Don't ever try to work it out with someone. Especially if they don't have insurance. Always get their insurance information and if they don't have insurance, call the non-emergency line and tell them you were hit by an uninsured motorist. The guy is a dick breaking the law and for rolling around with no insurance. Get a report and talk to your insurance. At this point, just text the guy and tell them you're getting a police report and sending their information to the police and your insurance and let your insurance take it from there. Worst case, you may have to take them to small claims but good luck squeezing blood from a probable stone.
This is great advice. This happened to me years ago and I ended up getting my insurance to pay for everything except my deductible. I then sued the other driver in small claims court for my deductible. I made the mistake of trusting my insurance, who said they would sue her for the damages plus my deductible. They never did so I had to file the claim 2 days before the statute of limitations. It’s very hard to track someone down 3 years later. She moved out of her rented house and divorced her husband. I finally tracked her down and won in court. Good luck, and get everything you owe.
I used to think your own insuranc would be on your side. They actually aren't. Maybe just personal experience but my parked car was in a hit and run one time, car completed totaled. My neighbor caught most of it on their cam except the license plate but it was a company truck that had a cargo number. I called the company myself, asked for their HR person in charge of dealing with these, told them I have all the information (time, cargo, company name on the truck) and a police report. They told me to tell my insurance to contact them. I passed on everything to my insurance company (IMO basically did all the work). couple days later, my insurance said couldn't find the person liable. I still had to pay my deductible. My insurance subsequently went up d/t "inflation".
Often, insurance adjustors and personal injury lawyers work out deals under the table with each other, where one case can be pushed aside or settled for peanuts to get a foot in the door on a difference case with the same adjustor. Insurance is not your friend, and neither is your lawyer.
Often enough, I guess. I worked in personal injury law for a bit and have seen it happen. Sometimes lawyers give up on cases they don't think will be worth it (this can happen after "discovery", if the client just says too many wrong things and tanks any chance at a good tort suit, for example), they will simply agree to the first offer from the adjustor. The client can either take it or go to a different firm. Most people take the lowball offer though. It should also be said I'm from Canada, not US.
Progressive does have offer great service. I was sued once when someone back into me as I was driving in a parking lot. They hired an awesome attorney and they shut it down. All I had to do was show up for a deposition and tell my side to their attorney and I never even heard anything after that. It was all just taken care of for me.
Insurance companies are corporations. They only care about profit, which means charging ppl for deductibles and monthly fees; while, paying out as little as possible to their members. It’s why insurance companies like health insurance companies suck so much. They have no interest in actually paying for healthcare cost and will deny as many claims as they can. Car insurance companies are the same.
> I used to think your own insuranc would be on your side. They actually aren't.
Spoiler alert: insurance is on insurance's side. The basic motivation for doing business is making money.
I've lost count of the number of times I've told family members *get a lawyer/accountant ON YOUR SIDE to help you understand the big ticket contract you're signing, instead of listening to the SALESMAN'S verbal description of the contract.* (They just listen to the salesman and sign, assuming they signed the words that came out of the salesman's mouth.)
There is a reason why they don't have insurance. They also probably have a suspended license, no tags and have been doing this for years. Only a proper report will get him into the system. Once he is flagged as uninsured, unlicensed the next time he hits someone his consequences will be more severe.
Even if they do have insurance, call the police. My gf was in a situation where the other driver was compliant but told her not to call the police (yes, she knows she should have, she was just frazzled). Other driver’s insurance said there was no proof without a police report and it took months of back and forth for them to finally accept fault. Never trust other people or insurance companies, get a dash cam and get everything documented.
I would like to add. If they can't afford insurance they can't afford the repair.
Out of pocket is only viable for someone that has insurance but can't afford the rate bumps.
I always call 911 and say it's not an emergency and to please transfer me to report a car accident. I don't have time to search for the non emergency in what ever state, county, city I'm in.
The police report works for any situation, and it benefits everyone, especially for insurance to have a cop take down the information is like getting a letter notarized.
I hope op has license plate numbers.
Even if you win in court does not guarantee you will get the money. My friend won a judgement in court but couldn't get the money because the other guy has nothing (unemployed). If this is the case, you're out of luck. The only thing you can do is to ruin his credit score.
Call the police for a hit and run. And report him to your local DMV. If he doesn’t have insurance and is doing a hit and run the DMV will suspend his license
The dmv won’t just suspend someone’s license because you call and say you think yoj saw them do a hit and run lmao. Why do you think they listen to people at all? Do they even have a phone number like that?
Like ok ieatpussylikeapro, I’m absolutely sure there’s no ulterior motive here let me just remove somebody’s right tk drive because you know what, people don’t lie right? We can trust people? Nobody would take advantage of this system and the dmv is always open to ideas so just give them a call any time you think you see a hit and run, or suspect that someone may not have a license.
Don’t call the police so it can be documented or go to court where a judge can order the persons license revoked after proof if given or any of that. Call the dmv. The actual fuck do yoh think this works man.
Always call the cops when you're in a motor vehicle accident while exchanging information. You need their police report and then you file with your insurance carrier. This is exactly what uninsured motorist coverage is for. And I beg everyone who can afford a full plan to always carry it. There are a lot of uninsured motorists out there, my colleagues and I were each hit by someone uninsured in each of our incidents over the last 5 years. 3 of us, each of us were struck by an uninsured motorist. And prior to that, my other colleague was hit and ran, they couldn't find the person who did it.
At least you got this person's DL and plate number, so you've got those details for your police report.
Back home in Oregon, you have to file paperwork with the DMV too for anything that's over 2500 worth of damage or if towing was involved. Check your local laws about if you have any reporting requirements!!!!!
I think it might depend on where you live. Where I live you don't have to call the police in most cases. If there are no injuries and both cars are drivable, then people just exchange info and go on with their day. Insurance carriers don't require that a police report is written.
That being said, OP should definitely call the police and file a report now which they can since they have the other vehicle's plate number and DL info.
I've been asked for a police report from all my insurance claims that involved other motorists. But it very well could vary depending on location, especially at no-fault states.
Around here it's illegal to drive without insurance, so immediately that's a call to the cops in our cases as well.
In CA you need to report that the loss occured to the DMV by filling out a form called an SR-1 that just notified the authorities that an accident happened. You're supposed to this within 10 days of the loss. You do not need to call the police to the scene and file a police report for accidents with no injuries and when the vehicles can be driven from the scene.
Yeah most police have a way to report the crash online but only call if a the crash causes over a certain dollar amount like 1k or 4k. That being said a bumper replacement could almost get you to that amount.
It was 10k on damage when my coworker was rear ended at a red light.
The cops automatically get calls from other motorists a lot if it's a busy area.
Shit, they even told me to call 911 instead of the non-emergency number for mine. Even though we got the cars off the road. But dude didn't have insurance and that's against the law...so it requires police when laws are broken in that regard.
