To Report or not Report a car Accident

[seen444]

My car got hit today as I was stopping for a pedestrian crossing light. The guy behind me hit my car. He did not want to call police. He wants to settle things by paying cash. he gave me his driving licence and insurance slip. This is my first time to be involved in car collision. I know that I have 24 hours to report the it to Collision Reporting Centre. I took the car to body shop and they said that it will cost me more than $3000 to repair. another place told me that will cost my around one thousand. Do u need to report if damamge is less than one thousand? Called the guy and he said that he wants to take to his mechanic tomprrow afternoon. that means the 24 hours will elaps and I wont be ale to report it. at the same time I am afraid that my insurance will go up though it is my first time to be involved in car accident. anyone has been in this situation. Any experiences?

[goleafsgo1]

Dont go to his mechanic. Tell him that you want this to be fixed from shop of your choice and give him the estimates. If he doesnt agree, go through insurance. You are not at fault at all....*shouldnt* affect your insurance.

[Alvito]

Dont go to his mechanic. Tell him that you want this to be fixed from shop of your choice and give him the estimates. If he doesnt agree, go through insurance. You are not at fault at all....*shouldnt* affect your insurance.

he is making a claim, it will affect his insurance. they say it wont, but it will.

[bobbings]

was the police involved? do they have a report written down?

[kleptodathief]

make him give u 1000$cash and then STILL report the collision! :cheesygri

[seen444]

was the police involved? do they have a report written down?

Called 911 but they said they won't come because no one is injured!

[iluvmikeharris]

he is making a claim, it will affect his insurance. they say it wont, but it will.

All claims (the aggregate) are used to determine future rates for all insurance customers, but to imply that the insurance companies are illegally surcharging individual customers for individual not at fault accidents is totally unfounded. I'd love to see some documented proof of this sometime.

[Pete_Coach]

All posts are dealing with the insurance aspect of this incident. This happens to be from the London ON Police department but he application of the laws apply:

" No injuries, damage under $1,000: If the damage to both vehicles combined appears to be less than $1,000 you don’t need to involve the police. You should exchange your name, drivers license information, vehicle ownership information AND insurance information with the other party. Make sure all information is complete and accurate. If the other party refuses to do this, call the police for assistance. Once the information has been exchanged, you can make a civil agreement to fix damages or go through insurance.

"No injuries, damage $1,000 or more: If the damage to both vehicles combined appears to be $1,000 or more than the collision MUST be reported to the police. Regardless of whether this collision took place on a parking lot or roadway, it will be reported to the Police Reporting Centre. (see FAQ: Police Reporting Centre). Before leaving the scene for the Reporting Centre, ensure that you have exchanged your particulars (licence, ownership and insurance) with the other party AND received theirs. This is a good time to copy down their licence plate number as well. Police officers may attend the scene to assist in ensuring the safety of those involved until the scene can be cleared and the parties directed to the Reporting Centre. If vehicles are not drivable tow trucks should be called and they will take them to the Reporting Centre. "

If you wait too long you may be breaking the law and suffer certain consequences. It was not your fault so why put yourself in jeopardy??

[jodeci78]

can you still drive your car? how bad is the damage? is it just replacing the back bumper? or is there damage to the frame?

From what you have describe, it should cost less than $100. A fender bender that requires a new bumper. Hopefully your car is newer, where they just replace the thing and they don't really have to do any 'auto body' work.

I say do NOT call insurance... its just a hassle on everyone's part. Get a few more estimates (I like Fix Auto, but i have found them on the more expensive side). see what his guy says, see what some others say. Give yourself a week to get some estimate. Even better if you take some pictures and email it for a quote.

Dealing with insurance is always a pain, even if its not your fault... The reality of the situation is, its a car, it gets damaged and broken. You fix it and it looks good for a while, then maybe something else happens. I try to take the whole 'colour matching' the bumper to the car with a grain of salt, since a few years from now, it might look like ****.

[bobbings]

just say you don't have the time to negotiate. either he forks over the amount to fix your car or you call the insurance company. simple as that.

don't delay. hurt in a car? call william mattar! jk

[MacGyver]

Also keep in mind that this guy who hit you may not have any insurance at all, or he could be a wanted criminal or on probation, which may be why he wants to avoid insurance. In Ontario, the fine for driving without insurance starts at $5000!

Calling 911 is only for life threatening emergency or crime in progress. Go to a police station or the collision reporting centre to report the accident.

In any accident, no matter how minor, and no matter how you choose to deal with it (going through insurance or not) insist on exchanging info - driver's license number, insurance policy number, plate number, registration card. And offer the same to the other driver.

[WHO]

wITH AN ESTIMATE THAT HIGH (AT LEAST 1000$+), you should report it. What if the guy ends up not paying you. What garantee do you have that he has 3000$ of spare money laying around?

