Thursday
Jun172004
Crash!
Thursday, June 17, 2004 at 3:11PM 
Yesterday, someone hit our car near our daughter's school. They were nice and left a note, which is quite unusual these days. Now we're faced with a decision. A full repair job will cost $1,150 plus the cost of a rental car. We can get away with fixing the paint only for about $600. Everyone here is scared to go through insurnace, since your rates really go up after a claim. It wouldn't affect us, but we're trying to be nice, since she was kind enough to leave a number, and we've been shown grace in similar circumstances. It's only stuff. It bothers me that our insurance system is so punitve thought. One claim can follow you for years. Seems kind of crazy for a fender bender like this one.
Reader Comments (22)
I've made a number of claims, and I'm 22, have a 2002 model year car (Sub WRX). My insurance has never gone up, even with a windshield replacement, a reerending, crashing into a fence post, two speeding tickets, and I think that's it, oh yeah, my car was totaled a few years ago by a driver running trying to speed through a blocked intersection on a yellow light. Maybe I'm lucky, I don't know... but I love State Farm... Before I left for the mission field I was only paying $100/month (cheap for owning a brand new car with full coverage and being 22)... I did get a notice just before I left that if I had another claim due to my fault my rates would increase and they put me on a 6 month probation... seeing as I've been in Poland that whole time I don't see it being a problem :) Just thought I'd let ya know, not all insurance companies are evil.
Have you spoken to your insurance company regarding the impact on your payments if you make a claim. Indeed it does seem a little harsh.
Ian, it wouldn't affect our insurance at all. It would count against the person who hit us though. We could make them pay, but their insurance would be affected. Like I say, it's hard to be too demanding when others have shown us grace.
You should show grace then.
Take them to the cleaners, Darryl! Then sue them for failing to remain at the scene...and oh yeah..your bad back ..and neck. I'll be your witness. 50-50 of course. JUST KIDDING!!!! I could give you a lot of advice, but I'll just say do whatever seems right to you. Peter. [By the way, was that picture from the Holy Observer? Is it really YOUR car? LOL.] Niki.
Instead of making a claim immediately, why don't you take your quotes for repairs directly to the lady involved and give her the opportunity to settle without going through her insurance? That would be showing her Grace where she has been honest and kind enough to show it to you, and it would then be her decision as to which way to proceed. If she doesn't come through in the end, you still have her information and you can proceed from there.
Arthur, that's what we've done. The only problem is that full repair quotes ranged from $1,150 to $2,000. Repairing the paint only, and not fixing the bumper or the headlight, is about $600. We've given her the choice: paint, full repair, or insurance. She's gone for the cheapest option. We're okay with it, but part of me wishes she had gone with insurance. But, after all, we did give her the choice.
As someone who works in the insurance industry, and in a claims department no less, I would recommend caution. Not to say that she is not a completely honest individual, but sadly these days this is not something we can guarantee. We were just discussing a very similar case where a third party offered to pay the damages to our client's vehicle. Our client showed grace and agreed, and the arrangements were made. Unfortunately, when the repairs had been completed, the third party disappeared and left our insured with a $5500 repair bill, which he tried to claim from us. Unfortunately, the auto policy stipulates that the insurance company has the right to inspect the vehicle before any repairs have started. It's a violation of one of the statutory conditions, and we initially denied his claim. However, since he was a long-term client with us since 1987, we made an exception. We are now trying to pursue the third party because, as it turns out, he was uninsured. Anyway, I would suggest to you that she pay for the repairs up front to the shop (or write you a cheque for the agreed amount). This way, if something does happen, you are not running the risk of possibly being left with the bill.
Well. of course she would go for the cheapest option. $600 for paint only? That is NOT an option I would have given her...Grace or no Grace. I would want the car in the condition it was before she shmucked into it. Now,... The cheapest is +/- $1200, and the most expensive is $2000. Pay the shop the agreed amount and we have a deal. Otherwise, I go to the insurance company. Giving her the option to save the increase in insurance premiums is Grace enough.
