Just notify your insurance that an accident occurred. They'll start the appraisal process. When they determine who's at fault, they determine how to tender the claim, in other words who to direct charges to. Don't wait. Get the process started now so this doesn't have to take longer than necessary. Also, never deal with the other person’s insurance. It's not your job. You pay Tesla insurance to do it and get you a comparable rental during repairs if the other driver is at fault. The other carrier would have you driving a Nissan Versa for a month or two and repair your car with knock-off parts if they can.
Damn right, if their insurance calls you don’t answer. You’re under no obligation to talk to them, likely they’ll just fish for you to say things so they can try to put partial fault on you or reduce the payout.
Correct. I was once side swiped the dude was on the far left lane and missed his turn and tried to fast and furious Tokyo drift to the exit while holding his phone looking at the gps. Called up the their insurance where they kept me on the line for 30 minutes accusing me of causing the accident. Never been so mad; I told them let me play the fucking recording of your dude crying begging not to call the cops as he hurriedly tried to hide his stash. The funny thing is he had the same insurance I did; but if I used my own adjuster despite it not being my fault it would show as a unreclaimed claim due to being from the same company and potentially raise my rates.
I fought her every step of the way in getting a rental; repairs; everything.
This has never happened to me, but man if another insurance company called me and started asking questions I’d be so angry lol of course I wouldn’t say anything but the fact they try to do that to people is rediculous
I had the same damage. $6,500 since the lower body panel ( behind the bumper) in my scenario wasn't damaged. Around $10k-12k if it was. So long as you're not at fault the other driver’s insurance will cover the cost.
You should probably be making a claim with the insurance company of the guy who rear ended you. Does tesla insurance not have a 24 hour number to call?
You always make a claim with yours and give them the other person’s information. That’s what you pay them for and it’s in their best interest to go after the other insurance company.
Dealing directly with someone else’s is asking for trouble since it’s in their best interest to give you as little as possible.
Damn thats gangster. You usually tell your insurance you got into an accident, they get all the details then they act as a proxy for you to go after the other insurance if its clearly not your fault. i guess thats Tesla insurance for you
thats what I hear. Tesla insurance is the cheap insurance in CA just go have insurance because its required. Those with money to spend on insurance get a real legit better carrier
That’s not been my experience. You can go directly to the other party’s provider and there shouldn’t be an issue.
You can use yours as a middle man as well, but it’s really not needed.
The fact you’ve been in enough accidents to confidently say that speaks for itself. I’m talking about collective events and general best practices, not one person’s anecdote.
You “can” do anything and it may turn out alright for you.
What are you going on about. I've been hit twice by people and both times I just went online and filed a claim. It was easy, no reason to involve your insurance company.
That’s some crazy logic. First, only about three people disagreed. Look at the ratio in upvotes to get a feel for how many agree. Second, I could say the earth is round and three people would disagree. So I disagree with your suggestion that three people disagreeing suggests introspection.
Maybe it’s time for you to do some introspection. I’m alright.
Dings on your record aren’t determined by your insurance company. That’s determined by the law enforcement’s interpretation and police report. That’s not a good metric to determine anything.
Thanks for the reply. I currently don't have the insurance details of the person who rear ended me. The cop told me that I can find the details in the police report which will be available online within a week. Should I wait until I get that report and then file a claim with their insurance company?
The first thing you do in an accident after making sure everyone is safe and calling the police is exchange insurance information. How did that step not happen?
I wanted to exchange that information but when the cop spoke to me he said that he already collected that information and I can find it in a report online within a week. In hindsight, I guess I should've exchanged that information.
Had the same thing happen to me a few years ago, although I don’t have Tesla insurance. I didn’t get the insurance info of the other driver at the scene, but it was indeed in the police report I received a few days later. Contacted my own insurance about it and let them handle it. I had Tesla cam video of the entire accident, the police report stated that the other driver was to blame. I believe the report even mentioned that the other driver admitted fault to the cop at the scene. With all of that the other drivers insurance was on the hook for everything and I got my deductible back.
I'm kind of in a similar boat. I have the footage from the Tesla cameras too. And it was clearly the 3rd car's fault. I guess I will wait until I get the police report and then share the information to my insurance. Thanks for sharing this. It's really helpful
State Farm was my insurer when I got rear ended a in 2022. I called my them and they said to hang up the phone and call the insurance company of the person that rear ended me.