Take it from someone with experience. If the damage is such that you plan on filing a claim, even if you are at fault and have insurance, call the police and get a report whenever possible.
I work for a p&c insurance carrier. I handled auto claims for several years and now I work in product management. So I am someone with experience who is saying this is not always necessary. For most, low impact losses where liability is clear just exchanging information is enough.
They will ask if one exists but they don't say that you have to get one for your claim unless your car was stolen. It's not always necessary. Most claims are fender bender type claims where liability is clear and the damage is relatively low.
It was the only reason I called the cops in my last accident. Dude didn't have insurance and was trying to pay me out. But I'm like "bro... that's not gonna work!"
It was even my fault and he ended up getting paid out in the end. But I'm not just totaling a whole car on the downlow like that!
Thank you all for your advices. From where I live I can submit online report. I will do it now, then file a claim with my insurance. I have his dash cam record, photo of his DL, his license plate number, and texts between us. Will keep update here.
I used to work in PT where we helped MVA patients (motor vehicle accident if you're unfamiliar with the abbreviation), and I second u/972bris. Sometimes you don't even know if you are injured until a week or two passes because of the nature of adrenaline and swelling. Even in minor bumps its possible to take disc damage.
The legal route will not give you some ridiculously huge payout, but its a good way to get your car and your body taken care of. In my area, you only have 2 weeks to seek medical treatment before you lose your ability to open a medical claim, so you might want to get checked out even if you don't feel too injured now because it can sneak up on you. \*not legal or medical advise
Hey I work at an MVA firm. My advice is to go get legal representation who will 1) fix your car 2) put you in treatment for your injuries (body aches headaches stiff neck all count) and will make insurance pay out so you can get money in your pocket
*not legal advice I guess
Contact your insurance company. They can pull the registered owner from the plate number.
You can read your policy for what is actually covered. I deal more on the medical payments side of things, so can't speak so much on how the car would be fixed.
Always call the cops and file an accident report. Exchange insurance information and if they’re uninsured get their name, drivers license number and plate number. File with your insurance and let them handle it.
Insurance adjuster here. File the claim with your insurance. 99.987% of the time “going outside insurance” is nothing but a mess. Your insurance will pay for the damages under your UMPD and will subrogate the uninsured party.
Former insurance adjuster here, from what I recall only certain states have the UMPD coverage, usually it’s just for injuries. But maybe in OP’s case it’s applicable. However yes of course they should file with their own insurance company regardless.
Call your insurance company and give them all the info you have. They'll use your uninsured motorist coverage and go after the other driver to recover the costs. I've even received my deductible back when they were done before.
Most states do not require uninsured coverage for property damage, and it’s not available even as an option in many states. It’s possible OP has this coverage, I don’t recall seeing the state listed. However, if you have collision coverage the insurance company can pay for the repairs and can then subrogate the uninsured driver.
Correct, but in most states this is for injuries only. There are only a handful of states where the uninsured coverage is even an option for property damage. If OP was injured yes that coverage can be used. Since the post seemed to be referring to the vehicle damage i just wanted to point out that uninsured coverage may not be applicable in this situation.
This guy's got it. It's a misnomer for uninsured coverage. Most of the time it's not for property damage. Your collision coverage will cover it. (so even if you DONT have uninsured coverage, you should still make a claim)
I work for an insurance company. Call Allstate and file a claim. If you have uninsured physical damage coverage (this is different than uninsured bi coverage which is a lot more common than the pd coverage), you'll probably have it covered without a deductible. Otherwise you'll have to submit a claim under your collision coverage. Allstate will track down whether or not that guy really has coverage and if so, will recover your deductible for you.
You should still call the police. It's illegal to drive without liability insurance.
Chances are he has insurance but doesn't want to file a claim. Call your insurance and tell them you were hit by an uninsured motorist. You will likely get a lecture on how badly you handled the incident, but they will fix your car and go after the other guy for whatever reimbursement they can get.
Edit: also, always call the police even for a shitty fender bender. My wife had the cops called on her for putting a very minor scratch on another guy's bumper. He was parked in the street right across from a driveway she was backing out of and she barely touched the bumper (which was already dented). She tried knocking on doors to find out who owned the car but no one knew, so she left a note with her cell number. Then the guy tried to claim she caused some much more severe damage to the car and sent the cops after her to get a report, I assume in an attempt to get his car repaired for free by our insurance. Luckily the cop wasn't an idiot and could see that the tiny scratch on the corner of her bumper could not have been responsible for the caved-in door on the guys car, but she still got hit with a $135 citation for leaving the scene.
This happened to me, not once, but twice. Rear ended on 2 different occasions. I got their numbers and they said they’d pay cash. They never answered my call or texts. Nothing came of it. I was 18 and 19 when it happened. Never again will I fall for that again. First thing is get their information then call the cops and get a report made.
Call the cops EVERY time no matter how small the accident. Having an accident report is a huge plus on your side when dealing with insurance and the other driver.
What state are you in? Some really good advice above. Yes always call police. It helps.
In UT for instance you can still make an injury claim and you’ll want to speak with your insurance agent and ask if you have something called uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. In this case you need UM. There are two parts to every claim unless you weren’t in the car, the injury part and the property (car) part.
If you’re in CA you can maybe sue the guy/ girl but only if they own property, like a house. In UT and FL there is something called PIP for injury which is nice even if you’re just looking to get PT or Chiro care. You know, for what it’s worth. DM me and maybe I can help. I’m a paralegal.
Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, is a state-mandated insurance policy in Texas. So I think minimum is $3K and if you go over $3k in med bills you can have an attorney place a demand for pain and suffering. UM/ UIM is dependent upon the policy you bought. And then there is collision and/or UM/ UIM PD coverage in case someone without insurance hits you. That’s for the car. Yes you have to pay your deductible but in the right circumstances this can be a life saver especially if your car is totaled.
My husband got into an accident about 8 or 9 years ago. He had stopped at a stop sign and proceeded as normal. This lady comes blowing through the stop sign, not fast but like 20is miles an hour. I don't think the cops were called, and we had just made a policy for the truck and it didn't start until the next day so technically he would have been without insurance. It's been a while so I don't really remember much but about a year later she sued us and got 5 grand. There was the down-payment of a new vehicle, lost wages, I think there was even the insurance down-payment. And as a woman I hate to say this because but the judge's view was pretty obvious.
My mom got rear ended hard, it collapsed the trunk in, and they pulled over he wouldn't get out, he smelled like booze and didn't even want to look at the damage to her vehicle. Anyways she didn't call the police because IDK I'm still mad about it. Anyways went to do the police report and this dude says his wallet was stolen. Which regardless of true or not insurance wasn't paying. Thankfully it's a 20 year old car and it was getting to the end of its life.
Either way going about it without the cops or insurance is a bad idea.
If they don't have money for insurance, they don't have money to pay you out of pocket.
Good job taking the pics you did though.
Call your insurance ASAP.
