Ok, before last night I've never been in a car accident. What happened is I was driving on a one lane road with my blinker on taking a right. The car behind me (god knows what they were thinking) tried to pass on my right as I was turning.

I have two average dents, paint scrapes, a shredded hubcab, and as of this morning a flat tire. I didn't file a police report at the time. I'd prefer to not take this to his insurance, unless he makes me. What is a reasonable price to ask for to have these items fixed? How do I go about filing with his insurance if he refuses?


P.S. The car is a 96 Sunfire whose appearance doesn't mean a whole lot to me, so it's not as if I'm SUPER upset about the dents or paint scratches

[Edited on October 15, 2006 at 10:22 AM. Reason : ]

10/15/2006 10:20:28 AM

It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket.

10/15/2006 10:22:05 AM

It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket.

10/15/2006 10:23:07 AM

talk to your insurance agent. they can give you good information about what to do.

10/15/2006 10:32:02 AM

you're gonna have to take it to a body shop and get an estimate, as he's gonna want one if he pays you anything. you fucked up by not gettin a police report, its always a good idea to get it on record cuz some people will just deny they ever even hit your car even if you report it to their insurance.

if he doesn't decide to rip you off - get an estimate, call him then fax it to him, ask him how he wants to handle it, give him a couple days to get you the money, then go to his insurance. good luck

[Edited on October 15, 2006 at 10:33 AM. Reason : asdf]

10/15/2006 10:32:45 AM

Ask Cassthesass about doing the right thing and not filing a police report and how that goes for you.

Basically she got hit by a girl who said she'd pay for it, so they got no police report. Then she called the girl who basically told her "You have no police report and no proof I did it, so I'm not paying for anything." She got screwed, and you probably will be too.

10/15/2006 10:33:28 AM

Quote :

"Then she called the girl who basically told her "You have no police report and no proof I did it, so I'm not paying for anything"

you can record your calls on a bunch of different phones...comes in handy sometimes

and i would have hunted that girl down...there must be more to that story. i would have been calling the cops, taking pictures, calling her work, whatever it took.



and yeah OMFGPlzDoMe, you need to ALWAYS call the police and get a police report if it was the other persons fault.

10/15/2006 10:41:16 AM

well i got camera phone pics!

10/15/2006 11:04:26 AM

http://www.judgejudy.com

10/15/2006 11:14:40 AM

ur a damned moron

10/15/2006 11:33:38 AM

Quote :

"It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket. "

10/15/2006 12:34:31 PM

camera pics are the best proof, i rear ended a guy last year and he didnt call the police, but he did take phone pics of his car, my car, my liscense, my liscence plate, and me
so yeah if you have picture proof you have nothing to worry about, just email that shit to his insurance and tell them if they dont pay up, you will sue.

10/15/2006 12:47:03 PM

Quote :

"Ok, before last night I've never been in a car accident. What happened is I was driving on a one lane road with my blinker on taking a right. The car behind me (god knows what they were thinking) tried to pass on my right as I was turning. I have two average dents, paint scrapes, a shredded hubcab, and as of this morning a flat tire. I didn't file a police report at the time. I'd prefer to not take this to his insurance, unless he makes me. What is a reasonable price to ask for to have these items fixed? How do I go about filing with his insurance if he refuses? P.S. The car is a 96 Sunfire whose appearance doesn't mean a whole lot to me, so it's not as if I'm SUPER upset about the dents or paint scratches"

you just screwed yourself. his insurance will never pay for anything unless they have a police report to back it up. its now his word against yours. if he doesn't pay out of pocket...start saving to pay for it yourself.

10/15/2006 2:05:16 PM

didn't file a police report


had you been drinking?

10/15/2006 2:26:45 PM

A dude blatantly violated the law (and the law of common sense), severely damaged your car, and you didn't get a report.

You, sir, are very silly indeed.

Even if the damage isn't all that bad, it'll still cost quite a bit to fix. On a car that old, any damage that's above perhaps $1500-2000 would cause the insurance company to total the car, at which point you could deduct the salvage value, keep the car, and get a check for the value of it as whole.

Instead, you'll probably get nothing.

10/15/2006 2:34:16 PM

I had a guy back into me as a stoplight this past year trying to get the light to change. Most people think that getting a police report automatically means it goes to your insurance when it really doesn't have to. My officer gave me his name and number to get the report if I needed it within 2 weeks (long enough to get an estimate) and he made sure I had all the guy's info incase he decided not to pay so I could file it late. Next time definitely get a police office to come, atleast as a witness and then file the report if necessary later on.

10/15/2006 2:52:26 PM

sorry this happened to you CobraCat

next time get a police report...i got fucked over in hs because of it

10/15/2006 4:02:17 PM

I always call the police. Even if its a little thing. People should be penalized for their reckless driving. I mean it wasn't your fault...you have nothing to hide.

10/15/2006 4:22:23 PM

Aww, dude, you've never been in an accident before so you didn't know that you almost always call the police if it's the other person's fault.

