Auto Related Claim Post Filing

[ApresMoi]

Just realized I probably should check in with everyone here about this situation.

A few days before I filed, I had minor damage done to my car by a private party. About two weeks later, they agreed (in writing) to pay for the car repair, which will cost about $1,000. They will pay the auto body shop directly, not me. I plan to have the repair done sometime next month.

Since I am now officially in bankruptcy, will the Trustee lay claim to the money?

It just never occurred to me until today that this is something that might be relevant to the BK.

I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the BK, so thought I had better ask here.

The damage to the car occurred before filing (by about four days), but the agreement from them to cover the repair occurred after the filing.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

[tigergem]

Probably not, especially if they are paying the repair shop directly, and not paying you. Are they reimbursing you for rental car expenses too while your car is in the shop so you can get to work? One would hope...

[blessed]

Them paying the auto repair shop directly, money never touching your hands, it's fine.

[ApresMoi]

Yes, they are paying the shop directly. I requested that, not so much because of the BK, but because I thought it would give the private party some peace of mind that no impropriety was involved. The claim really is about the damage they caused to my car, nothing more. I am just grateful they were willing to take responsibility so that I didn't have to fight them. Woo hoo!

At any rate, LOVE that I can come to this site and get good advice, so thanks to you both (Tiger Gem and Blessed). My attorney is probably already in bed for the night, and I wanted to know before I scanned and emailed the release of liability form to the private party.

Tiger, btw, the body shop that I am using is giving me a free loaner for the duration of the repair. They are really happy to get my business so are being extra nice. :-)). Thank you for asking!

***

Probably not, especially if they are paying the repair shop directly, and not paying you. Are they reimbursing you for rental car expenses too while your car is in the shop so you can get to work? One would hope...

[tigergem]

Cool! Seems like that worked out really smoothly for you! Good deal!

[ApresMoi]

Well, you would think, but not quite. Since my (older) car has little value, I had removed comprehensive and collision to save money on car insurance, right? Found out today that I could not drive their loaner off the lot without full coverage on my own policy (to cover me while I was driving their car). I thought I could buy extra insurance from the auto body shop, but that turned out not to be true.

Since filing, I, of course, have no credit cards. I tried to get a car rental using my debit card. In CA, you can rent a car with a debit card, but they want (get this) a $400 deposit and will run a credit check. So that's out. Which makes no sense. If I had good credit I would have a credit card. Argh.

It's back to square one. To get use of the free loaner, I will have to take out comp and collision on my own car, even if only temporarily. This really sucks. I have to say, my entire life really sucks at this moment in time. God.

Cool! Seems like that worked out really smoothly for you! Good deal!

[tigergem]

Yeah, but what will a 30 day supply of comp and collision cost you? I mean... my insurance lets me make changes to my policy as needed in 30 day increments... In fact they add my policy changes and delete them automatically when the 30 days is up. It's not terribly expensive that way.

[ApresMoi]

Hey thanks for the nudge. You are right of course. It's just that lately, having to finesse YET ONE MORE situation so as to 'make it through' is beyond my capability on certain days. Yes, I will take out C&Coll and get the loaner (eventually...they have a multi-week wait list for the loaner). And no, the cost for adding C&Coll won't be that much, and yes, I can remove it if I feel that even that minor added expense is not something I can handle going forward. Onwards!

Yeah, but what will a 30 day supply of comp and collision cost you? I mean... my insurance lets me make changes to my policy as needed in 30 day increments... In fact they add my policy changes and delete them automatically when the 30 days is up. It's not terribly expensive that way.

[tigergem]

Yeah, I added C & C to mine for 30 days for $34.00.