Sorry for another car insurance thread. I will be as concise as possible:

Last night when backing out of my drive way, my rear bumper hit a car parked on the other side of the street. The reason is our street light was out and usually no cars are parked on the street. The car belongs to my neighbor's visitor. I rang the door bell and we exchanged contact info, after which she went back to my neighbor's party and I rushed out to where I was going. When I came back 1 hour later I wanted to get a flash light to check out the damage but she has already left. My rear bumper is not damaged at all. However, the other cars front fender did have at least one dent as far as I could tell in dim lighting.

Normally this is a classic case for settling privately, since there is zero liability for personal injuries (the car was parked). However, the other car is a fairly new BMW. I have good insurance and never had an accident, and haven't got any tickets for years. If I file a claim, how much if any will the insurance go up? Also does reporting the accident to insurance automatically count as a claim or not? If I don't report the accident or file the claim immediately, will I risk the claim being denied after I wait to get the estimate?

TH2006 said:
Normally this is a classic case for settling privately, since there is zero liability for personal injuries (the car was parked). However, the other car is a fairly new BMW. I have good insurance and never had an accident, and haven't got any tickets for years. If I file a claim, how much if any will the insurance go up? Also does reporting the accident to insurance automatically count as a claim or not? If I don't report the accident or file the claim immediately, will I risk the claim being denied after I wait to get the estimate?

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I gave green for not peeling off after the accident happened. Besides for that though, I have no input.

brettdoyle said: For people that drive in reverse and don't look behind them, press 3.Thanks for the humor, just pressed 3, even though it was more of a mis-judgment of distance by a couple of feet or so. If my bumper hit the other car's bumper, there would have been no damage.

uutxs said:TH2006 said:Normally this is a classic case for settling privately, since there is zero liability for personal injuries (the car was parked).
I dont see why it is natural?Since the other driver knows where I live and I know she is my neighbor's friend, we trust each other enough to settle privately. The real unknown risk in this kind of situation is injury claims like neck and back injuries, which is out of the equation.

TH2006 said:Sorry for another car insurance thread.

Mistake #1

TH2006 said:
Last night when backing out of my drive way, my rear bumper hit a car parked on the other side of the street.
Mistake #2

TH2006 said: we trust each other enough to settle privately.
Mistake #3

To turn it around.

If I were the party that was hit, I'd make sure that I got your insurance info, and I'd contact them directly. I wouldn't trust you to pay me.

TH2006 said:uutxs said:TH2006 said:Normally this is a classic case for settling privately, since there is zero liability for personal injuries (the car was parked).
I dont see why it is natural?Since the other driver knows where I live and I know she is my neighbor's friend, we trust each other enough to settle privately. The real unknown risk in this kind of situation is injury claims like neck and back injuries, which is out of the equation.
It is your neighbor's friend. Trusting your neighbor (and more important, neighbor to trust you) is as far as I take it. I assume you dnt know this friend from before you hit his/her car.

Second, it is a fairly new BMW. Chances are, it costs a chunk to fix it.

As suggested above, get the estimate and decide if it is worth your while to go through insurance.

xoneinax said:TH2006 said:The reason is our street light was outSue your HOA, city, county, and state

Call Dick Cheney too.

There's a huge different between inflated insurance estimates at dealers and the actual cost to repair at the local Body Shop in town with a good reputation. Do your homework and get the name of the Body Shop everyone in town trusts, and call the neighbor's friend before they go to their dealer. Say that you'll meet them at the local Body Shop for an estimate and let the manager there know it's for an out of pocket quote and you'll pay cash for a discount. Offer the car owner to pay in full to the shop when the work is completed, and no one will ever know the car was in an accident -- no carfax reports, no insurance records.