car crash...now what?

[mountaingal]

dawta got into accident tonite. she physically okay. police determined she's at fault. whole passenger side ram, side airbags deployed. insurance guy say insurance will likely write it off, and even if dem seh fix it, don't badda.

dawta want fi know if it worth har while to go to court over the ticket she get, police tell har she get 3 demerit points.

i want to know if this will make my insurance unaffordable. i dont think i'm going to get the car fixed.

anybody been in a similar situation can share some insights?

[Cultcha]

Re: car crash...now what?

So glad to hear your daughter is unharmed.

Some insurance companies will give you a free pass if it is your first accident. Perhaps inquire with them if that is the case here. I always take my tickets to court and have always had them reduced. I've never done so for an accident ticket however, but I'd say why not give it a shot.

Good luck!

[mountaingal]

Re: car crash...now what?

thanks, Milo. still reviewing options today. in my first post, meant to say it was the tow truck driver who suggested i don't bother to get the car fixed. just got that car in october enuh.

my saturday now includes going to pound to get stuff from the car, then dealing with insurer. also keeping an eye on dawta to see if any physical harm start to manifest, dem seh it sometime tek couple of days for symptoms of whiplash or whatever to kick in.

[kia027]

Re: car crash...now what?

Mgee
Hope your dawta is ok. Sorry to read about the accident. While I dont have experience wid accidents what I did read is some insurance companies automatically write off cars if the car is x number of years old.

As for the ticket, definitely go to court because while they may not reduce a fine, the may reduce the demerit points.

In the US, they have lawyers who hang around the courthouses for these types of cases, or if you know a lawyer they may be able to see how the ticket can be reduced.

[mountaingal]

Re: car crash...now what?

thanks, kia. dawta is fine. slight bruising under one eye on the side of the head where the side air bag bumped her, and a bit of a bruised knee. :

the tow truck guy was something else. within 5 minutes of meeting me he had all services on offer - a rental car, a place to drive my car to because i dont have a regular mechanic and everywhere else is closed, and the expert opinion that my car was a write-off because the airbags had deployed and it's too expensive to replace them. saying i should not get my insurance to tell me it can be fixed.

i figure he gets a kickback from each of the services he hooked me up with, and probably has a car parts contact waiting in the wings for the rest of the car.

[mountaingal]

Re: car crash...now what?

so, the car. went to visit it at the pound, and felt a rush of affection for it when i glimpsed it, sitting there in a strange place so far from home, looking as if there's nothing wrong and there's been some huge mistake


my kid was t-boned and walked away, the car, tho mi cuss it nuff time caw it slow to pick up and noisy for a new car, passed an important safety test - it protected my daughter.

[mountaingal]

Re: car crash...now what?

the other side showed the damage. i want to save the car, and it seems to me it's only the doors and the panel over the rear wheel that need replacing. plus the airbags of course.



inside- passenger side upper airbag popped

[ILP]

Re: car crash...now what?

I've personally have not had that kind of accident, but know someone who has. In her case, the accident was her fault and she got a ticket. The insurance wrote off her car (new...new) and fixed the damages to the person that hit her. She went to court (upon the advise of her insurance). According to them...if she didn't and the points came in on top of the payouts for insurance...they were going to drop her, which would in turn make it difficult for her to get insurance at any kind of descent rate from another company.

They did raise her rates something terrible, but it went back down after she was able to drive without any accidents for a while.

My advice go to court...it cant hurt any.

Glad your daughter is ok...the car did what it was supposed to do.

[Gen]

Re: car crash...now what?

glad that daughter is fine MGee

hope everything work out with the car insurance and all.


maybe if them even attempt to fix the door it gwine still give problems ?? maybe that's why dem seh nuh badda ?

[Nanook]

Re: car crash...now what?

I am so glad your daughter is OK, though I am sure shook up.

A frame specialist can tell you if the frame was bent. Only then will you know if it is fixable. Yes use your insurance, that is what it is for, why you pay in. Your policy could go up whether you use it or not, as the traffic record will eventually worm it's way into their files. At least that is how it works here. Most insurances also provide for a rental car here.

Sorry for your angst.

[LinSkinny]

Re: car crash...now what?

Usually a write off if the airbags popped. Unless the car is less than a year old, most insurance companies don't want to fix that type of damage. That car is a Unibody car. There is no 'frame' per se, but a bunch of parts all welded together to form a bit of a square shell. It is surprisingly easy to fix once you cut out and replace the dented parts and! have the proper equipment to measure at the specified points, but again, will the insurance company pay to do it properly.

Always go to court and with an experienced traffic attorney. Since the officer didn't witness the accident, occasionally the ticket might get thrown out as hearsay.