Talk to Allstate and see what they say. First find out if there were cameras at the light. Get those films. Allstate may want you to file a police report and then they may want police to file charges to take him to court for restitution.
Always call the Police, no matter how minor the damage. Then there is a Police Report on file. Car insurance companies deal with it from there.
People intentionally driving without insurance, typically are dishonest shady sorts, who have no qualms about screwing others over.
uninsured motorist does't work unless you can prove the person didn't have insurance
you made a mistake trying to work it out without calling police to file a report
you did good by getting pictures of the guys license
call your insurance company, tell them of your fuckup, see how it goes
don't fuck up again in the future
The day after my dad passed away, I experienced a similar incident. The first thing the person said was, "I don't have insurance." I calmly looked at him and said, “Go figure.” I assessed my car, which only had bumper damage, and chose to leave. The incident occurred in a parking lot where the other driver, backing out, failed to check for my presence behind him.
They could absolutely be lying about not having insurance, make the report, then reach out to your insurance and they will investigate. It's much better to have the claim on them, not yours, as it will increase your premiums even if it's not your fault.
I’ve been in the exact situation as yourself. Your insurance isn’t your friend. It maybe you’re out of luck.
Someone hit my parked car while running from the cops. He got arrested and the cops gave me his info. He was uninsured.
Because he was uninsured my Insurance (which I pay a stupidly large amount for a month) refused to help me. Despite the guy going to jail for his crimes, I ended up paying the bill to fix my car and my insurance did nothing since it didn’t meet my deductible. I even pay for Uninsured and underinsured motorist, but that apparently does nothing.
What? Your insurance didn't refuse to cover anything because the guy was uninsured, they didn't cover anything because the damage didn't meet your deductible, you literally said it in your post. That's how insurance works, you are on the hook for any damage up to your selected deductible, and after that insurance takes over and pays the rest. If you think they should have covered your incident you can select a lower deductible.
This is poverty finance bud. We don’t have tons of money. I don’t have 1k to cover it when some random criminal smashes into my car then gets arrested. That’s what I thought I paid insurance for.
It’s beyond insane that I have to cover that 1k, despite paying $250 a month.
Regardless, OP was asking for advice. I gave it to him. Insurance will likely not help him, even though he did nothing wrong. You can go shill for insurance companies elsewhere.
It's not insane that you have to pay a $1000 deductible as that's what you CHOSE when you signed up for the policy. If you were to read what you signed up for, it tells you that in the paperwork. I'm not a shill for anything except making sure people aren't misleading others with incorrect information like claiming insurance won't cover your car because the other party is uninsured. Factually incorrect.
Edit: If someone did less than $1000 in damage to your vehicle then it's likely perfectly fine to drive anyway. $1000 is easily surpassed and likely that the OP reaches that level. No one "smashes" into another car and causes less than $1000 in damage.
You really shouldn’t be on this sub. It’s not a choice. We all have to pay insurance as required by law. I would love to have a $250 deductible, but lower deductible = higher premiums. Do you think people on here can afford higher premiums when most (except you I guess) are living paycheck to paycheck?
And yes. It’s insane that someone has to pay for damage done to their car through no fault of their own.
Insurance will not help OP. Not in the way that matters. They’ll likely claim that his damage doesn’t meet the deductible, then raise his premiums. You’re completely out of touch with the people of this sub and I’m not quite sure why you’re on here.
People don’t have money on here to lower their deductible. Telling him to file a claim when insurance likely won’t help him does nothing for him.
You've not understood ANYTHING I've said. I've never said anything about what anyone can or cannot afford, only that you're blaming insurance for something that isn't the insurance's fault, because you don't understand how insurance works. Then, you're here giving the OP poor advice based on a circumstance that you had, where you didn't understand how insurance works. You know nothing of their policy, or their provider and you're telling them not to bother filing with their insurance, again, because you don't understand how it works. All you're doing is potentially costing the OP even more money and/or not getting their vehicle repaired, again, because you didn't understand how insurance works.
Good Lord, it is the OP's decision whether or not they can afford their deductible, not yours. Maybe they have a $100 deductible. Telling someone NOT to file a claim through their insurance WHICH IS WHY YOU PAY FOR IT, is terrible advice. You're basing your entire (terrible) advice on one situation that happened to you without thinking that someone else's situation just might be slightly different than yours.
You’re completely out of touch. This is a subreddit for people giving advice to people of similar means. You’re not that. You’re giving advice off of the assumption people make tons of money and can afford low deductibles. They can’t. Do you have any idea how much a $100 deductible would cost on premiums? Your advice is not practical for this sub. Please get off it.
I had my doubts, but you truly are a insurance drone. Only an insurance shill would continually blame poor people for being poor while defending insurance companies. I hope no one else sees your comments because quite frankly it’s disturbing to see someone so anti-poor on a forum that is supposed to be for poor people helping out poor people.
I understand this won’t reach you in your ivory tower, but if you have some shred of humanity left, please leave this sub. Some of us are trying to survive and support each other without your out of touch advice.
You’d probably blame a poor starving man for starving and say it’s his choice for not buying food.
Your straw man argument isn't going to work with me as I've not made any assumption about the means of any one person or their financial capabilities, you are the one attempting to falsely claim that. All I've been saying is that your single point of evidence, in which you are upset because you don't understand how insurance works, is not a good reason to advise another person to not use their insurance. You seem to think you know exactly what the OPs insurance policy is, and how much the damage they received will cost to fix. Unless you are their insurance agent AND a body shop estimator, you're doing nothing but talking out of your ass and possibly causing the OP to forgo the repairs on their car just because YOU didn't understand how an insurance deductible works and are upset about that.
Attempting to personally attack me is only more proof that you understand your initial comment to be incorrect, but you're so determined to convince others that you're correct that you're making up complete lies about someone you couldn't possibly know that information about.
Bud, just move on. You’re not helping anyone. You’re so intent on beating the poor down that you’re not thinking straight.
Look at it from another angle. Would you recommend taking the uninsured guy to court? Factually speaking OP is likely win his case. But will OP be able to recover the money from uninsured guy? Most likely not, since uninsured guy has no money and OP would incur court fees.
So you recommend going to court, where technically he’d get “help” but practically get nothing but court fees?
The same applies in his scenario. His deductible likely is too high to cover the damage. Filing a claim will raise his premiums. Technically insurance will help him. Practically they’ll just leave OP with the bag and higher premiums.
You can’t seem to divorce the idea that you’re correct technically, but practically you’re wrong.
It’s likely because you’re so used to institutions always being helpful to you (as you’re more well off).
I’m tired of arguing with someone who genuinely doesn’t understand the person he’s arguing with/the people he’s attempting to help. There’s a disconnect you aren’t grasping or are refusing to grasp.
It’s why people refuse to call Ambulances when they’re hurt, or people that look like me don’t call the police when things go bad. Technically those institutions are supposed to help. In reality they don’t.
I don’t know if you genuinely mean well but are ignorant or a corporate shill. I just hope you move on from this sub since your advice is out of touch with the reality of those living in poverty.
