what to do with an accident with a driver with expired tags and registration?

Question

My son rolled into a car at a red light leaving a small smudge mark...the police was called and they said the damage was under $50 and the other driver opted not to have an accident report filed because he was going to receive a ticket for his tags and registration being expired for 2 months...now this person is telling me that the damage was underestimated and his estimate is $800...i want to pay for damages i am responsible for, but it doesn't seem fair that this guy opted for no accident report to get out of a ticket and fines and has jacked the price way up....if i turn it into my ins my premiums will go up.....does he have legal rights if he was driving a vehicle that wasn't legally supposed to be on the road????...and should i offer him what the officer said $100 and just let him take me to small claims court..... thank you for your help

Answer 1

Let him take you to court. Make sure you still have the policeman's details (which, please tell me, you took at the time) so he can be a witness.

Answer 2

His having expired plates will have no bearing, whatsoever, on the accident. You need to call the officer who responded and tell him that you need a report filed. At the very least the officer should have filled out an Exchange of Information Report. You also need to immediately put your insurance company on notice, most have restrictions that accidents, no mater how small be reported within a certain amount of time. And let you company call him. Let him see you are not going to be pushed around. Let an adjuster go and look at the damage and laugh. You pay for insurance and this is what they are for! You rates are not going to be affected that much

My son got his license and had a rear end accident with two different cars involved, his fault, my adjuster went to inspect the cars with check book in hand. Money speaks loudly. Both drivers and one passenger settled for a small amount in a matter of days. My rates did not go up much at all. Another time my son and another boy had a "run in" after school. It totally looked to be the other boys fault but neither called the cops (ugh!) anyway the boys mother called and told us she was making a claim. I laughed but called my company and they pretty much informed her that since it was HER son's fault that WE would also be making a claim. There was so little damage on either car it was pitiful, but she back off immediately!

Answer 3

I have a friend that recently went through a similar situation. When you go to court ask the judge to grant you an extension to get the registration up to date. Usually they give you a new court date about 30 days later, but you have to ask for it. Usually if you get the things fixed before court the first time, the fines will be dismissed. The same usually goes for the reset court date or they will be greatly reduced. Typically nation wide the fine for driving with no insurance is $400-$600. No registration is $150-$350!!! This is no joke! Do whatever you can to get it fixed b4 court to avoid these penalties. If it turns out you must pay, you can make a payment plan, the amount of the installments depends on your expenses and income. Please do take care of this, as if you don't or if you miss a payment or fail to comply with what the court orders, a warrant will be issued for your arrest and you will spend time in jail till the fines are paid either with cash or time. Usually like $50 a day. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Answer 4

Hmm.. interesting question. I would check with your insurance company first. Just be general about it, don't give them specifics. I would imagine that because there was no report filed or anything, this guy can't do jack all because there was no "proof" your son hit his car. In other words, because he never filed an accident report, he cannot prove that your son hit his car.. If he did file a report, he would have to pay for the damages because it would be proven that at the time of the accident, he had no insurance because his registration was overdue. If you ask me, he's just trying to gype you out of money. DO NOT pay him any more than what the officer suggested. Ask someone from the insurance company first how they would handle something like that.

Answer 5

well for one call and talk to the officer involved and explain what is happening. Because he shouldn't get nothing from you especially when he said it. It's a verbal agreement. If he wants take him t to take you to small claims court let him. Because what he doesn
't realize is that the cops know what happened and they can be your witness. He doesn't have a leg to stand on. Also what kind of cops do you ahve there cause if they were doing there jobs they would have noticed the tags were expired. Good Luck

Answer 6

Turn their claim into your insurance company telling them what you told us. Insurance fraud is not taken lightly, and once your company tells them that, and reminds them the police are ready to testify the damage was under $50 I would bet the whole thing will suddenly go away.

And no, turning in an accident of that small an amount will NOT increase your premium.

Answer 7

Do you have photos of the damage?

My husband had an incident last year. It was his fault, but I happened to have my camera with me, so we took pictures of it.
The people kept calling saying it was $600. My husband told them to have it fixed and we will reimburse them for the bill. They wanted the money, and we refused. They never contacted us again.

We were lucky, but we think they jacked it up thinking we would pay for the damage. The photos would have been good proof in court, because there just wan't much damage.

Answer 8

Regardless of that guy's license status, your son negligently caused damage to his car and you are responsible for reasonable repairs. You should file a claim with your insurance company. That is what you pay insurance for. It is unlikely that your rates will go up for a single (small) claim. They can advise you and act on your behalf to make sure the estimate for the damage is reasonable.

Answer 9

You're right, offer the 100.00 or explain to him, he can explain in court why he was illegally on the road. Make him take you to court. He will back off. You may need the officer as a witness, to say what damage he saw.

Answer 10

I think it is a scam. Call your insurance company and tell them the story. Did you son get the name of the policeman and his badge number?

Do not let him get away with this.