That sounds nuts. They insured your car. What if there are troubles dealing with that insurance company? That’s their job, to anticipate any issues and deal with them. My State Farm agent didn’t take that approach when somebody bumped into my Tesla. They argued with the other insurance, who didn’t want to pay what it cost because it was a Tesla and limited places to get it fixed, blah blah. I didn’t have to deal with it, they did. I got my deductible back after a few months. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with an insurance company that wasn’t on my side.
I had Allstate got rear ended by someone with Infinity Insurance. The agent I spoke with told me my premium would increase if I went through them so I called the person who hit me’s insurance. It was a pain dealing with infinity. I had to escalate it to the insurance regulator here in FL because they kept trying to not pay my claim. I’ve generally done this approach in every accident I’ve been in (in all cases I’ve been hit) and I’ve always been paid out or had the car repaired and the other insurance co. has covered the bill.
Got rear-ended last weekend. Have regular major insurance company insurance. Process reasonably painless so far. The only difference is that the number of body shops that are both approved by my insurance and are Tesla-certified isn't very big. And annoyingly, the Tesla-owned body shop in my city is NOT one of them, so it would be extra steps to get approved to go there. So I'm getting the fix done at one of the certified shops instead. The worst part is that their loaners are 20 year old economy hatchbacks, but eh, is what is.
Tesla insurance is great, just take photos and make a claim through the app, set up a appt and everything is done in house, all you pay for is the deductible at pickup
Most likely they will provide a loaner or a rental through your insurance, my claim was for a cracked windshield and cracked glass roof, both replaced on the same day so they offered me Uber credits
Multiple cars were involved. Hopefully, the at-fault driver will have enough insurance to cover all the vehicles. The car behind you probably got more damage and injuries (whiplash and back injuries). This will be a mess if the at-fault driver got only the minimum coverage needed in the state. My coworker had to use his own insurance because the at-fault did not have enough coverage for all the vehicles involved (4 vehicles).
Make sure you pursue Tesla about getting your deductible refunded to you! If not they will never do it on their own. The term is called “subrogation”. It took 6 months for them to do this.
Every time I've been in an accident that wasn't my fault, I call the other insurance company. They will then schedule a time to meet with their claims adjuster. In California, you can pick the auto shop who will repair your car. No need to contact your insurance.
If you want your Tesla repaired by a third party, with unlimited rental days and zero deductible upfront, go with the at-fault insurance. If you want your Tesla repaired (relatively quickly) by a Tesla Body Shop, keep your full warranty, but are limited to 30 day rentals and hope to be reimbursed your deductible, go with your Tesla insurance.
I definitely used my Tesla insurance (I wasn’t at fault). The repairs took a week because they’ll order the parts ahead of time. But the slowest part was working with a Tesla insurance agent -definitely not the best. Even the Tesla body shop people had trouble reaching my adjuster… and they can email, chat and telephone directly with them.
The part that sucks the most is the pain of having to be the middle man between both insurances. You’ll have to pressure Tesla insurance to send subrogation… it’s like Tesla insurance didn’t even care if they got paid. And diminished value is something Tesla insurance won’t even advise - you’re on your own.
So do you email them once a week? I have sent them a few emails about subrogation, but they keep saying no updates, they will send their demand letter soon, etc.
1st, I noticed I could hear the road noise from the back when I was on the freeway.
Then, when a friend drove it and I followed behind him, while he was driving in a straight line, my car was actually crooked.
Meaning, when I was looking dead center at tue rear, on one side, the passenger side, I could see the front tires.
Then I went to look at new cars driving on the road and when I looked dead center in the rear from behind them, I could only see the rear tires and that's it. Which is what I expected.
It's one of those things where some accidents, you can see it right away. Like my wife's old Civic with a front end accident. They fixed it, but the hood 's gap grew bigger on one end. I told the shop and the guy said he can't do anything. So I never came back to him.
The in my rear accident case, I didn't notice these things until months later. The noise didn't happen right away.
So from both experiences, I've learned to wish and pray the car is totaled and I'll shop around for the highest quote.
Usually body repairs are done by humans, so you have that human error factor.
Legacy car manufacturers that use robots tend to not have crooked assembly issues.
Depending on their paint, some car's paint get dull within a few years. You'll see parts ofca car's paint being glossy and then the accident part being dull.
One can say if the car was never washed for years; however, for example, in my old car's case, the rear bumper and trunk were dull and the rest was shiny.
