Just three weeks after I got my daily driver back from the body shop due to a light rear ender, my wife's Mercedes got rear ended today. Thanks to a recommendation from others on this board, I now have a terrific body shop who did a perfect job.

My question is this -- is it preferable to file a claim against the insurance company of the person who whacked us (State Farm) or put in a collision claim against my own insurance company? I have a $500 deductible and have optional $50/day in rental coverage (which pays for all but $7/day of a Lincoln MKZ or Chrysler 300 rental).

 

they hit you they pay ....why would you have to pay anything out of your pocket...goodluck

 

inform you insurance company for sure...and let them go after the other guys...

my wifes car was hit and we didn't spent a penny....

 

Thanks for the replies. Even if I put in a collision claim with my own insurance company, I wouldn't be paying anything since my insurance co will collect against the other party's insurance co. So, either way, I'm not out of pocket. But, am I in a better position because I'm dealing with my own insurance company rather than an adversarial insurance company?

This wasn't an issue when I got rear-ended in May, because we both had the same insurance company.

 

Not sure if the other parties insurance will pay for the rental car. This is usually an option on a policy so you might have to make a claim through your policy to get the rental car paid for.

 

NY is a no-fault state. You should check with your insurance carrier to see how that affects your recovery (if at all).

-td

 

That's only for bodily injury, not property damage.

 

Go through your own insurance company--I think it's just simpler that way.

 

Agree !!!!!
You will pay them the deductible but when they get the money (it takes time) from the other insurance they will refund it to you.
They are better than you are getting the other insurance to pay up .

 

go through the other insurance company. Nothing out of your pocket up front. There's never any way to tell how long the subrogation process will take. As far as upsizing the rental, there's also no way to tell if the other insurance company will refund you what you pay out of pocket. Depends on state laws, really. I know in VA, we owe for a comparable size car (based on seating capacity). If you're driving a two door, four seat car and upsize yourself into an SUV, we don't owe for the difference.

I'd suggest going through the other guys

 

My wife put in a claim with the other driver's insurance company, which, BTW is also our homeowner's insurance provider for the last 15 years (which my wife mentioned to their claims person). So far, no issues. We'll see if they readily agree to pay for a Lincoln MKZ rental or whether I have to twist their arm a bit. I think worse case scenario, I put in a claim under my own rental coverage for the difference between an economy car rental and a "luxury" car.

All this is just a complete headache and waste of time because someone wasn't paying attention. The other driver said she was swatting a fly, but judging from the fact that she had a texting device on the seat next to her, my wife thinks she was texting while driving. It wasn't even like she braked suddently. She had stopped behind a bus, and was starting to accerate when the bus rolled out when the person plowed into her. Too bad she didn't just slam into the bus. That would have taught her a real lesson.