Well parked car on street for while I had dinner and returned to find someone had hit the car while it was parked on street. Damn. $1K deductible too.

 

Ouch! Major bummer!!!

 

Oh no! So sorry to hear. Yes it's a gamble with high deductible, that's what I chose too. Do you have uninsured motorist?--- think sometimes a lower deductible applies there, not sure.

 

Thanks for the sympathy. Certainly didn't need for this to be happening right now and I keep think I probably shouldn't have parked where I did or why did I choose to go out and eat but we can't go back in time to change things.

While I believe I have uninsured motorist coverage I think it applies to a collision or knowing who actually hit you.

1K deductible is extremely steep and hurts. I go in for an estimate tomorrow already and I'll see what I'm looking at and whether it's even worth running it through the insurance.

It really pisses me off how someone can just run into a parked car in the first place and then to have no conscience and drive away.

 

My copy of "Insurance for Dummies" says uninsured motorists are those who are unidentified (hit and run) or have no insurance; of course there is still the deductible issue. Or maybe it is different in CA. I just know my insurance agent seemed to stress uninsured motorist was important to have for hit and runs. Of course she was probably lying (not that I am cynical or anything) Oh yeah, the world is full of ppl with no conscience and that is all you can expect!

My precious darling is no longer pristine either, though not as bad as yours, I recently scraped front lip visibly and fixed it myself with touchup paint. No good second-guessing now, and I am glad I didn't get a more expensive car or I would be really upset and that's just not worth it.

Condolences and good luck! Let us know what happens as I will probably be next.

 

So was this downtown SF? I never feel good parking in the streets, specially parallel parking. Street parkers think a bumper nudge is ok and keep driving. Always see those parking battle scars on cars... mine included.

I know you're really bummed right now but those are the chances we all take once we hit the public streets. Hey, could be worse... like your car sitting on blocks or not even being there where you left it... I know, still a bummer...

 

Thats stinks i got a chunk out of my mirror housing from a skateboarder luckily he missed the side of the car but like we say parking in the street has consequences

 

Isn't this your second hit and run?

 

Subie- The car got hit on Lombard in the Marina section of town. Pretty heavy traffic and divided east-west lanes.

I got a spot near a corner with no more spaces in front of me and thought it was actually a good spot where no one could back up into me. Never thought of a side swipe.

craigquakertown: I know street parking carries some risk which is partially why I pay for a garage. But what good is a car if you can't drive it anywhere? Everytime we drive or park it we take a risk.

Mhaaden: This was the first major damage to my car, a paint chip on the hood seems quite trivial now. However, I did report a few months ago about a my neighbors car being hit by a drunk driver while parked on a street. At least the cops found that driver and she happened to have insurance.

 

That's not the case. I work in insurance and am licensed in various states to do it, so I'm familiar with what you're talking about, as there are coverages that exist in some states but not in others. Some states have a separate deductible for UMPD (uninsured motor vehicle property damage) claims that is independent of your comprehensive and collision deductibles, but that is not the case here in California (where both I and the OP reside). Also, some states do not allow you to have UMPD when you have full coverage, since that claim would be a collision claim, and some states don't have UMPD at all, like Florida.


In California (and possibly only here, as I can't think of any other states that have it), we have what is called a CDW (collision deductible waiver), which is the counterpart of UMPD when you have full coverage. If you have liability coverage only, you can still get UM coverage with it (as it's not required by law), but UMPD is almost always limited to $3,500 but not subject to any deductibles. The CDW does the same thing, but it waives your collision deductible and is only capped by the ACV (actual cash value) of your vehicle (which takes into account stuff like depreciation), unless you have a special policy that uses something else, such as agreed value, stated value or replacement cost, but those aren't too common outside of collector car policies. However, not all insurance companies have CDWs (and will only provide UMPD even with full coverage, so you either get limited to $3,500 or you have to pay your deductible in that scenario), and not all insurance agents have the intelligence to include it.


However, this may not be a UM claim... to be explained.


You are correct about UM coverage. In order for it to apply, the other driver must be identified and determined to be at-fault. Otherwise, there's nothing to prove that there was someone uninsured/underinsured, so theoretically people could get into accidents left and right and just claim that their car was sitting outside and struck in a hit-and-run and get it covered without their record being affected, as this kind of a claim will get documented as a collision claim subject to the deductible, though it's not documented as an accident since you weren't operating a vehicle at the time of a claim. But every so often, you might get a cool claims adjuster who might let it slide and just call it a UM claim and not make you pay the deductible.



