REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

seph · 08-22-2012, 07:57 PM

My car got backed into at a parking lot. I was reversing out of my parking stall, was almost completely out of my stall when I saw another car parked across from me starting to reverse out of her stall. I stopped right away and honked repeatedly to try to catch her attention, but she just kept going and backed into my rear passenger side door. There doesn't seem to be any major damage except for some scratches. [Update: had my car inspected at a shop and found out there are dents in the door panel...]

The other driver wants to settle outside of ICBC. I'm just wondering how this should work. Do I go to a repair shop to get an estimate, tell her how much it is going to be, get my car repaired, then get her to pay me? How do I make sure she goes through with her promise to pay for the repairs? Any advice would be much appreciated!

fliptuner · 08-22-2012, 08:09 PM

Claim it through ICBC regardless.

You can still get her to pay for it privately, but if she flakes, it's your only recourse.

Or, get it estimated, add 20% and get her to pay you, in cash. Since it's just a scratch, shouldn't be a big deal.

hc529 · 08-22-2012, 09:22 PM

You can ask the shop to make both of you sign a form saying
She'll pay for damage. Also, make sure the shop can pre-authorized her card so she doesn't flake
If she does the shop can charge her credit card

duy- · 08-22-2012, 09:33 PM

why go through the hassle when you can just call icbc, give them the information, fix it, and icbc sends her the bill. you dont even need to contact her.

dont even bother doing anything else, cover your ass. happens to me all the time and i always claim it, and youd be surprised how nice people are but when i hear their claim being read back to me... they never admit fault

Marco911 · 08-23-2012, 03:28 AM

If it's not your fault, there's never ever a reason not to go through ICBC.

The ONLY reason one would go outside of ICBC is if you have a nice car and you don't want any record of the incident on CARFAX or other types of reports.

Every time you bring your car in to ICBC, they also document all the existing damage to the vehicle. If you make a legit claim in the future, they reduce those claims for the existing damage they had reported.

GLOW · 08-23-2012, 08:30 AM

look to get scammed

no seriously i've done private deals when i was young and didn't know any better and it's really not worth the hassle/stress. just go through ICBC it's what they're there for.

seph · 08-23-2012, 09:17 AM

I've reported this incident to ICBC. Their representative told me that in these kind of incidents, it is rare that the fault goes 100% to the other party. I don't understand how ICBC would find me at any fault when I was already out of my stall, stationary & very visible for the other driver through her rear view mirror, and was still driven into?

skylinergtr · 08-23-2012, 09:50 AM

get all the information for the driver, and see what you can privately before going to ICBC if you really care about claim history.

someone had side swiped my mirror on my car once, and was truly sorry, said he would pay for it, etc. I took all his info first. name, DL #, license plate number, and phone number. The guy was in a business truck and was scared about claims. I tried to give him a good deal, considering I know a body shop guy. All the idiot had to do was to pay $75 for my price to fix my mirror, and paint the mirror cap. The guy ignored me, swore at my on the phone to never contact him again, etc. I ended up telling ICBC about what happened, got a receipt from my buddy, and went down the ICBC office to get my money and the guys insurance was charged.

VR6GTI · 08-23-2012, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seph

I've reported this incident to ICBC. Their representative told me that in these kind of incidents, it is rare that the fault goes 100% to the other party. I don't understand how ICBC would find me at any fault when I was already out of my stall, stationary & very visible for the other driver through her rear view mirror, and was still driven into?

that's because the other driver can say you ran into them

z3german · 08-23-2012, 12:59 PM

I am currently going through ICBC bullshit about hit and run. The person wanted to deal privately too, me being a dumbass nice guy said "oh ya ill go to a few shops get you a quote and see where we go from there"

got them a quote, then a week later they flake on admitting it, still in the process of bullshit investigation, and you know what? They are probably going to get away with it. (I got them a quote that said 1000ish, their bumper to fix probably will cost them 300)

DONT get a quote for them, they might look at the price and just be like "fuck that im fixing my car for cheaper and when icbc does inspection there will be no damage and im off scott free"

DO call ICBC right away with the culprit in front of you and tell her to tell them she did it and is accepting full responsibility. If the culprit does not want their insurance to go up let them know they have the option to pay ICBC for the damages and therefore their insurance wont go up. They have the choice, deductible, or pay off the damage through icbc.

dont make the same dumbass mistake i did.

seph · 08-23-2012, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z3german

DO call ICBC right away with the culprit in front of you and tell her to tell them she did it and is accepting full responsibility. If the culprit does not want their insurance to go up let them know they have the option to pay ICBC for the damages and therefore their insurance wont go up. They have the choice, deductible, or pay off the damage through icbc.

I wish I knew and thought of this when it happened...

Marco911 · 08-23-2012, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seph

I've reported this incident to ICBC. Their representative told me that in these kind of incidents, it is rare that the fault goes 100% to the other party. I don't understand how ICBC would find me at any fault when I was already out of my stall, stationary & very visible for the other driver through her rear view mirror, and was still driven into?

That's an interesting one, since you were both backing up and moving perpendicular to each other. Hard to determine who has the right of way. Rather than honking, I guess you could throw it back in Drive and move forward out of her way, thus avoiding the accident.

Let us know what the final ICBC decision is.

mickz · 08-24-2012, 01:42 AM

I was in a similar situation as you a couple months back but my car was backed into when I was still parked.

I just went through ICBC and it was much less of a headache. The guy who hit my car was in no rush to get anything fixed and kept trying to persuade me to go to his friend's shop in Delta (I live in Vancouver.) He was not trying to work with me and meet me at a shop of my choice.

Long story short, I just claimed through ICBC. I went to the body shop, paid my $300 deductible and ICBC reimbursed me for it.

seph · 08-24-2012, 02:29 AM

I got a call from ICBC about the claim.
The other driver admitted fault, so I am not liable for anything.
Whew...thank goodness...

Thanks everyone for your advice!

I need to make a list of things to do when car accidents happen, and leave the list in the car.
When this incident happened, I totally forgot about how important it is to grab the nearest witness and take pictures of the scene.

Gridlock · 08-24-2012, 10:11 AM

I find this a lot in dealing with people.

Something happens and its "OMG! what did I do...I'll do anything to fix it!" Then, they go home, have a drink and calm down and start thinking.."well, he could have done this and it wouldn't have happened, so maybe its not all my fault" Very quickly it turns into 'fuck that'.

I find you need to strike fast...here's the paper, sign it. Now. Sign it. Let's meet tomorrow at the body shop. How about now. Let's go.

It happens all the time in dealing with tenants, its almost predictable and expected. You give them a chance to think it out, and the tone changes, and they come back to you with a bunch of bs that you didn't do when they have a chance to think it all out.

Always strike fast. At least in your case, you can always tap out and call in ICBC.