We're all fine and our snowflake took it like a champ. No major damage it appears but scratches to the bumpers, paint and rims. We we're stopped at a red light and this guy just slams into us....this is my first ever accident, I'm so shaken up and so is my toddler. We called the police and they came and handled everything but once they realized drugs we're involved they wanted us out of there so they could deal with the guy.
I'm grateful that everyone is okay first and foremost but secondly I'm pissed. My Snowflake isn't even a year old and will now have an accident on it's history as well as on mine. I'm sure it's value has plummeted. I've never even had so much as a parking ticket. Luckily I have full tort insurance but I don't even know where to begin. Not sure if I should have a lawyer handle this or if I should file claim with his insurance company. Oy vey.
Keep calm, first and foremost. Nobody was killed, or seriously hurt, which is a huge relief when it comes to accidents from someone under the influence.
I was also rear ended in my CX-5 sitting at a light in 2015. In this case it was a 16 year old kid, probably just got his license and he was driving a truck with bald ass tires and couldn't stop because of the rain/downhill. Most likely hydroplaned.
Here was my experience:
1. Although I felt a little stiff the rest of the day, I felt like I had slept it off and was fine by the next day. Exactly one week later, I had such debilitating lower back pain that came on completely unexpected that I had to take the rest of the day off of work. Doctors gave me muscle relaxants to bring down the immediate pain. I did not drive and worked from home. I quit using those pretty fast though and I spent the next several months going to physical therapy twice weekly. The physical therapy did the trick. All I am trying to say here is to keep an eye on your health over the next several days. Sometimes these things don't pop up for a bit.
2. For mine, although it felt like a hard hit, it really wasn't that bad. They had to replace the rear liftgate, and if I remember correctly the rear bumper cover. The underlying frame or whatever was fine. All in all about $2500 worth of work.
3. I never thought to seek diminished value claim. But since I plan on keeping mine forever, probably didn't matter.
4. My rates did not go up at all. The person who rear ended me was found fully at fault, and in his own words "oh man this is the second time that has happened now". Yep, I guess I was the second person he rear ended on bald tires. Sigh. Anyway, I didn't pay a damn thing for my medical or repairing my car. They sent me a check for the full amount to fix the vehicle, and gave me a claim number for all the medical insurance claims. My initial appointment with my doctor the day I had to leave work they reimbursed me for as well.
5. As for the medical, the way it worked here is that it was covered under my insurance policy up to a certain amount before they went after the at fault party's insurance. Turned out we both had the same insurance company.
6. And because we both had the same insurance company, it was a pain in the ass still. I tried to tell them...you know I'm your customer too right??? I had to go through a few adjusters before I got anything done. Luckily my agent and his wife are fantastic, and as I was having issues dealing with it (80+ hour work weeks at the time, no sleep, trying to deal with the car, physical therapy, etc), they did a pretty good job of getting it moving when I reached out to them for help and making sure I didn't get screwed covering all the bases. Though I'm sure I missed things like the diminished value claim, everything else that I cared about got handled to my satisfaction.
7. That said, I went shopping around for new insurance this year, and they were all more expensive than my current plan by at least $20/month. Not sure if that had anything to do with the accident or not. Who knows. My existing plan did not go up as a result of the accident though.
Anyway, YMMV depending on state or country, but that was my story.