Earlier tonight while backing out in a parking lot I bumped into a black truck parked in the spot opposite me in a store parking like. It was one of those super-sized trucks.
In this lot the parking spaces are diagonal.
One thing I just thought of--though I don't know if this is relevant to the accident--is that he was not parked front-first into the space. It seems he had backed into the space. This means that to move out of that space he would have needed to drive against the flow of traffic in the lot.
Though I didn't see him I am assuming the driver was sitting in the truck at the time, because he emerged behind me in the parking lot when I was looking for my insurance information in my car.
So far as I know, though, he was parked and his vehicle was not moving at the time of the accident. If he was also pulling out at the same time as I was, I am unaware of it.
Because I could not locate my insurance information, I called Geico. I told a representative what had happened and then they gave the other driver my information over the phone.
Because it was night and his truck was black I could not really see anything meaningful when I examined his truck. The picture I took also seems useless - it shows nothing. I believe the impact was extremely slight because my car was moving slow.
A kind of line of "white dust" was visible on the back fender of my car where it made contact with his. At first I thought it was an actual scratch but I rubbed it with my fingers and the white dust fell off, leaving no sign of any damage to my car.
Because of this my guess is that if his fender was damaged it must be very minor. His truck was of the type that does not have a rubber bumper, so it is the body that my car hit.
The other driver told me he would get an estimate at the autobody shop he uses and give me a call with the cost and that we could handle it outside of insurance if I want.
Ideally I would like to do this, because I do not want my insurance to go up. But when I got home I saw an email from Geico and it looks like they have already assigned me a claim number, as a result of my call.
What I am wondering is, supposing I handle this with the other driver outside of insurance, will Geico still end up raising my rates because I made that call and a claim now exists?
Also, if I handle this privately, are there recommended precautions? What is the safest way to do this? I realize I will have to rely on the honesty of the other driver for the estimate he gives me. And I'm assuming if I agree to the esimtate I should pay the shop myself directly with credit card?
Thanks everyone! I appreciate your feedback and advice about this situation.
In this lot the parking spaces are diagonal.
One thing I just thought of--though I don't know if this is relevant to the accident--is that he was not parked front-first into the space. It seems he had backed into the space. This means that to move out of that space he would have needed to drive against the flow of traffic in the lot.
Though I didn't see him I am assuming the driver was sitting in the truck at the time, because he emerged behind me in the parking lot when I was looking for my insurance information in my car.
So far as I know, though, he was parked and his vehicle was not moving at the time of the accident. If he was also pulling out at the same time as I was, I am unaware of it.
Because I could not locate my insurance information, I called Geico. I told a representative what had happened and then they gave the other driver my information over the phone.
Because it was night and his truck was black I could not really see anything meaningful when I examined his truck. The picture I took also seems useless - it shows nothing. I believe the impact was extremely slight because my car was moving slow.
A kind of line of "white dust" was visible on the back fender of my car where it made contact with his. At first I thought it was an actual scratch but I rubbed it with my fingers and the white dust fell off, leaving no sign of any damage to my car.
Because of this my guess is that if his fender was damaged it must be very minor. His truck was of the type that does not have a rubber bumper, so it is the body that my car hit.
The other driver told me he would get an estimate at the autobody shop he uses and give me a call with the cost and that we could handle it outside of insurance if I want.
Ideally I would like to do this, because I do not want my insurance to go up. But when I got home I saw an email from Geico and it looks like they have already assigned me a claim number, as a result of my call.
What I am wondering is, supposing I handle this with the other driver outside of insurance, will Geico still end up raising my rates because I made that call and a claim now exists?
Also, if I handle this privately, are there recommended precautions? What is the safest way to do this? I realize I will have to rely on the honesty of the other driver for the estimate he gives me. And I'm assuming if I agree to the esimtate I should pay the shop myself directly with credit card?
Thanks everyone! I appreciate your feedback and advice about this situation.
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