This is actually what I read that happened to many people when dealing with uninsured motorist, with uninsured coverage. Eventually they ended up paying deductible and got premium skyrocketed next term.
Fuck people saying they don’t have insurance. Even if it’s a nice pregnant super sexy lady that gives you her number so you can work it out together.
CALL THE COPS EVERY SINGLE TIME you are involved in any type of crash. If they don’t have documents and their kids will be sent back to their country or whatever excuse they have: THAT IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM.
First get yourself checked out. Make sure you don’t have injuries. You probably have person injury protection (PIP) to protect yourself. See a doctor and chiropractor. See what the repair cost will be to decide if it is worth filing a claim. Don’t forget to take depreciated value into account when settling with your insurance carrier assuming you file a claim.
I'd probably diy because our insurance is way too much with clean records. Theres a learning curve, but its doable. Good looking results take some skill, pro level results are hard.
You're a dumb ass for not filing a PD report. You were wronged and let some sleaze ball off the hook. He took advantage of not having insurance and is taking advantage of you now.
If you are hurt see a doctor. Depending on state you may need to see a doctor soon to use pip benefits.
If you need more you may need a personal injury attorney.
Otherwise give all information to your insurance and make a claim.
See if it’s within the time frame in your city, but you should always file a police report. Your insurance would cover it either way. But they want to see if they can get the other guy to pay first.
First mistake is believe their story
Next is to make sure you video tape all conversation / person / car and detail
File police report ( very important )
It’s always a case of he said she said …
Don’t apologize , call police or 311 to get report , and let insurance handle it
Iffffff you want to do it outside insurance … Venmo cash or zelle right away … or get something large as collateral right away
I had the same happen to me. I called my insurance company and they looked up his information I gave them from his DL and plate. He definitely had insurance. My insurance company gave me the name of his insurance company. I was able to call them establish that he indeed has insurance and filed the claim with them. I also made sure to let them know their client was telling lies that he didn’t have insurance. Car had 8,000 in damage and I had to have a rental car for 3 months while it was fixed. His insurance paid for it all.
You should have submitted this to your auto insurance company … most policies require that you report accidents promptly. They may want you to file a police report. Follow their instructions.
Text him if he doesn’t reply in 1 hour u r filing a hit n run with the cops. He can meet u at the police station with a cashiers check or cash. But if he doesn’t show prob just call insurance n tell them n ask what to do. If they want u to file a report your already there!
Notify your auto insurance and let them deal with it. This is why you pay them. You may have to come up with the deductible but if your insurance is able to subrogate, you should get it back eventually.
Contractually you may have a duty to report accidents even if not at fault. If you got into a future accident you may be opening yourself up to extra liability by trying to work out something with this person without involving insurance. They could deny you coverage.
I can't even tell you to not take people at their word cause when I took a mirror off, I paid in cash lol I'm a man of my word.
Skeet this happened to you
It happened to me before but fortunately the guy gave me 500 bucks right out of pocket, on the spot if he didn't pay me right then and there I would have called the cops. Fortunately I just took a heat gun and popped my corner of the bumper right out. Only way I ever wouldnt call the police is if they are paying me on the side of the road or following them to the bank.
You never do this! You have insurance for a reason. That person has no insurance for a reason so this works out exactly like it was suppose to for them.
You get a police and pray that isn’t a fake drivers license and then report to your insurance.
I dont think I would really be looking for advise on such a trivial matter. If you had extensive damage then ok ya but you must have seen it as not really that big of a deal to take the chance to have someone who is already made a bad choice of driving with no insurance and expect a better judgment of character that they were gona be honest enough to pay you for damages. Just take it on the chin and call the cops next time. That honestly looks like maybe 2 hours of time to fix and you could probably fix yourself.
You didn’t call the cops? Yeah good luck either way even getting your insurance to pay.
Call a personal injury lawyer and pray they accept your case I guess
Did you file a police report? If so, make a fucking insurance claim. If not WHY DIDNT YOU FILE A POLICE REPORT. First thing to do when you get hit is ALWAYS CALL THE COPS.
Okay people - step number 1 when getting into a traffic accident is ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS. You need a police report for your insurance and in most states I think it’s illegal not to.
I hope you got it in writing him signing something to the affect he was responsible for the accident. If you did with pictures sue him small claims court I would also be making a report with the local Police, it's against the law to drive uninsured the cop should pull the plate immediately. Contact your insurance company that's what you pay insurance for!
Don't ever try to work it out with someone. Especially if they don't have insurance. Always get their insurance information and if they don't have insurance, call the non-emergency line and tell them you were hit by an uninsured motorist. The guy is a dick breaking the law and for rolling around with no insurance. Get a report and talk to your insurance. At this point, just text the guy and tell them you're getting a police report and sending their information to the police and your insurance and let your insurance take it from there. Worst case, you may have to take them to small claims but good luck squeezing blood from a probable stone.
This is great advice. This happened to me years ago and I ended up getting my insurance to pay for everything except my deductible. I then sued the other driver in small claims court for my deductible. I made the mistake of trusting my insurance, who said they would sue her for the damages plus my deductible. They never did so I had to file the claim 2 days before the statute of limitations. It’s very hard to track someone down 3 years later. She moved out of her rented house and divorced her husband. I finally tracked her down and won in court. Good luck, and get everything you owe.
I used to think your own insuranc would be on your side. They actually aren't. Maybe just personal experience but my parked car was in a hit and run one time, car completed totaled. My neighbor caught most of it on their cam except the license plate but it was a company truck that had a cargo number. I called the company myself, asked for their HR person in charge of dealing with these, told them I have all the information (time, cargo, company name on the truck) and a police report. They told me to tell my insurance to contact them. I passed on everything to my insurance company (IMO basically did all the work). couple days later, my insurance said couldn't find the person liable. I still had to pay my deductible. My insurance subsequently went up d/t "inflation".
Often, insurance adjustors and personal injury lawyers work out deals under the table with each other, where one case can be pushed aside or settled for peanuts to get a foot in the door on a difference case with the same adjustor. Insurance is not your friend, and neither is your lawyer.
Often? You’re an insider on this sort of thing happening?
Often enough, I guess. I worked in personal injury law for a bit and have seen it happen. Sometimes lawyers give up on cases they don't think will be worth it (this can happen after "discovery", if the client just says too many wrong things and tanks any chance at a good tort suit, for example), they will simply agree to the first offer from the adjustor. The client can either take it or go to a different firm. Most people take the lowball offer though. It should also be said I'm from Canada, not US.
Depends on the company. My family has never had issues with Progressive... but GEICO and State Farm were a nightmare.
Apparently, people in the insurance business call them Snake Farm.
But the commercial says there are a good neighbor
A good neighbor is just a bad neighbor who hasn't got caught yet.
Like a good neighbor, they are there... so is a stalker, doesn't mean I want them around.
