Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 3/8/2011

Question
I have a flat bed car hauling trailer.  I loaned a friend my 8N tractor and I went to his house to retrieve it.  While loading the tractor the hitch popped off the ball and because my 09 GMC acadia was still attached via safety chains, the neck came crashing down on the bumper and gouged the bottom of the rear hatch.  There was no one in the car.  It was parked. The trailer was chock blocked. The Acadia was pulled back by chains and it slid on loose dirt. Had the safety chains not been attached it would have popped off the ball without a problem and nothing would have been hurt.  The fact that it was still partially attached to the vehicle is the reason it was damaged (the safety chain loops are twisted up). The adjuster admitted it was iffy at first, ie could be comp or collision.  I have a 250$ comp and 500$ collision and its not about the 250$ difference.  The comp will not raise monthly rates whereas collision will.  Also the negative stigma attached to "collision damage" on a "carfax" type report later is a negative as well.

Ive been told that had I been driving the trailer and hit a pothole that popped the trailer loose and it hit my car it would be comp.  How is this collision?

Answer
Hi Benjamin,

Unfortunately, I would say this would fall under collision as well. Comprehensive clais are for vandalism, theft, trees falling, animal hits and other "acts of God". This situation is clearly none of those.

You do not need to worry about CarFax. CarFax gets accident report information from police reports. So if there was no police report, there will be no CarFax report.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh