Hit and Run - Street Parking; should I make a claim? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Hit and Run - Street Parking; should I make a claim?

E. Honda

E. Honda

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My bike was parked outside on the street this morning between two cars. More than enough space for everyone, and my bike was parked far enough away from the curb that it was visible to the driver I parked behind as he approached the driver's side door.

I came out an hour later and my bike had been hit. From the looks of the damage it was knocked over, and picked back up. The car in front was gone, and there was no note left. It does not appear there are any cameras nearby with a view of the street.

The bike is pretty banged up, but rideable. Mirror broken, turn indicator broker, nose fairing cracked, foot peg snapped, exhaust a little bent, and some various scratches.

So my question is how will Statefarm handle this claim?
Since I have no proof of the hit and run/leaving the scene, could this be considered my fault?
If I make a claim will my premiums rise such that paying for the damage myself is the cheaper option?
Does a police report make a difference?

Thanks for your help.
 
Right now, before another minute passes ride the bike to one of the Collision Reporting Centres.
Report the collision and get your version of what happened on the record.
It should be reported as a Fail to Remain.
 
I'm no expert but it's probably not worth claiming.

It's most likely going to be less than your deductible to fix and much less hassle and no worries about having your rates go up.

I would just grab some used replacement parts off kijiji/ebay/salvage yard and be on my way.

It sucks, but that is how it goes sometimes.
 
E. Honda said:
My bike was parked outside on the street this morning between two cars. More than enough space for everyone, and my bike was parked far enough away from the curb that it was visible to the driver I parked behind as he approached the driver's side door.

I came out an hour later and my bike had been hit. From the looks of the damage it was knocked over, and picked back up. The car in front was gone, and there was no note left. It does not appear there are any cameras nearby with a view of the street.

The bike is pretty banged up, but rideable. Mirror broken, turn indicator broker, nose fairing cracked, foot peg snapped, exhaust a little bent, and some various scratches.

So my question is how will Statefarm handle this claim?
Since I have no proof of the hit and run/leaving the scene, could this be considered my fault?
If I make a claim will my premiums rise such that paying for the damage myself is the cheaper option?
Does a police report make a difference?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

If you were to make a claim, you'd be on the hook for the deductible and also an insurance premium increase as there was no proof that another party was involved and would likely be covered under collision coverage.
(How would the insurance company be able to tell the difference between a rider dropping his/her bike on his own or if somebody hit-and-run them?)

If you do make a claim, also create/submit a police report in case the other party was ever found in the future. Otherwise fix it yourself.
 
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Does the information at the Collision Reporting Center go the police or insurance?

If determined to be a Fail to Remain is this somehow proof, or at the very least evidence that I am not at fault?
 
read this :

http://www.brokerlink.ca/blog/hit-run-accident/

lesson of the link : REPORT THE ACCIDENT NOW IF YOU INTEND TO FILE A CLAIM ... if you are fixing it on your own then no biggie. I believe you have 24 hours from the time of the incident to file.

"How does a hit and run impact your insurance? If the driver of the vehicle who hit your car cannot be identified, your claim will be paid out under the collision portion of your auto insurance policy and subject to your deductible. If your auto policy does not have collision coverage, you may have to pay for the damages out of pocket. However, if the driver who hit your car can be identified, the loss may be paid out under the direct compensation section of your policy which is normally not subject to a deductible. For this reason, it’s always best to connect with any potential witnesses.

Rest assured your insurance rates will not increase so long as you report the incident to the police or collision reporting centre, and your insurance company. "
 
chiller said:
read this :

http://www.brokerlink.ca/blog/hit-run-accident/

lesson of the link : REPORT THE ACCIDENT NOW IF YOU INTEND TO FILE A CLAIM ... if you are fixing it on your own then no biggie. I believe you have 24 hours from the time of the incident to file.

