Last Friday evening, we took the vert out to my father-in-law's 75 birthday party. Beautiful afternoon, and it was a fantastic ride with the top down. During the later stages of the evening, a freak storm sprang out of nowhere, and I had to drive the car in the rain for the first time. I knew how much cleaning I had ahead of me, but had the entire weekend open, so no biggie.

We came home down the interstate, and about halfway to the house, I failed to see a GIANT pothole because it was full of water, and blended in with the roadway. It was a hard hit, and the DIC told me right away I had a flat front tire.

Long story short, the car is at the dealership and I got the initial estimate today. The front fender was smashed under the car where it meets the rocker. The rocker panel is cracked in two spots. The front wheel is bent, and the tire is gone. They've already checked for suspension or other mechanical damage, and everything appears to be OK. The good news is the rocker panel had a few underside scrapes before the mishap, so it will soon be back to matching the driver's side which is flawless (lemons => lemonade).

I have Nationwide insurance, and the process with them has been AMAZING. I called the claim in Saturday morning at 7:45 after seeing the cracked rocker. I spoke with a very professional phone rep who told me she would forward my information to an adjuster. The claims adjuster called me back by 8:00. The adjuster sent electronic notification to the body shop, and they called probably 15 minutes later. By 1:00 Saturday afternoon (less than 14 hours after the accident), repairs were underway. I'll probably post again about the process after everything is wrapped up, but at this point, I've just been blown away by the service Nationwide and the dealership have provided!!!

 

Oooff. That sucks.

Sounds like it's going back together quickly/smoothly tho, which helps.

 

thats good to hear good luck on the repairs

 

Question? Did Nationwide charge you with a collision for hitting the pot hole or did it fall under comprehensive? The reason I am asking is that Allstate will charge you for a collision, its their policy for pot holes. It sucks, I know.

If it was an animal (250 lb deer), a log off a truck a large road gator it would be comprehensive. But a big old pot hole you cant see its colision. It doesn't matter to them if it is covered in snow and ice your screwed might as well just hit a pole same thing. I hope you can plede your case and win. I didn't.

 

I guess this will be another reason for not driving a Corvette in the rain.

I hope all goes well and it will be good as new when finished.

 

This is a great question. Right now we're processing this as a collision. This has benefits for me in terms of securing a place at the front of the body shop's waiting list. When the work is complete, I'm going to plead a case with Nationwide and/or my agent, arguing this should be classified as a comprehensive claim. I can see the reasoning either way. This is my first insurance claim in over 20 years. I'd just prefer not to have it recorded as a collision claim.

Anyone with similar collision versus comprehensive experiences???

 

Whadda royal bummer.
At least there's no apparent chassis damage.

I was trying to go around a guy turning left in a town. Front right wheel hit a low (~3") curb @ around 25 MPH. Was so hard it rattled my teeth. No damage whatsoever. Seriously shocked & pleasantly surprised me.

Next time I wait for a car to turn. Corvette wheels & tires simply won't take much abuse while costing plenty to replace -- nevermind body damage such as you sustained. Glad it wasn't more serious.

 

where was the pothole? (for future reference)

 

I'm sorry about the damage to your car but things like this happen. I'm with Allied Insurance which I was somewhat surprised to learn is affiliated with Nationwide. Due to my daughter having a couple accidents I've had some dealings with Allied/Nationwide. I've been satisfied with how they handled things. Even if Nationwide classifies your incident as a collision they should not penalize you for being at-fault. I hope the repairs go well and you're back behind the wheel soon. Good luck!

 

USAA qualifies debries in the road as a collision. Hard to swerve in traffic to avoid stuff. If it was on the highway, couldn't you send the bill to the State?

 

Coming home from Briarcliff. I-635 south. Just past the rail yard. Right side of the right lane just before the Metropolitan exit. Nice, concrete highway through there. Probably a casualty of our rough winter...

 

Good suggestion! The dealership body shop manager is a Vette guy. He's already been over the entire suspension, including one alignment. He's going to do the body work, check the suspension again, and check the alignment one last time before he lets it out the door. I'm sure I'll be fine, but if not, the repairs are covered for the life of the car.

 

Doesn't the state, county or local municipality bear some responsibility for faulty maintainence of the road, or for not marking an obvious driving hazard so you could avoid it? If you had a pothole in your driveway wouldn't your home owner's insurance cover damage or injury resulting from it? Why is the state, county or local municipality any different?

 

I have a buddy who lives in Olathe now and who was born/raised in Green Bay, WI. He's always telling me about how the people down by you all freak out at the smallest of snowfall and have no clue how to deal with it; from moving it to driving in it... From what he tells me, your winters are quite mild. Although I guess you guys did have one or two decent snowfalls this winter, if I remember correctly from what he told me.