Yeah, but it's just stuff. It hasn't been an easy decision to make, but it is a good test of how tightly I'm clinging to something that, in the end, is just a hunk of metal.
Darryl, my brother, it may just be "stuff"; a "hunk of metal", but in a very real sense God provided you with the ability to purchase it. It is both a convenience and a necessity in todays lifestyle. You have stewardship over it. Okay, so you are a Pastor. You desire to show Grace to a person who could have just walked away leaving you to foot the entire bill for repairs. I say that allowing her to pay the cheapest rate possible to put the thing back into a condition approximating what it was like before she damaged it, is showing her Grace. Allowing her to avoid going through her insurance is showing her Grace. Letting her pay only for a paint job, when you have to repair the headlight in order for the vehicle to be in legal working order (I assume that is the case, anyway) is not showing her Grace. It is, in my opinion, rewarding her negligence.
Nah, the headlight is mildly scratched but is in fine working order. I'm trying to approximate what I would pay to fix if it was coming out of my own pocket.
You can't be a welcome mat letting her take advantage because it may be unloving to let her off so easily. Maybe God wants you to be his tool to train her to smarten up.
I'm with Kim. Seems crazy to me to be letting her off any more lightly than her having to fix the thing properly.
You're right; I could certainly demand that from her if I wanted. A happy ending is coming very soon... (although I don't know if it will be happy to you)
Our neighbor backed into my wife's car last fall doing a fair bit of damage to the front fender, but the car was still driveable, and it actually matched the passenger side which had been schmucked by a fruit truck in Manhatten just before we moved back to Canada. I finally went to the wrecker and found 2 used fenders ($100 for the pair), and it will cost about $300 to paint them, so $400, and our neighbors will split the cost with us. I know we're talking apples and oranges though; my wife's beat up Contour vs. your nearly new Vibe. (maybe apple and raisins is closer...) I, for one, like your take on it Darryl. It will look almost like new when the shop is done with it, and you will feel a lot less particular about it since the first major ding has occured. Living in Toronto, it's nice to have that over with. You might remember the yellow '88 CRX Si that I had toward the end of my school career. I loved that car. I came out of church one night to find that my youth group had buried the car under a few feet of snow, ice and parking lot crud. There a few scratches left after that incident, but every time I washed the car I think the Lord used them to remind me that it was just another "tool".
I'm with Arthur on this one but I still think Heb. 10:25 is directly applicable to disobedient Christian nonchurch-goers :)
Trish: You said earlier, "You should show grace then." Don't tell me you changed your mind?
Yeah I know, I guess I'm worried you'll get taken advantage of but basically you can't if in your own conscience you're ok with your decision.
Trish, I wish you would stop using that Heb 10:25 bit. It's WAY out of context. Church has nothing to do with this verse. It's talking about meeting together with believers, and when this took place, it was DAILY! So even church goers would be disobedient in this matter. I hope you're just kidding with him, but someone weak in the faith might not know any better.
Peter, No I am not kidding about Heb. 10:25 being a proof text for church going, as we refer to it today. In context the writer to the Hebrews is on the same page with the Apostle's teaching for New Covenant believers(even though he uses Old Testament imagery), which sees the regular assembling of God's people, the church. The Hebrew believers were in danger of backsliding so he/she urges them towards one (of many) means of God's grace which was regular meeting together for the fellowship of mutual encouragement until Jesus comes back again. For the early church their identity was much more than just hanging out together; it included the practice of ordinances, proper pastoral leadership, worship and so on. The reason I brought it up is because of a couple of entries on April 27/2004 where it was said that the text in question isn't "about attending church services" and that its exhortation is merely "a suggestion if you will." I disagree strongly and believe that a churchless Christianity is a grotesque misreading of the epistles in the New Testament. The readership of Hebrews was largely Jewish and (new covenant) Christians probably just before the time of the destruction of Jersualem, (70 A.D.) which isn't mentioned, and they are falling backwards turning their backs on church.
Good on ya, Darryl! Sure, you have the "right" to take them to the cleaners, but that doesn't make it the right thing. It seems to me you have found the right balance of priorities between people and things.