What to do in a car accident where at fault now denies?

Question

Me and my husband were in a car accident where the other driver was at fault and backed into us in a parking lot. He admitted at the time it was his fault and we took down all his details etc. We did not file a police report because the damage was under $500 and no one was hurt.

I keep calling his insurance company and the guy wont return their calls. I called the driver today and now he acts shifty and denies it being his phone number, even changing his story.

I called the police today and they said it is too late to file a report. What is the best thing I can do? I'm insured under my inlaws policy and they don't want me filing a report with them because their premiums will then go up.

Answer 1

Call YOUR insurance and give the details. If not at fault won't affect your insurance.

Answer 2

1. Small claims court may make more sense than using the car owner's insurance. For one thing, this is probably less than the deductible.

2. In most states, accidents only have to be reported to the police if their are injuries or more than a certain amount in damage. If "the damage was under $500 and no one was hurt", you may not have been required to file a police report.

Answer 3

You were not very smart by leaving the police out of it from the beginning. It is too late to get anything from him now. Learn from this and next time call the police immediately. It looks like you will be the one to pay for the damage.

Answer 4

There is really not a whole lot you can do. Granted the guy was at fault, calling your insurance company and telling them about it is not going to raise the insurance rates. The key is to be able to prove he was at fault. Which, if you took pictures of your vehicle's damamge, it may help, but its not guarentee. its really tough in situations like this whether or not to call the police. Good luck to you!

Answer 5

MOST LIKELY NOTHING AT THIS TIME BECAUSE YOU DID NOT GET THE POLICE REPORT.