He actually might be a good guy who's insured by a bunch of bad guys who won't help you since you didn't get a police report.

You need to get an estimate from a body shop you trust (ask around; I use this old dude who loves cars and fixes them in his driveway for the cost of parts and not much more, but he takes his time.) Give the estimate to the dude who hit you and hope he does the right thing.

I think there are actions you can take if he doesn't do the right thing, but I wouldn't wanna go there.

10/15/2006 5:09:16 PM

Quote :

"It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket."

10/15/2006 5:12:41 PM

I think she gets the point that it was foolish not to get a police report.

Hopefully someone else will learn from this and not make the same mistake though.

10/15/2006 6:19:58 PM

You're screwed as far as I'm concerned. Why didn't you file it? Did the turd suggest that you not or something? He was a moron for hitting you and needs to pay for it.

10/15/2006 6:21:20 PM

if you don't get your money, i'd suggest that your neck may have been hurt during that accident.

10/15/2006 6:28:45 PM

i was involved (and injured) in a car accident about a year ago

the guy REFUSED to stay even though we told him we were calling the cops (and he knew i was hurt)

he let us write down everything from his insurance card, license and description of him, his car and his license plate number-- he still refused to stay

the cop showed up and wrote a report and since we had all the info and the guy left he got something slapped on him i'm sure

although i think he was probably drunk when he hit us and a hit and run looks worse than a dui

10/15/2006 9:23:42 PM

^If he stopped and gave you his info, he could probably get out of a hit-and-run. Leaving the scene of an accident is more like it. And my dad has one of those. He had to get his baby girl to the hospital.

10/16/2006 5:12:59 AM

^ situations are situations but this guy was alone and didnt give any reasons for why he had to leave the scene

10/16/2006 7:44:14 AM

When someone ran me off the road because they came over without looking, I made him sign and date a piece of paper that said "I am aware that this was my fault"

10/16/2006 8:14:16 AM

It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket.

10/16/2006 8:24:49 AM

It may be just me.... but I think it was VERY VERY VERY VERY stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket.

10/16/2006 10:25:59 AM

Quote :

"although i think he was probably drunk when he hit us and a hit and run looks worse than a dui"

thats not always true

it depends on what you "hit" before you "run"

10/16/2006 10:34:05 AM

To all the people who are saying how "stupid" this is, I've been in at least a half dozen accidents that were my fault, and the police were involved once, and that's cause they were, like, 100 feet away from the accident.

So let's not pretend that not calling the cops is uncommonly stupid or some shit.

10/16/2006 11:18:11 AM

your comment doesn't mean people are uncommonly stupid - it means you are bridget

10/16/2006 11:19:14 AM

^???

No, it means I was a bad driver who managed to avoid the police.

And that there are a lot of other people who don't call the police, and it normally works out fine...

[Edited on October 16, 2006 at 8:49 PM. Reason : sss]

10/16/2006 8:42:59 PM

Quote :

"although i think he was probably drunk when he hit us and a hit and run looks worse than a dui"

i MEANT to say a dui was worse than a hit and run

my bad

10/16/2006 9:25:19 PM

It's a good idea to keep a disposable camera in your car, just in case shit like this happens. If you don't have a police report, you can at least document what happened and have proof for the insurance company.

10/16/2006 10:55:14 PM

Quote :

""It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket"

the pics help, but......still

10/16/2006 11:19:03 PM

""It may be just me.... but I think it was stupid not to file a report. He should have atleast of gotten a ticket"

10/17/2006 2:29:03 AM

Quote :

"To all the people who are saying how "stupid" this is, I've been in at least a half dozen accidents that were my fault, and the police were involved once, and that's cause they were, like, 100 feet away from the accident."

please, please don't drive anymore... for everyone's sake.

10/17/2006 8:47:46 AM

^Damn. And I thought I was a bad driver with two fender benders.

10/17/2006 9:13:21 AM

You can get a police report without handling it through insurance (if I understand things).

As it is, the only proof you have that anything happened is opposing damage to their vehicle, try to get a picture in case they deny anything happened and you must go to court because insurance will not pay without admittance of guilt.

Another possibility after an accident to make sure no one gets a ticket for anything (a risk getting a police report is that the cop might conclude you both did something illegal and start writing tickets) is to quickly draw up a written contract with a promise to pay a valid repair estimate and have both parties sign it (and any witnesses if available).

The contract does not need to assign blame, just responsibility.

10/17/2006 12:59:00 PM

I want to say you can get a police report 24 hours after the accident. Call and ask about it.

10/17/2006 5:40:18 PM

Quote :

"please, please don't drive anymore... for everyone's sake."

AHA, that half dozen guess wasn't even all my accidents, only the accidents that involved other cars. I'm pushing a dozen counting accidents with trees and ditches...

My sister and I both have hit cars in our driveway.

No tickets or accidents in over two years though.

10/18/2006 10:13:31 AM

^^What the hell would it say? "So and so says this happened, and the other person says this."

10/19/2006 8:12:04 PM