"How does a hit and run impact your insurance? If the driver of the vehicle who hit your car cannot be identified, your claim will be paid out under the collision portion of your auto insurance policy and subject to your deductible. If your auto policy does not have collision coverage, you may have to pay for the damages out of pocket. However, if the driver who hit your car can be identified, the loss may be paid out under the direct compensation section of your policy which is normally not subject to a deductible. For this reason, it’s always best to connect with any potential witnesses.

Rest assured your insurance rates will not increase so long as you report the incident to the police or collision reporting centre, and your insurance company. "
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Not really sure about the last part of the quote, could it be different between a car and a bike? In the past, people have reported increased rates after an unidentifiable offender in a hit-and-run.

Ie. If a bike were to go down somewhere, whats stopping them from laying their bike down on a deserted road where they could legally park and reporting a hit-and-run?
 
PLau said:
Not really sure about the last part of the quote, could it be different between a car and a bike? In the past, people have reported increased rates after an unidentifiable offender in a hit-and-run.

Ie. If a bike were to go down somewhere, whats stopping them from laying their bike down on a deserted road where they could legally park and reporting a hit-and-run?
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N3WMAN said:
Riiiiiiiight.
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I'm only reporting the article what it said ... I would check with your insurance, call in without a name and ask the policy.
 
chiller said:
I'm only reporting the article what it said ... I would check with your insurance, call in without a name and ask the policy.
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Hence why I referred to the quote that was made and not you. :p

Seems like a site that is trying to entice people looking for insurance policies in saying "don't worry, we got you covered". Considering the site is a site for getting in contact with brokers, I would call bs as you kind of mentioned that it would be different depending on the company you end up with.

Their statement should only apply if it is an insurance company that offers an accident forgiveness and uses it for a unidentifiable hit-and-run scenario.
 
In the Last 10 years we have made two claims for hit and runs. Both were significant dollar amounts that exceeded the deductible by far. In neither case did our insurance go up...to the contrary actually we continued to see reductions because of loyalty.

The above advice to drive your vehicle to a collision reporting centre isn't exactly sound however – the correct procedure for a hit-and-run accident is to not move the vehicle whatsoever (in the case of a bike, if it's on the ground LEAVE it there) and call the police so they can attend and file a report. If they suggest driving the vehicle to the collision reporting centre you're within your rights to question the safety of doing so, and in my opinion even more so when it comes to a motorcycle – tell them you want an officer to attend as you feel the vehicle is unsafe to drive and you will wait for such.

That report, filed immediately upon noticing the damage is the key to a successful hit and run insurance claim accomplished without any increase in your premiums as a result. It's not imaginary, it's perfectly possible so long as you follow the correct procedure. You are NOT held at fault and penalized for a hit a run claim unless your insurance company can prove otherwise that it wasn't actually a H&R to begin with. That's where the police report (and photos are also wise) come into play.

It it was a totally painless process for me both times aside from eating the deductible.
 
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I always used to snap pictures of the cars and bikes parked around my bike. Not that I ever had to use them. Some of the bikes used to park right on top of the cars, so I could understand if they were hit or moved.
 
PrivatePilot said:
In the Last 10 years we have made two claims for hit and runs. Both were significant dollar amounts that exceeded the deductible by far. In neither case did our insurance go up...to the contrary actually we continued to see reductions because of loyalty.

The above advice to drive your vehicle to a collision reporting centre isn't exactly sound however – the correct procedure for a hit-and-run accident is to not move the vehicle whatsoever (in the case of a bike, if it's on the ground LEAVE it there) and call the police so they can attend and file a report. If they suggest driving the vehicle to the collision reporting centre you're within your rights to question the safety of doing so, and in my opinion even more so when it comes to a motorcycle – tell them you want an officer to attend as you feel the vehicle is unsafe to drive and you will wait for such.

That report, filed immediately upon noticing the damage is the key to a successful hit and run insurance claim accomplished without any increase in your premiums as a result. It's not imaginary, it's perfectly possible so long as you follow the correct procedure. You are NOT held at fault and penalized for a hit a run claim unless your insurance company can prove otherwise that it wasn't actually a H&R to begin with. That's where the police report (and photos are also wise) come into play.

