minor car accident a month ago, now they want $500 cash... what to do?

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Way to read, layton.

Already had a couple people verify that you don't always get a police report in CA. If she did it, she should pay. Too bad she can't drive!

You keep assuming that there is damage and that if there is it can be attributed to the accident. I don't think she should lie or deny the accident ever happened but the proper people need notified in order to figure this out ie. insurance company. It is far more likely that John's mom needs a new pair of shoes than there is damage to the car. The only right things to do are either report it to insurance or have the moms get together and look at the damage. Then Janes mom should ask for a couple of estimates on the repair and offer to pay the shop that does the work. That is if it looks like the damage could have been cuased by the accident.

 

[Ornery]

She hit the back of his car! Something's got to give when you do that. If it's puckered up under the plastic, I'd want it fixed. Where does the culprit get to dictate terms? She should be glad to get off without her insurance knowing about it.

I let a guy go once, after hitting the back of my car. Hell, I've done that at least twice! Now, seeing how much people really appreciate this, I won't be as likley to do it again. Hell, I'll call the cops, his insurance company, and the news media, next time.

 

[johnjosh]

Originally posted by: Ornery
She hit the back of his car! Something's got to give when you do that. If it's puckered up under the plastic, I'd want it fixed. Where does the culprit get to dictate terms? She should be glad to get off without her insurance knowing about it.

I let a guy go once, after hitting the back of my car. Hell, I've done that at least twice! Now, seeing how much people really appreciate this, I won't be as likley to do it again. Hell, I'll call the cops, his insurance company, and the news media, next time.

yes she hit the back of his car and no one is denying that, john also told her after looking at his car that everything is fine, if he was concern that she did some damaged to his car he should have taken her insurance info and have it examine by mechanic to see if any damaged have occurred. In this case he just took name and phone number fine that is fine but were the problem is he waited 30 days for some reason. Due to the 30 day period question comes up did he get hit by someone else but they didn't have any insurance so he decided to go after her or did he hit something a wall, park car etc and now needs to have his back repaired so again decided to go after her and claim that now he/his mom can see damage and trying to scare her by saying a person in the family is a police officer who can look up her info which I am not sure if they can as they always ask u for prove of insurance.

 

[Ornery]

If he has to drag her into court, what is she going to say? $500.00 ain't much where auto repair is concerned. If this were dropped in a judges lap, and she admitted she hit him, WTF, she pays, right?

I can easily believe that he truly thought it looked fine, but later can see that it's tilted up or down a bit. Not hard to believe at all. If she doesn't want to do the right thing, maybe he should start turning the screws. I don't see her as a victim in this.

 

[johnjosh]

Originally posted by: Ornery
If he has to drag her into court, what is she going to say? $500.00 ain't much where auto repair is concerned. If this were dropped in a judges lap, and she admitted she hit him, WTF, she pays, right?

I can easily believe that he truly thought it looked fine, but later can see that it's tilted up or down a bit. Not hard to believe at all. If she doesn't want to do the right thing, maybe he should start turning the screws. I don't see her as a victim in this.

yes it possible that he saw the damage on his car after leaving the scene of the accident. But the question that comes up is would a reasonable person wait 30 days before calling her and informing her that he now sees the damage. At some point she is no longer responsibel for the damage as it being to long from time of the accident to the time of reporting the problem. I personally feel that 30 days is way to long for someone to wait to repor the damage, for all she/we know that guy was parked in parking lot and someone hit him from behind and left without leaving there info.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: dtyn
Was there a police report? No? Then it never happened.

bingo. crash? what crash?

 

[johnjosh]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: dtyn
Was there a police report? No? Then it never happened.

bingo. crash? what crash?

i don't think u can go that route as how will you explain the name and the phone number that was givin and unless the kid was an idiot he at least should have written down her plate number and the color and make of the car but i have no idea if he did or not.

