Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
LuckyGuy
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 6:41 am

Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by LuckyGuy »

Hi. My daughter is going to college out of state (she’s in Florida). She scraped another car while parking today. The damage isn’t bad as I have looked at the picture. But there are scrapes. She had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.

We plan to pay out of pocket for the damage. The deductible is $1000 and I’m guessing (hoping) the damage will be that or less. I advised her to apologize and offer to pay damages.

Does anyone have any advice for me? If we do pay, do we let them give us an estimate from the shop and pay the shop directly?
AS7911
Posts: 627
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2018 12:55 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by AS7911 »

That $1000 deductible is for collision damage to your own car isnt it? Your liability insurance covers damage to the other car, and there isnt normally a deductible with that.
Lookingforanswers
Posts: 157
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 4:39 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Lookingforanswers »

Congrats for raising a daughter with the good judgment to leave a note and call you!

If this happened in my family I'd call my auto insurance company first. I've always found them super helpful, they deal with this kind of stuff all day long.
User avatar
Nate79
Posts: 9372
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:24 pm
Location: Delaware

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Nate79 »

I think the damage, if fixed by a good shop is going to be much more than you expect.
Topic Author
LuckyGuy
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 6:41 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by LuckyGuy »

arf1410 wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:09 pm That $1000 deductible is for collision damage to your own car isnt it? Your liability insurance covers damage to the other car, and there isnt normally a deductible with that.
That’s a good point. Thanks.
Topic Author
LuckyGuy
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 6:41 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by LuckyGuy »

Lookingforanswers wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:10 pm Congrats for raising a daughter with the good judgment to leave a note and call you!

If this happened in my family I'd call my auto insurance company first. I've always found them super helpful, they deal with this kind of stuff all day long.
Thank you. My long time insurance agent sold her business to a new person. That’s why I’m a little hesitant to call. At least at this point.
fortunefavored
Posts: 1424
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:18 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by fortunefavored »

Kid in college? Yeah.. I'd pay out of pocket for that too.

Parked car... no real risk of massive liability if you pay out of pocket.. I'd let them take it to the body shop of their choice and send you the bill.

No way would I want a claim on my insurance with kids riding on my policy. Could easily lead to 50% rate increases.. or worse.. cancellation entirely. Insurance is no longer something you can really use unless it is catastrophic (or risk of catastrophic, ie, large liability claim.)
Topic Author
LuckyGuy
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 6:41 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by LuckyGuy »

Nate79 wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:12 pm I think the damage, if fixed by a good shop is going to be much more than you expect.
I’m a little afraid of that to be honest. But this is a new thing for me so I am trying to think through my options.
tibbitts
Posts: 23716
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by tibbitts »

LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:12 pm
arf1410 wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:09 pm That $1000 deductible is for collision damage to your own car isnt it? Your liability insurance covers damage to the other car, and there isnt normally a deductible with that.
That’s a good point. Thanks.
It's not just the cost of repair, it's the rental car during the repair period, which can be a surprisingly high cost these days. And of course if she hit a Boglehead's car they'll be wanting compensation for diminished value. Ugh.
User avatar
jabberwockOG
Posts: 3087
Joined: Thu May 28, 2015 7:23 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by jabberwockOG »

Congrats to you and your daughter for her growing up to be an honest ethical person who takes ownership of their mistakes and does the right thing. Sadly a rare thing these days. Bravo.

If the scrape damage covers more than a single panel on the car, like across a door and fender and if it has creased the metal, repair is going to be a lot more than $1000. If the metal isn't creased and paint can be buffed out you might get lucky with $400-500 ding repair bill. If it's an older car that already has some scrapes you might be able to offer $500-750 cash to owner to square them up (no insurance involved).

If damage is minor and the car is newish and has some value, it is in the damaged car owners best interest to not get insurance involved. The dirty secret is that having any accident claim on a car drastically impacts its salability in the future. Having an accident reported on the carfax reporting system (even a minor one) significantly lowers the value of the car - sometimes by thousands of dollars.
Last edited by jabberwockOG on Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Mr. Rumples
Posts: 2978
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:16 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

Is it reportable under Florida law? Unlike VA which specifically excludes private property from being reported in a case like this, FL doesn't appear to have this exemption...but perhaps its buried in the Code. Even if there is, if it's a public university, are those considered reportable?

Not reporting a reportable accident in FL is a misdemeanor.

Florida uses this information to compile the data contained in their yearly Crash and Citation Reports & Statistics. https://www.flhsmv.gov/pdf/crashreports ... s_2019.pdf
Last edited by Mr. Rumples on Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"History is the memory of time, the life of the dead and the happiness of the living." Captain John Smith 1580-1631
sls239
Posts: 1208
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:04 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by sls239 »

Yeah offer some cash, if they won’t just take the cash, plan on getting insurance involved just so that the door closes firmly on the incident.
JBTX
Posts: 11227
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:46 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by JBTX »

LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:16 pm
Nate79 wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:12 pm I think the damage, if fixed by a good shop is going to be much more than you expect.
I’m a little afraid of that to be honest. But this is a new thing for me so I am trying to think through my options.
fortunefavored wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:15 pm I'd let them take it to the body shop of their choice and send you the bill.

