I was in an accident that was the other drivers fault, and did not call the police.?

Question

I was pulling into a gas station parking lot, and the another driver backed into my car. It clearly seems to be that the other driver is at fault, and she admitted negligence. I did not call the police, and did not exchange insurance info. Now, I regret not doing so, because there is damage to both of our cars. I told the other driver that I would get an estimate of the repairs call her. I don't know that she is even willing to cover the cost of the repairs. I have not filed a claim with my insurance company. What should I do now?

Answer 1

Well, I'm sure your going to hear allot of criticism on this. You should've called the police, to at least get an accident report. As your insurance would want that. Also, you should've gotten her insurance info as well. Since you haven't done that, you might be paying out of your own pocket. Good luck.

Answer 2

Well, rather than telling you what you should have done, which is all just useless information at this point, I will tell you what you can do now that will be helpful.

File a claim with your insurance company and explain the circumstances. You should start with a phone call to your agent. Give them all the information you have and let them take it from there. They have the knowledge and resources to track down all the missing information. Since they have a vested interest in the outcome (they don't want to pay for damages that were the fault of another driver), they will settle with the other driver's insurance company.

Use this as a learning experience and if there is a "next time", you will handle the situation differently.
Good luck.

Answer 3

First rule of thumb- "ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE"!!!!!!! This happened to me 30 years ago when I was pulling into a convenient store parking lot. The woman backed out of the parking space into the side of my pick-up. She apologized and said she would pay for repairs and gave me the old kock and bull story about her terrible situation. Being the kind and considerate human being I am, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and went along with her scheme UNTIL, yes I said UNTIL she talked to someone that put the low life idea in her head since the cops weren't called play it so the other guy bears the brunt of the loss! And she did, she filed with her insurance company that I pulled into the parking lot while she was backing out and side swiped her! NO SUCH THING EVER OCCURED! HOWEVER< we were both found 50/50 at fault and I not only had to pay my repairs , but my insurance premiums escalated for 3 years!!!
I'll say it again---"ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE"!!! No matter how minor or major the accident because we live among so many dishonest people it's actually sickening!!!!!!!

Answer 4

Gas Station? ... you have witnesses! take photos of the damage and of the gas station and ask who was working there that day. The staff would have talked about it and even may have a copy of the security tape for their collection of "Funny videos".

If you do not ask, the answer is already NO. If you do ask, you have the chance to change that

If asked why you didn't call the police, say that no-one was injured and the damage was verbally claimed as the fault of the other driver. She promised to pay, so didn't want to bother the police for a driveable accident

Answer 5

Filing a claim will only increase your auto insurance, your fault or not. In many states, if the damage is under $500 it is not required for you to report it to the police.

It was best to just forget it, and get it fixed on the side. You might want to just accept that your car is going to get dings and dents along the way. I know its esp hard when it's a new car, however, it's something that you should not waste your precious time on or stress about.

Answer 6

In my state if the cars can be driven safetly and there was no injury the police will not respond to the accident. You made a mistake when you did not exchange ins. info. I would have called the police just to have a record of the call being made weather they came or not. I will bet you are out of luck and will end up paying out of your pocket. Call it a lesson from the school of hard knocks. There was a time not to long ago when people were honorable enough to pay for damage they caused.

Answer 7

Call your insurance company and set up a claim, if that's what you want to do. A police report is not required to file an insurance claim. But unfortunately, she can turn around and change her story about what happened.
You could try to get an estimate ASAP and call her to see if she is willing to pay without insurance. If not, call your carrier and set it up.

Answer 8

you should always call the police and get an accident report. I always keep a one time use camera in my car. get all info even plate number. but now call ( with a witness and document conversation ) the person with the estimate and get cash for damages. if you report to your ins. co. your ins. will go up !! if she denies fault you are out of luck.

Answer 9

in case you may get a replica of the police record and function the comparable cop that wrote it seem in courtroom then you definately would desire to be high-quality. If something, only having a replica of the record would desire to be high-quality. as long as you have the unique fact, then the only which admitted the fault and now denies it is going to seem stupid.

Answer 10

This is civil not criminal because it was on private property . You can still sue her for damages , you dont have to sue her insurance company. Call a local lawyer , they will talk to you over the phone ( briefly ) for free.