Is It Worth It to Make an Insurance Claim or Not?

zzzz99 on 23/06/2022 - 11:41

Story time:

Driving on motorway in far right lane with fair amount of traffic. A red car in the lane to the left starts to indicate and immediately starts trying to drift into my lane and force his way in front of me when there is clearly not enough space to.

This angers me and I maintain my distance to the car in front of me. Also, I deemed it not safe to slow down so much to a point where it may cause trouble to cars behind me.

The car then proceeds to continually swerve multiple times into my lane in front of me in order to force their way in. Eventually I lay in on the horn and have no choice to let them in to avoid a collision.

Once I get home, I check the left front corner of my car and there is now a red streak and a few new scratches on my bumper that was definitely not there previously.

Now to be completely honest, this red streak is pretty much just a rub of paint and the new scratches are fairly shallow - more like light scrapes. Thing is, that area of my bumper already has scratches from a previous parking incident with a tight space and concrete wall - and it seems (at least to me and thus to the insurance company I'm guessing) that it's quite obvious that these scratches are not from another car.

Am I at fault here (I accept that I may be an asshole for not wanting to let the guy in)? If not at fault, is it worth my time to make a not-at-fault claim with my insurance company against the red car? Because the damage from the car is quite minor, would any action be taken and if so what would it likely be? Something as minor as send the car in for a polish, re-paint and touch up or have the entire bumper replaced?

As this would be my first ever insurance claim, I'm a bit of a noob. Would I see my premium go up even though I am not at fault? I am also quite time-poor and cbf dealing with the insurance company if the outcome is most likely going to be lacklustre.

I also have dashcam footage to provide to insurance company.

Image of 'damage': https://imgur.com/a/VBqPAfm
- Red streak and long scratches in the middle of the bumper are new
- Other scratches towards top and bottom were from concrete wall
- Thongs were $1.50 from kmart - got them on half price

Please let me know what you think. Cheers

Automotive

Comments

  • Stopback on 23/06/2022 - 11:44
    +6

    Need to see that juicy dash cam footage

  • Unorthodox on 23/06/2022 - 11:45
    +1

    Might as well post the dash cam footage as well.
    To be honest it looks minor, maybe give it a wipe down first.

  • mbck on 23/06/2022 - 11:46
    +2

    You didn't even get their licence plate nor driver licence.

    You'll pay the excess and that's the end

    It didn't look bad. Maybe live with it and be defensive next time.

    Yes the other car is a grade A d!ck, but I also call bs on you not being able to slow down a bit.

    Now there's headache for you and the other person.

  • Headless on 23/06/2022 - 11:47
    +1

    Repairer wont care about previous damage, it will all get fixed in 1 go - often they will find additional things to fix to bump up the repair cost (to the insurance company).
    Your premium would go up regardless of who's at fault - but this is why you change insurers every year.

    Figure out how much it would cost, vs how much premium is - go for the cheapest.
    And yes you will be without a car for a week or two, unless they can give you a hire car for free - check this

    • ryefig on 24/06/2022 - 09:28
      +1

      Changing insurer every year for a vehicle is the best life hack!
      Glad someone else knows about it.

  • SF3 on 23/06/2022 - 11:48
    +1

    Dashcam or it didn't happen.

  • Quantumcat on 23/06/2022 - 11:49

    I don't think anyone would believe that those scratches are from a car and not a wall (the two sections line up as being from a single vertical surface, plus the scratching is very fine). Personally I wouldn't bother with insurance.

    Also you're not technically at fault but now you can see why doing what you did was a bad idea. If someone is being a jerk on the road just get out of their way so you don't get impacted by their jerkery.

    But something you should do if you don't get it fixed up would be to wipe the red paint off - just in case you get into another incident in the future, you don't want someone with a red car claiming that as evidence you hit them.

    • Headless on 23/06/2022 - 11:52
      +3

      Jerkyness is so common in Australia, my new attitude is to let them be dks and stay out of their way

  • holdenmg on 23/06/2022 - 11:53

    I was intrigued by the moonwalking bear.

  • Muzeeb on 23/06/2022 - 11:54
    +2

    Thanks for the laugh.

    There are so many things wrong with this post I don't know where to start.

  • El cheepo on 23/06/2022 - 11:55
    +2

    Dashcam footage needed to laugh at help you make a decision.

  • bobbified on 23/06/2022 - 12:04
    +6

    Also, I deemed it not safe to slow down so much to a point where it may cause trouble to cars behind me.

    We all know this ^ is total bullshit.

    Everything you've got in your post…. you really should've thought about it all before letting too much emotion get into your driving. Because of that, while you are not technically at-fault, you still have to pay for it with your time and inconvenience.

  • Drakesy on 23/06/2022 - 12:21
    +1

    Nah bit of metho, she'll buff out.

  • holdenmg on 23/06/2022 - 12:32

    You can report it here:
    https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/report/dā€¦

    Any half-decent Motorway should have cameras and/or License Plate recognition.

  • Ughhh on 23/06/2022 - 13:09
    +1

    Once I get home, I check the left front corner of my car and there is now a red streak and a few new scratches on my bumper that was definitely not there previously.

    Dude, a tiny bird flew into my car while I was making a turn (driving), and even then I heard a loud noise and noticed the collision. How do you know know until you got home?

  • [Deactivated] on 23/06/2022 - 13:22

    never believe anyone who buys thongs from kmart

  • nomoneynoproblems on 23/06/2022 - 13:25

    Lol OP clearly looking for the red car to pay for the already thrashed bumper šŸ˜‚

  • Keplaffintech on 23/06/2022 - 14:58
    -1

    This angers me and I maintain my distance to the car in front of me.

    You are a bad driver. The other driver had the right to merge in front of you and they even indicated. You are a bad driver.

    • Ughhh on 23/06/2022 - 19:26

      The other driver had the right to merge in front of you and they even indicated.

      Sarcasm or serious?

      • Keplaffintech on 23/06/2022 - 21:59

        OK not 'right of way', but there's no reason why OP should not have let them in.

    • Eeples on 23/06/2022 - 21:21

      I agree with the 'You are a bad driver.' but the rest of your post is nonsense.

  • Euphemistic on 23/06/2022 - 14:59

    Yes. Make a claim to teach the other driver a lesson.

    Make sure you come back here and tell us how it goes.

  • RDY4ME on 23/06/2022 - 15:08

    I think you got a good deal on the thongs.

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