Accident and insurance (please read)

[Quakey]

Hi,

This is not celica related, but i need some opinions from you guys...

Recently (on christams day actually) I had a little accident in South Tahoe and the other's party's car was damaged (the radiator, to be specific). Now, it cost them around $500 to fix the radiator, so I was wondering if I should just pay them for the repair without getting the insurance company involved so my (also his) insurance will not go up?? And how this will affect my insurance rate if we did report it to the insurance company?? Please give me your opinions..thanks!

[tool462]

If your deductible is more than the cost of repairs, I would just pay him out of pocket, but I'm not sure if any legal issues would be affected. Like if he decides to come back in 6 months and say that he has back problems now because of it. You might be better protected from something like that if you went through the insurance company. If you do claim it, rates will most likely increase (hard to tell by how much), and I think an accident stays on your driving record for 3 years... Hope this helps.

[yfan]

I definitely agree with tool462. Find out what your deductible is. The radiator may be $500 to fix but while their car is in the shop, the owners will have a rental car to drive and that cost is also factored in when they raise your insurance. If you decide to pay out of your pocket, I would suggest you drafting something that says he can't later claim other stuff and get that thing certified