QuestionThe short story: My roommate's husband was backing up and bumped into a van. The van had one scratch on it from the accident so the other party said it was okay if they didn't go through insurance. Now this guy is saying he has an estimate from a repair shop and it's going to cost $1,800 to fix his car.
My experience: I was involved in the same sort of accident less than a year ago. However, my car is the one that wasn't moving and got bumped into. The total cost to fix my bumper, excluding the rental car, was less than $800. So I was questioning why they would need to do all of these things to this guy's car if he just had a scratch when I looked over the estimate he had given my roommates.
The red-light: Estimates always have a date on them, this one is dated for April of this year. The accident happened less than a week ago.
Finally, my questions: What should my roommates do? They don't want to go through insurance, because one of them has at least four accidents on her record and this is her husband's first accident. They are really worried about losing their car insurance because of this. Is there some sort of time limit this guy has for filing a claim with his insurance (we're in California)? Should they go with this man to get a new estimate?
I really appreciate any answers you could give me.
Thank you.
AnswerHi Shannon,
The statute of limitations in most states is at least 2 years. So the other party has at least 2 years to file the claim.
The estimate does sound fishy due to the date on it. Your roommates husband shoudl request that he go with the other person to a body shop where they can both get a detailed estimate and an explanation of what has to be done and at what cost. Then if the amount is more than they can handle they can always turn it over to their insurance.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
