Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:05 am Post subject: Told To Forget About Auto Accident.
I bumped into a lady's car. I got out told the lady I was sorry & offered to give her my insurance info. We looked at her car & nothing was wrong with it not even a scratch. She told me to forget about it. 4 or 5 days later I get a call from the lady saying that the car is really messed up and she now needed my insurance info. I told her it had been too long since and as far as I know she had backed into a tree since then. That was it. Well, over 3 months later I've received a letter from her insurance company saying I've been found responsible for $1200 worth of damages. There isn't not way that I'm actually gonna have to pay for this seeming how there is no way of being 100% sure that the damages to her car wasn't from an accident that occurred after I bumped into her?? _________________ Register Now to have your Insurance queries solved.
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:38 am Post subject: Told To Forget About Auto Accident
Hi Guest,
From my insurance knowledge I know that if the lady wants the accidental benefits from your insurance policy then she needs to notify to the insurance company on spot. Did She apply for this type of claim at that moment ? If so, then you have to pay. If not then I feel its only an attempt for harassing you.
cyrus
*Guest Register Please _________________ I am and always will be a sinner. But that's the beautiful thing about Jesus. I'll always try to be a better person in the eyes of God. But I'm not all of a sudden stepping up on a pedestal and saying I'm holier than thou, 'cause I'm not!
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:31 am Post subject: A good cause..
Hi Yeah!
Its true that we have to follow up with our insurance company as soon as we meet with such a mishap! In case the lady has not reported the incident to her insurer in time she may end up facing problems towards achieving her claim.
This is primarily because she has to have her insurer by her side with all the associated data supporting her cause which becomes difficult once she fails to report in time. This would certainly be taken up as a good cause of negligence by the other party's insurer. Regards, Fatman
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:47 am Post subject: strength gets reduced
Hey..You're absolutely right my friend! You need not bother about something you're not responsible for....and as we can see theres enough reason to make her claim more ineffective with the passage of time.
Also remember, that in order to work out a claim her insurer has to work hand-in-hand with your insurer which becomes increasingly difficult after this lapse of time. Once she gets in touch with her insurer, only then she'd be able to fill the claim-report with all the necessary information. Much of this information lose its credibility if the claimer becomes late.
While describing the cause she now has to resort to some amount of discrimination which would eventually lessen the strength of her claim in this regard. Thanking you, Evan
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:09 am Post subject: Hope this counts!
Hi, I'm sure she must have had ample opportunities of taking up real pictures of the event after the mishap. This would have certainly helped towards boosting her claim had she been able to compare pictures depicting the conditions of her car before and after the accident, which would not be possible now.
Again she'd certainly miss the invaluable presence of the people who'd been witness to such a misfortune. Had she been forgetful or injured she need not look forward to any claims now. Hope all these factors count a lot!
PeggySalsbury _________________ Register Now to have your Insurance queries solved.
My recommendation is that you report this info to your carrier and have them investigate it. This is one reason why you have insurance... to protect you.
On the other hand, I can see why someone may not want to report the information... at least not right away. Baring a report to your carrier, I'd highly recommend you contact the other carrier and ask them to send color photos of the damage to the other person's vehicle along with an itemized repair bill. Not to burst your bubble but I've seen many situations where there was almost no visible damage to a bumper yet, the absorbers and the like were damaged inside. This is what they are designed to do.
Bottom line, you rear ended someone and they can probably show that a few days later there was damage to the vehicle. How likely is it that she backed into something within that 5 days as opposed to your accident that caused the damage? Not very likely.... but certainly possible. $1200 seems a bit excessive but if there was a tear of any extend in the bumper cover, the bill for the cover alone would be about $500 (cover, paint, labor). If mounts and absorbers were crunched, I could see the bill being around $1200.
Again, I think you have a valid point and a pretty good leg to stand on. It's up to the other person to prove their case and to be honest, the other carrier will probably just drop the issue (lacking any witnesses or police report). If I was giving legal advise, I'd also recommend not "confirming" that you rear ended the other person (you should not deny it either).
Last recommendation to anyone involved in an accident... take pictures! Almost everyone carries a mobile phone that is capable of taking pictures but in the thousands of accidents I've handled I think I've seen 2-3 people actually take pictures. I speak to my father about claims all the time and he worked in the (disability) insurance industry for about 40 years. He was rear ended by someone a few months ago and, even though the other person gave a song and dance about his vehicle being owed by someone else, my father only wrote down his insurance information (expired), tag number (wrong vehicle) and allowed the other person to write down his own drivers lic number (incorrect). Pictures people, pictures!!! Even place a disposable camera in the glove box.
Oh! What a situation... Are there any other people exept the girl who saw this accident and will be able toprov this? If no, you shouldn't worry. In this way she could tell thet every of her friends did this to her car. And besides, there are no notes on your car, even scratches from this accident. The girl's insurance company has no chance!