The risk is that a body shop if given no constraints will charge top dollar.

I had a airport commuter van back into me at the airport. I went to their insurance collision center and they estimated about $1000 damage. The commuter van company said fine just get a quote and they will pay it. I went to body shop and they quoted around $3000. The commuter van company balked, so I got my insurance involved and the same body shop quoted $1500.

You may just want to see what the quote is, and if excessive run it through your insurance. With teens accidents will definitely push up premiums.
User avatar
JoeRetire
Posts: 15381
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:44 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by JoeRetire »

LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
This isn't just my wallet. It's an organizer, a memory and an old friend.
Katietsu
Posts: 7676
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 1:48 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Katietsu »

My DH hit the car of a claims adjuster. :happy She had no issue with doing it without involving the insurance company. I did check with my agent who said this was not a violation of my policy. She signed a simple release of liability and we gave her a cashier’s check based on the estimate she provided which included two days of a rental car. All very civil. I think it will all depend on whether the other party is amenable to working with you vs going through insurance.
tibbitts
Posts: 23716
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by tibbitts »

JoeRetire wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
I hadn't thought of that but definitely taking pictures would have been a good idea. I guess it would have depended on how important class was if I'd wait for police, assuming they'd even come. I've been in situations where police won't respond to non-injury accidents so sometimes you just can't get a police report.
Topic Author
LuckyGuy
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 6:41 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by LuckyGuy »

Well I feel that I must follow up here. The other person called my daughter and told her not to worry about it! I thought that this COULD happen. But a lot of other things could of happened as well.

I told my told my (often negative) daughter that there are lots of good people out there.

Thanks to everyone that gave me advice. I appreciate it.
User avatar
Cheez-It Guy
Posts: 4007
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 3:20 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Cheez-It Guy »

Might just be paint transfer.

"Oh, this isn't so bad. Yeah, I thought it'd be a lot worse than this! They'll be able to buff this out, no problem! Oh, yeah!"

https://youtu.be/5vjAXB3G4Ys
Carguy85
Posts: 1227
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2020 6:26 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Carguy85 »

Awesome for your daughter to be honest and for them to show grace... what goes around comes around
blueberrypi
Posts: 250
Joined: Sun May 02, 2021 6:27 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by blueberrypi »

My car is in the shop right now after being hit in a parking lot. Driver's insurance covered everything - $2800 to repair and 10 days of a rental car.
neilpilot
Posts: 5005
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2015 12:46 pm
Location: Memphis area

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by neilpilot »

My brother once returned to his car to find his bumper damaged. This was the note on his windshield: "I'm sorry I hit your car. Just in case someone is watching I thought I'd leave a written apology."

No name, no phone number. :annoyed
Rudedog
Posts: 629
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:15 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Rudedog »

My daughter "scraped" a minivan about ten years ago, I paid almost $ 1,000 out of pocket to the autobody shop to repair. OUCH !
z91
Posts: 790
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:19 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by z91 »

Take lots of pictures.
Northern Flicker
Posts: 15363
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:29 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Northern Flicker »

It appears to me that in Florida, a driver is required to file an accident report within 10 days of the incident if the damage appears to be $500 or more. If this is a reportable accident, then you probably may as well file a claim because it will show on driving record anyway.

You should be able to discuss the options with your agent without being committed to filing a claim because of having shared the info with the agent.
runner3081
Posts: 5993
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 3:22 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by runner3081 »

I did a similar thing a year ago. Small scratch in the parking lot when I was backing out. Left a note, owner called me. He sent me two quotes, it was $1,300. Didn't want insurance increase, paid out of pocket.

I took pictures, kept the quote he sent me, kept verification of payment via Zelle and made him sign a "Vehicle Accident Release of Liability Form" (before I paid him).
mr_brightside
Posts: 897
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:23 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by mr_brightside »

another KUDOS to her for doing the right thing. accidents like that can happen and it means a lot she held herself appropriately responsible.

this exact thing happened to us. i highly encourage just going through insurance. i did not want my kid getting involved in any acrimonious back-and-forth monetary 'under the table' settlement ... let the kid stay focused on school. the other student likely would have just pocketed the cash any way...

yes rates went up a bit but not the end of the world.

--------------------------------------------
User avatar
kelway
Posts: 391
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:37 pm
Location: Nashville, TN, USA

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by kelway »

If another student, money might be tight, and they might appreciate $500 cash more than a quality repair job that fully indemnifies them.
User avatar
F150HD
Posts: 3926
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:49 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by F150HD »

JoeRetire wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
Like....if the guy goes home to his damaged Lamborghini from a different accident and says he found the note on that windshield. :|
Katietsu
Posts: 7676
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 1:48 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Katietsu »

Thank you for the update. Glad it all worked out so easily. My experience interacting with others concerning minor dings and bumps have been equally positive.
tibbitts
Posts: 23716
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by tibbitts »

Northern Flicker wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:51 pm It appears to me that in Florida, a driver is required to file an accident report within 10 days of the incident if the damage appears to be $500 or more. If this is a reportable accident, then you probably may as well file a claim because it will show on driving record anyway.

