I was in a car accident, and it was my fault. I changed lanes and hit the car next to me in the passenger doors with my driver side wheel-well. There is a police report pending until Sunday. I offered to pay for damages without going through insurance, and he got a quote today of $2000 for repairs. I have to check my deductible on my insurance when I get home.
Would you guys pay the guy 2000 or would you go through insurance and all of the resulting headaches.
Luckily, no one was hurt at all.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
If you have the $2000, and it wouldn't be too difficult of a hardship to pay, then yes, I would pay him and avoid insurance.
Posted by Risuena (Member # 2924) on :
I'm not sure, but with a police report, I doubt you'll be able to keep it from your insurance company. So you may not be able to escape the headaches no matter what.
Posted by RivalOfTheRose (Member # 11535) on :
The guy might not file the police report if we pay them before hand.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
In most states the police report is required if the damages are over a certain amount, or if anyone is injured.
You might want to check on that, and then decide how you feel about breaking the law, if that's what you would be doing.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
If you don't go through your insurance company you are also potentially opening yourself up to being personally liable to whatever damages they decide to claim later. It might not happen but it might. I would go through the insurance company to comply with their rules and the law and in case damages are more than originally anticipated.
Posted by Ron Lambert (Member # 2872) on :
The insurance company does not automatically get a copy of the police report. When I had an accident, that was 100% the other driver's fault (she made a right turn out of the left turn lane, cutting directly in front of me, and the police officer gave her a ticket), Allstate asked me to fax them a copy of the police report so I could collect damages from her insurance. They did not automatically get a copy of the police report.
If you report an accident to your insurance company, your insurance rates will go up. So if you can settle with the other driver to his satisfaction, it is to the advantage of both of you not to make a claim to your insurance companies.
If the other driver later decides to claim whiplash injury, or some such thing, then you would have to let the insurance company know, and send them a copy of the police report.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ron Lambert: If you report an accident to your insurance company, your insurance rates will go up. So if you can settle with the other driver to his satisfaction, it is to the advantage of both of you not to make a claim to your insurance companies.
If the other driver later decides to claim whiplash injury, or some such thing, then you would have to let the insurance company know, and send them a copy of the police report.
A lot depends on your insurance company - they won't automatically know about the police report, but if either of you notify your insurance companies, they will request copies of the report. My insurance company (USAA) does not automatically raise rates because you were in (or even at fault) for an accident - rate increases are dependent on physical (not medical) damages (or at least that's how they did things about 6 years ago when I asked).
If it were me, I would likely go through the insurance company, just to make sure that things didn't spiral out of control later.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
I would definitely go through insurance if I were you. Just because the current estimate is for $2000, that doesn't mean they won't discover additional damage when they finally get around to doing the work.
Also, if I were the other fellow, I would file a police report regardless of any arrangement the two of you made. He needs that report as proof that you were in the wrong if it turns out that the damage is actually over $2000 and he needs to get more money from you.
I was in a similar situation, though in my case the other person was at fault. The other guy offered to pay out of pocket, and I agreed. The first thing I did was file a police report. Then I notified my insurance company, without filing a claim. I don't know if he ever notified his insurance company, but it turned out that the repair cost was more than double what the original estimate said. He still ended up paying over $5000 out of pocket, but if he had decided to change his mind and weasel out of it, I would've been covered.
I think in your case it's best to just ask the police for the proper procedure.