rtcpenguin
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Fairfax, VA
 ·Cox HSI
| Plow damage to car?
I live in a condominium that is partially owned by a company that owns an adjacent shopping center and thus the unit owners are able to park their cars there. In DC we recently had a pretty big snow storm, and it looks as though a plow clipped the rear end of my car with its shovel or pushed ice into it. There are some pretty deep scratches on the rear end and I seriously doubt they were caused by anything other than a plow.
Do I have any options other than just paying it myself? I would think the plow companies have liability insurance for this, but I doubt I could ever prove it was them.
This is seriously pissing me off because the car is literally 2 weeks old with 350 miles on it. I only had it out of the garage so that I could drive it to work (they dont plow out the driveway to our garage for some reason).
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Paul Newman's blog! |
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LittlePiggie
Eat Me
Premium
join:2009-09-11
1 edit | Call your insurance company and tell them this same story, they will tell you exactly what to do about it!
Not being in the garage may be a problem if you told your insurance company you have one! |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX
 ·magicjack.com
·Cox HSI
| said by LittlePiggie  :Not being in the garage may be a problem if you told your insurance company you have one! That would be one very bad insurance company if this was a problem
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Republicans: less fiscally conservative than that other party. |
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rtcpenguin
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Fairfax, VA
·Cox HSI
| reply to rtcpenguin
I've got geico and they're generally pretty good. I'm usually pretty paranoid about calling them in these types of situations because I think they'll put some note on my account and jack up my rates. I may just be crazy though.
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Paul Newman's blog! |
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rob_in_chatt
Premium
join:2004-09-17
Chattanooga, TN
·Comcast
| reply to rtcpenguin
i had a wreck almost 2 years back, it was my fault. i had geico at the time. i was following too close on the freeway, and got tied up in a 5 car chain wreck. i destroyed the rear bumper of a 99 chevy silverado, was over 1500 bucks damage. it smashed my grill, both headlights, bent the hood, bent the radiator blah blah and my rates never increased. |
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rtcpenguin
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Fairfax, VA | Thats good to know. Sadly, my deductible will probably be higher than the damage.
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Paul Newman's blog! |
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Dodge
Premium
join:2002-11-27
clubs: 
| reply to rob_in_chatt
said by rob_in_chatt :i had a wreck almost 2 years back, it was my fault. i had geico at the time. i was following too close on the freeway, and got tied up in a 5 car chain wreck. i destroyed the rear bumper of a 99 chevy silverado, was over 1500 bucks damage. it smashed my grill, both headlights, bent the hood, bent the radiator blah blah and my rates never increased. I am guessing your were not the last car then. In a chain wreck it's usually the last guys fault. |
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boogi man
join:2001-11-13
Jacksonville, FL
clubs:
·Comcast
 ·AT&T Southwest
 ·Clearwire Wireless
| reply to rtcpenguin
said by rtcpenguin :Thats good to know. Sadly, my deductible will probably be higher than the damage. take to body shop if it is less than ded the pay and dont claim
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my site |
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Grail Knight
Who Dares Wins
Premium
join:2003-05-31
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to rtcpenguin
Just call your insurance company and let them know the name of the plowing company and also call the plowing company after you take pictures of the damage for your records.
A City of Erie plow a few years back threw ice on my vehicle and broke the drivers side window and mirror. One phone call and the city sent out their claims adjuster and he sent me to one of the local glass repair companies and had it fixed the same day. They got the window from the junkyard which was fine and took care of all of the bills with the city.
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[quote]Hell, I'll kill a man in a fair fight... or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight, or if he bothers me, or if there's a woman, or if I'm gettin' paid - mostly only when I'm gettin' paid.[/quote] - Jayne Cobb |
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beck
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-29
On The Road
 ·AllureHost
·Qwest.net
·Verizon BroadbandA..
| reply to rtcpenguin
It should come under comprehensive and not collision. so, your deductible may not apply. Call the insurance company and find out. If you don't file a claim, your rates can't go up.