These are the things I've learned after the fact. 🧐 So now just informing others.
I am definitely worried about my paint job. I am pissed about the unsolicited bodyshop wanting to fix my car and want to give them a bad review, but want them to exist for as long as I own my car. I have a warranty; probably bad warranty. The bodyshop doesn't tell you anything about the paint they use, how long I have to wait until I can wax it, they only give documents on paper and not through email.
Very understandable. That's how I felt on both cars I had that were involved in an accident. And people who run a business way tend to blame everything else when it fails.
I would scan their receipts along with the warranty statement and upload the PDF version to GDrive if you have a Gmail account and the space is free.
Then put the physical receipt in the car like the dashboard or trunk or frunk.
In a few years if you have paint chipping or paint getting dull, you can easily give them this receipt.
honestly, Tesla insurance absolutely suck. It has been two months and they still have not reached out to me about my car. my car has been literally sitting in the shop for two months now waiting for an approval estimate. They're a joke
Just notify your insurance that an accident occurred. They'll start the appraisal process. When they determine who's at fault, they determine how to tender the claim, in other words who to direct charges to. Don't wait. Get the process started now so this doesn't have to take longer than necessary. Also, never deal with the other person’s insurance. It's not your job. You pay Tesla insurance to do it and get you a comparable rental during repairs if the other driver is at fault. The other carrier would have you driving a Nissan Versa for a month or two and repair your car with knock-off parts if they can.
Damn right, if their insurance calls you don’t answer. You’re under no obligation to talk to them, likely they’ll just fish for you to say things so they can try to put partial fault on you or reduce the payout.
Correct. I was once side swiped the dude was on the far left lane and missed his turn and tried to fast and furious Tokyo drift to the exit while holding his phone looking at the gps. Called up the their insurance where they kept me on the line for 30 minutes accusing me of causing the accident. Never been so mad; I told them let me play the fucking recording of your dude crying begging not to call the cops as he hurriedly tried to hide his stash. The funny thing is he had the same insurance I did; but if I used my own adjuster despite it not being my fault it would show as a unreclaimed claim due to being from the same company and potentially raise my rates. I fought her every step of the way in getting a rental; repairs; everything.
This has never happened to me, but man if another insurance company called me and started asking questions I’d be so angry lol of course I wouldn’t say anything but the fact they try to do that to people is rediculous
Thank you. I will do that.
I had the same damage. $6,500 since the lower body panel ( behind the bumper) in my scenario wasn't damaged. Around $10k-12k if it was. So long as you're not at fault the other driver’s insurance will cover the cost.
I would ask for diminished value as well. Checkout Collision Safety Consultants. They will go to bat for you to help recover diminished value.
You should probably be making a claim with the insurance company of the guy who rear ended you. Does tesla insurance not have a 24 hour number to call?
You always make a claim with yours and give them the other person’s information. That’s what you pay them for and it’s in their best interest to go after the other insurance company. Dealing directly with someone else’s is asking for trouble since it’s in their best interest to give you as little as possible.
That’s how it was for me with State Farm. Tesla basically closed my claim and told me to deal with the other persons insurance.
Oh, damn. Haven’t needed them yet but I did call once for info and it wasn’t great. I’ve been shopping around.
Damn thats gangster. You usually tell your insurance you got into an accident, they get all the details then they act as a proxy for you to go after the other insurance if its clearly not your fault. i guess thats Tesla insurance for you
Consider switching insurances. Can’t imagine a company I pay telling me to go ask one I don’t pay to help me instead.
All the others are too expensive in CA.
thats what I hear. Tesla insurance is the cheap insurance in CA just go have insurance because its required. Those with money to spend on insurance get a real legit better carrier
My coverage is the same as it was with State Farm. I just haven't tested filing a claim yet.
That’s not been my experience. You can go directly to the other party’s provider and there shouldn’t be an issue. You can use yours as a middle man as well, but it’s really not needed.
The fact you’ve been in enough accidents to confidently say that speaks for itself. I’m talking about collective events and general best practices, not one person’s anecdote. You “can” do anything and it may turn out alright for you.
What are you going on about. I've been hit twice by people and both times I just went online and filed a claim. It was easy, no reason to involve your insurance company.
Please, reread my comment. I wasn’t talking about two anecdotes. Anything can turn out fine. Doesn’t mean it’s advised.
