Expert: Charlie Barone - 12/4/2009

Question
My car was parked and hit by a driver who did not leave a note.  When I called the police to get a report, they said that they could not send an officer out to the scene unless someone was injured.  I wanted to just pay for it myself because I don't want my rates to go up, but I got an estimate for over $3000 for the repairs.  What should I do now?

Answer
Shop around for competitive prices. The collision repair industry is not in good shape with respect to work coming in the doors, so it is a buyer's market. If they are all coming in at or around $3000 and you can't afford that, then you have little choice other than to submit a claim to your insurance company. Call them and ask if your rates will go up behind this claim. They might not as every insurance company can be different with respect to claims.

I assume you have little hope of finding the person who hit your car, but if you can discover who it was, then go after them.