Help Needed. Got Rear Ended!

[rayquan]

Hi, our car has just been rear-ended on a slippery road on last Saturday. I think it would be the other party at fault. My wife was driving it and it was fully stopped at the red light when the accident happened. The car from the back couldn't stop even though he tried very hard. Our car's rear bumper was damage lightly (still needs to be replaced) and the front bumper of the other guy's car was damaged as well (more damage than ours).

He said he might go through his insurance. I have just got an damage estimate from Contemporary Coachworks, which costs just a bit over a thousand dollars to have the bumper replaced and the rear light house polish (few light scratches). We have ready reported to the police on Sunday. Do I need to report to my insurance company in such case where the other party was at fault? How can I get the damage estimate approved and have our car fixed, by calling my ins company or the other party's?

The waiting time for the booking for the repair is quite unbelievable; it is now up to middle of May! Luckily, our car is still drivable. Do you know any other body shop which performs good job and has sooner booking?

[LadyLuck]

its always a good thing if you report it to your insurance and let them know what happened, just in case the other guy tries to screw you later on down the road.

[trieuth]

Most shops are booking a few months in advance, you need to call your insurance company and get in touch with the claims dept. From there you will be assigned an adjuster who will look after your claim, you need to provide the other parties insurance info.

[trieuth]

and save yourself a headache, just go through insurance.

[spikerS]

standard procedure is to get 3 quotes from different places to get this repaired. the others might have shorter waiting times, but this will at least give the other party a pretty good idea as to what the costs will be to decide to go through insurance or not. Also, it would be a good idea to report to your insurance company, and let them know that the other party might pay for the damages out of his pocket before proceeding with the claim.