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Car Accident
Jeice
regular
regular
This happened in Ontario, Canada
K, so I just got into a car accident, my first one ever, and I'm kind of on edge right now and I can't really think clearly.
So, here's what happened:
road conditions were really wet and snowy, someone in front of me was making a left turn at a green light, I was coming up behind him, and pressing the break, but since I didn't break far enough ahead, I hit him from behind.
We moved away from traffic and we looked at the damage. It was a small scratches on his lower right bumper. It was like at worst 2 inches squared. So, we looked at it, we wrote down the plate number, the car model, license number, the name and phone number. Actually, I don’t have his driver’s license number, all I have is name, phone and plate number. Then we drove away. The police didn’t show up or anything. So, neither of us can really prove anything…? I didn’t admit fault or anything. I pretty much just gave the info and left. I wasn’t really thinking clearly and didn’t know what to do.
What do I do now? I heard there's this thing where if he doesn't report it within 24 hours, pretty much it's swept under the rug and I am no longer legally responsible for it.
Honestly, it was a small scratch, it seemed like he wasn't going to report it or didn't care much and took my info down just to be safe. Should I call him up and be like, let's make a deal? Like, I'll pay for the damages. Now, I've been told that since it was the bumper, it's going to cost 300-400 because they'll need to replace the whole bumper. I can't afford this. I was hoping it'd be like $100. So should I call him, make a deal to pay just the $100?
Should I do nothing and wait past the 24 hours and then ask if he reported it? Because if he says no, then I'm in the clear?
I’m willing to pay $100 as long as this doesn’t get recorded down in insurance or anywhere.
The best case scenario for me is if he doesn’t do anything and doesn’t call me back and it’s like it never happened. If that happens, should I call him and be like, what’s happening?
I have no way of knowing if he reported it or not, so should I risk these 24 hours and hope he didn’t report it and then be in the clear? Is this even true?
K, so I just got into a car accident, my first one ever, and I'm kind of on edge right now and I can't really think clearly.
So, here's what happened:
road conditions were really wet and snowy, someone in front of me was making a left turn at a green light, I was coming up behind him, and pressing the break, but since I didn't break far enough ahead, I hit him from behind.
We moved away from traffic and we looked at the damage. It was a small scratches on his lower right bumper. It was like at worst 2 inches squared. So, we looked at it, we wrote down the plate number, the car model, license number, the name and phone number. Actually, I don’t have his driver’s license number, all I have is name, phone and plate number. Then we drove away. The police didn’t show up or anything. So, neither of us can really prove anything…? I didn’t admit fault or anything. I pretty much just gave the info and left. I wasn’t really thinking clearly and didn’t know what to do.
What do I do now? I heard there's this thing where if he doesn't report it within 24 hours, pretty much it's swept under the rug and I am no longer legally responsible for it.
Honestly, it was a small scratch, it seemed like he wasn't going to report it or didn't care much and took my info down just to be safe. Should I call him up and be like, let's make a deal? Like, I'll pay for the damages. Now, I've been told that since it was the bumper, it's going to cost 300-400 because they'll need to replace the whole bumper. I can't afford this. I was hoping it'd be like $100. So should I call him, make a deal to pay just the $100?
Should I do nothing and wait past the 24 hours and then ask if he reported it? Because if he says no, then I'm in the clear?
I’m willing to pay $100 as long as this doesn’t get recorded down in insurance or anywhere.
The best case scenario for me is if he doesn’t do anything and doesn’t call me back and it’s like it never happened. If that happens, should I call him and be like, what’s happening?
I have no way of knowing if he reported it or not, so should I risk these 24 hours and hope he didn’t report it and then be in the clear? Is this even true?
Jeice on
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This discussion has been closed.
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What you do next depends on the type of person the guy turns out to be, and what evidence you have of what damage actually occurred. I would say 300-400$ for a bumper is a little much, they're designed to get bumped.
That being said, a lot of people aren't dicks. If its a small scratch, theres a chance that nothing will come of it. A small chance. He has your insurance information yes? If he decides to contact his insurance agency, and has your insurance info, your insurance agency will contact you. I would not call him to ask him if you can make a deal. He'll deal with it the way that makes the most sense to him.
Please please don't be the guy who says that because you didn't admit fault at the scene of the accident, you are not at fault. You are at fault. Even if it was a super accident, it's still your fault.
But, since he doesn't have my insurance info, does that mean that my insurance agency can't contact me?
If he calls the police they will find out who your insurance company is.
If your premiums will increase it'll depend on how much they'll increase by and over how long, but I've always heard that an accident of $2000 or less should be paid for out of pocket because the increase to premiums over time will have you paying more in the long run.
And I would highly doubt that 24h rule, sounds more like an urban legend than anything based in reality.
you don't have to call your insurance, you don't have to call his insurance, you do not have to call the police. if you want to call him you can but there's no real reason to. you should deal through your insurance anyway.
And Forkes is correct, it is always the rear driver who is at fault. Might not sound fair but that's just how auto insurance is kept simple and manageable - and not braking far enough ahead is all you need to be at fault anyway.
Best bet is to just contact him sooner rather than later (i.e. before your insurance finds out) and find a way to get a quote from a bodyshop.
I've never heard of a deductible on liability insurance (insurance that covers damage you do to people/property outside of your car). Deductibles are only part of collision and comprehensive (insurance that covers your own vehicle from your own actions). Maybe things are different in Canada?
Maybe.
I would just wait it out. He has your phone number, so he'll likely call you to get your insurance information. At that point, you can offer to pay for the damages instead of going through insurance.
