Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

[rvx290]

Just today my truck got backed into while I was @ work, it cracked the grille, scratched the hood & dented the bumper, The guy left his name and number so, everythings good in that respect, but I am wondering what will happen here, the bumper had a decent sized dent in it from 2 years ago that I never got around to fixing, will they not pay for the bumper seeing as it was already damaged? or does it matter, will it get fixed anyway? Best regards

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

Just my opinion, don't try to get something for nothing.
Settle with the guy for the grill, and the scratch in the hood, take care of the bumper yourself, or split the cost of the bumper with him.

Reverse the roles and do what would be fair if you were in his shoes. Don't try and get him to pay for your previous damage. At least he was good enough to leave his number. If you take advantage of the situation, maybe next time no one will leave their info for you.

Nick

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

Like Nick says; be fair. Come to a honest figure and go from there. Good luck.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

Depending on the type of bumper and the amount of damage that was done to it, they may just replace it. Its up to you to let them know if the dent was already there or not.

Guy at the docks I visit got drunk and ran a house boat through a bunch of sail boats. Pretty much every sail boat that wasn't involved ended up getting all the dints and dings on their boats fixed.

[94BMW325CIS]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

I would just have him pay for what he definitely did because he has honest and left his name and number when he didn't have to. He bit the bullet and is going to pay for it when a lot of other people would have just left or given a false number. Just return his honesty.

[Ryan L.]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

I agree with Jeepster04...most bumpers are one piece and they will have to replace it anyways. And also insurance work will be whatever the littlest work they can do so they don't loose too much money.

But if they don't replace the whole thing then I agree with everybody else and think that you should be honest with them and either pay for it to be fixed at the same time or just leave it there.

Ryan

[roushstage2]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

I agree with the one piece bumper being replaced, if it is in fact a one piece bumper. A girl backed into the front of my car and cracked my bumper since it is fiberglass. Her and her boyfriend argued with me to go half way on it since the bottom of it, that you don't see anyways, was scraped from my car being lowered which had nothing to do with the damage she did. The whole thing had to be replaced either way because it is one piece.

It is hard to say though for sure sight unseen. Any pictures?

[rvx290]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

Dont get me wrong I am not trying to get something for nothing, I have been taken advantage of before and I would never pull that on another person. I was only wondering how it works in these type of situations, and I will for sure tell the adjuster that there was a previous dent. Its just an odd situation because yes, there was a dent there, but where the guy backed into me, he nailed that spot and harder than when I slid on ice into a gatepost @ work, as well as the other side of the bumper, its not as though there was severe damage before and I am not trying to get a free paintjob or bumper out of something that wouldnt need it from the damage that he did, regardless of the dent I made, it would need a new bumper from the areas and force he hit me with. I am just wondering how insurance companies deal with these situations because I have never been in an accident before....thanks for all the input though, on another note, the guy who hit me and left his name and number, I called repeatedly..no answer, no reply... I am giving him the benefit of the doubt at the moment, but I know if I hit someone I would be on the horn constantly until I got ahold of them..

Edit, I also forgot to add that my lovely wife caught him at the scene of the accident, checking out the back of his company work truck as she was just getting off work, so it would have been a little hard for him to run off even if he wanted to..... also luckily he was driving a city owned truck and was laying turf next door so we have been in touch with the city to narrow down who was there at that time... got lucky on that part.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

It was agood thing that your wife was that observant. Hope everything works out fot you.

[rvx290]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

Just a quick update, everything is working out awesome, I saw the adjuster, pointed out my dent & he shrugged it off saying dent or no dent this guy smacked yours hard enough in 2 places to get you a new one either way, also with that new bumper I get a new grille, support bracket behind the grille, hood and lower valance repainted, which is also sweet because when I bought the truck it had severe gravel chips which were an eyesore to me. Never thought something so crappy could turn out to be a great thing .....ps 4 days and still no call from the fellow that did it and Ive called him 3 more times... time to call my friends down at the station I guess.

[roushstage2]

Re: Accident claim to pre damaged vehicle.. what happens?

I wouldn't bother anymore honestly. Apparently he doesn't care that much... The insurance will take care of it.