do i report?

vabunuc

So the other day it the weather was bad, and driving to work i lost control and hit a telephone pole. I luckily was not hurt, but my car was totaled. There was little to no damage to the pole, and i wasn't issued any tickets. I don't know if i have to report it to my insurance. I only have basic liability. Can anyone give me any advice?

ಠ_ರೃ

How much was the car?

vabunuc

I paid $3500 for it 4 years ago. It had 180K+ miles on it. The body shop i towed it too said it was a total loss.

ಠ_ರೃ

Probably wouldn't report it. Cheaper to just get a new car.

SmokeStacks

If they weren't notified already, an anonymous tip to the power company might be nice, just so they can send a dude out to take a look at the pole.

"Little to no damage" to you may mean something completely different to a trained professional.

I'd second not bothering to notify your insurance company. If no one was hurt and no other vehicles were damaged, like that guy mentioned it'll probably be cheaper for you to just take the hit on the car.

vabunuc

The insurance wouldn't pay anything for the car anyway, so im not worried about it. The officer on the scene did call on the radio for Verizon to be notified.

I just wasn't sure if i was required by law to report the accident, or if i should in case Verizon does find something wrong and tries to bill me.

Sir Carcass

I think you can just remove the car from your policy and add another one without any problems.

Iceman.USAF

You're asking if you should tell your insurance or file a police report? I'd say no to insurance, yes to police report.

Keep in mind, you need to get rid of your now junk car. That'll require a proper title and all that.

Figgy

With basic liability, your insurance wouldn't even file a claim, let alone give you any money for it. If the police were there and you weren't ticketed, count your lucky stars and forget about this.

You only call your insurance in the event of a claim. (Or, the other driver's insurance would contact yours if they filed a claim against you.)

Dunadan019

Figgy wrote: »

With basic liability, your insurance wouldn't even file a claim, let alone give you any money for it. If the police were there and you weren't ticketed, count your lucky stars and forget about this.

You only call your insurance in the event of a claim. (Or, the other driver's insurance would contact yours if they filed a claim against you.)

cops don't issue tickets for accidents that are caused by winter weather unless it was obvious that they were driving recklessly or speeding. you don't need to be speeding to hit a patch of ice and slam into a pole.

you don't need to file a police report and you don't need to file a claim.

If you still have the car and are mechanically inclined, you could recover some parts for sale but its usually more of a pain than its worth.

Richard M. Nixon

In Ontario you have to file a police report if there is damage valued over $700 but I don't think they make you tell your insurance company.

Figgy

Dunadan019 wrote: »

Figgy wrote: »

With basic liability, your insurance wouldn't even file a claim, let alone give you any money for it. If the police were there and you weren't ticketed, count your lucky stars and forget about this.

You only call your insurance in the event of a claim. (Or, the other driver's insurance would contact yours if they filed a claim against you.)

cops don't issue tickets for accidents that are caused by winter weather unless it was obvious that they were driving recklessly or speeding. you don't need to be speeding to hit a patch of ice and slam into a pole.

you don't need to file a police report and you don't need to file a claim.

If you still have the car and are mechanically inclined, you could recover some parts for sale but its usually more of a pain than its worth.

I've seen reckless driving charges for much less. And from the sounds of this, the OP already had a police report. There was an

vabunuc wrote:

officer on the scene

prfntbtr

Light poles are expensive to repair or replace. If there is no damage to it, then you should be fine. But, if there was a police report filed, they have surely listed all of your information, including insurance info, on the report. And by the sound of it, they have also listed Verizon on the report as well, as the owner of the property damaged in this accident. The problem here is that the larger corporations will take their sweet time in getting a bill out to you. So they may go out, fix it, and then a year later you have a bill for $2,000. If you wait that long to file a claim with your insurance carrier, they may be able to possibly deny your claim. So, basically, if you really think that there is no damage to the pole, such that you will never be getting a bill in the mail, then you probably should not file a claim. If there is sufficient damage to require repair, and you get a bill down the road, you might still be able to report it, but you might end up getting screwed.

SkyCaptain

I would call and let them know about it but not file a claim, just in case the telephone pole needs to be replaced.

Tejs

I'd call too. Poles are insanely expensive if they have to be replaced, and you may not know until months from now that the city wants to sue you for replacement of the pole, if it needs to be replaced for any reason.

I know from experience.