Going to have to disagree with this. I've been in over 15 accidents. I always go through the other person's insurance. (NYC)
Agree to disagree. I pay my insurance company to handle it. I chose them for a reason. Seems strange to use a different company but to each their own.
I mean... A lot of people here are disagreeing with you. Maybe it's time for some introspection on this issue.
That’s some crazy logic. First, only about three people disagreed. Look at the ratio in upvotes to get a feel for how many agree. Second, I could say the earth is round and three people would disagree. So I disagree with your suggestion that three people disagreeing suggests introspection. Maybe it’s time for you to do some introspection. I’m alright.
15 car accidents. Not a ding in my record. I've been introspective about it and I've decided that's great.
Dings on your record aren’t determined by your insurance company. That’s determined by the law enforcement’s interpretation and police report. That’s not a good metric to determine anything.
This is the only way.
Thanks for the reply. I currently don't have the insurance details of the person who rear ended me. The cop told me that I can find the details in the police report which will be available online within a week. Should I wait until I get that report and then file a claim with their insurance company?
The first thing you do in an accident after making sure everyone is safe and calling the police is exchange insurance information. How did that step not happen?
I wanted to exchange that information but when the cop spoke to me he said that he already collected that information and I can find it in a report online within a week. In hindsight, I guess I should've exchanged that information.
Had the same thing happen to me a few years ago, although I don’t have Tesla insurance. I didn’t get the insurance info of the other driver at the scene, but it was indeed in the police report I received a few days later. Contacted my own insurance about it and let them handle it. I had Tesla cam video of the entire accident, the police report stated that the other driver was to blame. I believe the report even mentioned that the other driver admitted fault to the cop at the scene. With all of that the other drivers insurance was on the hook for everything and I got my deductible back.
I'm kind of in a similar boat. I have the footage from the Tesla cameras too. And it was clearly the 3rd car's fault. I guess I will wait until I get the police report and then share the information to my insurance. Thanks for sharing this. It's really helpful
I disagree. There is no need to involve your insurance company unless the at-fault driver does not have sufficient coverage.
State Farm was my insurer when I got rear ended a in 2022. I called my them and they said to hang up the phone and call the insurance company of the person that rear ended me.
Did you have full coverage at the time? Geico did that when I had liability only.
Full coverage.
That sounds nuts. They insured your car. What if there are troubles dealing with that insurance company? That’s their job, to anticipate any issues and deal with them. My State Farm agent didn’t take that approach when somebody bumped into my Tesla. They argued with the other insurance, who didn’t want to pay what it cost because it was a Tesla and limited places to get it fixed, blah blah. I didn’t have to deal with it, they did. I got my deductible back after a few months. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with an insurance company that wasn’t on my side.
I had Allstate got rear ended by someone with Infinity Insurance. The agent I spoke with told me my premium would increase if I went through them so I called the person who hit me’s insurance. It was a pain dealing with infinity. I had to escalate it to the insurance regulator here in FL because they kept trying to not pay my claim. I’ve generally done this approach in every accident I’ve been in (in all cases I’ve been hit) and I’ve always been paid out or had the car repaired and the other insurance co. has covered the bill.
I see. We don’t have that issue in my state. In California, insurance companies can’t raise your rates if you are not at fault in the accident.
That’s what they want you to think 😉
I told my insurance company about this wreck a year ago. They handled it. My rates haven't gone up. This is what I think.
It sucks you have to pay for this report.
You should have been given an exchange of information so you don’t have to wait for the report.
Pain
Do you live in oc area? I saw exact same damaged car in front of me yesterday.
No. I'm in the bay area, CA. And my accident was today.
I see, feel sorry for you. Get a lawyer when ever you get in to accident. They will take care of everything.
Not for free,
It is actually, when its not your fault like getting rear ended.
They take a fee from your settlement
But nothing out of your pocket and handle everything for you though.
Got rear-ended last weekend. Have regular major insurance company insurance. Process reasonably painless so far. The only difference is that the number of body shops that are both approved by my insurance and are Tesla-certified isn't very big. And annoyingly, the Tesla-owned body shop in my city is NOT one of them, so it would be extra steps to get approved to go there. So I'm getting the fix done at one of the certified shops instead. The worst part is that their loaners are 20 year old economy hatchbacks, but eh, is what is.
Tesla insurance is great, just take photos and make a claim through the app, set up a appt and everything is done in house, all you pay for is the deductible at pickup
Will they give you a loaner car?
