Drunk ran into my car.

[ologan]

Long story short,my car was run into by a drunk driver while parked in a restaurant parking lot the other night. He also managed to hit four others before he stopped. The cops got him and hauled him away after a breathalyzer,and supposedly he has insurance. He lives half the year up in the mountains,and half in Florida,so he has to be a little better off than lots of folks.
My question is,has anybody had any experience dealing with this type of insurance claim? Since his insurance should be primary,will we (all involved), have to take our vehicles to a body shop of their choosing? I may well want the work to be done at a toyota approved body shop to insure good work....will I have that option? Also,if I incur any extraordinary expenses due to this occurance,am I allowed to recoup them from his insurance company,or could I take him to small claims court for these expenses?

It gets so frustrating to work hard and acquire nice things,only to have some ******* drunk take them away.The one saving grace in the whole ordeal is that perhaps by causing his destruction in a parking lot,our cars were sacrificed to save some innocent person or family from running head on into him later that night. If that's the case,then so be it,I will gladly take that tradeoff,having lost numerous friends to drunk driving accidents.

HOWEVER, I STILL WANT MY CAR FIXED RIGHT,AND I WANT HIM TO PAY A STEEP PRICE!!!!

 

[vta]

I was involved twice in accidents that were someone else's fault. Both times I just went right to my insurance (Allstate) and they took care of everything.

The first accident I went to a body shop that worked with Allstate and I did pay a deductible, but I did get it back. I think the idea is that your insurance company takes care of business then recoups the loss from the other guy's insurance.

The second time, my car was fully trashed and again I went to my insurance and let them know. There was nothing really for me to do but be annoyed. The other guy's insurance contacted me and gave me a check for the value of the car.

 

[Signals]

If you have police reports you shouldn't have any problem getting your car restored to your satisfaction.

As far as any additional monetary benefits in smalls claims court for your time and trouble is highly unlikely. If you choose to try it anyway, just be curtain that you keep documentation that will be admissible in small claims court.

Sorry to hear about your problem and yes; it's good that the driver was caught before anyone was seriously injured.

Do you have any pics you can post of the damages?

 

[peplaw06]

I just got my car back a week ago from a similar scenario. A drunk guy hit my car which was parked in front of my house, and another one two houses down, at 2:30 am. I was sound asleep and woke up to find my car up on the curb. Thankfully a neighbor was up at the time and called the cops and got the car's information.

I put it straight into the repair shop until I was able to secure the police report with the guy's insurance information on it. Started the claim with my insurance, but they will get their money from his insurance. Once I notified his insurance they forwarded to me the amount of my deductible.

I was able to choose my repair place, I would think you should too. I also got a rental car, which they paid for, so they should cover you for any expenses.

One thing my insurance company told me that I wasn't aware of.... if you have a newer car, I'd say 2005, 2006 or newer, you should make a diminished value claim. I had to get the estimate of these repairs, Carfax report, bill of sale, copy of the title, and all maintenance records. I haven't heard the final verdict on what this will bring, but they did almost $8000 of damage on my car that will now show up on what was otherwise a clean vehicle history. I'm expecting some compensation for that soon.

 

[rynochop]

Long story short,my car was run into by a drunk driver while parked in a restaurant parking lot the other night. He also managed to hit four others before he stopped. The cops got him and hauled him away after a breathalyzer,and supposedly he has insurance. He lives half the year up in the mountains,and half in Florida,so he has to be a little better off than lots of folks.
My question is,has anybody had any experience dealing with this type of insurance claim? Since his insurance should be primary,will we (all involved), have to take our vehicles to a body shop of their choosing? I may well want the work to be done at a toyota approved body shop to insure good work....will I have that option? Also,if I incur any extraordinary expenses due to this occurance,am I allowed to recoup them from his insurance company,or could I take him to small claims court for these expenses?

It gets so frustrating to work hard and acquire nice things,only to have some ******* drunk take them away.The one saving grace in the whole ordeal is that perhaps by causing his destruction in a parking lot,our cars were sacrificed to save some innocent person or family from running head on into him later that night. If that's the case,then so be it,I will gladly take that tradeoff,having lost numerous friends to drunk driving accidents.

HOWEVER, I STILL WANT MY CAR FIXED RIGHT,AND I WANT HIM TO PAY A STEEP PRICE!!!!

I dont know how bad the damages are, but you could be looking at a liability limits issue on his policy and may have to file thru your own carrier. If he caused extensive damages to 4 cars (esp any high end cars) and he only has $25K in property damage limits on his policy, there's probably not enough money to cover everything/everyone. If you have uninsured/underinsured motorist, you should have a cheaper deductible. Your insurance would then subrogate his ins for whatever your portion of the total damages are...which would take months, but you would at least get your ded back then. If your in a hurry to get your car repaired its always better to go thru your own ins, yes its a claim, but a not at fault claim.

And yes, you can have your car repaired wherever you want. They will offer there "network" or "preferred" shops, which i would recommend using as you get a lifetime guarantee on work from the Insurance company, not just that shop. In other words if you move out of the area, the ins will get it to a shop to wherever you moved too to take care of any problems. And if your not happy with the repairs from a non preferred shop, well, its between you and the shop, sorry, you chose them. No more rental, etc.

 

[rynochop]

One thing my insurance company told me that I wasn't aware of.... if you have a newer car, I'd say 2005, 2006 or newer, you should make a diminished value claim. I had to get the estimate of these repairs, Carfax report, bill of sale, copy of the title, and all maintenance records. I haven't heard the final verdict on what this will bring, but they did almost $8000 of damage on my car that will now show up on what was otherwise a clean vehicle history. I'm expecting some compensation for that soon.

Dont expect a whole lot out of that. $700 tops, most likely around $500. At least in Texas and the company i work for, thats usually what we pay out on those. Theres a little negotiation, but not much.