Get the thought out of your head right now that you can just throw $100 at him and call it a day. There is no "I'm willing to pay you" in this situation. He will give you an estimate for the damage and that is what you need to pay him. If you don't, he can just go through insurance, and you'll end up paying much more in the long run. There is no reason on his end to give you a "deal" on the damage you caused to his car. He'll get it from you, or he'll get it from his insurance. Either way, he's not out a penny.
As far as a police report, you're lucky. If the police came, chances are you would get careless driving. They are more lenient with that charge under poor weather conditions, but flat out rear ending someone at a right turn is pretty serious. A guy backing out of his driveway hit my parked car once and he was charged with careless: heavy fine plus 4 or 6 points, I can't remember exactly.
Either way, his inaction doesn't put you on the hook for more damage, but the situation could get messy if he tried that.
They were really really apologetic, gave me their insurance details and were generally very pleasant. I never bothered to get in touch with their insurance agency, I'm good enough with this type of thing to patch it up myself (and my car's not exactly brand new so I wasn't too fussed anyway).
If they'd been more of a dick about it though I'd probably have gone through the insurance and got all I could get. So I guess the moral of the story is be nice.
PSN: SirGrinchX
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Second, he isn't going to want to involve his insurance company any more then you will want to involve yours. Accidents are accidents, and it still goes on his record regardless of who was at fault. If it's chump change, he'll likely want to deal with this without involving either of your insurance companies.
No. Never assume you're in the clear.
My friend got into a fender bender a year and a half before he got notified that he had to pay for the damages.
I guess that may be something that's different depending on where you live, but if someone rear ended me here in BC, it wouldn't affect my insurance in the slightest.
In fact, it makes 0 sense for an accident that is 100% the other parties fault to affect the victim's insurance. Are you absolutely certain that would be the case where you are?
You sure about that? Unless Man X has a police investigation report that puts 100% of the blame on Man Y, there's cause for his rates to go up. Given the highly informal nature of this exchange, it will be impossible for the dude the OP hit to establish 100% fault with the OP based on it being a he-said she-said situation.
I mean, I'm not an insurance lawyer, but I'm reasonably certain that an accident will still show up as a ding on your driving record, regardless of who is at fault.
It depends where you live.
In Ontario, which is where the OP is from, the other driver has zero reason not to report this to his insurance. He gets his car fixed and that's that. He will still have a claim on his insurance, but it will not be an at-fault claim. No ding to his insurance.
Since there is no police report, this gets a bit trickier, but a police report is not required if the damage is under $1000, which it should be for a bumper scuff. Still, his alignment could be off, his shocks could be damaged, etc.
The proof is simply that the driver has the OP's information and there is a scuff on his rear bumper--rear end collisions are always 100% the fault of the driver in the rear. Pictures should have been taken, the police could have been called, a lot could have been done to make this a simpler matter, but the OP certainly isn't in the clear here.
If the other driver takes this to insurance and the OP denies what happened, that's a whole separate can of worms that I'm sure he doesn't want to get involved in.
I assume the deductible is the same thing as what we Aussies call insurance excess...ie, its the amount you pay if the claim is against your insurance, and then your insurance pays the rest if there is any. If you're a fairly young guy (and its likely since this is your first ever accident) your excess/deductible is going to be high. Mine is $1100 just solely due to my age. So if I ever had an accident that cost less than that to repair, I'm saving money by paying it out of pocket.
I'll admit I'm assuming the car the OP hit was stopped and waiting for the opportunity to make his left turn. Even if the other car was moving forward you couldn't blame him for being hit in the rear.
I don't understand how people think it's a good idea to deal with someone outside of insurance after an accident. If you do, and you're anything less than 100% vigilant about the procedures, you're really setting yourself up to be screwed.
Huh? As long as you don't just hand the guy a stack of bills and shake his hand, you'll be fine.
Get a police report if necessary.
Get the other driver's info (name, address, number, DL, insurance info)
Later, get a copy of the estimate and have the driver sign it after you've paid him, saying as such. Pay by cheque if you can, so you have undeniable proof you have him x amount for the damages.
If he later tries to go through insurance after you've paid him for the damages, that's fraud. Despite popular belief, there is nothing illegal about avoiding insurance.
OTOH, at least in BC, you have the option to pay for a claim out of pocket to avoid it affecting your premiums and such. I think by now it goes without saying that anything in a thread like this should be confirmed with an affected person's insurance company because it always could be different though.
That's great. So what are you going to do when they suddenly have neck pain and sue you? Oh, you forgot to get a signed waiver that they disavow all medical claims related to the accident? Or, out of nowhere, the vehicle begins having problems that can be directly linked to the damage you caused, and suddenly you are on the hook for more repairs?
It's completely possible (and easier!) to deal outside of insurance, but you're putting yourself in the good graces of the person you're dealing with. There are enough opportunistic people & auto shops out there that you need to be really careful when dealing with them directly. As much as I do hate insurance companies, resolving claims is part of their business and they have numerous people trained to deal with these situations.
At the same time, I wouldn't go poking the bear. The other driver will contact you when if he wants to, when he is ready to; and there isn't anything you can do about that.
You have the right to ask for and receive three estimates for the damages and required repairs to the damaged vehicles. One quote is not good enough. Furthermore, you would be a fool not to see the written report before you agree to pay for any repairs. It has been known from time to time for some drivers to include damage from other accidents.
Your contract with your insurance company requires you to report all accidents, so by not reporting it, you are gambling with your insurance.
Good Luck, I hope I have helped you to make good decisions.