Ahhh! someone hit me!!

[SiXXSPD]

I was on the 405 freeway yesterday afternoon on the lane next to the carpool with the usual traffic stop and go 30-35 mph on a busy afternoon commute, the car infront of me sudenly stops and next thing I know, there was a loud bang and a motorcycle hit me from behind. I went out of my car to check him if he was alright. Good thing he just had a little scratch on his elbow and knee. He was doing ok.

First thing he told me that he doesnt want to settle it by insurance and he wanted to pay private. I got an estimate on my body shop and it came out to $1500 on damages (paint my bumper, hfp, spoiler and fix the dent and paint the rear quarter panel). It will be a 5 day job and this is my daily driver so I need a rental.

Should I let him shoulder the cost or might as well go claim it with my insurance?? I coudn't sleep. Please help. Thanks!!

[strutking]

did you get a police report? it may be difficult to claim with your insurance if you have no report

[P1ng]

thats a tough one.

[SiXXSPD]

Originally Posted by strutking

did you get a police report? it may be difficult to claim with your insurance if you have no report

no I didnt since this is my first accident. But i got all his info though.

[Huckleberry]

let him know first.

if he gives you any ess, report it stat.

[SiXXSPD]

yeah. its just the hassle.

[mikehmike]

always call the police in accidents, I took the persons info once and I never got paid

[DraKhen99]

^^^ Sometimes that doesn't work - I was in an accident and called the cops, and they refused to show up. Here in MD, they won't show up unless one or more vehicles need towing or someone's hurt.

GL to the OP - If you have all his info., you should have his Tag #... you should be able to call him, and like said before, if he gives you any crap, call your insurance company and tell 'em, "Here's his info - go after him!" This has worked for me in the past.

Oh, and

-John

[Snake-eyes]

1500 bucks? turn it into the insurance company. I can garuntee he wont pay it. You pay the insurance company to do your battle for you. let them do what they are paid for and go after the guy. Get his license registration etc I hope.

[Snake-eyes]

Originally Posted by mikehmike

always call the police in accidents, I took the persons info once and I never got paid

CHP or LAPD wont even come to an accident unless you lie and say it might be serious or that children were involved.

"they have better things to do"


got to love california

[jrotax101]

so how do you make sure the insurance will deal with it?

I'm new to how the system works in the states.

[DraKhen99]

They're YOUR insurance company - they'll fight on your behalf, it's one of the "perks" of being an insured motorist.

In my specific case, I was rear-ended a few years ago by an older car, which didn't appear to do much damage. I got his information (name, license plate, car type/color) and he said he wanted to go around insurance, so I went and got an estimate - $500! The bumper had to be taken off, repainted, and put back on (it was scratched and also out of alignment with the rest of the panels in the back). He started cursing at me, so I hung up on him and called my insurance company. I told them what happened, and gave them his info., and then they called me back a couple of hours later with more information, and that his insurance company would be happy to cut me a check.

-John

[jrotax101]

and all that was without a police report?

i havn't had an accident here yet *touch wood*, but i was wondering whether a police report is 100% necessary for your insurance to do something.

[SoCal07Si]

Originally Posted by mikehmike

always call the police in accidents, I took the persons info once and I never got paid

Cops wont even come out over where I live, unless theres an injury or one party refuses to give insurance info.

I'd go thru the insurance company.

[furryferret7888]

man i would NEVER trust anyone if they hit me and gave me "info" who knows if the license he has id good...cops in bama wouold of been there in a second...

they have nothing better to do lol

[hondamtrco4life]

Originally Posted by DraKhen99

They're YOUR insurance company - they'll fight on your behalf, it's one of the "perks" of being an insured motorist.

In my specific case, I was rear-ended a few years ago by an older car, which didn't appear to do much damage. I got his information (name, license plate, car type/color) and he said he wanted to go around insurance, so I went and got an estimate - $500! The bumper had to be taken off, repainted, and put back on (it was scratched and also out of alignment with the rest of the panels in the back). He started cursing at me, so I hung up on him and called my insurance company. I told them what happened, and gave them his info., and then they called me back a couple of hours later with more information, and that his insurance company would be happy to cut me a check.

-John

I had the same exact thing happen to me. My wife and I were stopped in our TL (last year) at a light. We got hammered by a Yukon in the back. The guy was like oh I got insurance blah blah... I didnt care I do everything by the book. Called the cops, made out a report, he got a ticket for "no insurance" since the card he did have had the exp. date ripped off. I went home, called Gieco (awesome insurance co!!) and this was on a Sunday mind you which if I had any other insurance company I would've had to wait until Monday to call. I opened a claim with them, gave them the police report # and they told me at 9am the following morning a rental is awaiting me at so and so bodyshop 2min from my house. Monday morning I woke up, went and dropped off the car and the guy handed me the keys to my rental. 2 weeks later my TL was fixed ($3400 worth of damage) it looked better then it did before the accident because they detailed the entire car including clay bar, polish, and wax.

Update- all I paid was the $500 deductable (which I'll get back once Geico receives their $3400 from the guy) turned out the guy didnt have insurance so if I didnt have full insurance with such a great co. like Geico I would've been screwed trying to get him to pay. Geico hasnt seen one red cent from the guy. Plus my insurance never went up! Awesome experience... if thats possible considering I got rear ended.

[DraKhen99]

Progressive is very good too - they got the guy who rear-ended me.

And yes, that was all without a police report. Yeah, I could've been screwed by him if his license plate was no good, but I did have a valid phone number for him, so I could've tracked him down

If it was serious, or I thought real damage had been done, I would've never considered NOT going through insurance. As it was, Progressive took good care of me.

-John

[1sloPR5]

Originally Posted by jrotax101

and all that was without a police report?

I haven't had an accident here yet *touch wood*, but I was wondering whether a police report is 100% necessary for your insurance to do something.

I had an accident about a year ago pure cosmetic and I didn't call the police(I don't even think they would come unless there is injury, or the damage is more then $1,000)

None the less I got it fixed about $300-400 in damage, with the insurance company and it was no biggie. I guess it varies from state to state. It was his fault too he thew his car in rev since he was in the wrong lane and cut the wheel and slammed into my rear quarter panel lol....

GL OP hope you manage to work it out!

[djphoenix18]

Go through insurance bud!!! He's just going to run you around in circles and never pay you!

[gregk]

It's nice to do people a favor and all, but at the first sign of being dicked around, call your insurance. If he's smart, he'll pay because 500$ is probably a lot less than he'll pay the increase on his insurance, but it's not like you owe the guy a favor or anything.