Automotive

Insurance won't believe that my car was in a hit & run. What to do?

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  • May 30th, 2015 2:24 pm
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Sr. Member
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Sep 3, 2006
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Super_Chicken wrote: This is why I dashcam. I do love the detectives in the crowd though.
Out of curiosity: would the dash cam record such an activity like hitting the door to something outside of the car or being hit by another car?
Most cams are only directed toward the front of the car, some/few have a secondary device directed to the back of the car.
However, the better ones have a parking mode where such activities would be recorded with the GPS location, thus it would be an easy tusk to point a finger at the right/fault direction.
Can someone confirm it.
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Jun 17, 2013
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Should have filed a police report...but that's hindsight now

My insurance coverage waive deductible if I report a hit and run within 24 hours
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Mar 19, 2015
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K-W
kalifornialove1306 wrote: Hi,

After leaving work around 8:20 pm on May 21st, I found my car on the passenger side lightly scraped with some sort of blue and dented. I believe a door must have swung open and hit it. I found no note, therefore, I called my insurance company (Desjardins) to report the incident.

At the time, the agent was very kind and helped me go through the procedure. I took my own personal pictures.

Picture 1: http://i.imgur.com/5TvGa9e.jpg
Picture 2: http://i.imgur.com/VVaRSQh.jpg

The agent told me I didn't need to make a police report / send no pictures and to just present myself to the collission place where they will evaluate the situation.

After they took the pictures, four days later, my claims specialist calls me back telling me that they do not consider it a hit and run. They think I hit the car against a lamp post?! Where can you tell me there are blue lamp posts?

Anyway, they are telling me I will have to pay my deductible of $500 to get the repair done. Once I heard this, I basically went nuts. They are basically telling me that I am responsible for the dent. Before seeing the dent at work, my car was at the dealership that same day until 6:30 pm. I picked it up at 6h30pm during my break and parked it at the parking lot at work until 8:30 pm.

Now, I am trying to get footage of the parking lot at work, but they are telling me they tape over the recorded tape every 4 days. I am also waiting on footage from the dealership to see if anything happend there. Because they told me to not file a police report, I am left without one and now I don't know what else to do to prove to them that it WAS a hit and run?! The only proof I have right now is that my car was at the dealership between May 20th-21st until 6:30 (I have proof of a receipt) after that, I drove directly to work and parked it in the parking lot. I don't know what else to do..

Anyone have similar experiences? I am not paying for something I didn't even do!
As a claims adjuster, the damage is very consistent with you hitting a stationary vertical object. Without a police report, you will have an extremely tough time debating this. That being said, this decision is not of the adjuster’s rather that of the physical damage appraiser’s whose job is to analyze damages and provide estimates and inferences on how this could have happened. If I was your adjuster, I would most likely rate you for a single-vehicle accident under Collision with a full deductible applying. That being said, if you can prove otherwise, via witnesses, police reports, etc., you can have the fault changed, though the deductible being waived may be tough. Your insurance company can classify this as a single-vehicle accident, 0% at-fault, and technically your deductible will still be due (as opposed to your vehicle being parked and struck by another unidentified motorist).

Second off, you should have taken a police report right away. Any prudent driver who notices damage to their property will have a police report… one of the conditions (as per the insurance company I work for) in order to go hit-and-run is for a police report to be filed within 24 hours of noticing damages.
Bobby66 wrote: This is a hard situation because when you reported as door ding at a parking lot and the damages does not look like a door swung open, it already raises flags to the insurance company and they will not tolerate false information. If you just claim that someone back into your car, then the situation would have been different.

I usually park very far away from other cars to avoid situations like this. On the road it is actually more safe because I have dash camera and everything that happens will be recorded. On parking lot, it is hard to tell unless your dash cam is always on.
The damage is not consistent with another door swinging open. Think of the surface area of the alleged third-party’s door coming into contact with the OP’s vehicle — the edge of the door would mae a very narrow, sharp-force impact as opposed to a rounded, blunt-force impact. The adjuster will go with this information in order to rate the insured as being involved in a single-vehicle accident.

The damage as well is not consistent wit another vehicle striking the OP’s vehicle because the damage is consistent with a vertical stationary object. However, you can argue this (“a large cube van backed into my car, the edge of it made contact with my car”) but the rounded imprint will not be consistent with the OP’s story.

thelefteyeguy wrote: problem is a door ding isnt a hit and run.

you might be able to claim under comprehensive damage...but even so...that will be tough.

