A Silly Question :)

[Former Teacher]

About a week ago, an illegal immigrant (has TX insurance but possess a Guatemala license) who lives in our complex backed into my blazer with his blazer. The damage was not bad at all but he did leave a dent by my tire. Because of the fact that had the roles been reversed, we contacted his insurance company. They are coming out Wednesday.

Now my question is this. Like I said the damage is not bad. And again, I know if the roles had been reversed he would have drained our insurance company. So it's the matter of the principle. Can we legally keep the money and not have the car fixed?

I sure can think of A LOT of things that I can use that money for :: Also we are not talking thousands of dollars. We are talking at most maybe $300.00 (and that's pushing it)

Oh and because this happened on private property, the police can't do nothing. They did come out because this man spoke not one word of English so we had to call the police.

What would you do?

[safechner]

No, the insurance will not give you the money unless you can ask a driver at fault to see if he is willing to pay the damage without insurance. I mostly doubt he will do that. The insurance will only pay to get it fixed at Collision Center. Sorry....

[SandeeAR]

No, the insurance will not give you the money unless you can ask a driver at fault to see if he is willing to pay the damage without insurance. I mostly doubt he will do that. The insurance will only pay to get it fixed at Collision Center. Sorry....

It depends on the insurance company. Our company, has there own adjuster look at it. I don't even have to go get bids. They cut us the check. It is up to us where we get it fixed or not fix it at all.
I got rear ended at a stop light. They paid a little over $600, b/c the bumper was scratched and the foam underneath was damaged. We chose not to fix it as it was minor in appearance.

[Former Teacher]

It depends on the insurance company. Our company, has there own adjuster look at it. I don't even have to go get bids. They cut us the check. It is up to us where we get it fixed or not fix it at all.
I got rear ended at a stop light. They paid a little over $600, b/c the bumper was scratched and the foam underneath was damaged. We chose not to fix it as it was minor in appearance.

Yes that's how it is here (I think). They come out to us and we have the choice of where we want it fixed.

My only fear is that we tell them where and they will write the collision center the check ::

[safechner]

Alright.. Please let me know if I am wrong. About 8 years ago, someone opened the door and hit on my side of truck by a tire very loud just right front of me at Wal Mart. I got her insurance information and I called her insurance to file a claim. She have the same insurance as mine (state farm). It is only $400 but I still have to get my truck fixed anyways. I am not sure what kind of insurance he have but I BET it is Geico or cheaper insurance. If you are still making payments on your car notes then you will require to get your car fixed. If your car paid off then you may request them to get a check.

[Former Teacher]

Alright.. Please let me know if I am wrong. About 8 years ago, someone opened the door and hit on my side of truck by a tire very loud just right front of me at Wal Mart. I got her insurance information and I called her insurance to file a claim. She have the same insurance as mine (state farm). It is only $400 but I still have to get my truck fixed anyways. I am not sure what kind of insurance have but I BET it is Geico or cheaper insurance. If you are still making payments on your car notes then you will require to get your car fixed. If your car paid off then you may request them to get a check.

I actually have State Farm and the guy has something call Old American or something I can't think off the top of my head. DH is taking care of everything.

Anyway, my car is completely paid off and has been for years.

I will keep everyone posted

[dEHmom]

Maybe it's different in the USA, but if you make a claim against someone, they pay the deductible, and if they are not the registered driver they also pay a surcharge.


In Canada, we only have one insurance place, throughout, and it's called Autopac. Much easier than shopping around for the "right" insurance.

[MyAngels]

The insurance compensates you for your loss, whether you actually get it fixed is up to you. Every time we've had an insurance claim the company has always asked whether we want the check made out to us or to the repair shop. I don't believe they can make you fix it if you don't want to.

[jen]

About a week ago, an illegal immigrant (has TX insurance but possess a Guatemala license) who lives in our complex backed into my blazer with his blazer. The damage was not bad at all but he did leave a dent by my tire. Because of the fact that had the roles been reversed, we contacted his insurance company. They are coming out Wednesday.

Now my question is this. Like I said the damage is not bad. And again, I know if the roles had been reversed he would have drained our insurance company. So it's the matter of the principle. Can we legally keep the money and not have the car fixed?

I sure can think of A LOT of things that I can use that money for :: Also we are not talking thousands of dollars. We are talking at most maybe $300.00 (and that's pushing it)

Oh and because this happened on private property, the police can't do nothing. They did come out because this man spoke not one word of English so we had to call the police.

What would you do?

How do you know he's illegal or that if the roles had been reversed he would have drained your insurance?