It it was a totally painless process for me both times aside from eating the deductible.
Click to expand...

For your hit-and-run occurrences, was the other driver identified? witnesses? camera footage?
 
PrivatePilot said:
In the Last 10 years we have made two claims for hit and runs. Both were significant dollar amounts that exceeded the deductible by far. In neither case did our insurance go up...to the contrary actually we continued to see reductions because of loyalty.

The above advice to drive your vehicle to a collision reporting centre isn't exactly sound however – the correct procedure for a hit-and-run accident is to not move the vehicle whatsoever (in the case of a bike, if it's on the ground LEAVE it there) and call the police so they can attend and file a report. If they suggest driving the vehicle to the collision reporting centre you're within your rights to question the safety of doing so, and in my opinion even more so when it comes to a motorcycle – tell them you want an officer to attend as you feel the vehicle is unsafe to drive and you will wait for such.

That report, filed immediately upon noticing the damage is the key to a successful hit and run insurance claim accomplished without any increase in your premiums as a result. It's not imaginary, it's perfectly possible so long as you follow the correct procedure. You are NOT held at fault and penalized for a hit a run claim unless your insurance company can prove otherwise that it wasn't actually a H&R to begin with. That's where the police report (and photos are also wise) come into play.

It it was a totally painless process for me both times aside from eating the deductible.
Click to expand...
In my experience if they estimate the damage is under $1k(how they do that I have no idea) they wont send an officer and tell you to go to the reporting center.
 
N3WMAN said:
In my experience if they estimate the damage is under $1k(how they do that I have no idea) they wont send an officer and tell you to go to the reporting center.
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Last time my friend was rear-ended in his car and was told to go to the collision reporting center, his rear lights were messed, bumper hanging off a hinge, exhaust pipe bent, the cop was a complete idiot.

After waiting in line to see him at the counter, he says "do you have pictures of the damage?", I go out and take some pics and come back in... "That doesn't look like that much damage you should only be reporting damage over $1k..." mumbles something, grunts, gets out of his chair, comes out to take a look at the car and says "fine... I'll write you a report". Damage turned out to be around $4k.

That being said, it wasn't a hit-and-run, and the whole process of getting this report with this particular officer took about 45 mins from when we first got to him at the counter and he was giving us grief for getting him to do his job.
 
Always always always get a police report or insurance wont do ****. You should be able to go right down to the police station.

If any of the paint is scratched its gonna be over 1k
 
If you can't identify the offender, and you _don't_ have collision coverage, then no point in making a report or claim as they won't cover you and both the report and the claim have negative connotations.

If you have collision coverage, then you have to weigh the deductible cost and report/claim vs overall cost to fix on your own tab.

Even if State Farm (Desjardin now?) does not penalize you in the future, you may wish to change insurance companies in the future and at that time wll honestly have to answer if you have made any claims and they will see the report (it gets saved to the Autoplus system that all insurers access).
 
N3WMAN said:
In my experience if they estimate the damage is under $1k(how they do that I have no idea) they wont send an officer and tell you to go to the reporting center.
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Toronto has stopped responding to all accidents without injuries or damage to public property. The police were spending too much time writing up all of the crashes (something like a 40% increase 2015 over 2014).
 
GreyGhost said:
Toronto has stopped responding to all accidents without injuries or damage to public property. The police were spending too much time writing up all of the crashes (something like a 40% increase 2015 over 2014).
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Theyve been doing this in ottawa for awhile. My car was in a hit and run while parked last summer in ottawa, and I called the police and they just told me to bring it down to the station they arent sending anyone out.
They had a square marked out in the parking lot out back. You just drive your car into the marked area, it takes a 360 degree pic, you write up your version of the events, and then youre done. It was all fairly simple and quick, you could tell they designed the system to process alot of people very quickly
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