(no subject)

[danuv]

Oh yeah, I got hit today. Well, my car did. We were pulling out of our parking space at Best Buys and I was doing my usual slow paranoid back up when suddenly there was this little silver vw backing right into the passenger side of the car. No one was hurt but there is a big smoosh in the side of the door. Luckily one of the 3 or so people that saw the little accident was a state trooper who gave his statement to the cop so I don't think we will have any trouble getting it paid for. The guy who hit us wants us to get an estimate so he can consider paying for it out of pocket. This is not really a good week for all this since it's our only "family" car and Thanksgiving is this week. I don't know what we should do. The fellow sounded rather impatient to have it over and done with. Bleh I hate being an adult sometimes.

Comments

[thepublicguy.livejournal.com]

I'd be careful about this.

It sounds to me like the guy is defrauding his insurance company by failing to report a minor accident. This information is, of course, important to them because it should make it clear that he is at greater risk of having a major accident.

As far as I am aware, every motor insurance policy requires the holder to report accidents. The insurance company would rather pay the smaller damages, know that this guy is a danger to others and raise his premiums substantially than be kept in the dark and risk having to make a major payout.

Certainly where I live, you have a legal right to have his insurance details. If he refuses to pass them on he is commiting a criminal offence. He has no right to make you feel uncomfortable or make you sort out the repairs in a way that is convenient to him rather than you.

The fact that you have a state trooper as a witness is a major source of comfort. If he gives you any hassle, just threaten to pass on details of what appears to be his criminal conduct (the law may conceivably be different where you live) to this trooper or somebody else in authority.

Hope this helps. I did this thing many years ago myself (paid someone for a minor repair rather than report it to an insurance company). I wouldn't do it now. I wouldn't be a party to it either, though if it's more convenient for you I suppose you might be prepared to participate in an ethically very dubious act. ( I hope this isn't insulting.)

[thepublicguy.livejournal.com]

In case this isn't entirely clear, the element of fraud is that he will be obtaining insurance cover at a cheaper price than he would otherwise get because he will be lying about his accident history.

In signing his insurance form he will be making a claim that he has disclosed all relevant information that would allow the insurance company to assess the degree of risk he poses to others.

[danuv.livejournal.com]

His insurance information will be on the accident report. It was an older man and he said he hadn't had an accident in his 32 years of driving. I don't think it will end up being a problem because the police officer thought it would be under a certain amount of money which I doubt it will be and he will end up wanting his insurance to pay for it anyway.

Re:

[thepublicguy.livejournal.com]

Oh well

I see I got the right end of the stick from the beginning. Perhaps I should try keeping my mouth shut a bit more in future.

[danuv.livejournal.com]

What use is a mouth if it is shut all the time? I'm not too concerned about the whole insurance thing. I'm more worried about the loss of the car over the holiday.