I’ve never really had to deal with insurance companies and accidents before, so I’m hoping some of you more seasoned dopers can help me out here.
On monday I was involved in a fender-bender on my way home from work. I was heading along straight in the far right hand lane during rush hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic at a fairly slow rate of speed. An elderly gentleman in the lane to my immediate left decided he wanted in my lane, but apparently didn’t see me in it already and moved over. The side of my car was scratched and there are a couple indentations over the front driver’s side wheel well, but nothing too bad.
At the scene, he seemed a little confused, and a little out of it, and very unresponsive. I had to prompt him for his insurance information and phone number, and the only words he said during the whole exchange were, “I guess you didn’t see my blinker on back there then, did you?”
I got his insurance info, name and phone number, and made sure his car was drivable. I asked if he wanted me to call the police to come make a report, and he didn’t respond. I checked everything over again, making sure he and his wife (I assume) were okay and their bumper had been reattached securely. As it was incredibly hot outside, and I had friends in the car who had to be somewhere shortly, I told him I’d file a police report later if necessary. He seemed neither in favor of, nor against this idea, and wandered back into his car and drove off.
I called the next day and I’ve filed a claim with my ins. and his ins. company. I’ve had my ins. co take pictures of my car, and his ins. company has told me where to go to get an estimate. They haven’t said outright that they would pay the claim, though.
As I mentioned before, I really don’t know how this whole process is supposed to work, and I haven’t had a chance to go down to the police station to file a report yet. I’m wondering though if it’s necessary at this point. Do I have to have one in order for his company to pay the claim? Will I have any problems since I didn’t get one done on the scene? Any info is appreciated.
I’m not sure about FL, but if I remember correctly from learning to drive in IL. . .if the damage is over $500 (which doesn’t really take much) it’s against the law not to file a police report. http://www.library.sos.state.il.us/publications/rr/rr_chap05.html The link doesn’t say what’ll happen to you if you don’t, though.
(bolding mine as it would seem to pertain to your situation)
I’d contact your nearest police department to make the report. I have hit deer before, and took my car to the county (in which the accident occured) sherrif’s office where they inspect your car for damage, record your account of the incident, etc. They didn’t have to do it at the scene (since the car was drivable). A two-car collision may work differently, but again the link says you can file a report five days after the incident. I’d find a police station if I were you and get a report. I bet if the old man’s insurance company finds out you didn’t get a report as the law required, they wouldn’t pay.
Actually, I guess the link says that you need to make a report to the Dept. of Highway Safety blah blah blah. If you went to a police station, they might help you, or they might just tell you to do it yourself (if they’re nice they’d at least give you the form). I’m nice, though :D, and I found the form: http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/html/CrashReport.pdf
It looks exactly like the forms I saw for my deer collision (the one that was serious enough to need a full report). I guess you just check “Driver Report of Traffic Crash” and fill it out the best you can. Where you send it, I can’t seem to find. Maybe you can find something here: http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/
Thanks, guys. I’ve already talked to the police station so I know what form I need to fill out when I get there and where to go, I just wasn’t sure if I would be required to do so or not. I’m going to try to stop by on my way to lunch today. I didn’t know if having waited a few days to do so would be a factor or not, thanks for all the info though!
I haven’t had an estimate, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be more than $500 to have it fixed, so I guess it’s worth it to go ahead.
In my experience, if no one is injured and both vehicles are drivable, the police won’t even fill out an accident report. As you described it - “a fender-bender” - it sounds like something the insurance companies will hash out.
There is a risk that, since you have no documented proof of what exactly happened at the scene - no police report, no witnesses - that the two insurance companies will split the difference rather than go to the expense of proving one or the other of the drivers is at fault, and your insurance company will try to count this accident against you (and possibly raise your rates as a result). Talk with your agent and the claims representative, and if there’s even a remote possibility that could happen, rescind your claim and fight it out directly with the other driver’s insurance company. Your insurance company’s primary responsibility is not to take care of you, but to take care of itself, to minimize the costs to the company and to any owners/shareholders/etc. While you may have been innocent of any responsibility for this accident, the insurance company won’t care if it means it’s more expensive for them to settle that way.
A caveat to anyone involved in any kind of accident: have a police report in hand before you leave the scene, and if the office who responds says there’s no reason for one, get the officer’s name and badge number, in case you or an insurance company representative need to speak with her or him in the course of settling the claim.