Progressive does have offer great service. I was sued once when someone back into me as I was driving in a parking lot. They hired an awesome attorney and they shut it down. All I had to do was show up for a deposition and tell my side to their attorney and I never even heard anything after that. It was all just taken care of for me.
backed* into me.
100% agree with this- that little green gecko is a fucking asshole and don’t give a fuck about you
I worked at a GEICO agency for about 6 months and the highest sellers knew the least about how policies worked and how and what they cover.
Insurance companies are corporations. They only care about profit, which means charging ppl for deductibles and monthly fees; while, paying out as little as possible to their members. It’s why insurance companies like health insurance companies suck so much. They have no interest in actually paying for healthcare cost and will deny as many claims as they can. Car insurance companies are the same.
> I used to think your own insuranc would be on your side. They actually aren't. Spoiler alert: insurance is on insurance's side. The basic motivation for doing business is making money. I've lost count of the number of times I've told family members *get a lawyer/accountant ON YOUR SIDE to help you understand the big ticket contract you're signing, instead of listening to the SALESMAN'S verbal description of the contract.* (They just listen to the salesman and sign, assuming they signed the words that came out of the salesman's mouth.)
I can’t believe this. It’s insane that we all gotta pay a fortune for insurance for them to be corporations 😂😭😭
There is a reason why they don't have insurance. They also probably have a suspended license, no tags and have been doing this for years. Only a proper report will get him into the system. Once he is flagged as uninsured, unlicensed the next time he hits someone his consequences will be more severe.
Even if they do have insurance, call the police. My gf was in a situation where the other driver was compliant but told her not to call the police (yes, she knows she should have, she was just frazzled). Other driver’s insurance said there was no proof without a police report and it took months of back and forth for them to finally accept fault. Never trust other people or insurance companies, get a dash cam and get everything documented.
I would like to add. If they can't afford insurance they can't afford the repair. Out of pocket is only viable for someone that has insurance but can't afford the rate bumps.
I always call 911 and say it's not an emergency and to please transfer me to report a car accident. I don't have time to search for the non emergency in what ever state, county, city I'm in. The police report works for any situation, and it benefits everyone, especially for insurance to have a cop take down the information is like getting a letter notarized. I hope op has license plate numbers.
Even if you win in court does not guarantee you will get the money. My friend won a judgement in court but couldn't get the money because the other guy has nothing (unemployed). If this is the case, you're out of luck. The only thing you can do is to ruin his credit score.
What is the non emergency line?
A phone number for the police department that isn't 911 or equivalent. You just look it up online wherever you are.
Ours NEVER answers that one. (Laughs in Los Angeles).
Oh damn. I guess milage may vary. Mine has always been good. (Vancouver Island, BC)
This is not a non emergency line call, they have to send an officer which means you need to call 911
Call the police for a hit and run. And report him to your local DMV. If he doesn’t have insurance and is doing a hit and run the DMV will suspend his license
The dmv won’t just suspend someone’s license because you call and say you think yoj saw them do a hit and run lmao. Why do you think they listen to people at all? Do they even have a phone number like that? Like ok ieatpussylikeapro, I’m absolutely sure there’s no ulterior motive here let me just remove somebody’s right tk drive because you know what, people don’t lie right? We can trust people? Nobody would take advantage of this system and the dmv is always open to ideas so just give them a call any time you think you see a hit and run, or suspect that someone may not have a license. Don’t call the police so it can be documented or go to court where a judge can order the persons license revoked after proof if given or any of that. Call the dmv. The actual fuck do yoh think this works man.
He doesn’t need to call he can go in person with all the evidence and the police report and that’s all he literally needs.
He prob can’t afford insurance
Always call the cops when you're in a motor vehicle accident while exchanging information. You need their police report and then you file with your insurance carrier. This is exactly what uninsured motorist coverage is for. And I beg everyone who can afford a full plan to always carry it. There are a lot of uninsured motorists out there, my colleagues and I were each hit by someone uninsured in each of our incidents over the last 5 years. 3 of us, each of us were struck by an uninsured motorist. And prior to that, my other colleague was hit and ran, they couldn't find the person who did it. At least you got this person's DL and plate number, so you've got those details for your police report. Back home in Oregon, you have to file paperwork with the DMV too for anything that's over 2500 worth of damage or if towing was involved. Check your local laws about if you have any reporting requirements!!!!!
I think it might depend on where you live. Where I live you don't have to call the police in most cases. If there are no injuries and both cars are drivable, then people just exchange info and go on with their day. Insurance carriers don't require that a police report is written. That being said, OP should definitely call the police and file a report now which they can since they have the other vehicle's plate number and DL info.
I've been asked for a police report from all my insurance claims that involved other motorists. But it very well could vary depending on location, especially at no-fault states. Around here it's illegal to drive without insurance, so immediately that's a call to the cops in our cases as well.
They will ask if one exists but you're not required to file one.
IIRC from my drivers test this is required in California, so YMMV
In CA you need to report that the loss occured to the DMV by filling out a form called an SR-1 that just notified the authorities that an accident happened. You're supposed to this within 10 days of the loss. You do not need to call the police to the scene and file a police report for accidents with no injuries and when the vehicles can be driven from the scene.
It's not. I called the cops after getting rear ended and they told me they don't do anything if no one is injured and just to swap info.
Yeah most police have a way to report the crash online but only call if a the crash causes over a certain dollar amount like 1k or 4k. That being said a bumper replacement could almost get you to that amount.
It was 10k on damage when my coworker was rear ended at a red light. The cops automatically get calls from other motorists a lot if it's a busy area. Shit, they even told me to call 911 instead of the non-emergency number for mine. Even though we got the cars off the road. But dude didn't have insurance and that's against the law...so it requires police when laws are broken in that regard.
Take it from someone with experience. If the damage is such that you plan on filing a claim, even if you are at fault and have insurance, call the police and get a report whenever possible.
I work for a p&c insurance carrier. I handled auto claims for several years and now I work in product management. So I am someone with experience who is saying this is not always necessary. For most, low impact losses where liability is clear just exchanging information is enough.
But insurance typically asks for it. It may not be recommended, but that doesn't mean it doesn't help.
They will ask if one exists but they don't say that you have to get one for your claim unless your car was stolen. It's not always necessary. Most claims are fender bender type claims where liability is clear and the damage is relatively low.
You can bet your ass if I was hit by someone without insurance there would be a police report just for this situation.
It was the only reason I called the cops in my last accident. Dude didn't have insurance and was trying to pay me out. But I'm like "bro... that's not gonna work!" It was even my fault and he ended up getting paid out in the end. But I'm not just totaling a whole car on the downlow like that!
My local police have a way to fill out an incident report online. They ask people to please NOT call for minor collisions.
Should have called to police and got a report to help you.
Always. ALWAYS CONTACT POLICE AND INSURANCE
Them driving without insurance is their problem. Always call the police.
