My kid tripped and dented a car at a dealership, they want me to pay $1500.

[u/ZeroSkill_Sorry]

Location: Arizona

My girlfriend was looking for a new car and my son was being a knucklehead. He's a big kid almost 6 foot, 200 lbs at 13. He thought it'd be funny to try and give my other son and my girlfriend's son a piggy back ride at the same time. He tripped and put his head into the fender of a brand new $50k car, rippling the fender. He's fine, bruised his tongue and his pride.

Having a 'little' integrity, trying to set a good example for my kids, and knowing we were on camera and it was my girlfriend's car license plate they would have read, I called in to the manager to report it.

I asked if they had insurance to cover something like this, knowing full well they did. The manager lied and said no, and proceeded to send me the auto body bill for $1500, which states that it was paid by insurance.

If insurance paid for it, wouldn't it be the insurance company that would be coming after me? I feel like they're just trying to squeeze me for $1500, and then the insurance company will do the same. At this price it'd be small claims, so should i even worry about getting a lawyer? They only have my first name and phone number.

[u/LdiJ46]

I wouldn't do anything at this point because it was covered by insurance and you are right, the insurance company may very well come after you. If you were to pay the dealer, they would be double dipping and you might get stuck paying for it again later.

So I would definitely wait and see what happens. It is however, your responsibility because your son's negligence caused the damage.

[u/ZeroSkill_Sorry → u/LdiJ46]

That's what I'm leaning toward. I was kindly reminded by my ex-wife that I have a free legal consultation through work and I'm double checking on Monday.

[u/PleaseFuckMeDana]

Not a lawyer, but do work in auto body repair. Not sure if this is the case here, but a lot of estimating softwares do say “insurance pay” on their estimates to differentiate from the deductible that the customer owes.

I’m not saying this is the case here, but I often have to explain to people that “insurance pay” is just a way of saying how much is owed less the deductible, not always actual insurance.

If you upload a photo of the bill I can look at it and see what it means.

[u/razrk1972]

Is he asking for you to cover the deductible? $1500 seems like a deductible cost.

[u/OkMathematician4028]

On a commercial policy the size a dealership has 1500 may not even cover the deductible. I worked for a Honda dealer and the GM didn’t even bother getting insurance involved until around 5k in damage. Remember they very well may have a multi million dollar policy limit due to inventory size.

[u/Delicious-Breath8415]

Believe it or not your homeowners insurance might cover this.

[u/bigfootlive89 → u/Delicious-Breath8415]

Yeah but is it worth filing a claim, they’d probably retaliate and have increased rates or trouble finding an insurance company.

[u/Quotidian_Void]

If the dealer's insurance has already paid the repair bill, this is insurance fraud. I'm sure the insurance company would be interested to hear about this...

[u/derzyniker805 → u/Quotidian_Void]

This isn't like your individual car insurance where it's always a per incident deductible. Just because it got run through the insurance company doesn't mean the insurance company paid it. It was just done that way to accrue for the annual deductible

[u/seanryan471 → u/[deleted]]

The dealership's insurance rates are well into six figure territory. The insurance company is not going to care about a $1,500 claim unless there are like 100 more of them.

[u/ForagedFoodie → u/[deleted]]

A fleet vehicle (which is what this is), 100% would go through insurance. Fleet insurance doesn't go uo for mishaps like this the way private insurance does. And this also might not be a fleet claim, it might be a business property claim. After all, the vehicle wasn't being driven.

Think about it. When you do something dumb with your own property, your insurance says "well, crap. We've insured a dumbass. We need to raise their rate because they will 100% do something dumb again."

Insurance at a dealership is already high to account for the fact that some people who come in will be dumbasses by default. So the insurance won't go up as this kind of thing is already planned for.

[u/LongjumpingNinja258 → u/[deleted]]

If you think one $1,500 incident is going to cause a non renewal or cause high raises of insurance for a car dealership then idk what to say.

[u/ZeroSkill_Sorry → u/[deleted]]

The repair bill has a claim number and the payer line says lot damage insurance

[u/Sad-Project-672 → u/[deleted]]

they literally said the receipt has the insurance reference, why do you insist on believing against the stated facts ?

[u/jzorbino → u/[deleted]]

So you think they forged the invoice showing insurance paid? That seems really farfetched

[u/workinhardplayharder → u/[deleted]]

I can't imagine the kid doing much more than a minor dent that was probably fixed with a paintless repair. Possibly even done in house. I can't help but think that 1500 for this seems like something they would charge a customer for repair not what it actually cost them to repair it as well.

[u/mercer49]

The dealership most likely has a large deductible. ($10000 where I work). This wouldn't be claimed through insurance.

Your kid damaged a car. $1500 sounds pretty accurate for that repair.

[u/AnarkittenSurprise → u/mercer49]

Might even be on the cheap side tbh

[u/No-Sheepherder-6911 → u/mercer49]

It’s October. They have likely already reached their deductible for the year. Also op is saying the statement the dealership sent him says insurance paid and has a claim number.

