Hi guys,

Still a little "heated" from a car accident that happened a few hours ago. I'm perfectly fine, but the car is definitely not.

I was backing out of a parking spot going slow, making sure nobody was behind me as there were people walking. As I'm putting the car into drive (I'm already in the middle of the marking lot) I see a Dodge RAM Pick up with it's reverse lights on...So I figure she see's me, RIGHT BEHIND HER. I honked...she keeps coming...I honk again...she keeps coming...I honk again, and hold it down and boooooooooooooooooooom she smashes the whole back end of my car. This whole honk/her backing up was a matter of 2-3 seconds. I park my car get out, and my whole back bumper is smashed, my tail light is cracked, and my trunk won't close...

The cops come...I had one witness that worked in one of the shops in the parking lot talk to the cop (not sure what he said) and I told the cop exactly what happened. Lady said her side of the story, and said she didn't hear me honking...or see me?!

Anyways...after 2 hours of just sitting there waiting for the cop to come out of his car, he gives me a sheet of paper showing all her information (insurance, name, etc) and included a ticket for me not having my insurance card on me for $10.00. So now what? It was obviously her fault but he said FLORIDA is a NO FAULT state, and he can't determine who is at fault, but he can file a report, and insurance can decide.

Do I call my insurance for the claim? Or do I call hers? Is calling first thing tomorrow morning ok? How long will it take to fix? How hard is it to get a rental?

I drove home 15 min with my trunk "closed" but it wasn't locked in. Is it safe to drive with the trunk like this on the highway to work tomorrow? How can I keep it shut?

Thanks.

 

dam dat sucks bro, glad to hear your ok

i think the best thing to do is notify both insurance companies asap

 

Call YOUR insurance company and tell them what happened. You pay them to take care of these things.

Since you're 25, rentals shouldn't be an issue. You'll need to go over your policy to see how that is covered and compensated.

 

Notify your insurance company (they'll probably ask for your side of the story), give them the other person's info, let them handle it.

One more thing, if the other person's insurance company calls you to talk about the accident, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TELL THEM ANYTHING!!!! Refer them to your insurance company and let them handle it.

 

^yea, they always try that, be careful

you shouldnt even call the other insurance company

just call your insurance company

they will pay for the damages , and then take it up with the other company for a refund

 

what dirty situation you are in..

I'm with ken on this, let the insurance fight for you.

 

Noy only that, but since you were in a parking lot, the insurance companies will say 50/50 fault for both parties, no matter what happened. It sucks, but I was in the exact same situation, and both insurance companies told me the 50/50 rule. I was pissed, but could not do anything.

I also am in Florida.

 

you are confused about no fault, it has nothing to do with property damage. OTOH, call your carrier and as others have said DO NOT SPEAK to the other person's carrier. The two companies will haggle over who is at fault. Usually your car will be fixed quicker if you run it through your coverage while waiting for the carriers to decide who's at fault. The downside is you will have to pay deductible in the hopes you recuperate it later.

 

In PA i have always gone through the other person's insurance, b/c they were at fault.

 

I would bungee it shut to help prevent it from swinging open esp when going over bumps.

 

Call your insurance company to file a claim. Give them the other person's insurance info. They will handle it from there and deal with repairing your car - you shouldn't need to do a thing else (for now). There is a time line in which you need to file a claim, so don't wait on it.

 

This.

 

WTF is with these south FL accidents? I saw 1 in my gated complex last week. Both cars were not paying attention. 1 ran the stop sigh the other could have stopped or honked their horn & it would have been avoided (15mph limit) but wasn't paying attention.

Since no one was faulted or ticketed for failure to yield, It's going to be a toss up with insurance. Call yours & tell them what happened. They should fight for reimbursements from the other persons insurance company.
You'll have to shell out your deductible, & you won't get that back. It should go on your record as a not at fault claim & they shouldn't raise your rates.

 

^ Don't think police hand out tickets in parking lots because they are private property and not enforced by police.

 

I get tired of these bozos driving vehicles too big for them to handle safely...I've got my own story similar to this from a couple weeks ago I'm still irate about. Dumbass needs a smaller car for Christmas.

 

If you get to a point where you might get screwed by either insurance company, get an attorney involved,