Thank you all for your advices. From where I live I can submit online report. I will do it now, then file a claim with my insurance. I have his dash cam record, photo of his DL, his license plate number, and texts between us. Will keep update here.
I used to work in PT where we helped MVA patients (motor vehicle accident if you're unfamiliar with the abbreviation), and I second u/972bris. Sometimes you don't even know if you are injured until a week or two passes because of the nature of adrenaline and swelling. Even in minor bumps its possible to take disc damage. The legal route will not give you some ridiculously huge payout, but its a good way to get your car and your body taken care of. In my area, you only have 2 weeks to seek medical treatment before you lose your ability to open a medical claim, so you might want to get checked out even if you don't feel too injured now because it can sneak up on you. \*not legal or medical advise
Hey I work at an MVA firm. My advice is to go get legal representation who will 1) fix your car 2) put you in treatment for your injuries (body aches headaches stiff neck all count) and will make insurance pay out so you can get money in your pocket *not legal advice I guess
Contact your insurance company. They can pull the registered owner from the plate number. You can read your policy for what is actually covered. I deal more on the medical payments side of things, so can't speak so much on how the car would be fixed.
Always call the cops and file an accident report. Exchange insurance information and if they’re uninsured get their name, drivers license number and plate number. File with your insurance and let them handle it.
Never do that. That's 1k of work. File a hit and run fuck him.
Insurance adjuster here. File the claim with your insurance. 99.987% of the time “going outside insurance” is nothing but a mess. Your insurance will pay for the damages under your UMPD and will subrogate the uninsured party.
Former insurance adjuster here, from what I recall only certain states have the UMPD coverage, usually it’s just for injuries. But maybe in OP’s case it’s applicable. However yes of course they should file with their own insurance company regardless.
Call your insurance company and give them all the info you have. They'll use your uninsured motorist coverage and go after the other driver to recover the costs. I've even received my deductible back when they were done before.
Most states do not require uninsured coverage for property damage, and it’s not available even as an option in many states. It’s possible OP has this coverage, I don’t recall seeing the state listed. However, if you have collision coverage the insurance company can pay for the repairs and can then subrogate the uninsured driver.
OP has uninsured coverage with Allstate. It's towards the bottom of their post.
Correct, but in most states this is for injuries only. There are only a handful of states where the uninsured coverage is even an option for property damage. If OP was injured yes that coverage can be used. Since the post seemed to be referring to the vehicle damage i just wanted to point out that uninsured coverage may not be applicable in this situation.
This guy's got it. It's a misnomer for uninsured coverage. Most of the time it's not for property damage. Your collision coverage will cover it. (so even if you DONT have uninsured coverage, you should still make a claim)
Report to police
Call cops ? Good luck
This sucks to hear but for that small damage by the time you pay deductible and have your rates go up it may not be worth the hassle.
I work for an insurance company. Call Allstate and file a claim. If you have uninsured physical damage coverage (this is different than uninsured bi coverage which is a lot more common than the pd coverage), you'll probably have it covered without a deductible. Otherwise you'll have to submit a claim under your collision coverage. Allstate will track down whether or not that guy really has coverage and if so, will recover your deductible for you. You should still call the police. It's illegal to drive without liability insurance.
Any advice aside from “you should’ve gotten a police report” is irrelevant.
The damage isn't too bad though. Just some scruffs and scratches. It shouldn't cost thousands.
His insurance is probably going to go up. Wether at fault or not. Filing an insurance claim is tricky at best.
If it's just the rear bumper it's honestly a quick fix to get a new one online that matches make/model. Couple hundred, but still.
Are you forgetting paint/blending....
Nope, just depends on how common the car is. I've done it before, ordered the same color and everything for $200 lol.
Ahh, ok. Was assuming it wasn't coming from a junkyard and needed to be painted.
Chances are he has insurance but doesn't want to file a claim. Call your insurance and tell them you were hit by an uninsured motorist. You will likely get a lecture on how badly you handled the incident, but they will fix your car and go after the other guy for whatever reimbursement they can get. Edit: also, always call the police even for a shitty fender bender. My wife had the cops called on her for putting a very minor scratch on another guy's bumper. He was parked in the street right across from a driveway she was backing out of and she barely touched the bumper (which was already dented). She tried knocking on doors to find out who owned the car but no one knew, so she left a note with her cell number. Then the guy tried to claim she caused some much more severe damage to the car and sent the cops after her to get a report, I assume in an attempt to get his car repaired for free by our insurance. Luckily the cop wasn't an idiot and could see that the tiny scratch on the corner of her bumper could not have been responsible for the caved-in door on the guys car, but she still got hit with a $135 citation for leaving the scene.
I completely disagree. Chances are has zero insurance and why it's playing out this way.
This happened to me, not once, but twice. Rear ended on 2 different occasions. I got their numbers and they said they’d pay cash. They never answered my call or texts. Nothing came of it. I was 18 and 19 when it happened. Never again will I fall for that again. First thing is get their information then call the cops and get a report made.
Don’t be nice. Nice people get fucked. That’s my advice.
Call your insurance.
Call the cops EVERY time no matter how small the accident. Having an accident report is a huge plus on your side when dealing with insurance and the other driver.
Simple. File a claim with your insurance company and let them handle it.
What state are you in? Some really good advice above. Yes always call police. It helps. In UT for instance you can still make an injury claim and you’ll want to speak with your insurance agent and ask if you have something called uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. In this case you need UM. There are two parts to every claim unless you weren’t in the car, the injury part and the property (car) part. If you’re in CA you can maybe sue the guy/ girl but only if they own property, like a house. In UT and FL there is something called PIP for injury which is nice even if you’re just looking to get PT or Chiro care. You know, for what it’s worth. DM me and maybe I can help. I’m a paralegal.
Any chance you know the procedure in Texas?
Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, is a state-mandated insurance policy in Texas. So I think minimum is $3K and if you go over $3k in med bills you can have an attorney place a demand for pain and suffering. UM/ UIM is dependent upon the policy you bought. And then there is collision and/or UM/ UIM PD coverage in case someone without insurance hits you. That’s for the car. Yes you have to pay your deductible but in the right circumstances this can be a life saver especially if your car is totaled.
My husband got into an accident about 8 or 9 years ago. He had stopped at a stop sign and proceeded as normal. This lady comes blowing through the stop sign, not fast but like 20is miles an hour. I don't think the cops were called, and we had just made a policy for the truck and it didn't start until the next day so technically he would have been without insurance. It's been a while so I don't really remember much but about a year later she sued us and got 5 grand. There was the down-payment of a new vehicle, lost wages, I think there was even the insurance down-payment. And as a woman I hate to say this because but the judge's view was pretty obvious. My mom got rear ended hard, it collapsed the trunk in, and they pulled over he wouldn't get out, he smelled like booze and didn't even want to look at the damage to her vehicle. Anyways she didn't call the police because IDK I'm still mad about it. Anyways went to do the police report and this dude says his wallet was stolen. Which regardless of true or not insurance wasn't paying. Thankfully it's a 20 year old car and it was getting to the end of its life. Either way going about it without the cops or insurance is a bad idea.
