# An Injury Claim\>? Are you Friggen Kidding me? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 26, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441 "2003-11-26T19:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/21 "2003-11-26T22:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\*Something I learned from being in a situation similar to the OP’s: > > Always ALWAYS **ALWAYS** call the police when there’s an accident. Never let the other person try to talk you out of it. \*\* Parking lot=private property. Police will not take a report on private property. Mall security, maybe, police no. Also, around here, you can’t hardly get a cop to take a report for an accident unless a limb is missing or someone is taken to a hospital. Fender-benders will not yield you a report. Sam ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/22 "2003-11-27T00:45:54Z")
You are screwed, you see you are driving a SUV, the baine of humanity, foolishing squandering resources and endangering all people around you by using something many times the weight required for no other reason then your own selfishness. Happy Thanksgiving ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/23 "2003-11-27T01:13:06Z")
That totally sucks, **Phlosphr,** but that’s what rear-view and side mirrors are for. 😃 IMO, however, I think that we’d have a lot fewer frivolous lawsuits if you had to pay the defendant’s legal fees if you lost, no questions asked, vs. dragging it out and suing THEM in civil court just to do the same thing. I mean, it doesn’t cost a dime to hire a lawyer as a plaintiff, but it costs a pretty penny to defend yourself…not to mention all the time away from work and all the hassle of a stupid lawsuit. However, the imaginary sister-in-the-vehicle seems pretty incredible. What a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/24 "2003-11-27T01:16:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > **IMO, however, I think that we’d have a lot fewer frivolous lawsuits if you had to pay the defendant’s legal fees if you lost, no questions asked, vs. dragging it out and suing THEM in civil court just to do the same thing** Don’t they do just that in the UK? Or maybe it’s Canada. In either case, I’d like to see how the number of lawsuits per capita compares to ours. ---
**Author:** ![patchbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@patchbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patchbunny)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/25 "2003-11-27T01:32:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > \*\*WHOA! I said…Mrs. X was alone. There was no one else in the car. \*\* For several years now I have carried one of those small disposable cameras in my car, and I rotate in a fresh one every few months so the film is still good. If I’m in an accident, I have the ability to take pictures right then and there of my car, their car, and any roadway conditions. Can’t recommend it enough. –Patch ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/26 "2003-11-27T03:03:00Z")
I once rear-ended a guy in a work van. Well, rear-ended is not a good way to put it. I was coming to a stop at a sign where he was already stopped. I misjudged the distance by a fraction of an inch and we touched bumpers. And I do mean TOUCHED. Neither his bumper nor mine even had so much as a scratch. He claimed ‘soft tissue’ damage and the work insurance paid it out without batting an eye. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/27 "2003-11-27T03:06:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*He claimed ‘soft tissue’ damage and the work insurance paid it out without batting an eye. \*\* Well, the brain _is_ soft tissue. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/28 "2003-11-27T03:22:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kanicbird \* > \*\*You are screwed, you see you are driving a SUV, the baine of humanity, foolishing squandering resources and endangering all people around you by using something many times the weight required for no other reason then your own selfishness. > > Happy Thanksgiving \*\* That was a joke, right? ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/29 "2003-11-27T04:21:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GaWd \* > \*\*Parking lot=private property. Police will not take a report on private property. Mall security, maybe, police no. > > Also, around here, you can’t hardly get a cop to take a report for an accident unless a limb is missing or someone is taken to a hospital. Fender-benders will not yield you a report. > Sam \*\* Not necessarily. I was backed into by someone in a parking lot. I called the police, since that’s what my insurance company recommends I do, no matter what. The officer asked if I got the other party’s insurance info and then made it a “Matter of Record” and gave me a case number. YMMV, but the police here will certainly take a report on private property. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/30 "2003-11-27T05:58:44Z")
People are so freaking dispicable. Many years ago, I ran into a parked car and put a tiny dent in the wheel well. I told the guy I wanted to just pay him and not report it to my insurance company. Well, he started claiming that I’d done thousands of dollars in damage, dented his door, blah blah blah. All BS. So finally I told him to call my insurance company and make a claim. I also called the insurance company and they said my premium would not go up as long as the claim was under $1000. I also alerted them to a possible fraud situation. Well, I never found out the exact figure, but they told me it was “well under” $1000. Sometimes ya gotta be thankful for stingy insurance adjusters. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/31 "2003-11-27T06:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by St. Urho \* > \*\*Not necessarily. I was backed into by someone in a parking lot. I called the police, since that’s what my insurance company recommends I do, no matter what. The officer asked if I got the other party’s insurance info and then made it a “Matter of Record” and gave me a case number. YMMV, but the police here will certainly take a report on private property. \*\* I was involved in a minor traffic accident on a city street (not my fault, if anyone cares). A police car that was driving by stopped. Basically, they just wanted to make sure we both had drivers licenses and insurance, and make sure no one needed medical attention. I asked for a police report. ‘No can do’, they said. They would only make a report if there was an injury. Otherwise, it was not a police matter. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/32 "2003-11-27T06:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > I asked for a police report. ‘No can do’, they said. They would only make a report if there was an injury. Otherwise, it was not a police matter. Might vary state to state, but this sounds like someone trying to get out of some paperwork. I’ve been told the same thing on two occasions, but managed to get a report when I asked the officer if that was a refusal to fill out a report after a direct request. Always get a report. People are weasels. I’d also recommend calling both your _and_ the other person’s insurance company. