Priorities ceased and deadlines extended to handle the situation. Luckily only the prized 2001 Saab 9-3 was injured. Driver shaken, and annoyed and bummed over the crumpled front end of the vehicle she worked so hard to pay for, all cash. Having a lot of experience at crash scenes as a newspaper guy, I made sure she had the other driver's info, and when the cop came over, I asked if we could match his data against what the guy had given my wife. People are less inclined to lie to cops, generally. Unfortunately, the driver spun a tale that it wasn't his fault he drove into my wife's car, from a driveway, because vehicles were blocking his view. Unfortunately, the cop bought the story, even though by the letter of the road, the driver was at fault for entering the right of way in an unsafe manner. The driver wasn't ticketed, and I'm not sure if that's going to impact the way the claim is handled. If it does, I'll help my gal file a dispute with the cops. Made sure the wife called the other guy's insurance company, because in the few minutes since the collision, he had already called hers. Then we dealt with getting a wrecker, and a rental car. Sure, paying insurance ain't fun, but you appreciate good coverage when you need it.The next hurdle will be to see what the claims adjuster says. I don't want the car repaired -- front hood, bumper, grill and lights are mashed and the car won't start. That's cosmetic and mechanical, we don't know anything about frame damage.
This is where it payts to know a little, even though you can wiggle a bit with the insurance company. They will total the car if repairs are deemed to be 75% of total value. As I've blue booked the car at $11.47K, I'm hoping the repairs are north of $8.6K.
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