My car was parked on the side of the road and was swiped by another car turning out of the parking lot. Back bumper is scratched up heavily. The car fled and left no note.
Camera on the car caught the whole thing but it was dark and I can only make out 3 out of the 7 letters of the license plate. I can see the make of the car as well.
I have a $1000 collision deductible. I am trying to decide whether I should
1) Not deal with insurance and just pay out of pocket for the repairs (likely around 1K-2K?)
2) File a police report and a claim with my own insurance (1K deductible) with all the video footages I have and see if they can help find the other car based on the plate and make/model of the car.
While I hate to see them get away with this, I don’t know if #2 will amount to anything (Seattle police is notoriously useless) and may risk increasing my premium in the long run.
Advice appreciated!
Hit and run parked car – decisions
byu/Hovercraft-Legal inInsurance
Posted by Hovercraft-Legal
2 Comments
If it were me I’d take option 2 and see if it yields anything. I’ve been able to find cars with partial license plates before – whether the person had active/valid insurance or cooperates is another matter, but I’d try to go after them. I would file the police report and hand over all info to your insurance and let them get to work investigating.
How can you decide anything when you don’t have a repair estimate yet?
It’s beyond foolish to make decisions without knowledge.
That damage looks like it will be less than $1000. If it is, your insurance company won’t do squat for you except put a claim on your record and raise your rates.
Get an estimate.
Then decide.