Some dude in a 97 Saturn rear ended me today in my 18 F150. I had the tailgate down and truck camper in the bed. It looks like my rear bumper is scratched and since my tailgate was down the tailgate was scratched as well. I didn't see any dents but need to remove my truck camper to see if the tailgate is bent. He was going like 10mph as I was stopped.

I called Geico which is my insurance company. They said I can pay my $500 deductible and they will fix any damage ASAP plus I get a rental car. 2nd Option is to call his insurance company which is Viking (never heard of them), make a claim with them and pay no out of pocket. I'm guessing I will be without a rental though. My initial thought is save the $500 and process the claim through Vikings. I'm not concerned on the timeline of getting it fixed or really the rental. I have access to another car.

One thing I'm really wondering is if its just scratches and a small dent, can I take the cash from the insurance agency and not fix it? Its a truck, its made to be scratched and beat up. Just so happens some dude got to it before I was able too. Obviously if there ends up being real damage I would get it fixed but for scratches and small dents, I really don't care. I plan to drive this truck into the dirt. And on top of that, there might not be a carfax on my truck since no body work was done?

I've never been in a real accident so not sure how all this works.

Thanks brahs!!

File a claim with his insurance company. They'll settle with you for an amount more than the damages if there is any, even slight injury. Geico is lazy as fuk if that's what they told you. There is no way that they won't go after Viking in rear end incident to get the money they paid back. They will do an investigation which shouldn't take long. Just keep pressure on them by calling every day or so. If it is deemed their driver's fault which seems like that is almost certain in this case then they will have to pay for you a rental

I'm an insurance adjuster.

take the money from his company and buy a new video card

Thanks brah, they did seem very lazy. I was hoping Geico would do some of the dirty work for me and call Viking

The guy's insurance that rear ended you should pay for everything. You pay no deductible. Absolutely do not claim anything through your insurance.

If you claim through your insurance, your rates may increase. Viking needs to pay.

At the very least after you set a claim up with Viking your Geico adjuster should handle it from there. I know I would.

fukcing this!!!

Only time other insurance carrier worked with me and was legit was when the dude had USAA.

Anytime i've called Geico, Sate Farm, Farmers, etc. they always skimped and said I was partially responsible and were only going to pay a % of total costs. I've never had my insurance go up due to accidents that were not my fault. I've only had 1 that was my fault and had accident forgiveness.

Geico? Like GAYco? You on dat ****gy time? Getting rear ended on the weekends, I see. Bet you enjoyed it fegit.

Go through their insurance. If they just cut you a check for damages you should be able to pocket it. Your truck has decreased in value now that there is body damage, so not really a free lunch.

The times someone else hit my car, my car insurance dealt with the other driver's insurance directly, I didn't have to go do it on my own.

As far as keeping the money, as long as you own it outright yes, you can keep the money.

Learn to drive cuck

Whats your insurance company of choice? Its a no fault accident on my part. Other dude got a citation and maybe more.Yes, Correct but I save my rear ending for Monday mornings, much more enjoyable that way.I'm not worried about any decrease in value. Its some small scratches is all I can see. I plan to drive this truck into the ground and add many many more scratches. In all honestly, the scratches I see don't hurt the value in 4 years when it has 100K miles. But if the tailgate is bent or something more serious I'll get it fixed

IDK why people are saying go through his insurance. If you use your insurance and pay the deposit, they'll go after his insurance and you should get your deposit back. May take longer to settle, but it's the quickest way to have your car fixed.

I'd take it to the dealer and see how much in damages you actually have. If it's not much, then i'd go straight through his insurance. I hope you have a police report as well...

A Ford? He did u a favor

Alum body for the win brah. No dents, just scratches is all I can tell so far. A buddy also has the alum body, a deer ran into his door when he was driving 70, zero damage.Yes I have a police report. I'm 99% sure there isn't much damage, superficial. My biggest issue is I have a camper in my truck which sucks to remove and reinstall and I camp in the weekend almost every weekend.

Document everythign but don't go through his insurance, yet.

Ask him if he wants to work it out without going through insurance. Because you may get more money out of it this way. Thats acktually what the deductible is for - so that you work out the small chit on your own.

A small scratch doesn't cost $500 to fix, and your insurance wants a $500 deductible just to look into it.