Even if you caught the person door dinging you ...you might have a hard time getting insurance to fix it.
A door ding from another vehicle will NOT fall under comprehensive. It will fall under collision if the third-party is unidentified, and Direct Compensation if the third-party has insurance signatory to no-fault insurance (meaning they are identified, and have a valid policy in agreement with no-fault insurance in Ontario), and the accident happened in Ontario. In fact, the situation where a third-party opening their door into our vehicle is actually covered in the Fault Determination Rules under Section 19 (c).


kalifornialove1306 wrote: so should i just forget their BS , make sure they close my file without any claim done and repair it out of my pocket?? how much do people charge to repair this?
The claim will not be “removed” as you have already reported it. Since it is reported, do your best to make sure it doesn’t go as an at-fault accident. Since the claim has already been put through, you are financially better off going via insurance. If you pay out of pocket, you’ll be paying for repairs *AND* will have a claim on your record. Once you have a claim put through, it will show on your AutoPlus. Since the claim is already there, might as well cash out on it. there’s easily more than $500 of damage on that panel as per a customer estimate.


kalifornialove1306 wrote: Thanks everyone for your honest replies. I appreciate it. I'm gonna go get a quote tomorrow morning for the repair outside of my insurance.
Insurance quotes for repairs are NOT THE SAME as the quotes for “ordinary customers”. Insurance quotes are cheaper because there is a set labour rate, and shops must use like kind and quality parts. If you are planning to repair this yourself, keep in mind you have already launched a claim; the payout of the claim doesn’t affect your premiums in the same way as the number of claims. So since your claim is reported already, go via insurance to fix it. If you fix it yourself, you’ll be kicking yourself for the fact you have reported a claim, are going to be rated for a claim on your record upon next renewal, but did not cash out on it, rather paid out of pocket. Claims cannot be “withdrawn” but they can be closed out without payment.
hdom wrote: Quote from a minor repair shop that is not a body shop too, if they can fix it, often it would be much cheaper.
Repair shops that outsource body shops to other body shops logically would be more expensive, as the repair shop would add a cut for himself on this; adding a middle-man (the repair shop) for the body work (to be done by the body shop) is logically going to be more expensive, even more so the case if this is a “customer” estimate as opposed to an insurance repair assignment.
jmatheson64 wrote: They know you likely won't take them to small claims to make them pay their contractual obligations so they say it's your fault without any evidence at all.
This is incorrect. the onus is on the insured to prove his loss. As of now, he has not done so.. The OP should have had a police report immediately. Since he did not have one, the insurer can argue the OP most likely was involved in a SVA. However, the cost of the claim to the insurer will be minimal at best if the OP complains and moves his way up the chain of command. The more he cries, the more he will get attention —that’s simply the nature of the claims department. It will cost more time and effort, not to mention money, to hire an engineering firm to determine how this happened and to peg the insured for misrepresentation. This is too big of a loss for the insurance company as the damage is superficial at best, and would be better off retaining the insured by paying out on his claim.

Tommy74 wrote: Just replace the door. Easy fix and cheaper than increase in premium for years to come.
I’m assuming you are referring to the insured to fix this out-of-pocket… the OP has already opened a claim and once the claim is pushed through to his AutoPlus record, he won’t be able to withdraw it and and will count as a claim. The payout is different altogether; the insured might as well follow through with the claim.

kmarcie wrote: What company and endorsement is this?

I'm looking at FSCO's list of endorsements and I do not see an endorsement that specifically reduces deductible for hit-and-run to $0.

Otherwise, it isn't worth fighting - hit-and-run is a collision type accident and is subjected to your own deductible.
This is more a customer service gesture extended by the insurer to the insured if the endorsement is not listed on FSCO. I know for a fact very few companies do this; the majority of companies will hold you to the collision deductible as per the OAP-1.


Breton_Rex wrote: Out of curiosity: would the dash cam record such an activity like hitting the door to something outside of the car or being hit by another car?
Most cams are only directed toward the front of the car, some/few have a secondary device directed to the back of the car.
However, the better ones have a parking mode where such activities would be recorded with the GPS location, thus it would be an easy tusk to point a finger at the right/fault direction.
Can someone confirm it.
If the insured had a dash cam that was in parking mode, it won’t confirm another car had hit the OP’s vehicle, rather, could confirm the OP’s vehicle was stationary when the damage was incurred, thereby confirming to the insurer this is plausibly a hit-and-run as opposed to a single-vehicle accident.
neverhaveiever wrote: Should have filed a police report...but that's hindsight now

My insurance coverage waive deductible if I report a hit and run within 24 hours
… Within 24 hours of you noticing the damage. A smart broker will tell you to list the time you noticed the damage as 24 hours before you reported it. That being said, this is between yourself and the insurance company. If you are still having trouble with your insurer, get your broker (if you have one) to step in for you.
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Super_Chicken wrote: This is why I dashcam. I do love the detectives in the crowd though.
Unless your webcam is 360 and also on 24/7 you won't be able to record anything. And don't forget you will need a large sd card.
For wars they come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal.- Tupac
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spike1128 wrote: File police report as hit and run. Then claim it comprehensive.
In Ontario, Police report if just part of the "hit and run" process. the driver still has to be identified and found to be without insurance I think.
Dont think it will work out with the car being parked also.
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Supahhh wrote: In Ontario, Police report if just part of the "hit and run" process. the driver still has to be identified and found to be without insurance I think.
Dont think it will work out with the car being parked also.
No, this is for Uninsured Motorist coverage. Even then, the driver may not have insurance but the vehicle can. For Uninsured Motorist, neither the driver not the vehicle has coverage.

