Well...that's just...lovely

I'd had my Prius a mere five days.

And then, I got T-boned in an intersection in downtown Minneapolis.

Nobody hurt (!!!). $3k in body damage. Both passenger-side doors will need to be replaced.

Grrrrrr.

 

A minivan.

 

I'm making the claim through my own insurance. Only covers $20/day rental. I've got a roller-skate.

 

I do. They didn't. Neither vehicle experienced airbag deployment.

 

Yes, but it was based on the standard formula, by which estimate I should have it back next Wednesday. They won't know until they start actually trying to order parts (replacement doors) how long it will really take, of course.

Since the doors aren't what holds up Prius production, I'm trying not to be pessimistic.

 

A few notes:

The claim is already opened, and I did it with my own insurance. This may have been a mistake; however, my agent has assured me that my rates will not rise unless I'm at fault, period.

My driving record, if it's going to be tarnished, has already been done so by the police report. I haven't seen the report yet, myself, and there was some real ambiguity as to who was at fault in the accident, if anyone. There is a strong possibility of a malfunctioning/mis-sequenced traffic signal.

The body shop to which the car was taken has an extremely good reputation. They haven't reported any frame damage. I will, however, ask them about that explicitly when I talk to them next.

As to the rest (getting compensated for lost value, etc), I will definitely bring those things up, going forward. Thanks for the note!

 

As it happens, shortly after that post, I had occasion to speak both with the body shop, and with the other folks' claim agent. They, too, made the claim directly to their agent, rather than mine, so at least, if I made a mistake, it's a symmetrical one

The frame is mostly fine. There was a slight tweak to the pillar between the doors, but that's easily fixed. The doors (which I was afraid would take time to arrive) will arrive tomorrow -- apparently, it's a stock them, and the body shop was able to get one easily. So we're on track to have the car back next Wednesday.

Minnesota does not recognise 'lost value from collision' as a claim. It's expected instead that if the body shop says it will take X to make the car good-as-new, it will be, and that's all. So, no chance of payment there, unless I choose to make recourse to lawyers. And I'm not inclined to do so at this time.

 

Ah, that's the difference. This is not an insurance sales agent I'm dealing with; it's a claims agent. As far as I know, all he does is claims adjustment, not sales. If my premium was going to go up, it would likely be at his explicit recommendation!

Got it. You're right, of course, but even if I made the claim through their insurance agency, they were going to be calling mine eventually, because that's how the game works, at least in Minnesota, where proportional blame is recognised. So either way, my insurance company would know about the accident.

My insurance company is already on that. Basically: my insurance is going to front the repair money, period. They're then going to try to reclaim that money from either the opposing driver (if the balance of fault allows for that), or from MnDOT if the signal was faulty. The only out-of-pocket expense for me in all this is a deductable, and I'll get that back if I wasn't at fault.