You should be able to discuss the options with your agent without being committed to filing a claim because of having shared the info with the agent.
It sounds like the other driver is saying this isn't a $500 issue to him/her so I'm not seeing where that meets this reporting requirement. How will this incident end up on any record, anywhere?

Obviously one concern would be the other person changing their mind later and then you having not reported the accident to your insurance. So that might be worth discussing with the agent. However the agent is the company (assuming an agent, not a broker) so I'm not sure whether there would be any implications to rates etc. of doing that.
phxjcc
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2018 3:47 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by phxjcc »

F150HD wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:14 pm
JoeRetire wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
Like....if the guy goes home to his damaged Lamborghini from a different accident and says he found the note on that windshield. :|
For all you “call the police” talkers, chances are they would not have dispatched for this.
tibbitts
Posts: 23716
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by tibbitts »

phxjcc wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:14 pm
For all you “call the police” talkers, chances are they would not have dispatched for this.
As I mentioned in my rental car damage situation, police were not responding to non-injury accidents.
harrychan
Posts: 2047
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Pasadena

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by harrychan »

Your daughter is very fortunate. I'm not all that surprised. Most college students won't care if they had a scratch or two or they have some car enthusiast friends (me), who can buff most of it off. I once made a rather large scratch squeezing my new SUV onto a beat up van. I left a number, they called me and wanted $2900 cash for the repair. I told them to deal with my insurance. My insurance premium barely moved the needle.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
User avatar
JoeRetire
Posts: 15381
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:44 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by JoeRetire »

F150HD wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:14 pm
JoeRetire wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
Like....if the guy goes home to his damaged Lamborghini from a different accident and says he found the note on that windshield. :|
My wife had a minor accident. The two parties exchange phone numbers but didn't call the police. Bug mistake.
She was notified by her insurance company that the other party filed for repairs far, far beyond anything caused by her accident.
This isn't just my wallet. It's an organizer, a memory and an old friend.
alfredwallace
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:56 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by alfredwallace »

I had my car scraped in a college parking lot. Nobody left a note but I'm sure it was a large burgundy SUV based on the height, location, and color of the paint left. I'm reasonably sure which vehicle it was since there is a student-driven SUV that matched that description and regularly parks illegally in the faculty lot so the ethical concerns of the driver were a match as well. The vehicle had paint on it and scratches that matched my car but I doubt I could have proven it was the vehicle that did it. I agree with others that it will cost more than you think to fix. It cost me $3100 15 years ago to fix it but involved a dent as well as scratches on my car.
valleyrock
Posts: 1129
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:12 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by valleyrock »

I've had these incidents work out with and without insurance. On balance, I think it's best to let insurance handle it. That's why we have insurance. Otherwise, things have a much higher probability of going wrong.
michaelingp
Posts: 936
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2017 7:46 pm

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by michaelingp »

Auto body shops are getting to be like doctors. The retail price and what they will accept from insurers is getting wider and wider. A tree damaged my van. My insurance adjuster said that will cost $1,100 to fix. We recommend this body shop but you can take it anywhere. We took it to a body shop we trusted. Their bill said, "$1,600, but we'll accept your insurance estimate".

So, my experience is that the insurance company will get the job done for a lot less than if you pay on your own. I don't know about increased premiums though.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by stoptothink »

phxjcc wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:14 pm
F150HD wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:14 pm
JoeRetire wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
LuckyGuy wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:59 pmShe had to get to class and the other driver was not in their car so she left them a note to call her.
Nice that she left a note. But it would have been much better if she skipped the class and had either the police or campus security write it up and take pictures.

That way, it would be documented as to exactly what she may be responsible for. As it is, the owner could claim she caused all sorts of issues.
Like....if the guy goes home to his damaged Lamborghini from a different accident and says he found the note on that windshield. :|
For all you “call the police” talkers, chances are they would not have dispatched for this.
My wife recently had a similar accident, except the other driver was in the car (it was in a parking lot). Zero damage to the car she hit (we paid to have a body shop look over their car and for an alignment - zero issues), minor body work to our car (which we still need to fix). Police immediately came and my wife got a ticket; nothing else. Police women even told them to not even bother contacting insurance. To be fair, we live in one of the handful of "safest" cities in the country so police really have nothing else to do (5 of them will come when someone is caught speeding down my street)...and as I say that, our car and garage and that of my neighbor were broken into 2 nights ago.
User avatar
Wricha
Posts: 1014
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:33 am

Re: Daughter dinged parked car in college. Advice?

Post by Wricha »

I’d pay out of pocket, done it a few times without incident. Recently scratched a truck (really beat up) left my phone number. The guy called as I was leaving parking lot. I turned around gave the guy $60 he was thrilled.
Post Reply