Reply to "Umm... Daddy, I have a little problem"

David, sorry to hear your daughter is human and made a mistake...LOL. I've gotten those calls but much worse, try rear ending one car that then hits three others. It happens and as you say, I remember when I was 17...OMG...what we did or tried is far worse. But today people see the insurance gravy train and they are instant millionaires.
The jerk in the Bentley will call the insurance company and get his repairs no matter if there is rust or not. Its his word vs. your daughters. Give your daughter a hug and tell her my story.

I had an accident about 10 years ago where I rolled away from a stop light, the guy in front of me driving a Mercedes stops for no reason, I BUMP him after rolling 10-15 feet, couldn't have been going 2-3 miles an hour. No damage to my car other than a scuff and you can see where my bumper scuffed his. He gets out saying "OH MY NECK....look at the dent on the back of my trunk lid!" I told him no way, line up the bumper, my bumper is at this level, the dent is 8-12 inches higher. Clearly there was no contact above his bumper on his trunk from my car because my car can't do wheelies.

Well my insurance company says when they inspected the car, there was rust underneath the back bumper and they suspected it was from a previous accident. I'm pissed because this guy is trying to get something for nothing. I was fine with repainting his bumper if the scuff can't be buffed out, but not $3500 in damage. Now comes the fun part and the AMAZING GALL OF SOME PEOPLE! 6 months later I get a notice to appear in court and I'm being sued for $42,000!!!!!!! I'm not kidding. Turns out the guy I hit was an insurance broker and knew how to work the system. Thank god for insurance and that they hire an GREAT attorneys for you(never thought I'd like an attorney so much)...my attorney ends up being "Trial Attorney of the Year" in California the previous year, so the insurance company isn't messing around. My attorney says the insurance typically pays out $5000-7,500 for these types of accidents and injuries....well the guy I hit went to the doctor for 5-6 months for "supposed therapy" due to the injuries sustained in the accident...$14,000 worth of medical bills x 2 or 3 = the pain and suffering award hence, the $42,000 law suit amount. Oh yeah and the attorney he hired...I knew him for questionable character. He tried to apply for a mortgage at my company about two years prior with one of my loan officers on a city bond program we originate for the city....he badgered my loan officer to do what every he could to make the loan fly (he was trying to get us to do loan fraud by doctoring paperwork). Well I had to get involved since the loan officer was being badgered by an "attorney" and I told the guy we can't do your loan, you don't qualify and there is no paperwork on the planet that legitimately supports your income- GOOD BYE. Three months later I get a call from some other loan company in town who is being threatened with a law suit by the same attorney and they noticed my company had turned him down. So I guess crooks hang with crooks. BACK TO MY ACCIDENT. Next my accident attorney asks for non-binding arbitration hearing for the accident and in the hearing he asks the insurance broker....Mr.Accident Victim, can you tell me why there are multiple medical bills at two different doctors on the same dates and the same times for your physical therapy??? OH THAT MUST BE A MISTAKE he answers. My attorney waits after the arbitration meeting and tells the arbitrator to "offer this guy $5,000 to go away" WHICH THEY GLADLY DID. TOTAL BOGUS GRAVY TRAIN BLOOD SUCKING PIECES OF GARBAGE, I WANT A PIECE OF YOUR PIE TOO AND I'LL SCREW YOU AND YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY TO DO IT (sorry for my rant, this went on for over a year).

David and anyone else reading this....get a $1-2 Million umbrella policy on your autos no matter if you have kids or not. A buddy of mine was sued by a doctor for $250K, same thing, rear end accident, $3500 in damage to the doctors car, but the doctor in the accident made $20k a month and supposedly couldn't work for 4 months. My buddy only had $30/100k limits on his insurance but had $800k equity in his house that he inherited. He was crapping his pants. Fortunately for my buddy, he realized that his employer was insured and would cover his accident because he was driving on business for the company.

Now maybe since we live in Southern California we are surrounded by a bunch of A-holes who are opportunists. And they wonder why there needs to be tort reform in the health care package???