by Guest » Sat Aug 30, 2008 09:13 pm
All cars were stopping on a red light. My car was going downhill, 'cause of the sun and started to get into a small tunnel, I bumbed into the car in front of me. My car was crashed in the front. The car in front didn't have any damges. Both the driver and his wife were fine, they said don't worry, they're okay. We didn't call the police, but he copied down all my insurance, drive license info. He said he wouldn't submit to the insurance or anything like that. The reason he wanted to have my info was to make sure I wouldn't claim the insurance against him afterward. So my question is "would he be able to sue me later on eventhough we didn't call the police?"
Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:15 pm Post Subject:
Are you at fault? Yes. If he suffered a loss because of the accident would you be responsible for the loss? Yes.
Lack of a police report does not change who is responsible nor the ability to file a claim against someone.
The law requires that you _exchange_ information. Did you obtain this person's information as well?
Question... do you have a cell phone? If you do it probably has a camera. If so, the best thing you could have done was take some photos of the other person's vehicle as well as your own.
Lacking any of the above, you've pretty much left yourself at the mercy of the other person. If the other person is 100% honest you probably won't hear anything else from them.
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:16 am Post Subject:
"would he be able to sue me later on eventhough we didn't call the police?"
Of course he would be able to but will he? who knows..did you turn it into your insurance carrier? if so they will contact him and MAKE sure they are not pursuing a claim against you...could be that he finds damage later, or asks someone that actually knows what they are looking at...betting he has damage, because frankly this is impossible..
My car was crashed in the front. The car in front didn't have any damges
depending on his vehicle the bumper cover can bounce back out looking as if no damage occured, but the absorber, rebar, even rear body panel is damaged. If you were concerned this could happen why not call the police? course you'd have got a ticket...so you rolled the dice, could be you'll never hear from him, also could be he'll go home, think it over, back his car into a brick wall, get an attorney and be 'seriously' injured....you need to report this to your carrier if you have not..reporting it nine months from now if you get suit papers, will not go over well I assure you and they CAN deny the claim...Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 07:10 am Post Subject:
"would he be able to sue me later on eventhough we didn't call the police?"
He might, depending upon your state's law regarding auto accident damages. I second tcope , the lack of the police report has no effect on the claim. The other party can still file a claim with your insurer for the damages caused by you, since you were the party at fault.
At this juncture you need to be proactive to collect the evidences in your favor. Inform your insurer and ask them to ensure that the other driver isn't filing a claim against you. Take snaps of the damages caused to your vehicle and the other, and also collect the other party's insurance info.
Hope you have sufficient liability coverage in your car. It'll take care of the damages if the other driver at all decides to file a claim with your insurer.
He can only sue you if any discrepancies arise during the claim or if the liability coverage isn't sufficient to cover all his damages. But, again, only very few states allow the parties to sue each other for the damages caused in an accident. Hence, your state law will play an important role in this regard.
~Jeremy
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