Check to see how much the scratch is to fix and then try to get that amount from him in cash and then some for your time. This way his insurance rate doesn't shoot up and you get more money out of it.

But fkn lol. Feel bad for the guy, kinda. Dudes already driving a POS and now he has to shell out some money to OP's chitty truck.

But also, he may not be at fault depending on why your tailgate was down.

Lol @ Geico. I got State Farm. Going on about 17 years. They do fuking everything. You don’t have to worry about **** as long as you paid for it. Step your insurance game up.

ok that's kinda cool but also who was have a big trailer hitch so only the other car gets demolished very srs

I have a truck camper in the bed of the truck. Its big, white and has light on the back, like brake lights hooked up. Plus you can easily see the tail lights of the truck. So anyone who has a tailgate down is liable when being rear ended?

I feel bad for him as well, he has no money, been out of work for 4 days. Just got the clutch fixed in his POS saturn. The moral of the story is pay attention and don't rear end people. He also had some huge headphones. I remember saying to myself before the accident, who is this ******* behind me with headphones on.I'm calling state farm after all this is over SRS. Time to step up my insurance game, thanks for the heads up.I have a hitch and receiver on it. Very minimal damage, the hitch did save big time.

Its illegal to drive with headphones on because it could block you hearing sirens

Why though? It's not like they're releasing any games worth getting a new card for.

It depends on how far the camper extends from the truck bed. If its over 4ft, you have to have proper signaling, like a 16inch red square. Without the signaling it may be harder for others to judge the distance. But it sounds like he just wasn't paying attention.

But best of luck to both you and him.

Auto insurance expert here. Fake a back injury and rake in the dough OP. You're welcome

That’s funny Opie

Because I got rear ended by a lady in a newish (14+) accord last week.
I was at a light and saw her coming up and thought “Did I piss her off or something?” Then bam lol.
Had her follow me into a parking lot, luckily she hit my hitch package (no ball luckily or I’d have been waiting for the police) with her grille. Took out maybe a 2 inch section of plastic.
I made sure she was ok, the truck was perfect (98 z71) and told her we can wait for the cops and file with insurance or if she wanted to let it go I’d be fine with that too.
She said she was good and off we went.
Made for one hell of a start to my morning lol.

If the truck is fine I’d either do the same, or hit up their insurance for a check since you’ve got the police report. Don’t worry about getting it fixed since it’s just scratches and that’ll keep your carfax looking decent too.

Also let’s see some pics of your setup man. I’m wanting to run a camper shell on my Z eventually. Had a RTT setup on my last truck (18 Frontier)

Also I had a similar scenario with Allstate where I had to micro manage between them and the shop. Luckily if you aren’t happy they’ll give you 6 months free so I went that route and then jumped ship after the 6 months.

I thought about mentioning it but it doesn't matter. I was stopped at a light and he slammed into me. Its his fault with zero doubt.My camper doesn't even extend to the end of the tailgate when down. I hear what you are saying though.My back does actually hurt but its not from this accident, I was laid up yesterday with back pain. I'm not a POS though so didn't mention it. I barely felt he hit me.

They'll only do that if you file a claim thru them a and you pay your deductible. Then it'll likely take 3+ months to resolve.

I had a similar experience years ago. Some dude rear ended my, his bumper was on the ground. My truck was fine. I said I'm good if you are and he said okay. Dude put his bumper in his truck and we drove off.

I'm pretty sure my tailgate is bent. It has the camera so doubt those are cheap. If its not too bent and scratched, I don't care. I'll take the cash if I can. If not they can fix it. I drive my vehicles into the ground and don't treat them that well. I buy a truck to treat it like a truck, why else have a truck.

I'll see if I can get some pictures. My camper is a 89 Jayco 8' Sportster but I'm currently rebuilding a 84 Four Wheel Camper Fleet from the alum frame up. I'm custom building it fit my truck, trying to get it to 700-800 pounds and very minimal. My main use is winter camper at ski resorts so no water system. Just need a heater, bed and stove.

You'll feel it. I've been rear ended twice, the first time my back hurt for about a week. Not bad, but definitely more pain than what I was expecting. I was in an 88 Omega or some other huge boat, the girl that rear ended us was in a Chevy Geo, she hit us so hard she was pinned against the steering wheel and her car was utterly destroyed.

The second time wasn't nearly as bad for me as I was in my 2011 Fiesta and the head rest was much better at protecting my neck.