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/33 "2003-11-27T07:08:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waverly \* > \*\*Might vary state to state, but this sounds like someone trying to get out of some paperwork. I’ve been told the same thing on two occasions, but managed to get a report when I asked the officer if that was a refusal to fill out a report after a direct request. > > Always get a report. People are weasels. I’d also recommend calling both your _and_ the other person’s insurance company. \*\* I’ll remember that. A police report would have helped me out a LOT when I was dealing with the other fella’s insurance company. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/34 "2003-11-27T08:01:32Z")
While responding to a fire call some years ago, I was approaching a T intersection, where I would need to turn left to head to the station. Snow was falling, and I was proceeding with caution, my blue lights on. I stopped about 5 feet short of the stop sign, and watched a teenage kid slam on his brakes, slide off the road, run over an few bushes, and run into the side of my stopped truck. Police were called, a report taken, and about two weeks later, I received notice that I was being sued, for being **negligently stopped**. :eek: Yes, friends-the convoluted logic stated that although I was not empowered to run the stop sign, the kid was appropriate in his belief that I would do so, and that by stopping, I was causal to his overreaction, and should not have been positioned there at that moment in time. While I’d have thought that document unworthy of lining my parrot’s cage, my insurer paid the bastard. :mad: go figure. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/35 "2003-11-27T13:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dinsdale \* > \*\*Why the high dudgeon? > > This is simply the way our system operates. > > If you happen to be in a situation in which someone else arguably damages you or your property, you are **entitled** to try to profit from that situation independent of whether or not you incurred any injuries, as well as the severity of any injuries actually incurred. > > Just another aspect of what makes our country great. > > (Oh yeah - you probably woulda seen her if you weren’t driving a gas guzzling behemoth. Serves you right! ;)) \*\* You must be a lawyer ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/36 "2003-11-27T14:09:50Z")
**Dinsdale** said: > [@](#): > > Do you mean we shouldn’t bring up that incident Phlosphr was telling us about concerning that underage coed and the goat? I was aquitted and you know that! 🙂 This story goes topsy-tervy…I just got a call from my insurance claims person, and they said there was a witness to the accident. You see the accident was in the parking lot of a stripmall, and the travel agents office I was coming from saw the whole thing. They corroborated that there was no one else in the car. Insurance company said this may be a fraud case now on her part, guess it’s against the law to file a fake claim…Greed. I’m sorry but I do not feel bad for her… > [@](#): > > You are screwed, you see you are driving a SUV, the baine of humanity, foolishing squandering resources and endangering all people around you by using something many times the weight required for no other reason then your own selfishness. > > Happy Thanksgiving Last I knew I live in the United States of America and can spend my hard earned money on what ever I please…Oh and Happy Thanksgiving!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/37 "2003-11-27T14:12:38Z")
btw, I have applied to our state to have a propane natural gas fuel system set-up in my truck - they have a program for this in Arizona, and my wife and I have appealed in our state for it. I’m all about cleaner air! ---
**Author:** ![Computer\_Guru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Computer\_Guru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Computer_Guru)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/38 "2003-11-27T14:28:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by belladonna \* > \*\*Just consider it payback for owning what is probably the _ugliest_ car ever made. 😛 > > \*\* No, that would be the Honda Element, and then the new accord. ---
**Author:** ![Computer\_Guru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Computer\_Guru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Computer_Guru)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/39 "2003-11-27T14:36:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GaWd \* > \*\*Parking lot=private property. Police will not take a report on private property. Mall security, maybe, police no. > > Also, around here, you can’t hardly get a cop to take a report for an accident unless a limb is missing or someone is taken to a hospital. Fender-benders will not yield you a report. > Sam \*\* The police should though because private or not, it happened. Heck, cars are private property themselves. Police take care of other stuff on private property, why not a car crash in a parking lot. Seems silly that someone can’t file hit and run charges if someone hits them and then runs in a parking lot. That seems so backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Computer\_Guru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Computer\_Guru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Computer_Guru)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441/40 "2003-11-27T14:40:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by danceswithcats \* > \*\*While responding to a fire call some years ago, I was approaching a T intersection, where I would need to turn left to head to the station. Snow was falling, and I was proceeding with caution, my blue lights on. I stopped about 5 feet short of the stop sign, and watched a teenage kid slam on his brakes, slide off the road, run over an few bushes, and run into the side of my stopped truck. > > Police were called, a report taken, and about two weeks later, I received notice that I was being sued, for being **negligently stopped**. :eek: Yes, friends-the convoluted logic stated that although I was not empowered to run the stop sign, the kid was appropriate in his belief that I would do so, and that by stopping, I was causal to his overreaction, and should not have been positioned there at that moment in time. > > While I’d have thought that document unworthy of lining my parrot’s cage, my insurer paid the bastard. :mad: go figure. \*\* and I bet your rates went up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-injury-claim-are-you-friggen-kidding-me/215441.md?page=3)