And she's down...

[pdx dino burner]

I was leaving the gym today to find some lady standing over my bike in the parking lot. She told be she had backed into it and it fell over. Typical damage, hit on left side, turn signal got pushed through fairing, clutch lever got bent and some minor scratches. Not too bad, all in all. Wasn't even down long enough for gas to leak out, runs just fine. She offered to settle with or without insurance, thoughts on this?

[usdtmcs1]

Both she and you pay insurance for a reason; use it.  It's for your protection in the long run. 

[scratch]

Document or she wont pay a dime.

[Shaddow]

Always use insurance. It can turn bad sometimes trying to be nice and keep it off the books. You pay the money every year for it, you should get some return for your investment in insurance when something finally happens.

[noiseguy]

You're lucky she stuck around. A lot of ppl would have driven off.

Really depends on how quickly you can get things settled.

File an accident report with police. That will document what occurred so that there are no vagarities. Insurance will need this anyway. This needs to be done during some short time period after the accident.

Get a estimate to repair over to her, and give her a short but reasonable amount of time to come up with cash (24-48 hours.) If that doesn't happen, file with insurance.

The above are all steps, BTW, that you would have to take anyway, regardless of how you get paid, but cash up front is usually quicker.

[pdx dino burner]

Thanks for the advice guys and hypothetical gals.

[Dr.McNinja]

I'm hyper paranoid about that. I always park away from car doors and as far to the front of a parking spot as I possibly can so no one hits me. Some guy crossed into my parking spot once and nearly broke off my mirror with me standing there opening his door so hard. I shouted "What the f%$k, faggot?" so loud the restaurant down the street stopped to look lol. He immediately got defensive saying he knew that my bike was there. He didn't. He would've broke my mirror and drove off in his 90,000 dollar land rover.

Truth is, no one cares about motorcycles at all. The university I attend only has X amount of motorcycle parking that is considered "safe" (guarded and under shelter" which is taken up by scooters all the time. We're forced to park in motorcycle parking so if someone triple parks their motorcycle (more common than you think), 10 motorcycles aren't able to get in.


My point with this rant? You're lucky she stuck around. Now, call her insurance and raise her rates through the roof. She deserves it.

[lucky4034]

Once you get an estimate she will want to use insurance   

She looked at it and thought... "oh its not that bad... probably $200-300 in damage"   

[mister]

I understand you may not have done this, but for future reference for Everyone... take photos people. Of the vehicles showing license plate, of the person (so they cannot deny it was them) of the scene in general from various compass points.

When we were on a ride a SUV pulled out in front of the ride leader. He locked his rear brake, started going sideways then released his brake and highsided. It was his first time leading a ride. I won't get into how he could have avoided it, suffice to say, while everyone was milling about him and the like, I was the ONLY one taking photos. And sure as the sun will appear to rise tomorrow, the SUV driver tried to get out of it. The rider, having received the photos from me on an SD card, handed them to his lawyer and insurance and suddenly the SUV guy changed his tune due to the photographic proof.

Police take them for a reason. We need to do likewise to cover our assets. Stills and videos. It all helps.

Michael

[rayshon]

She looked at it and thought... "oh its not that bad... probably $200-300 in damage"

Well uh...

New Fairing - $150
Turn Signal - $30-40
Clutch Lever - $20

I think OP should see how much she wants to settle with. No need for police and higher insurance rates for something so small (unless she tries to start trouble)

oh and like michael said TAKE PICTURES!! of her car too!

[NorwayGT1]

even though you go with a official police report and notify your insurance company, you guys can still settle outside of court and the insurance company! I noticed that a lot of ppl here said "you pay your insurance so you might as well take advantage of it"
just keep in mind that your rates will go up for both you and her as you have been in an accident. But if she has the money up front to do so then i would strongly recommend for the matter to get settled outside of the insurance world!

if you have a police report then you are covered almost no matter what happened! and just make sure you get her to sign a binding legal document saying that she will take care of the damages, also get a quote on the repairs needed from a reputable shop even though you are planing on getting all these parts off of ebay and doing the work your self....

[Toogoofy317]

Truth is, no one cares about motorcycles at all. The university I attend only has X amount of motorcycle parking that is considered "safe" (guarded and under shelter" which is taken up by scooters all the time. We're forced to park in motorcycle parking so if someone triple parks their motorcycle (more common than you think), 10 motorcycles aren't able to get in.

I've never seen "safe" parking in the United States. Our parking at UCF is up on the curb next to the car parking about room for 6 in each parking lot. This is for the second largest University of the Nation! In the other places I love it when the Gold wing trikes park in MC parking taking the same space as a car but taking all the spots as 7-8 bikes 

You are lucky she stopped my bike has been knocked over 3 times and no one bothered where I lived. Finally, took me going to a few of my neighbors with a baseball bat casually saying to them if I matched the paint of the car that hit my bike I would do equal damage with my bat.

Mary

[NorwayGT1]

lmao i like you..  ^^^^

as the saying goes, "an eye for an eye" ha

[comradeiggy]

Hey I go to UCF too. I have noticed that the motorcycle parking is pretty shitty on campus.

[rayshon]

NVCC Has some pretty good motorcycle spots..here's mine in one

[SAFE-T]

even though you go with a official police report and notify your insurance company, you guys can still settle outside of court and the insurance company!

Correct. It's been my experience that insurance companies only adjust your rates if they have to pay a claim.

a lot of ppl here said "you pay your insurance so you might as well take advantage of it" just keep in mind that your rates will go up for both you and her as you have been in an accident.

Not in this case, unless you were parked illegally and the other parties insurance company was therefore able to hold you partially responsible.

if you have a police report then you are covered almost no matter what happened! and just make sure you get her to sign a binding legal document saying that she will take care of the damages

Ah. The elusive 'binding' legal document. lol

[Ourea]

[POST HAS BEEN REMOVED BY USER]

[noiseguy]

Plastic welding would not be equivalent to returning the bike to condition prior to the accident. Also would still require paint.

I might do that if *I* dropped the  bike. But for this, it's an unacceptable repair.

[SAFE-T]

You are entitled to have your property returned to the condition it was in immediately prior to the incident. It is therefore YOUR decision as to whether having something plastic welded is sufficient, or not. But once you choose, you cannot change your mind later.

[Shaddow]

even though you go with a official police report and notify your insurance company, you guys can still settle outside of court and the insurance company!

Correct. It's been my experience that insurance companies only adjust your rates if they have to pay a claim.

a lot of ppl here said "you pay your insurance so you might as well take advantage of it" just keep in mind that your rates will go up for both you and her as you have been in an accident.

Not in this case, unless you were parked illegally and the other parties insurance company was therefore able to hold you partially responsible.

if you have a police report then you are covered almost no matter what happened! and just make sure you get her to sign a binding legal document saying that she will take care of the damages

Ah. The elusive 'binding' legal document. lol

In Australia if you are not at fault your insurance does not raise (you don't loose your no claim bonus). Use it, your stupid to pay for something and never use it. All you are doing there is making yourself loose out even more money.