 

[rahvin]

Ornery you are thinking in terms of the boats you drive. I will say it again, with the plastic bumpers on a 95 maxima the first damage to either car would have been her bumper getting $1200 or so in damage. A scuff on her bumper with no other visual damage would indicate the crash was not a crash but more of a bump with no damage. Think, if a jap car hits any of yours who is going to get the worst of it? She hit an american model car with a 95 jap car with plastic bumpers, she got the worst of it and if she didn't have damage neither did he.

Her best course of action is to refer everything to her insurance company and let them handle it. They will deny the claim and nothing will ever come of it. I can't believe the number of people here that have insurance and then are AFRAID to let their insurance company do their job they have been paying them for.

 

[Mark R]

She should call her insurance company and ask them for advice.

Her mistake was not reporting it to her insurance company. She should have called them to let them know of the incident, but stated she did not want to claim. She should also have submitted a statement saying that both parties agreed that there was no visible damage to either car.

In her current situation, it would still be appropriate to do the same, although the delay may cause problems.

In either case, once you have told you insurance company, you should direct the 3rd party to contact your insurance company directly if they wish to pursue a claim.

 

[Rogue]

In many states, it is ILLEGAL to NOT report the incident, no matter how minor it is.

 

[Ornery]

"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). "

• I can imagine not seeing the damage for a month, particularly if it was someone besides 'John' who noticed it.
• I can imagine it taking a month, if 'John' is the primary driver, and assumed it was OK. When's the last time you gave your spouse's car a good look over?
• I can imagine, with all the Christmas errands going on, that it could be missed for a while, too.
• I don't know how hard it hit, but how much would it take to mess up the underpinnings of these 5MPH bumpers?
• I'd want to keep my insurance in the dark. Don't need to give them any more ammo to raise my rates!
• I wouldn't be looking for 101 ways to weasel out of something, if I know I'm responsible.

In CA, they have ten days to report the incident to the DMV, IF the damage is over $750.00. This info is put on your record, whether you are at fault or not. Text

 

[Maximus96]

i've had a similar accident 3 months ago and still waiting for settlement. I was hit on the freeway in CA. the lady hit me on the freeway at about 15mph when i stopped due to traffic. highway patrol was right next to us and saw everything, pulled us over, got her info, let her go, then came to me to get my info. now i regret i didnt' get out to examine her car because her adjustor is denying damage. my bumper is all fvcked up, trunk won't close, and is totalled (92 infiniti g20). she hit me hard enough to leave an imprint of her license plate on my bumper, you can see the 'california' on top and the last 3 digits of her license in blue. police report stated she is at fault, that the speed of impact was about 15mph, and indicated we both had damages. my lawyer told me the other day that we'll have to take her to small claims because the adjustor said her car has no damage, and therefore mine was not related to the accident. maybe the law-savy guys here can let me know whether i'll win in small claims.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

If everyone is being civil about this, then I would consider the possibility that there was damage. However, I would want to SEE this damage myself, so that I could compare the said damage with what I remember. You have to consider the possibility that the car was in a second accident after the first accident. If I felt like the other side was trying to put one over on me then I would be reticient to agree to anything and would probably tell them that they waited too long.

 

[bozack]

Similar thing happened to me a few years ago and it was pretty annoying to say the least....it all started my sophomore year in college when one winter I was driving my mother back from the doctor in a light snowstorm, a woman in a small crappy car proceeded to blow right through a stop sign which caused me to lightly tap the front drivers side of her car...at the time I asked why she didn't stop to which she responded "Well that stop sign wasn't there a minute ago!!"...at the time we both exchanged paperwork but the damage to her car was non existant and mine only had a cracked turn signal in the front I wrote it off....

Well five years later I get something in the mail summoning me to court...seems she filed paperwork just before the statute of limitations and was suing my mothers and my insurance for injuries to her head, neck, back and also vehicle....

She produced shady reports from Doctors, bills for car repair, pictures of her in a neck brace, they even went so far as to have me deposed and also call in someone from the RMV to testify that I had a history of speeding....

it went to court and basically they jury laughed it out...she told her story, I told mine, they saw the pictures of my car and the whopping $5 in damage that was done and that was that....