Yes, perhaps your insurance will go up, but that's what insurance IS. Why do you think insurance companies are owned by banks? They are nothing more than loans. Except there is no "set" interest rate. You claim = premiums go up (this is the principle balance + interest you pay). The service you get in return is they "front" you the 3000$ to repair your car, instead of you having to pay all at once. Then your premiums go up, say 500$/year for 7 years = 3500$ So you pay 500$ "interest" over 7 years, a good deal... like less than 3% interest.

[seen444]

WEll the estimate I got ranged from 3k - 4 k. yes there is damage to the frame. the other car that rear ended my car is a truck and mine is just small car. I decided to report since last night as when I calle the guy I sensed he is going to give me hard time. Since it is not my fault, I went straight ahead and reported it to the police and insurance. If my premium went up, it is not fair. For now I want my car to be fixed. I already have pain in my neck and back and this is enough for me to worry about. I will worry about my premium later

[IoannI]

He offered to pay out of his pocket. I wouldn't make a police report about it. I would just tell him listen I appreciate you not wanting to go through the insurance because of then price increase after this but I would prefer that we go to my mechanic's shop.

[PSiBeR]

Had a similar accident like this about a week ago. I was on a left turning lane, still red light. This woman hits the back of my car. Nothing serious really some scuffs and paint coming off. Exchanged info. The day after brought it into a bodyshop, estimate was about $400 something. Phoned the woman up, and told her the amount, she agreed to pay. So she told her credit card info over the phone to bodyshop's GM. All was done and completed. This was actually good for me.. because the amount she agreed to pay was not only to fix the damage she did.. but actuallly for painting and repairing the WHOLE bumper, there was serious scratches in the corners I wanted to get rid of for a while, but never felt the need to. :cheesygri

[sunset_orange]

I'll tell you my experience,

My car was hit while it was parked in the mall parking lot, the a$$hole didn't leave notes. The mechanic estimated about $1400 to repair it, so I called my insurance to make a claim, my agent promised me because this was not my fault so my premium won't increased, but I have to pay the $500 deductible :mad:. My premium did not increase when it was renewed again.

Then I thought that was it for this accident, NOO! because 6 months later when I was selling my car to the dealer, they ran an insurance claim check against my VIN number and found this claim I've made before! And of course they used this as an excuse to buy my car at a lower price. However even if I didn't make the claim, they still can figure out that my car is not in the original state just by doing a paint check on the car...

So the lesson learned here is that as soon as your car gets hit, your car's resell value will decrease even more....>:(

[ES_Revenge]

If you wait too long you may be breaking the law and suffer certain consequences. It was not your fault so why put yourself in jeopardy??
Yeah that text didn't mention it but I think you only have like 24-48 hours to report. However the police won't do anything to you if you report a week later, it's just that they won't be able to take pics and you won't get enough evidence if you were the damaged [not at fault] party.

I would say that you should report any accident where a vehicle hits anything. Why? Well because the law states "what appears to be $1000" or whatever but the problem is people don't understand the prices of autobody work due to collisions. Often even what appears to a layperson to be a "small amount" of damage may well be over $1000. Since this is the case, I recommend that all motor vehicle accidents be reported as soon as practiceable.

[ES_Revenge]

Then I thought that was it for this accident, NOO! because 6 months later when I was selling my car to the dealer, they ran an insurance claim check against my VIN number and found this claim I've made before! And of course they used this as an excuse to buy my car at a lower price. However even if I didn't make the claim, they still can figure out that my car is not in the original state just by doing a paint check on the car...

So the lesson learned here is that as soon as your car gets hit, your car's resell value will decrease even more....>:(

Unfortunate but very true. Even more sad is the fact that I'm willing to bet the place that bought your car at a lower price than they should have, sold that car back stating "no accidents" to the next buyer :rolleyes: It's true, just go to any place that sells used cars and ask about like 10 cars on their lot and ask if they've been in accidents. Almost certainly (regardless of whether a car has been in 10 accidents) the reply will be "no accidents!" :rolleyes:

[alamshahid]

Dec 26, 2004 I was rear ended while dring my 2002 civic. The veh that hit me was a Dodge ram 3500... I was stopped at a red and he tried to stop but there was ice on the ground.

THe guy at first didn't want to go thru ins, or report to police. But I knew better; I told him I'm going straight to the police station to fill out the collision report; after that he can either offer to pay cash to fix my car or he can go thru ins.

The next day I went and got some est for damage; it was coming to about 1500-2000 as my frame was cracked. He didn't want to pay it; he became pushing and wanted me to go see 'his' mechanic. I refused; I told him I had quotes from 3 locations one of them being honda and the other 2 collision repair centres. After a week of not hearing from him I called my ins company and opened the claim. They came and took my car & gave me a rental to use. 2 weeks later I got my car back and it looked great!

They ended up replacing the whole back bumper and fixed the frame; it was cracked in 3 locations. Never heard from that guy again.

[threeflags]

If your insurance Co. finds out that your didn't report ... your could lose your coverage. Food for thought.

[thelefteyeguy]

3-4K sounds a little more serious...give him a call, if he agrees to 3-4k...then proceed.

But I seriously doubt he will agree. Most likely it will hit insurance.