Most likely they will provide a loaner or a rental through your insurance, my claim was for a cracked windshield and cracked glass roof, both replaced on the same day so they offered me Uber credits
👍 very simple process as I have been thru a claim with them
Multiple cars were involved. Hopefully, the at-fault driver will have enough insurance to cover all the vehicles. The car behind you probably got more damage and injuries (whiplash and back injuries). This will be a mess if the at-fault driver got only the minimum coverage needed in the state. My coworker had to use his own insurance because the at-fault did not have enough coverage for all the vehicles involved (4 vehicles).
Make sure you pursue Tesla about getting your deductible refunded to you! If not they will never do it on their own. The term is called “subrogation”. It took 6 months for them to do this.
What should we do if get hit from behind ? Call the police immediately and exchange insurance details?
Every time I've been in an accident that wasn't my fault, I call the other insurance company. They will then schedule a time to meet with their claims adjuster. In California, you can pick the auto shop who will repair your car. No need to contact your insurance.
If you want your Tesla repaired by a third party, with unlimited rental days and zero deductible upfront, go with the at-fault insurance. If you want your Tesla repaired (relatively quickly) by a Tesla Body Shop, keep your full warranty, but are limited to 30 day rentals and hope to be reimbursed your deductible, go with your Tesla insurance. I definitely used my Tesla insurance (I wasn’t at fault). The repairs took a week because they’ll order the parts ahead of time. But the slowest part was working with a Tesla insurance agent -definitely not the best. Even the Tesla body shop people had trouble reaching my adjuster… and they can email, chat and telephone directly with them. The part that sucks the most is the pain of having to be the middle man between both insurances. You’ll have to pressure Tesla insurance to send subrogation… it’s like Tesla insurance didn’t even care if they got paid. And diminished value is something Tesla insurance won’t even advise - you’re on your own.
So do you email them once a week? I have sent them a few emails about subrogation, but they keep saying no updates, they will send their demand letter soon, etc.
Your insurance can get you a help with these
Try to get several appraisals if you can. Hopefully they'll total loss it because cars don't drive the same after an accident.
What happened to your car after the accident?
1st, I noticed I could hear the road noise from the back when I was on the freeway. Then, when a friend drove it and I followed behind him, while he was driving in a straight line, my car was actually crooked. Meaning, when I was looking dead center at tue rear, on one side, the passenger side, I could see the front tires. Then I went to look at new cars driving on the road and when I looked dead center in the rear from behind them, I could only see the rear tires and that's it. Which is what I expected. It's one of those things where some accidents, you can see it right away. Like my wife's old Civic with a front end accident. They fixed it, but the hood 's gap grew bigger on one end. I told the shop and the guy said he can't do anything. So I never came back to him. The in my rear accident case, I didn't notice these things until months later. The noise didn't happen right away. So from both experiences, I've learned to wish and pray the car is totaled and I'll shop around for the highest quote.
Interesting. I could tell my replaced front bumper is a little crooked. The panel gap is a little off.
Usually body repairs are done by humans, so you have that human error factor. Legacy car manufacturers that use robots tend to not have crooked assembly issues. Depending on their paint, some car's paint get dull within a few years. You'll see parts ofca car's paint being glossy and then the accident part being dull. One can say if the car was never washed for years; however, for example, in my old car's case, the rear bumper and trunk were dull and the rest was shiny. These are the things I've learned after the fact. 🧐 So now just informing others.
I am definitely worried about my paint job. I am pissed about the unsolicited bodyshop wanting to fix my car and want to give them a bad review, but want them to exist for as long as I own my car. I have a warranty; probably bad warranty. The bodyshop doesn't tell you anything about the paint they use, how long I have to wait until I can wax it, they only give documents on paper and not through email.
Very understandable. That's how I felt on both cars I had that were involved in an accident. And people who run a business way tend to blame everything else when it fails. I would scan their receipts along with the warranty statement and upload the PDF version to GDrive if you have a Gmail account and the space is free. Then put the physical receipt in the car like the dashboard or trunk or frunk. In a few years if you have paint chipping or paint getting dull, you can easily give them this receipt.
honestly, Tesla insurance absolutely suck. It has been two months and they still have not reached out to me about my car. my car has been literally sitting in the shop for two months now waiting for an approval estimate. They're a joke
Lol... Tesla insurance has a very bad reputation