 

POTHOLES =

 

USAA says if it hits you (rock/flying tire gator) then it is comp, if you hit it (pothole/tire gator not moving) then it is collision.

You may be able to get the people that maintain the road to pay for it since they didn't post a warning about it.

Watch your insurance rate next renewal. Also make sure it doesn't hit carfax as an accident, quite possible since it is a collision.

 

I'll ring in here and share my insurance industry experience.

Since 1987, I've worked in personal lines automobile insurance product management and responsible for the state regulatory filings of rates & vehicle ID, operator class & usage, discounts & surcharges, and state specific underwriting rules and regulations for standard risk personal auto insurance policies in 32 States for 2 of the the largest Property & Casualty Insurer's in the U.S.

While all U.S. Personal Auto P&C Policies are State Specific regarding the policy definitions, insuring agreement and policy exclusions - the Policy Definition of a Collision is generally consistent countrywide.

Likewise the definition of a Comprehensive Incident is generally uniform as well however some states offer more generous language regarding what a Comprehensive loss is

With that said - consider the following general Collision and Comprehensive Definitions contained in both the Allstate & Nationwide Auto Policies:

Collision is defined as an incident resulting in direct and accidental loss or damage to the insured's vehicle caused by upset or impact with another vehicle, stationary object or person.

*generally speaking - all Collision Claims are generally considered to be incidents where the operator is considered to be AT-FAULT.

Unfortunately - this incident with the pothole is by definition at At-Fault Accident and subject to your Collision Deductible as recorded on your Policy Declaration Page.

At-Fault Collision Claims are always subject to a deductible - in addition Collision Claims over a certain dollar threshold (State specific and usually $400 and higher) will cause the insured to lose any current safe-driving discounts that they have on their auto policy and also possibly receive an accident surcharge at the next policy renewal. This is also State Specific and subject to the insurance company's state specific rule & rate filing.

I would venture to say that depending on your state - (I can't say that enough) if you've been with your current carrier Nationwide for 20 years and you haven't filed a claim for an At-Fault incident during that time your policy probably provide what is known as "ACCIDENT FORGIVENESS" as most all Nationwide Auto policies provide that benefit to insured's that have not been involved in an At-Fault Incident within the last 5 years. Just don't have any tickets on your State MVR because Nationwide will run your MVR 45 days prior to the issuance of your next auto policy renewal.

The only exception to an AT-FAULT COLLISION is what is defined as a NON-FAULT COLLISION and that occurs when the insured's vehicle is damaged as a result of impact with a pedestrian that failed to yield the right of way to the motorist. An example would be a drunk stepping off the curb and walking out into oncoming traffic. I've seen only 2 NON-FAULT COLLISIONS in 24 years of working in this industry.

Comprehensive is defined as an occurrence that results in direct and accidental loss or damage to the insured's vehicle which is not a collision.

The car insurance policy defines comprehensive losses in detail and I will tell you up front that a pothole will NEVER be listed as one of them- nor is sliding on black ice and hitting a curb.

If you swerve to avoid hitting a pedestrian or swerve to avoid hitting an animal and then striking another vehicle, another object or a person it is now by definition an AT-FAULT COLLISION.

Last August I ran over a truck retread (a road-gator) on the expressway one morning that was the size of Rhode Island. The impact destroyed my carbon fiber front splitter and put a hole in my right front fender and cracked the underneath of my rocker all because avoiding an impact with the road-gator while on the expressway that morning would have meant me swerving at the last moment and departing my travel lane and possibly taking out a soccer mom and her 3 kids that were on their way to Church that morning. (That one actually really happened to me so I feel your pain because I paid for mine $3200 out of pocket- ouch!)

Comprehensive Claims are most often due to the following fire, theft, vandalism, flood, hurricane or tornado, animal impact, glass damage and objects which fall out of the sky.

** so to the CF Member above - the moment a flying object lands in the road and becames stationary and then you strike it or drive over top of it and cause damage to your vehicle; it is now considered a stationary object just like your pothole and it is now by definition a COLLISION and considered to be an AT-FAULT COLLISION and subject to the payment of your collision deductible and possibly the loss of any current safe driver discounts and a possible accident surcharge on the next policy renewal.

Sorry to bring such news but I hope the above explanation clarifys things a bit.

Sometimes there are state specific exclusions to the above, so check with your insurance carrier.

 

Certainly eases the pain a bit when the repair/cost part of the process goes quickly and smoothly.

 

I am not the OP but this is very good information. Thanks. I hope this works out for the OP.

 

I would investigate filing a claim with the city for damages.