{"id":1256,"date":"2011-01-28T12:51:31","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T17:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2018-06-27T12:27:56","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T18:27:56","slug":"someone-hit-my-parked-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/someone-hit-my-parked-car\/","title":{"rendered":"What Should I Do When Someone Hit My Parked Car in Maine?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This week alone, two of my friends&#8217; parked cars have been hit by someone else. One in Portland Maine. The other in Westbrook, Maine. A responsible person would leave\u00a0their contact information for the poor victim, but that doesn&#8217;t always happen. If\u00a0you can&#8217;t identify who hit your car, you have little recourse but to use your own insurance.\u00a0 However, if you can identify the other party, this information may be helpful.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3486\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3486\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ggunson\/34107948\/in\/photolist-41P75-cudcm-fSRkKK-5FbcJG-8i7XHw-2gZf9-6XBjCw-2UjMop-4ARPA1-57VhWW-tS5WaL-6NKVeQ-81sC7q-rv49qE-5SR54B-7Jc8DD-9FeX18-mWc5hL-qne2av-hZT5nm-sdaFNY-4uiFDu-cudck-9FhTWy-9FhTy7-9FhTcQ-9FeW3Z-9FeXRB-7isq1c-hZTNQp-eD8yY-eBTDx-fvf7MJ-5SMhm5-5Kzyyx-pgTcE-nNeVwT-cBWdp-3swfs-6Z2xNo-3NBjq-9FhU5N-8fv92S-hZSUpK-2tQ5Z7-81Y18K-5SNLGN-5PVw4e-eHRPZr-noBaMu\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3486 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/34107948_c47ec3df86_z-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"Flickr photo by gillicious\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3486\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flickr photo by gillicious<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">What\u00a0To Do If Someone Hits Your Car in Maine<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If it&#8217;s safe to do so, get the person&#8217;s name, address, phone number and insurance company information &#8211; BEFORE the police arrive!<\/li>\n<li>Call the police if the total damage (both vehicles) appears to be more than $1,000. If there&#8217;s visible damage &#8211; even minor &#8211; it&#8217;s probably more than $1,000.<\/li>\n<li>Give your statement to the police. Don&#8217;t admit any fault to the other driver, or argue about whose fault the accident was.<\/li>\n<li>Report the accident to your <a title=\"Maine Car Insurance and Online Auto Insurance Quotes from Noyes Hall &amp; Allen\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/personal-insurance-landing\/car-insurance\/\" target=\"_self\">Maine auto insurance agent<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Should\u00a0I Use My Insurance or Theirs?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">If the accident was clearly the\u00a0other driver&#8217;s fault (e.g. you were legally parked), try their insurance first. \u00a0Using their insurance avoids having to pay your collision deductible, allows you to keep your <a title=\"Maine Auto Insurance Discounts from Noyes Hall &amp; Allen Insurance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/personal-insurance-landing\/insurance-discount\/maine-auto-insurance-discounts\/\" target=\"_self\">Maine car insurance discounts<\/a>, and contains no daily limit on rental coverage. Of course, if\u00a0 you&#8217;re a victim of a hit-and-run accident, you have no choice but to use your own insurance. Your own local insurance agent can help you start the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>Use their insurance if:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">You got their insurance information at the scene, or can quickly get the Maine police report (many police reports aren&#8217;t available for several days).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Their insurance company accepts responsibility quickly (within 24 hours after you contact them). <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\">You did not buy\u00a0collision coverage on your own policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Other Company Isn&#8217;t Responding After the Accident<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The other insurance company must confirm liability before they accept responsibility to fix your car. They do this in one of three ways:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Their customer<\/strong>\u00a0admits to them that they were clearly at fault (e.g. hit your parked car, rear-ended you at a stop light).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The <strong>police report<\/strong> says the other driver was at fault (police reports may not be available for several days).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After\u00a0<strong>their own investigation<\/strong>, the insurance company determines that their customer was at fault. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If it&#8217;s taking too long for the insurance company to accept responsibility, you may choose to make a claim on your own policy. \u00a0You&#8217;ll have to pay your collision deductible, but\u00a0at least you&#8217;ll get your car fixed, and get on with your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Will I Get My Deductible Back if My Insurance Company Collects from the Other Insurance Company?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Yes. if they collect from the other insurance company (a process called &#8220;subrogation&#8221;), your Maine insurance company will reimburse your deductible, and wipe the accident off your record.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Who Will Help Me Deal With The Other Insurance Company?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That depends on where you bought your insurance. \u00a0If you bought your car insurance or <a title=\"Commercial Vehicle Insurance from Noyes Hall &amp; Allen Insurance South Portland Maine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/business-insurance\/commercial-vehicle-insurance-2\/\" target=\"_self\">Maine commercial vehicle insurance<\/a> from an <a title=\"Noyes Hall &amp; Allen Insurance - Independent and Committed to You - South Portland Maine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/\" target=\"_self\">independent local Maine insurance agent<\/a> like Noyes Hall &amp; Allen, they can help you report that claim to the other company. Your claim against the other insurance company should not affect your insurance company or your policy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you bought your Maine car insurance online, you&#8217;re probably on your own. One more reason to buy insurance from a local agency instead of a computer or 800 number.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Of course, if you have no insurance at all on your vehicle, you&#8217;re really on your own.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; This week alone, two of my friends&#8217; parked cars have been hit by someone else. One in Portland Maine. The other in Westbrook, Maine. A responsible person would leave\u00a0their contact information for the poor victim, but that doesn&#8217;t always happen. If\u00a0you can&#8217;t identify who hit your car, you have little recourse but to use [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21,5,37,8,14],"tags":[67,41,7,36],"class_list":["post-1256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-auto-insurance","category-business-insurance","category-car-insurance","category-commercial-vehicle-insurance-business-insurance","category-motorcycle-insurance","category-personal-insurance","tag-auto-insurance","tag-claims","tag-living-in-maine","tag-saving-money"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1256"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5103,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions\/5103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noyeshallallen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}