I was driving a friends car in New Jersey and spun out after swerving to avoid a deer and hit a road sign?
Nov 21st, 2009 by AutoInsGuy
Sean L asked:
What is the best way to handle this considering im a broke college student with a clean driving record and no previous accidents…we did not call the police and talked to the owner of the property who agreed not to call the authorities in exchange for us fixing the tire marks. The deer was the cause of the accident although we did not hit it and the damage is cosmetic.
Should I claim this to my insurance company? pay to fix the car out of my own pocket? Will my friends insurance cover it?
I don’t know how this all works
His dad knows cars and said it will roughly be about $5000
Alma
If your friend gave you permission to use the vehicle, you are considered an “insured” under her policy. Her liability coverage would pay for the damage you caused. She needs to have collision coverage to be covered for the damage to her vehicle. Yours does not provide coverage(usually).
Your coverage would not kick in unless for some reason the property damage limits exceeded her liability limits(in most states)
Fix the owner’s property as you promised and pay for the damage to the car out of pocket. If it is truly a minor accident and no one was hurt, why report it to the insurance company? Fix the property and car out of pocket and move on.
One thing to be careful with is if you go through insurance that would be considered an at fualt accident as you did not hit the deer, where as if you did hit the deer it would have been a comp claim. This would then hurt your friends and your insurance rates