While higher deductibles save you money, unless you have a really bad driving history (or are really young), the difference between $1,000 and $500 deductibles isn't that bad. I refuse to go any higher than $500 myself and thankfully convinced my girlfriend out of $1,000 deductibles on her policies through my office... and she benefited from it, seeing how she hasn't had the best of luck with her cars. The problem is that everyone wants the cheapest insurance possible with no regard to coverage, so either the customer immediately asks for whatever makes it cheap or the agent doesn't at least offer the lower deductible. Before they switched to me, my parents had $1,000 deductibles on their three cars when they were with Geico, and I had already beat their rate when they switched to me, but changing the deductibles to $250 (comprehensive) and $500 (collision) only cost them $4 or $5 more per month overall (for all three cars). Again, it was likely because the Geico agent they worked with didn't pitch it to them, while my mom was likely trying to trim a few dollars here and there without thinking of the drawbacks of doing so, though she was at least maintaining high coverage limits.


Like I said, it varies from state to state, but in most cases, a hit-and-run doesn't get classified as a UM claim, but I'll check with other states, as that might be the case where you are, as I haven't bound a Washington policy in a while. I wouldn't say that your agent was lying, but again, it's never a bad thing to have UM coverage. Realistically speaking, it generally adds very little to your policy (which you can verify from your insurance premium breakdown in your insurance application or on your declarations page). But more importantly, the UMBI portion is very important (and you can't get UMPD without getting UMBI first), especially if you get injured, since it isn't necessarily limited just to your hospital bills, as you can make claims for lost wages in the event of a UM/UIM driver being at-fault in an accident involving bodily injury.


Good luck with everything, OP.

 

I'm sorry to read this my friend.

If you remember, my damage ended up being around $1700. It doesn't appear your damage is as bad. No consolation for sure. You'll be fixed up in no time. Some people have no conscience. Karma is a... Please keep us updated!

 

Oman that sucks bro sry LETS GO FIND THAT MOFO i think theres a fener and bumber ur color right now on crigslist in la

 

I could probably help you, my friend owns a body shop in downtown sf. Pm me if for more info

 

We've been out just under 2K in repair damage of just over 3K.. We have money set aside to cover whatever and twice it has been insurance deductibles... $1000 is really nothing anymore.. I can remember lots of new cars that sold for less than 2K.

 

Well you certainly have been through this and know the feeling. My damage isn't quite as bad so yea maybe slightly above my deductible

Went in for an appt. at an Auto Body shop today only to find out they thought I already had a claim figure from State Farm. Turn's out I would need to have an adjuster meet me there to do an estimate so today was a bust. Have another appt. tomorrow at another shop with an in house State Farm adjuster.

Wafulz- I sure wish I would have seen it and got a license plate number. But if you happen to see a bumper with Orangeburst Metallic paint on it let me know

 

Thanks I could possibly go that route and get it done without the insurance.... PM sent.

 

Sorry to hear that, people have no respect for other's property anymore.

On the subject of insurance deductibles, getting a crack in my window has convinced me to get a $250 deductible. The difference in price per month is really not that much, and the Fit's windshield runs almost $500? I do a lot of interstate driving and so far have 2 star chips and one big crack in 3 different incidents. I'm glad I didn't fix it yet

I hope airmike comes through with the repair hookup.

 

Touching on that really quickly, while a lower deductible is always better (and often times at not much of a premium), some companies can add glass coverage, which means that glass claims are not subject to your comprehensive deductible, whether it's $100 or $2,000. Check with your insurance company to see if they offer it, I added it to mine.

 

Thank you, I was planning on calling them to talk over the deductible so I will ask them about this while I have them on the phone. I know right now they will repair it for free if it's repairable but they won't replace it. It sucks because it wasn't like I neglected it and the crack got bigger, the crack split like over a foot long right after impact.

Sorry for threadjack, back to you OP.

 

I know how you feel. Frustrating as all heck. I hope it all works out for you and the estimate is lower than you expect. Maybe airmike can help as well!