in a car accident....?

[willowthepoet]

After buying my new angelfish last night, I got in a car accident on the way home. The first thing that registered as the other guy hit me was the sound of water sloshing in the bag and the thought "oh no, my angel's gonna die!"

Well, after assessing the damage (not much) I brought the fish home, and s/he seems perfectly fine, swimming around and eating well, even though s/he had only been in the tank for about an hour.

Is there a chance of this causing some other type of damage later on? I know I'm paranoid, but this is my first angel and I've heard that they're rather delicate, especially when they're young.

 

[lmw80]

OMG! Are YOU ok? Was it bad? That's terrible!

I think your fish will be fine...when fish are shipped, there's a lot of sloshing and moving around as well.

 

[phillip]

lol im petrified everytime i get a fish incase we have a accident
thats because i was envolved in a serious one in august TOTALLY NOUR FAULT COZ THIS STUPID MAN :x

 

[willowthepoet]

yeah, thanks. I'm fine. The other guy was really nice, we didn't get the police or insurance involved or anything. My bumper is broken (yay for driving a plastic saturn) but that's the only damage. And I have no problem driving around without a bumper until I can afford to fix it.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You are paying for the damage done to your car even though he hit you? Anytime you are involved in an accident where the other person is at fault, even if there is minimal visible damange, always contact the police for a report. I work at an insurance agency and you wouldn't believe how many times I hear the same story. Then the person takes the car to the body shop and they see that there is damage done behind the bumper or behind the fender. The bill really racks up quickly. And since you didn't get a police report, who is the insurance company going to believe? I'm not trying to say what you did is wrong, just be careful.

A few months ago I had the same thing happen. We were driving home from the lfs and this kid pulls out of a gas station and hits the side of my car. Of course I was like you and was freaking out about the fish. Here I sat on the side of the road with the cop holding up two fish bags. No damage was done to the fish. They are still happily swimming around in the tank. Your fish will be fine. Although, they probably won't want to get in the car with you again.

 

[phillip]

lol

 

[Jchillin]

Wow...glad to hear there was no lasting damage (either to your fish, yourself or the car...yes, in that order LOL).

And I have no problem driving around without a bumper until I can afford to fix it.

or someone wants to hit the same spot again.

 

[willowthepoet]

Fishy, the whole family will lose our insurance if ANYTHING else happens to any of us, even so much as a parking ticket. The increase in insurance costs would end up costing us more in the long run than replacing a bumper. Any claim at all would get us kicked off. If that wasn't the issue, I would have been on the phone with the cops before I even talked to the guy.

 

[austinsdad]

Your fish will be fine. Although, they probably won't want to get in the car with you again.

FF - you ain't right. That's funny.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If it was the other guys fault then your insurance does not pay for it. His would.

 

[Andos99]

If it was the other guys fault then your insurance does not pay for it. His would.

This is true, but it still has a negative impact in the mind of your own insurance company and can have an impact on your rates even if it's not your fault. It depends on the insurance company and your track record.

 

[Andos99]

LOL....just realized that was my 500th post

 

[Zagz]

Insurance companies do not hold an accident against you if it isn't your fault. I work in an autobody shop and if the other person is at fault and doesn't want to go through insurance, get some quotes for repairs and have him pay for it.

 

[fishyrican]

Insurance companies use something called a CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report to set insurance premium rates. It's like a credit report for insurance claims. Although most often used when insuring a home, some personal property insurers also use the report to set underwriting rates, since they believe it serves as an indicator of the possibility of a future claim.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Your insurance company will not be involved in the handling of the claim so they will not know if one actually occured. It does not negatively impact your rates or throw up any red flags. And they do order CLUE reports on people on new business', but not during the life of your policy. Even then, it won't show anything because the CLUE report does not show money that you receive as a result of an accident where you were not at faullt. It will only show claims that were made against your policy. Insurance is a tricky business and most people don't understand how it works. You wouldn't believe how many people come in here and when I ask what limits they want quoted they look at me like I am speaking a foreign language.

AND, a little tip: If you lock your keys in your car and require a locksmith to come out and unlock it, the insurance company will compensate you for the bill up to the amount that you have in towing coverage. This is true in the state of IL and MO. I'm not sure if its every state. But a nice little tip. Plus, it won't be held against you for future policies since it is not considered a major claim.

 

[tazcrash69]

If you need tp take this to court, I suggest you make a neck fbrace for your angel fish!

 

[bosk1]

If you need tp take this to court, I suggest you make a neck fbrace for your angel fish!

Just warn him ahead of time not to turn his head if Mike Brady drops his briefcase!

And as far as the insurance companies go, there seems to be a lot of expertise on this forum already. But I will say that what insurance companies do can very significantly from what they are supposed to do in terms of rate increases and cancellation of coverage--hence the existence of a lot of unfair business practices lawsuits.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That's true bosk. They do hide their increases in tiering and rating and the such. I sometimes see some that I think are unfair. But there's not much we can do about it. It is what it is. But if Person A hit Person B, Person A's insurance company would pay Person B for the repairs. Person B would not contact their insurance company, therefore they would not even know that the accident occured. If someone contacts me and says that they were involved in an accident where the other person was at fault, we do not call it in to the company. We (as in the agency) only intervene if the other person does not contact their insurance company to report the claim. The only way the company would ever find out is if Person A and Person B were both insured by the same company. But even then, their rates would not rise. You can't be penalized because someone else hit you. It would throw up a red flag if you had three or four accidents in a years time that were all within the same company, but besides that, these companies don't talk to each other or share records.

If you need tp take this to court, I suggest you make a neck fbrace for your angel fish!

 

[bosk1]

Yes, good point. But what if person A is not cooperative? Person B's recourse is to report it to their insurance company, who then reports it to A's insurance company to get the money, correct? And a lot of people in Person B's shoes would report it to their own insurance company anyway, simply because that is what they think they should do. So then Insurance Company B does have the info. in either of those scenarios.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Person B would then contact their agent who would then contact the agent of Person A. If they are unsure of the agent, Person B would contact the insurance company of Person A. At a last resort we contact Person B's company. Mainly because you don't want the insurance company to know that you were involved in an accident, even if it wasn't your fault. If you do not have a police report and Person A does not admit fault, then Person B would turn it into their insurance company under the Collission deductible. This is a last result and rarely happens. I have only seen 1 case where it has happened. But, it was a near totalled $75,000 car. Person B's company would only have the info if they submitted it to their insurance company. Alot of people do it, and we try to prevent people from doing that. With our company, if you are involved in three accidents (not at-fault) in a three year time period, they will cancel you. They assume you are committing insurance fraud. But in reality you could just be living in an area that has alot of accidents or bad roads. So that's why it is important to just contact your agent, not the company. It's not fraud or lieing to the company if you do not inform them of accidents you were involved in that were not your fault. I am my own agent, so its a little different, but my friends who are involved in accidents, we never report them. It's resolved by the other insurance company about 99% of the time. The other 1% is either partial at fault or the very rare instance of our company paying for the damages sustaining from an accident. Anyways, this has really gotten off topic. I can ramble about this stuff all day long. And it's not that its interesting, it's just that I deal with it every day and its a slow day. I'll stop now.

I hope your Angel is doing good.