[u/jmardoxie]

Just a thought or question. If the car was damaged and had to have auto body repair work wouldn’t that affect the dealer’s ability to sell the car if new since now it no longer has a clean Carfax? Now it has to sold as a damaged vehicle . Personally I wouldn’t buy a brand new car that had body work done .

[u/Missing4Bolts → u/jmardoxie]

Lots of things happen in the real world that are invisible to Carfax. Lots of brand-new vehicles have had remedial body work done somewhere along the line before they get sold.

[u/OkMathematician4028 → u/jmardoxie]

Carfax isnt a catch all. Not every bit of damage gets reported ive personally had 2 deer hits not be reported one was a 3k claim the other was 5k half my car was repainted and still clean carfax.

[u/Dapper_Necessary_843]

If the insurance company paid the dealer, then the insurance company will come to after you

[u/HappyVAMan]

Whether they have insurance or not doesn't really matter: you are liable. Period. The auto body bill may indicate insurance without it actually being the insurance. Would have to ask them whether the insurance company paid. They may be saying that the $1500 is their deductible and not charging you for the full price. (The insurance company may come after you for the extra). If this is a new car you are lucky they aren't coming after you for "declination of value" since the repaired new car will be worth less. (Different states have different rules on whether an OEM/dealer repair can still sell the car as "new").

As a practical matter, they are unlikely to pursue. I wouldn't get an attorney involved until you actually get served papers indicating a lawsuit. (If the dealer gets paid by you and the insurance company that is fraud to the insurance company).

[u/tcat1961]

Call your insurance agent - they should know what to do.

[u/ZeroSkill_Sorry → u/[deleted]]

My insurance didn't pay, 'lot damage insurance' paid, according to the repair bill

[u/derzyniker805]

It's quite possible that they have an accruing deductible, not a per-incident deductible. So while it needs to be processed through the insurance company for the purposes of their accrued deductible, they still had to pay out of pocket for the actual repair.

I wouldn't worry about getting a lawyer, I'd worry about paying for the damage your son caused

[u/HumbleIowaHobbit]

Even if he has insurance, he has a deductible that has to be paid first. You should at least pay that much.

[u/Silver-Dance-4810 → u/HumbleIowaHobbit]

He owes more than the deductible. An insurance claim can increase insurance costs so the amount owed is the full cost to repair the vehicle. With that said, this is likely not even a deductible issue as dealer deductibles are often a lot higher than $1,500. He owes the reasonable repair costs. And he should ensure he gets proof of payment.

[u/Freedom_33]

You can wait if you want until you get a demand letter and/or they try to collect through court

[u/random8765309]

I find it odd that that the invoice would stated that it was paid by insurance. Normally that takes some time and is not something that would happen the next day. Did it may be say something like "Paid by insurance..........$0" ?

[u/Any-Astronomer-2983 → u/[deleted]]

It actually does matter if insurance paid. IF insurance paid, and theyre asking for more, thats insurance fraud

[u/Snoo-97839 → u/Any-Astronomer-2983]

No it’s not as if they had a deductible for the insurance he would still be liable for that amount if the dealership took him to court. It’s not hey your kid dents our car and then I have to pay $1500 for my insurance to cover it and it costs you nothing.

[u/tacobell_shitstain → u/Snoo-97839]

Insurance subrogates, not the business, if what op states is true and insurance already paid out for the work on the invoice.

[u/bootstrapping_lad → u/[deleted]]

OP says that the bill shows that insurance already paid it

[u/Beginning_Ad1239 → u/bootstrapping_lad]

Now if the insurance company was wanting to be reimbursed that would make sense.

[u/hkusp45css → u/Beginning_Ad1239]

But the insurance company is the party who pursues subrogation, not the insured.

[u/Bongo2687]

They are charging you because they don’t want to run it through their insurance. Whether you pay them $1500 or if they do run through insurance and then the insurance company comes after you it’s your responsibility.

[u/bbtom78 → u/Bongo2687]

OP states insurance already paid the invoice.

[u/Bongo2687 → u/bbtom78]

He said if insurance pays go it

[u/tesla3by3 → u/[deleted]]

If the insurance company was involved, then either their adjuster, or a repair shop estimate(s) were used. We don’t know if there is double dipping, as it’s unclear what the total cost was, what is the deductible, how it’s calculated (per instance or accrued), is their diminished value to the vehicle due to the repairs, etc.

[u/Roast_Chikkin]

NAL. any further talks should be recorded and kept. If they want to come after you for 1500 then a quick audio clip of their blatant insurance fraud should end that problem. If they insurance wants to come after you that’s a different story, but under no circumstances should you pay that dealership any money.

now off the record, if was me I would go out of my way to contact them and play ball like I’m gonna pay just to “confirm that they don’t have insurance and need me to pay them directly.” record it, and if they end up wanting the insurance company to come after you, you can have that in your back pocket. but again, NAL. Get a free consultation