In the end her daugher ended up getting into a really serious accident and they rode the gravy train on that one...my lawyer thought they were professional or amateur scam artists....

tell your friend that she shouldn't admit anything as others suggested and it sounds like they are trying to rook her...good luck.

 

[HorizonSeeker]

if the mom calls again with the "son-in-law" story, try to get the name of the son in law and the dept. he works in. it is illegal for LEs to run this sort of info for personal gain. if you have proof that he exists and actually did this, make sure you file a complaint at the PD and follow up on it.

30 days is way too long, tell Jane to contact the insurance company and handle everything at that level, there is really no need to harangle this on her own. When my mom got rear ended on the freeway, the guy who ran into her tried to blame her for it, we just let the insurance company took it over and got everything fixed. in situations like this, it's time to make use of the premiums you are paying on the insurance.

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

I'd say go find a lawyer...there's so many conflicting responses in this thread she's likely to get screwed somehow. Ask them for advice...they'd probably know what they're talking about.

 

[XZeroII]

You want the ONLY piece of information that is helpful? Here it is...

Talk to your local police department (or courthouse if the PD is not helpful). You walk in there (not her) and ask some questions. I'm sure someone there will answer these questions for you and tell you what her options are and if anything can be done. It's as simple as that, and you will get accurate information. These people here don't know squat. Don't believe a word they say.

 

[IamElectro]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: dtyn
Was there a police report? No? Then it never happened.

Exactly.

Bingo.

She should not surrender her insurance info. For a cop (relative or not) to run plates 30 days after the fact without filing a report would be misuse of power on the officers part. If<troll>Johns mom</troll> waited a month to call about this its her tough luck. John and Jane checked the cars and went thier seperate ways. Sounds like shes just trying to pay some Christmas bills courtesy of your friend Jane.

By not calling the cops John screwed himself. If thats not enough go to the police dept and ask for some advice.

 

[phonemonkey]

Originally posted by: Ornery
"You obviously haven't had to fight an insurance company for money. Your insurance company is there to protect you."

If the girlfriend opts to not pay, and I have to get my insurance company involved, it will eventually come out of her pocket, or her insurance company's pocket. Either way, MY car WILL be repaired at the garage of MY choice... PERIOD!

Who's your insurance company? Last time I had to take my car into the shop for repairs (someone didn't see me and changed lanes right into me), I had to get a list of approved car shops, then I could go to the mechanics. I also had to provide a comparison from 3 different shops.

Then again, I had Geico at the time, so it may have just been them (haven't had to find out with USAA yet).

 

[kenshorin]

Originally posted by: zaku
i've had a similar accident 3 months ago and still waiting for settlement. I was hit on the freeway in CA. the lady hit me on the freeway at about 15mph when i stopped due to traffic. highway patrol was right next to us and saw everything, pulled us over, got her info, let her go, then came to me to get my info. now i regret i didnt' get out to examine her car because her adjustor is denying damage. my bumper is all fvcked up, trunk won't close, and is totalled (92 infiniti g20). she hit me hard enough to leave an imprint of her license plate on my bumper, you can see the 'california' on top and the last 3 digits of her license in blue. police report stated she is at fault, that the speed of impact was about 15mph, and indicated we both had damages. my lawyer told me the other day that we'll have to take her to small claims because the adjustor said her car has no damage, and therefore mine was not related to the accident. maybe the law-savy guys here can let me know whether i'll win in small claims.

Thats bogus. Police report says she was the one in the accident who hit you. Trumps-over-stupid-adjuster-man. It doesn't matter if there is no damage to her car (which she may have had quick-fixed), you have an F'd up car with an imprint of her license plate and the most reliable witness there is says she's at fault (a cop)... get ready to cash that check.

 

[kenshorin]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: Ornery
Utah is a no-fault state, rahvin. California isn't, and neither is it where I live in Ohio. My car was damaged, with no police report, and my car was fixed at a top quality garage without even contacting my insurance.

