I had an accident last saturday. The driver of the other car and I exchanged information and the police didnt come so we have no police report. He reported the accident with his insurance and I didnt with mine. We decided that we're going to wait til tomorrow (a week after the insurance), if I can just pay the damage with money out of my pocket. But now, it seems like he's charging too much so I decided to go through with the insurance companies. Should I report the incident to my insurance company? or should I just wait for them to contact me when the other driver's insurance company reports the accident to them.
Im thinking that I will just wait for my insurance company to contact me because they will know about the accident anyways. Will there be any legal issues if I dont report? What do you think?
2007-01-12 17:28:21 · 5 answers · asked by rhkenji 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
I have a "liablility only" insurance so I didnt bother claiming because I have nothing to claim for my car.
2007-01-12 17:29:54 · update #1
They cant say that I hit and ran because we exchanged information. I couldnt have gotten their information or my information if somebody ran.
2007-01-12 17:58:45 · update #2
Accidents without injuries are not required to be reported to law enforcement.
With that being said, if the accident occurred on public property you should have had the police complete a report (police will not do reports on private property for non injury accidents) to preserve your rights.
Reporting the accident to your insurance will not do you any good unless you have additional coverage that covers uninsured motorist.
You need to call the other person's insurance company and wait for their ridiculous low offer they will give you to fix your car.
As the previous poster stated, yo may end up getting hosed if the other party recants on their guilt. If that happens, you go to court and point fingers at one another if you have no police report/witnesses.
2007-01-12 18:17:49 · answer #1 · answered by Jeffrey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume that you are either partially or fully at-fault since you are trying to settle for his damages. I don't know what the regulations are in your area for when the police are to be called out to the scene of an accident (some jurisdictions state a police will only come out if there's an injury, if the damage is over a certain amount, if one of the driver's is uninsured, etc.), however the authorities should have some sort of system in place, even if it's just reporting over the phone, as insurance companies want all accidents reported.
There are two other issues here. One is not reporting the accident to your insurer and the amount of time that has passed. Every insurer, regardless of where you are, wants you to report a claim/accident to them as soon as possible. Failure to do so may jeopardize there ability to conduct their own investigation, and they may deny your claim on this basis, and you would be on the hook for all damages liable. The other issue is that you tried to settle with the other party. Insurers do not want you to either admit fault or try to settle with the other party, as this may compromise their position if they determine the accident in actuality wasn't your fault, or the damages the other party claimed are highly inflated, but you agreed to pay them anyway. They may deny your claim on this basis as well, and once again you'd be responsible for all damages liable.
Therefore my recommendation is to report this to your insurer ASAP, and to stop speaking to the other party and instead refer them to your insurer.
2007-01-14 21:26:13 · answer #2 · answered by Gambit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best thing would have been to call the police to write a report. I'm not sure if you said it was your fault, if it was and you have liability only then your insurance will only cover his vehicle. If you want to get yours fixed your kind of on your own, unless it was his fault, then you can go after his insurance. At this point it's all your word against his. Your insurance will be contacting you but to make a statement of what happened, or his insurance could also contact you for the same thing.
Hope this was helpful.
2007-01-13 02:56:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, contact your insurance company. They have a lawyer ready to work for you, they can assess the damages to make sure the amount is correct and provide legal documentation so the other party won't demand more in the future.
2007-01-13 03:30:33 · answer #4 · answered by PeppermintandPopcorn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you saying that it was your fault? because if not you really did the wrong thing by not reporting the accident. The other party can lye and say that you hit and ran, they can add More damages to their car and much more. Did you take pictures of both cars? if not you just played yourself. you know people can get scant-less
2007-01-13 01:56:42 · answer #5 · answered by Lady Bank$$$ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