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Some people are like slinkies - not really good for much.
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peterboro
join:2006-11-03
Peterborough, ON
| said by beck :It should come under comprehensive and not collision. so, your deductible may not apply. Call the insurance company and find out. If you don't file a claim, your rates can't go up. If it was caused by another vehicle it would not be under comp.
If you can't identify or they deny and you lose at trial it would be against your collision if you have it. |
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avd706
insert annoying animated gif here
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Union, NJ
| reply to rtcpenguin
if the car is legally parked, then you won't be considered your fault. Probably the parking lot has posted "not responsible for damage to your vehicle", which will cause you trouble if you go after the management company.
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standard disclaimers apply. |
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jeffster1970
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON
clubs:
·Rogers Hi-Speed
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·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| reply to rtcpenguin
The issue here will be showing proof of who did what. My car was hit in a parking lot - by the way the damage was, it would have been impossible for me to have done it, so the insurance covered it w/o proof of where damage came from. (it was the upper portion of rear passenger quarter panel - a truck would have had to back into it) You could take your car into a police accident reporting station - at least get that - and then have that fired off to the insurance and let them figure it out.
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Harddrive
Premium
join:2000-09-20
Norwich, CT
| reply to rtcpenguin
what about this? |
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BK3
join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to rtcpenguin
A buddy of mine works for the Illinois Dept of Transportation (IDOT). He used to plow snow, but now has moved to other depts. Just after one snowstorm, a person's car was hit by ice from an overpass, which broke the windshield. She told the IDOT people the number of the truck she claimed had flung the ice onto her car, and it was my buddy's truck number. Even though the paperwork and other evidence showed that he was nowhere near this spot at the time the incident occurred, and the spot was not on his route, the state paid for the person's repair anyway.
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Learn from the past and look to the future. |
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LittlePiggie
Eat Me
Premium
join:2009-09-11
1 edit | reply to r81984
NM |
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tcope
Premium
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
·Comcast
| reply to rtcpenguin
This is a collision claim, not comprehensive. It does not matter if your car was on someone else's property when the damage occurred. The _only_ way you carrier would get involved is if they pay something out under your policy, which you state would not happen. If there is any damage to the bumper then it probably needs to be replaced. If a plastic bumper its probably going to run around $500-$600.
You should call the snow plow company to see if they will accept liability and/or report it to their carrier. You have two problems with this... they probably won't want to report it to their carrier and they will probably deny liability as you cannot really show that they caused the damage. The sooner you report the damage the better. The more time that passes the more likely it will looks suspicious.
You could also ask the owner of the property to pay for the damage to your vehicle. I understand that this is the owner of where you live so you may not want to do this. They should then tender your claim over to the plowing company. This might hold more weight then you contacting them directly. |
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tcope
Premium
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
·Comcast
| reply to jeffster1970
said by jeffster1970 :The issue here will be showing proof of who did what. My car was hit in a parking lot - by the way the damage was, it would have been impossible for me to have done it, so the insurance covered it w/o proof of where damage came from. (it was the upper portion of rear passenger quarter panel - a truck would have had to back into it) If it was your company, your collision insurance would have covered the loss if you caused the damage or someone else did. An impact is an impact (from/with another vehicle). |
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gregz
join:2009-10-01
| reply to rtcpenguin
You can report it to who ever plows the lot, and let their insurance handle the claim. Problem with that, if no one saw it happen, it never happened under their watch. Take a picture and post this in the auto forum. Let them decide if it is worth it.
Look at the good side, at least your car now fits into being in D.C. What car in a big city does not have some kind of damage on it. |
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bigrigtruckr
join:2009-01-10
| reply to rtcpenguin
I was rear ended once in the parking lot of my apartment complex, and the driver took off. When I called my insurance company they had me file it under my Renters Insurance policy, as the vehicle was at my residence and not being driven.
Same as if you had a house and the vehicle was sitting in the driveway and it got damaged. You would file a claim under your homeowners insurance and not your auto policy |
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