[momofsix]

About a week ago, an illegal immigrant (has TX insurance but possess a Guatemala license) who lives in our complex backed into my blazer with his blazer. The damage was not bad at all but he did leave a dent by my tire. Because of the fact that had the roles been reversed, we contacted his insurance company. They are coming out Wednesday.

Now my question is this. Like I said the damage is not bad. And again, I know if the roles had been reversed he would have drained our insurance company. So it's the matter of the principle. Can we legally keep the money and not have the car fixed?

I sure can think of A LOT of things that I can use that money for :: Also we are not talking thousands of dollars. We are talking at most maybe $300.00 (and that's pushing it)

Oh and because this happened on private property, the police can't do nothing. They did come out because this man spoke not one word of English so we had to call the police.

What would you do?

Bold part ????
If he's illegal, why didn't the police picdk him up? That seems strange.

To answer your question, i think it depends on your insurance co. Our old one used to make out the checks to us and we could do whatever we wanted with it. Our current one writes out the check to us AND the business that would fix our car, so they have to get the check.

[missnikki]

His insurance will be happy to give you a quick check in your name. It gets them out of any service contracts, long waits, paper pushing, legal issues... they will lowball you with cash and you can take it (spend it on repairs or sushi, they don't care) or you can have it repaired at a facility of their choice and never deal with a dime.

[youretooloud]

With our insurance, you will not get the money (if the damages are just to the car) They make you co-sign with the shop that fixes it.

I'd also ask the driver to pay it out of pocket. Heck, I'd just be thrilled he had insurance!

My ex was hit my a Mexican citizen, but he had insurance through a company in Texas. The driver did not speak English, so my ex called the police, and they interpreted. The driver's insurance sent the payment directly to the shop to fix the car... if anybody kept the extra money, it was the shop.

[Former Teacher]

How do you know he's illegal or that if the roles had been reversed he would have drained your insurance?

Bold part ????
If he's illegal, why didn't the police picdk him up? That seems strange.

To answer your question, i think it depends on your insurance co. Our old one used to make out the checks to us and we could do whatever we wanted with it. Our current one writes out the check to us AND the business that would fix our car, so they have to get the check.

To answer both questions: I know he was illegal due to his license and the fact that the police came out and told us he was an illegal. They could not arrest him or pick him up because the accident happened on private property. That is also why we didn't get a full police report, only a reference number, because of it happening on private property. What they did after we left I don't know.

As for my comment about draining our insurance, where I live, that is considered the norm. These illegal immigrants take whatever they can and go back to their home country. They also purposefully CAUSE accidents just to collect insurance.

I am sorry if I sound prejudiced or racist. I am far from it. In fact one of my bestest friends is an African American. I also have several hispanic friends. However living in the area I live in, I tend to have the opinion that the immigrants take what they can and run.

[youretooloud]

If he's illegal, why didn't the police picdk him up? That seems strange.

Illegal immigrants almost NEVER get "picked up" just for being illegal. If they do, it's only a raid on a business hiring illegals, or it's a drop house. Even in the raids, they are rarely taken into custody, or deported.

I have called in drop houses before, and nobody even came to check on them.

Over 3000 illegals cross the border EVERY DAY. There is no way to keep up with that kind of traffic.

Besides, the guy had insurance, so I think that's really good. At least he stayed and handled the problem, he didn't run, and he was willing to let himself be arrested if that was going to happen.

[Former Teacher]

Illegal immigrants almost NEVER get "picked up" just for being illegal. If they do, it's only a raid on a business hiring illegals, or it's a drop house. Even in the raids, they are rarely taken into custody, or deported.

I have called in drop houses before, and nobody even came to check on them.

Over 3000 illegals cross the border EVERY DAY. There is no way to keep up with that kind of traffic.

Besides, the guy had insurance, so I think that's really good. At least he stayed and handled the problem, he didn't run, and he was willing to let himself be arrested if that was going to happen.

Agreed. Even though when my husband said that he was going to call the police since we couldn't understand him...he started saying "NO CALL COPS! NO CALL COPS!", he didn't run.

I hate feeling the way I do about immigrants/illegals because it does make me feel prejudiced. It just ticks me off that these immigrants/illegals have more rights than we Americans.

I remember one story years ago. This company (don't remember which one) told an hispanic man that he had 2, yes 2 YEARS to learn English, otherwise he couldn't work for them. Well 2 years later he still didn't know English. The company fired him. Guess what? He sued and won for discrimination.

It also ticks me off when I go buy something and the labels are in Spanish AND English. WTH??? This is AMERICA. The language is ENGLISH. If you favor one language, then favor them all.

Grr I can go on and on about this But I won't ::