Smashed!

I’m glad to hear from someone in the auto body field! The local shop I had it towed to has a very good reputation. I’m confident that they will do good work. I will probably hear more from them today.

 

Haha! I tend to remain absurdly calm in these kind of situations. I proceeded to start snapping a shitload of pictures, and checking on the poor woman in the car next to mine who had a head injury.

 

Yes, Ohio sucks due to the big three "C"s having so much innercity representation in state government. Three times now I have received letters from the state asking to prove my insurance or risk getting my registration yanked. I swear they pick and chose who gets those proof of insurance letters.
You do have a legal recourse if hit by someone without insurance. First, the police report must state the driver did not have insurance and the police seldom do that. If that is done you apply to the state for a six page claim form to fill out and submit. If one mistake is made on that form your one and only chance of going after the deadbeat is denied. End of story.
In my job I filled this form out 6 times to recoup damage to RR xing lights & gates. Had the form checked by legal dept before sending back. Not once did I hear back from the state. All 6 claims denied and no clue why. Now you've got me fired up.

 

I don’t think my premiums will go up from this, but I have a $1000 deductible that I may have to take the guy to court over. Not to mention all the additional headaches of dealing with this! My insurance (AAA) only provides $25 day for a rental car, the most inexpensive rental available is going to cost me $11 day out of pocket over that.

 

Is this an option in the state of California?

 

$1000 deductible?! Ouch!

 

I’ve had two teenage drivers in the house, it’s the only way I could afford insurance

 

Gotta do what you gotta do. I just flinched at the thought of it was all, but there was no judgement or criticism involved. I ran high deductibles for a long time, and I used to go straight liability once I owned a vehicle. It wasn't until a buddy put it in perspective that I started running better insurance coverage. He said "If you can't afford to replace it readily and easily next week, you should probably have insurance that can." Was a total knowledge bomb he dropped on me.

 

Repair shop didn't do the alignment. They had that done at a separate shop, and yes I was provided the alignment printout. Not sure what the issue was. Took it back twice. Then traded it in.

 

No kidding, that’s a good way of looking at it! I do have good insurance, it’s a 500k policy through AAA, but yeah, teenage drivers are costly, and a higher deductible allowed me to get higher coverage and still afford it.
This is interesting though, they are calling this a collision claim, not a comprehensive claim, even though I wasn’t even in the truck when it was hit.. hmmm!? Because my comprehensive deductible is only $250

 

Again, find a local dbag from TV. I'm sure there's plenty in Cali.

Here's what the ohio form looks like. I'm sure there is something similar.

That's awful. I'm guessing my report will find the same fate.

 

Maybe it's time to send a link to this thread my agent. I too have $1,000 deductible but carry an additional un or underinsured coverage that pays 100% with no deductible should a non driver damage my vehicles. Hmmm.

 

Does CA have "your" fault insurance? No fault insurance limits you in filing suits I believe.

 

Hard to know why, as each state has their own insurance laws. I know that in Wyoming uninsured/underinsured coverage is a separate option that you have to ask for. If you don't, then it can still be covered under your regular full coverage, but it costs more... I think.

 

I'm sorry. I hope it works out for you.

 

I just spoke with my claims adjuster, he said that I’ll have to pay for the deductible out of pocket, and the additional rental car coverage out of pocket, but they will go after the driver to recover my out of pocket costs, but I should expect that to take a while to recover.

 

Sorry to hear! That sucks..

 

Yea, all those lawyers that pay millions for TV and billboard ads that do work for free…

 

Sorry, didn't mean pro bono, a lot of them advertise "I don't get paid unless you get paid." That's what I meant.

 

The city will cover the non-insured...prepare for a long journey...fix it but plus 1 it...like flared fg fenders and a long travel kit...make it a happy accident and be grateful no one but pride got hurt! That'll buff out...

 

Can you name all the states that permit this? Last time I checked, all states require insurance. What you're asking for is a nanny state on roids, because that's the only way they are stopping the uninsured from taking to the roads.

I'd rather not have government apps spying on me, controlling of my ignition... and that's the only way the state will have enough power to stop the uninsured drivers.

I'll pay the extra for uninsured motorist, and enjoy the remaining freedom while it still exists.

 

Obviously, the state where this accident happened. Laws without enforcement are just words.

You're taking it to the extreme with you latter statements. I'm sure there are measures that can be taken to ensure motorists are insured without infringing on liberties. Just because you can't register you car without insurance doesn't mean that law is ENFORCED.

Go ahead and be content with a financial burden for others shortcomings.

 

Sorry to hear this. I'm glad you were not hurt.

I've been through this before. As noted, there are differences between states. For me, my uninsured motorist insurance covered the repairs. I did have to pay the deductible, but my insurance company went after the other driver and recovered the deductible and refunded it to me.

There are good body shops out there. A good one can make this right.

 

My two cents...push to have it totaled. Even if they repair your truck and your truck keeps a clean title, the value won't be the same. It will likely show up in the carfax if the body shop reports it. Most future potential buyers will see that and shy away. Another reason is the value on your truck is higher now the way prices are. You can argue you can get a really good payout from the insurance and put it towards another truck.

 

If the frame is straight and you've got a good shop it'll probably come out fine. The quality of the work makes the difference. There may be some diminished value but crash history doesn't seem to have a huge impact on the Toyota tax we see out west as long as the title is clear.

Get used to more uninsured motorists, especially if you're on the west coast. Showing proof of insurance to register a car only works if the person registers the car. If they get stopped by the police the risk is at most a traffic ticket since impounds are slowly being taken away by the courts and liberal policies. The traffic ticket doesn't matter to someone who's already suspended and isn't going to have to worry about their car being impounded.

 

Clean work! You're the kind of guy I want working on my vehicles.

 

Stopped in at the body shop this morning. snapped a few more pictures. I actually came away feeling like it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.. They are regarded as being the best collision repair shop around, so I'm pretty confident they will do a good job.

 

Well that isn't going to buff out, that's a given. Let's hope for the best and hope the injuries to the lady aren't serious.

 

Your insurance co will place you in another ''tier'' they can say your premium will not be affected all they want, but that new ''tier'' could certainly change your rates! After all now you have a non at fault accident they maybe paying for or a new truck. Even though the accident was not your fault, if your company is paying money your odds of a premium increase are very good.. I deal with every auto insurance company that offers coverage in PA

 

From experience, they'll do their magic calculation regarding repair to value ratio. I was unlucky once (3mo old Toyota Pickup... it looked totaled but the value was 20% higher than the repair... so they repaired it... ugh. But I put another 130k on her without issues) If they do repair it, be steadfast on making sure they only use OEM parts!

Good luck to you and I am sorry to hear that an asshat was on the road driving illegally!