- Jun 19, 2001
- 25,716
- 4
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my friend was involved in a minor car accident about a month ago (dec 8th). she drives a 95 maxima... i am not sure what the other car was (when i arrived at the scene, the other car was gone... she described it only as an early 90's american car). basically, she (lets call her jane) rear ended another guy (lets call him john). when this happened, she cut the wheel to the right, so her front driver's side bumper hit john's rear passenger corner bumper. john inspected his car and said nothing seems wrong with his car, and since she is not hurt, they'll just go their separate ways (no police report). however, just in case, john took down jane's name and phone number (no insurance information or drivers license info was exchanged). the damage to jane's car was a scratch on her bumper and a turn signal bulb died (not busted... just died).
a month passes by... and on jan 9th, john's mom calls jane and says she took the car to the dealer for an estimate. john's mom asks jane for $800 cash. jane's mom also says that her son-in-law is a police officer, and if need be, she can ask him to run her plates and look up her insurance info in "their system". a few days later, john's mom again calls jane and says that she understands that a college student doesn't have much money, and that they also probably are worried about increasing insurance premiums. now, she is asking for $500 cash. the reason for the lower request is that her husband fixes cars, and they could get a replacement bumper from a junkyard. now, i'm not a mechanic, but i am pretty sure it's not necessary to replace a bumper for a scratched bumper. and even if the bumper was to be replaced, it does not costs $500-$800 (tho i could be wrong).
today, jane calls me and tells me about what has transpired over the last few days. to me, it sounds like john's mom is just looking to make a quick $500. i don't think she has any intention on fixing the car. i think it's kind of wierd that john's mom would call a month later and ask for monetary compensation. actually, it seems more like john's mom is trying to scare some cash out of jane.
i understand that jane is at fault for the accident, but i find it very odd that it took john (actually, not even john... it's his mom doing all the talking) a month to even contact jane about the accident. dec 8th was the last day of classes before finals began, so i don't think john's family went away on vacation immediately after the accident. i'm wondering if john's mom's goal is to fix the car, or make a profit. if they called soon after the accident, then i'd have surrendered my insurance info without much of a fight (even tho john did say nothing was wrong at the time of the accident). i don't think giving up $800 or $500 cash would have ever been an option anyway, since jane doesn't have that kind of cash to unload. but after a month of no contact, john's mom calls and tries to push jane around... asking for some cash, or else she is gonna get her son-in-law, the cop.
it kind of pisses me off that john's mom is trying to throw her weight around. i don't think cash was ever an option anyway, so it's all about insurance now. i feel that if they contacted jane about damages to the car in a more timely fashion (a week or two after), surrendering jane's insurance info would not be a problem. but a month later? who is to say that during that month, john's car did not get hit by something else in a parking lot (hit and run), or if john backed his car up into a fire hydrent (damages of his own fault)?
would jane be wrong to NOT surrender her insurance info at this point? are there any laws/rules/statutes for reporting an accident to the insurance company? i feel that at this point (one month later), jane should not give up her insurance info, and that if her son-in-law can run jane's plates to get the info... then fine, go for it (tho that has got to be some kind of violation... can cops just run ANY person's plates and seek their personal information to give to another citizen, based on accusations alone?). anyway... just wanted to see what you guys thought about this, and what's your take on this situation?
a month passes by... and on jan 9th, john's mom calls jane and says she took the car to the dealer for an estimate. john's mom asks jane for $800 cash. jane's mom also says that her son-in-law is a police officer, and if need be, she can ask him to run her plates and look up her insurance info in "their system". a few days later, john's mom again calls jane and says that she understands that a college student doesn't have much money, and that they also probably are worried about increasing insurance premiums. now, she is asking for $500 cash. the reason for the lower request is that her husband fixes cars, and they could get a replacement bumper from a junkyard. now, i'm not a mechanic, but i am pretty sure it's not necessary to replace a bumper for a scratched bumper. and even if the bumper was to be replaced, it does not costs $500-$800 (tho i could be wrong).
today, jane calls me and tells me about what has transpired over the last few days. to me, it sounds like john's mom is just looking to make a quick $500. i don't think she has any intention on fixing the car. i think it's kind of wierd that john's mom would call a month later and ask for monetary compensation. actually, it seems more like john's mom is trying to scare some cash out of jane.
i understand that jane is at fault for the accident, but i find it very odd that it took john (actually, not even john... it's his mom doing all the talking) a month to even contact jane about the accident. dec 8th was the last day of classes before finals began, so i don't think john's family went away on vacation immediately after the accident. i'm wondering if john's mom's goal is to fix the car, or make a profit. if they called soon after the accident, then i'd have surrendered my insurance info without much of a fight (even tho john did say nothing was wrong at the time of the accident). i don't think giving up $800 or $500 cash would have ever been an option anyway, since jane doesn't have that kind of cash to unload. but after a month of no contact, john's mom calls and tries to push jane around... asking for some cash, or else she is gonna get her son-in-law, the cop.
it kind of pisses me off that john's mom is trying to throw her weight around. i don't think cash was ever an option anyway, so it's all about insurance now. i feel that if they contacted jane about damages to the car in a more timely fashion (a week or two after), surrendering jane's insurance info would not be a problem. but a month later? who is to say that during that month, john's car did not get hit by something else in a parking lot (hit and run), or if john backed his car up into a fire hydrent (damages of his own fault)?
would jane be wrong to NOT surrender her insurance info at this point? are there any laws/rules/statutes for reporting an accident to the insurance company? i feel that at this point (one month later), jane should not give up her insurance info, and that if her son-in-law can run jane's plates to get the info... then fine, go for it (tho that has got to be some kind of violation... can cops just run ANY person's plates and seek their personal information to give to another citizen, based on accusations alone?). anyway... just wanted to see what you guys thought about this, and what's your take on this situation?
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