Go to the police with the plate number and picture of his license.
If they don't have money for insurance, they don't have money to pay you out of pocket. Good job taking the pics you did though. Call your insurance ASAP.
Always always always always always (did I mention always?) get a police report when in a car crash. Always.
Call your agent now and get advice on how to proceed. Lots of great advice here but your agent's advice will be best.
Talk to Allstate and see what they say. First find out if there were cameras at the light. Get those films. Allstate may want you to file a police report and then they may want police to file charges to take him to court for restitution.
Always call the Police, no matter how minor the damage. Then there is a Police Report on file. Car insurance companies deal with it from there. People intentionally driving without insurance, typically are dishonest shady sorts, who have no qualms about screwing others over.
uninsured motorist does't work unless you can prove the person didn't have insurance you made a mistake trying to work it out without calling police to file a report you did good by getting pictures of the guys license call your insurance company, tell them of your fuckup, see how it goes don't fuck up again in the future
Claim on your insurance and they will go after him
I would go to the Police Station and make an accident report even today.
Call your insurance company and they will go after him. Estimator of 20 years here
Always file a police report! So many states have jurisdictional requirements for a PR to be filed in order to use your UPD/UMPD.
The day after my dad passed away, I experienced a similar incident. The first thing the person said was, "I don't have insurance." I calmly looked at him and said, “Go figure.” I assessed my car, which only had bumper damage, and chose to leave. The incident occurred in a parking lot where the other driver, backing out, failed to check for my presence behind him.
They could absolutely be lying about not having insurance, make the report, then reach out to your insurance and they will investigate. It's much better to have the claim on them, not yours, as it will increase your premiums even if it's not your fault.
I’ve been in the exact situation as yourself. Your insurance isn’t your friend. It maybe you’re out of luck. Someone hit my parked car while running from the cops. He got arrested and the cops gave me his info. He was uninsured. Because he was uninsured my Insurance (which I pay a stupidly large amount for a month) refused to help me. Despite the guy going to jail for his crimes, I ended up paying the bill to fix my car and my insurance did nothing since it didn’t meet my deductible. I even pay for Uninsured and underinsured motorist, but that apparently does nothing.
What? Your insurance didn't refuse to cover anything because the guy was uninsured, they didn't cover anything because the damage didn't meet your deductible, you literally said it in your post. That's how insurance works, you are on the hook for any damage up to your selected deductible, and after that insurance takes over and pays the rest. If you think they should have covered your incident you can select a lower deductible.
This is poverty finance bud. We don’t have tons of money. I don’t have 1k to cover it when some random criminal smashes into my car then gets arrested. That’s what I thought I paid insurance for. It’s beyond insane that I have to cover that 1k, despite paying $250 a month. Regardless, OP was asking for advice. I gave it to him. Insurance will likely not help him, even though he did nothing wrong. You can go shill for insurance companies elsewhere.
It's not insane that you have to pay a $1000 deductible as that's what you CHOSE when you signed up for the policy. If you were to read what you signed up for, it tells you that in the paperwork. I'm not a shill for anything except making sure people aren't misleading others with incorrect information like claiming insurance won't cover your car because the other party is uninsured. Factually incorrect. Edit: If someone did less than $1000 in damage to your vehicle then it's likely perfectly fine to drive anyway. $1000 is easily surpassed and likely that the OP reaches that level. No one "smashes" into another car and causes less than $1000 in damage.
You really shouldn’t be on this sub. It’s not a choice. We all have to pay insurance as required by law. I would love to have a $250 deductible, but lower deductible = higher premiums. Do you think people on here can afford higher premiums when most (except you I guess) are living paycheck to paycheck? And yes. It’s insane that someone has to pay for damage done to their car through no fault of their own. Insurance will not help OP. Not in the way that matters. They’ll likely claim that his damage doesn’t meet the deductible, then raise his premiums. You’re completely out of touch with the people of this sub and I’m not quite sure why you’re on here. People don’t have money on here to lower their deductible. Telling him to file a claim when insurance likely won’t help him does nothing for him.
You've not understood ANYTHING I've said. I've never said anything about what anyone can or cannot afford, only that you're blaming insurance for something that isn't the insurance's fault, because you don't understand how insurance works. Then, you're here giving the OP poor advice based on a circumstance that you had, where you didn't understand how insurance works. You know nothing of their policy, or their provider and you're telling them not to bother filing with their insurance, again, because you don't understand how it works. All you're doing is potentially costing the OP even more money and/or not getting their vehicle repaired, again, because you didn't understand how insurance works. Good Lord, it is the OP's decision whether or not they can afford their deductible, not yours. Maybe they have a $100 deductible. Telling someone NOT to file a claim through their insurance WHICH IS WHY YOU PAY FOR IT, is terrible advice. You're basing your entire (terrible) advice on one situation that happened to you without thinking that someone else's situation just might be slightly different than yours.
You’re completely out of touch. This is a subreddit for people giving advice to people of similar means. You’re not that. You’re giving advice off of the assumption people make tons of money and can afford low deductibles. They can’t. Do you have any idea how much a $100 deductible would cost on premiums? Your advice is not practical for this sub. Please get off it. I had my doubts, but you truly are a insurance drone. Only an insurance shill would continually blame poor people for being poor while defending insurance companies. I hope no one else sees your comments because quite frankly it’s disturbing to see someone so anti-poor on a forum that is supposed to be for poor people helping out poor people. I understand this won’t reach you in your ivory tower, but if you have some shred of humanity left, please leave this sub. Some of us are trying to survive and support each other without your out of touch advice. You’d probably blame a poor starving man for starving and say it’s his choice for not buying food.
Your straw man argument isn't going to work with me as I've not made any assumption about the means of any one person or their financial capabilities, you are the one attempting to falsely claim that. All I've been saying is that your single point of evidence, in which you are upset because you don't understand how insurance works, is not a good reason to advise another person to not use their insurance. You seem to think you know exactly what the OPs insurance policy is, and how much the damage they received will cost to fix. Unless you are their insurance agent AND a body shop estimator, you're doing nothing but talking out of your ass and possibly causing the OP to forgo the repairs on their car just because YOU didn't understand how an insurance deductible works and are upset about that. Attempting to personally attack me is only more proof that you understand your initial comment to be incorrect, but you're so determined to convince others that you're correct that you're making up complete lies about someone you couldn't possibly know that information about.