Utah is a no-fault INJURY state. The no-fault only applies to medical claims. If her insurance company believes there is no liability on her part they WILL NOT PAY. They will force the other party into a lawsuit to get money and they will only discuss it if the other party hires a lawyer (and no lawyer is going to take a non-injury lawsuit). I know this from experience. If you involve your insurance company they will simply try to get the other insurance company to pay and if they refuse they will tell you to take it to court or fix it under your collision insurance.

It is STANDARD operating procedure at all insurance companies to refuse to pay on anything that can't be proven in court. Unless the guy has definative proof that there is $800 in damage to the car AND that it was caused by the accident he is going to be SOL. No insurance company still in business is going to pay a claim that they wouldn't have to pay if it went to court.

^^^^ BINGO.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: zaku
i've had a similar accident 3 months ago and still waiting for settlement. I was hit on the freeway in CA. the lady hit me on the freeway at about 15mph when i stopped due to traffic. highway patrol was right next to us and saw everything, pulled us over, got her info, let her go, then came to me to get my info. now i regret i didnt' get out to examine her car because her adjustor is denying damage. my bumper is all fvcked up, trunk won't close, and is totalled (92 infiniti g20). she hit me hard enough to leave an imprint of her license plate on my bumper, you can see the 'california' on top and the last 3 digits of her license in blue. police report stated she is at fault, that the speed of impact was about 15mph, and indicated we both had damages. my lawyer told me the other day that we'll have to take her to small claims because the adjustor said her car has no damage, and therefore mine was not related to the accident. maybe the law-savy guys here can let me know whether i'll win in small claims.

if you have the police report, it should be an easy matter for you to collect everything, including lawyer fees if it comes to that. they will most likely cave anyway when they find out you're serious about going to court.

 

[erikistired]

i thought it was illegal to extort money from someone? i'd think if the lady was interested in getting her car fixed her insurance company would be calling jane. calling and asking for cash sounds pretty sleezy to me. however, i think i'd call my insurance company and tell them what is going on. i'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: kenshorin

Originally posted by: zaku
i've had a similar accident 3 months ago and still waiting for settlement. I was hit on the freeway in CA. the lady hit me on the freeway at about 15mph when i stopped due to traffic. highway patrol was right next to us and saw everything, pulled us over, got her info, let her go, then came to me to get my info. now i regret i didnt' get out to examine her car because her adjustor is denying damage. my bumper is all fvcked up, trunk won't close, and is totalled (92 infiniti g20). she hit me hard enough to leave an imprint of her license plate on my bumper, you can see the 'california' on top and the last 3 digits of her license in blue. police report stated she is at fault, that the speed of impact was about 15mph, and indicated we both had damages. my lawyer told me the other day that we'll have to take her to small claims because the adjustor said her car has no damage, and therefore mine was not related to the accident. maybe the law-savy guys here can let me know whether i'll win in small claims.

Thats bogus. Police report says she was the one in the accident who hit you. Trumps-over-stupid-adjuster-man. It doesn't matter if there is no damage to her car (which she may have had quick-fixed), you have an F'd up car with an imprint of her license plate and the most reliable witness there is says she's at fault (a cop)... get ready to cash that check.

You're right, you can really fVck up one car and leave hardly a scratch on the other. When I was in college, I hit the softest part of someone's car (the door, head on) with the hardest part of mine (front bumper). My license plate was bent a little, a little paint from her car on the bumper, but her car was smashed all to hell. Amazing part? The accident was ruled to be HER fault, despite how the wreck looked, and despite no police being involved. (She started to make a turn, then pulled out of it at the last second just as I was turning in front of her.)

 

[edfcmc]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most have also extended the law to cover in-person conversations.
Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These laws are referred to as "one-party consent" statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it. (Nevada also has a one-party consent statute, but the state Supreme Court has interpreted it as an all-party rule.)

NM...