A police report stating the OP reported the damages to his car is the first step of the Hit and Run claim. This will fall under his collision coverage (optional loss or damages coverage)
Jr. Member
Nov 26, 2014
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Toronto, ON
Since the op already contact Desjardins about the damage, there's no point in him getting it fixed on his own (unless it's less than $500 -- which I doubt it will be).

The accident is already on record and there's no going back.
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May 4, 2014
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fboybcb wrote: Unless your webcam is 360 and also on 24/7 you won't be able to record anything. And don't forget you will need a large sd card.
Exactly. Even if you had front and rear cams, a hit like this from the side cannot possibly be captured.
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er34er34 wrote: Exactly. Even if you had front and rear cams, a hit like this from the side cannot possibly be captured.
You may not record the video, but the gps location and the time/date stamp tell a lot, like it could say it could happen during the visit at dealership for repair (for example).
Yes, one would need a big card to record such a daily activities of 10-16 hrs on average.
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Breton_Rex wrote: You may not record the video, but the gps location and the time/date stamp tell a lot, like it could say it could happen during the visit at dealership for repair (for example).
Yes, one would need a big card to record such a daily activities of 10-16 hrs on average.
Not sure what you are trying to say here.
What good is a GPS location with time/date stamp, if you don't know when/where the car was hit.
The owner already knows, that at the time of the damage the car was located either at the dealer, or at the mall's parking lot.
The only thing he doesn't know is, at which one of these places did the car actually sustain this damage.
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angry-trucker wrote: Not sure what you are trying to say here.
What good is a GPS location with time/date stamp, if you don't know when/where the car was hit.
The owner already knows, that at the time of the damage the car was located either at the dealer, or at the mall's parking lot.
The only thing he doesn't know is, at which one of these places did the car actually sustain this damage.
How much proof one need to have "confirmation" that this happened during say dealership time?
Again, a video would show some details of the moment the actual damage was done, even as sound/some movement around the car.....in my honest opinion, it is better than nothing.
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Breton_Rex wrote: How much proof one need to have "confirmation" that this happened during say dealership time?
Again, a video would show some details of the moment the actual damage was done, even as sound/some movement around the car.....in my honest opinion, it is better than nothing.
Maybe there is some sort of a miscommunication here.
You are saying that
gps location and the time/date stamp tell a lot
How exactly is this information going to help him, as far as the damage is concerned?
Time stamp of what?
(You are also assuming that this video would be wired for sound, but what we're talking about here is your earlier statement, in which video wasn't even mentioned).
He already knows where the car was located during that time and he said, that it was either at the dealers garage or the mall/restaurant parking lot.
He needs to figure out if the car was damaged at the dealer's, or at the restaurant/mall parking lot and by whom....GPS won't reveal this kind of information.
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angry-trucker wrote: Maybe there is some sort of a miscommunication here.
You are saying that

How exactly is this information going to help him, as far as the damage is concerned?
Time stamp of what?
(You are also assuming that this video would be wired for sound, but what we're talking about here is your earlier statement, in which video wasn't even mentioned).
He already knows where the car was located during that time and he said, that it was either at the dealers garage or the mall/restaurant parking lot.
He needs to figure out if the car was damaged at the dealer's, or at the restaurant/mall parking lot and by whom....GPS won't reveal this kind of information.
Do not have a dash cam, but what I was reading from description, when the cam is in a parking mode, and something will hit the car, the G-sensor (Sorry, forgot to mention this one!) will be activated and the cam will record for couple of minute the event, even around 20 seconds before, and this "video clip" cannot be override by the subsequent recording, thus it will preserve the event to the owner.
GPS will record the location (it is important), and the exact time of when someone say hit his/her car. Hopefully, the cam from the front or back may record a driver or a car that will run off (the chance is slim, but it is possible). OP did not specify, nor he/she is sure when/where exactly it happen. Having a dash cam activated in a parking mode it would help to build a solid case against the dealership, do not think so?
G-sensor is a type of sensor which record any shock, movement to the car (in this case).
On the mall parking only the record of the event and the visible car running away, would help in this case.
Agreed some kind of miscommunication. Thanks for reading

Here is a dash cam I was based my assumption on, that I stated here.
http://www.blackvue.com/en/contents/sub1.asp?idx=25
http://www.canadadashcam.com/collection ... cus-5-dual
http://www.canadadashcam.com/collection ... aQodpyAA7g

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