Evo, as going down to $250 only added a couple of dollars per month, from what I remember.

 

Great news buddy!!

 

Never really gave it much thought, just knew I was fully covered. Deductibles just were what they were but I may now just give my agent a call and inquire about a lower comprehensive deductible and how much that would raise my rates.

Thanks 2012FitFan I am indeed much more relieved and the anxiety has been considerable lowered

 

It's worth it, and I guarantee the difference will be hardly anything in the grand scheme of things to the point where you ask yourself why you didn't get it in the first place, again assuming that you're not really young or have a ton of tickets or accidents/claims in your driving history. Just to show you some numbers showing how small comprehensive coverage is compared to collision coverage in terms of price:

My Evo:
$250 comprehensive deductible (with $0 full glass deductible): $148.90
$500 collision deductible: $372.60

My dad's CLK:
$250 comprehensive deductible: $50.90
$500 collision deductible: $201.80

My girlfriend's Corolla:
$250 comprehensive deductible: $111.00
$250 collision deductible: $573.50

Do it!

 

Pulled my last statement and see my 1K comprehensive deductible is $106.84 so it looks like roughly $40 extra for a $250 deducible.

My $500 collision comes to $426.30 so your policy has a bit of an advantage there.

 

Well, we're dealing with two different people in two different parts of California and most importantly two different cars, my friend.

 

Well just called my insurance agent and got my comprehensive down to a 250 deductible for an extra $60 per year. Thanks again for the advise on that.

 

No problem. It's overlooked FAR too often and, as you can see, it doesn't cost that much more.

 

Indeed, I never gave it a thought and figured that was average for a policy. $1K deductible for something like replacing a broken window is like not having insurance.

 

That's how it always is. Your average consumer just wants the configuration that makes it as inexpensive as possible without completely cutting necessary coverages off, whether necessary by law or by agreement (such as when financing or leasing).

With a $1,000 comprehensive deductible, you're really only protecting yourself against vehicle theft or some other similar total loss, like if a tree falls on your car. Most other claims, especially the more common ones (i.e. windows, vandalism) likely wouldn't meet that kind of a deductible or would barely pass it to the point where your insurance company would only end up paying a small amount on that claim.

 

Got my Car back from the Shop Today.

Would have had it back sooner but I had inquired about the uneven gap at the bumper cover and front fender. The bumper was possibly sagging slightly pinching the the front fenderat the bottom of the gap and wider at the top. They pulled off the bumper cover to check out the bumper clip and in doing so cracked the paint.

They replaced the plastic bumper clip and repainted the entire bumper. The gap still doesn't quite appear to be as even as it was originally but is slightly better and I was told it was the best they could do. I certainly can live with it and am SO HAPPY to have my Fit back again. My rental was a Nissan Versa and was thrilled to return it and be driving my Fit again.

 

Here is a picture of the same area before the damage.