I (25F) went on a trip with work friends, four girls (25) in a town very far from the city. We took the train and plane to be able to get there. I booked a car rental (self drive and i am the one to drive) in advance so we don’t have to struggle with the commute when going to different places.
We agreed that we will divide the expenses amongst everyone, however, we had an accident on our third day in the town. While on the road, two motorcycles overtook the lane I am driving in and I had to maintain my distance to avoid colliding with them.
One of the riders signalled going to the left, while the other took the right turn. Everything happened so fast, the rider who signalled left glided from the left most lane going back to my lane (approx two lanes) and I had no time to at least slow down. The motorcycle slammed on the driver’s side (my side), leave a huge and deep scratch from the fog lights, window, and broke the tail lights.
The rider rolled down from the middle lane going to the outermost lane, causing her injuries on his right shoulder down to his right ankle. Everyone in the car was shaken but we are all okay, physically.
We waited more than an hour for the police and ambulance but nothing came. We brought the rider to the hospital to get his injury checked. He admitted that he lost control of the motorcycle, hence, the accident and said would pay for the damages. We also reviewed our dashcam footage and it really showed the rider struggling to control the motorcycle while it uncontrollably swerved to my lane. While waiting for the nurses to inject pain reliever on his left thigh, the car rental company estimated that the damages will cost them $600 for just for the repairs. They insisted on not using the car insurance due to the long waiting time of approval, and since this is used for business, they will surely lose a lot if the car will not be rented for a long period of time.
Long story short, we were able to persuade the rider to pay the estimated cost of damages in half, still leaving us with $300 which I need to cover.
I was waiting for the girls to offer financial help since we all benefited from using that car and we are all inside that car when it happened. A day has passed and no mention of financial help, not even asking how am I after the incident. I have no $300 in my savings and I am still waiting for my paycheck, plus we need to settle the payment to the rental company before returning to the city.
I mustered the courage to ask for help, specifically asking them if they could pitch in to cover half ($150) while I already asked my brother to lend me money to cover the remaining amount and other fees.
I can see their hesitation when I asked for help but they still pitched in to cover $150. Fast forward to now, we’re back in the city for more than a week now. Although they agreed to help, i can feel them avoiding me in the office. They even went out to grab lunch but did not invite me.
Am i the asshole?
Why not insist that the car rental company use their insurance. Why pay any of it. That’s what insurance is for
Why is the motorcyclist not paying for it all? It sounds like they were at fault and lost control of their bike
NTA since the accident wasn’t your fault but it’s ridiculous that the car company encourages you not to use insurance. You should have fought more regarding that.
The at fault motorcyclist’s insurance should be covering all costs. Get police report. Provide to car rental company for them to deal with.
If you waived insurance at time of rental, the credit card you used may have car rental insurance, in addition to your personal car insurance as a last resort if you need to get them involved to push back on the car rental agency.
Why are any of you paying when the car damaged is not your own and the accident not your fault?
And.. why would you agree to not utilize the insurance you purchased?? Honesty.. call your attorney.
You’re not TA but if you forewent using insurance, the cost is on you. The rental company is scamming you. They have insurance for this purpose. You should have insisted on using it.
YTA
Ultimately the decision to not use the insurance company and only take 1/2 from the driver at fault is on you. That’s the deal you agreed to, so sorry it is on you to pay the difference.
I don’t think OP is from the USA, given a couple of minor points made in the post. That said, insurance works differently in other parts of the world, so maybe they can’t do anything because no police came to the scene? Idk
NTA, but you did screw up by letting the rental car company bully you into giving them money. This should *all* have been handled by Insurance – theirs, yours, the motorcyclist’s – however long it took for the respective companies to fight it out. Their lost revenue for the car being out of service should absolutely have been none of your concern.
Yes, it would be nice if your friends bail you out here, but don’t count on it. Keep this lesson with you for the future: *Never* agree to give someone money after an accident without involving insurance, especially if it wasn’t your fault.
What is this AI nonsense? No rental agency is gonna send you a repair estimate in two hours. No hospital is gonna let the car crash victims hang out together. We don’t give pain meds through thighs for a plethora of reasons. You called 911 and no police or ambulance showed up to a car crash? Was there a mass shooting two blocks away? This story has more holes than Swiss cheese.
why on earth would the rental company dissuade you from going through insurance? The claim would be through the motorcyclist’s insurance since they were at fault. Technically police, or at least a collision centre, should have been involved for an accident with an injury. Like, even hospitall staff didn’t advise you of this? Do you live in an area with weird insurance standards?
Whose decision was it to “persuade” the guy to split the estimated damages? If it was your idea, and since you were the one driving and in sole direct contact with the rental company – then I’d say the cost is now yours alone. Unfortunate, but apart from just being friends, why do you think passengers should help foot the bill for this mess?
NAH. What do you think insurance is for?
Yta bc why did you agree to letting the motorcyclist only pay half and why are you follow their insisting to not follow insurance? I would be distant too. You made the decision to take on that cost when you didn’t have to, and it’s not cool to loop friends into something they didn’t commit to.