New Bike rear-ended while on bike hitch :(

[VeloVT]

Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! That is terrible. I would be so upset.

Do you have renters' or homeowners' insurance? Your bikes (bikes=property) may have some coverage under that kind of policy.

I am not sure if I would spend $650 to repair a $900 bike.

Was there any damage to the car? Is that being covered by the bad person's insurance? If they have some sort of umbrella policy it may cover your bikes as well (though they are not going to volunteer that information probably). They caused a not-insignificant amount of damage to your property (other than the car) -- about $5,000. I would at least let them know this. I don't know the technicalities of what constitutes grounds for small claims court, but if they aren't prepared to make good on it either from their own money or from insurance, that is always a potential threat.

OK, I'm not sure I like the person I'm looking like in this post .

But these thoughts would probably cross my mind, depending on the exact circumstances of the accident, of course.

[Irulan]

Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! That is terrible. I would be so upset.

Do you have renters' or homeowners' insurance? Your bikes (bikes=property) may have some coverage under that kind of policy.

I am not sure if I would spend $650 to repair a $900 bike.

Was there any damage to the car? Is that being covered by the bad person's insurance? If they have some sort of umbrella policy it may cover your bikes as well (though they are not going to volunteer that information probably). They caused a not-insignificant amount of damage to your property (other than the car) -- about $5,000. I would at least let them know this. I don't know the technicalities of what constitutes grounds for small claims court, but if they aren't prepared to make good on it either from their own money or from insurance, that is always a potential threat.

OK, I'm not sure I like the person I'm looking like in this post .

But these thoughts would probably cross my mind, depending on the exact circumstances of the accident, of course.

If it were going to cost 70% of the value of your car to repair it, your insurance would total it.

I'd talk to YOUR insurance agent. If the other driver is at fault, ultimately they pay the costs. If you have good insurance, they should take care of you and it is thier job to go after the other person. Typically the other guys' insurance is going to get away with putting out the minimum $$ on the claim - have your agent work FOR you on this. That is one of the reasons we pay them the big bucks!!

Don't we all have to carry some sort of property damage with our car insurance just for damaging other's property?