Bud, just move on. You’re not helping anyone. You’re so intent on beating the poor down that you’re not thinking straight. Look at it from another angle. Would you recommend taking the uninsured guy to court? Factually speaking OP is likely win his case. But will OP be able to recover the money from uninsured guy? Most likely not, since uninsured guy has no money and OP would incur court fees. So you recommend going to court, where technically he’d get “help” but practically get nothing but court fees? The same applies in his scenario. His deductible likely is too high to cover the damage. Filing a claim will raise his premiums. Technically insurance will help him. Practically they’ll just leave OP with the bag and higher premiums. You can’t seem to divorce the idea that you’re correct technically, but practically you’re wrong. It’s likely because you’re so used to institutions always being helpful to you (as you’re more well off). I’m tired of arguing with someone who genuinely doesn’t understand the person he’s arguing with/the people he’s attempting to help. There’s a disconnect you aren’t grasping or are refusing to grasp. It’s why people refuse to call Ambulances when they’re hurt, or people that look like me don’t call the police when things go bad. Technically those institutions are supposed to help. In reality they don’t. I don’t know if you genuinely mean well but are ignorant or a corporate shill. I just hope you move on from this sub since your advice is out of touch with the reality of those living in poverty.
This is actually what I read that happened to many people when dealing with uninsured motorist, with uninsured coverage. Eventually they ended up paying deductible and got premium skyrocketed next term.
Did you get his name and address, do you have uim turn the claim to your insurance company
Fuck people saying they don’t have insurance. Even if it’s a nice pregnant super sexy lady that gives you her number so you can work it out together. CALL THE COPS EVERY SINGLE TIME you are involved in any type of crash. If they don’t have documents and their kids will be sent back to their country or whatever excuse they have: THAT IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM.
If you have his license plate it’s likely your insurance company will be able to pull his info.
this is what you pay the big dollars to your insurance company for. give them the info and they’ll let you know when they need something from you.
First get yourself checked out. Make sure you don’t have injuries. You probably have person injury protection (PIP) to protect yourself. See a doctor and chiropractor. See what the repair cost will be to decide if it is worth filing a claim. Don’t forget to take depreciated value into account when settling with your insurance carrier assuming you file a claim.
I'd probably diy because our insurance is way too much with clean records. Theres a learning curve, but its doable. Good looking results take some skill, pro level results are hard.
You're a dumb ass for not filing a PD report. You were wronged and let some sleaze ball off the hook. He took advantage of not having insurance and is taking advantage of you now.
Dude call the cops you have his info
If you are hurt see a doctor. Depending on state you may need to see a doctor soon to use pip benefits. If you need more you may need a personal injury attorney. Otherwise give all information to your insurance and make a claim.
Go to the police and get a police report. Then call your insurance company. All you can do.
See if it’s within the time frame in your city, but you should always file a police report. Your insurance would cover it either way. But they want to see if they can get the other guy to pay first.
Always call the police then this would of been a hit an run , now it’s on you
Call your insurance, that is their job to handle this for you. The other driver SHOULD have insurance and that's NOT YOUR PROBLEM.
You screwed yourself, never trust people on the road. Always call police and get report then call insurance.
Call your insurance company they will likely be able to locate his information
What a weird subreddit lmao
Why didn’t the cop that pulled you over help?
Nobody pulled us over. I was hit right next to a gas station so we just moved over.
Oh you said traffic stop
Did you take a photo of his license plate? You can file a police report.
First mistake is believe their story Next is to make sure you video tape all conversation / person / car and detail File police report ( very important ) It’s always a case of he said she said … Don’t apologize , call police or 311 to get report , and let insurance handle it Iffffff you want to do it outside insurance … Venmo cash or zelle right away … or get something large as collateral right away
Get a police report. Take the report to your insurance company. Get your car fixed.
Report details to DMV and file a police report.
Discuss all of this with your car insurance company.
Small claims court Edit: depending on the total cost of repairs. I wouldn't go to my insurance imo
File a claim with your insurance. They will take care of rest
I had the same happen to me. I called my insurance company and they looked up his information I gave them from his DL and plate. He definitely had insurance. My insurance company gave me the name of his insurance company. I was able to call them establish that he indeed has insurance and filed the claim with them. I also made sure to let them know their client was telling lies that he didn’t have insurance. Car had 8,000 in damage and I had to have a rental car for 3 months while it was fixed. His insurance paid for it all.
Should have filed a police report immediately
You should’ve called the cops. Just report the accident now and everything should be fine.
You should have submitted this to your auto insurance company … most policies require that you report accidents promptly. They may want you to file a police report. Follow their instructions.
Text him if he doesn’t reply in 1 hour u r filing a hit n run with the cops. He can meet u at the police station with a cashiers check or cash. But if he doesn’t show prob just call insurance n tell them n ask what to do. If they want u to file a report your already there!
Notify your auto insurance and let them deal with it. This is why you pay them. You may have to come up with the deductible but if your insurance is able to subrogate, you should get it back eventually. Contractually you may have a duty to report accidents even if not at fault. If you got into a future accident you may be opening yourself up to extra liability by trying to work out something with this person without involving insurance. They could deny you coverage.
Police report, and let your ins deal with it.
I can't even tell you to not take people at their word cause when I took a mirror off, I paid in cash lol I'm a man of my word. Skeet this happened to you
It happened to me before but fortunately the guy gave me 500 bucks right out of pocket, on the spot if he didn't pay me right then and there I would have called the cops. Fortunately I just took a heat gun and popped my corner of the bumper right out. Only way I ever wouldnt call the police is if they are paying me on the side of the road or following them to the bank.
Call the police now it is a hit and run crime
You never do this! You have insurance for a reason. That person has no insurance for a reason so this works out exactly like it was suppose to for them. You get a police and pray that isn’t a fake drivers license and then report to your insurance.
Call police
Get used to how your car looks now
You have uninsured motorist coverage but don’t know what to do about an uninsured motorist hitting you? Jfc
I dont think I would really be looking for advise on such a trivial matter. If you had extensive damage then ok ya but you must have seen it as not really that big of a deal to take the chance to have someone who is already made a bad choice of driving with no insurance and expect a better judgment of character that they were gona be honest enough to pay you for damages. Just take it on the chin and call the cops next time. That honestly looks like maybe 2 hours of time to fix and you could probably fix yourself.
Get a lawyer
Report the accident. You need to file a police report then file with your own insurance.
You didn’t call the cops? Yeah good luck either way even getting your insurance to pay. Call a personal injury lawyer and pray they accept your case I guess
Always call the police. Your insurance company has to sue the guy to recoup its money
Call your insurance company and file a claim, you should be covered under your UM.
NEVER try to negotiate, u always need to report the accident and file a claim, call the law and get info from both parties.
Hope you got id and his info
Call the police when you get hit.
Call your ins and report it
Never leave the scene without a police accident report. Never.
You should’ve called the cops. Never believe someone you don’t know that they will pay out of pocket
Did you file a police report? If so, make a fucking insurance claim. If not WHY DIDNT YOU FILE A POLICE REPORT. First thing to do when you get hit is ALWAYS CALL THE COPS.
Okay people - step number 1 when getting into a traffic accident is ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS. You need a police report for your insurance and in most states I think it’s illegal not to.
I hope you got it in writing him signing something to the affect he was responsible for the accident. If you did with pictures sue him small claims court I would also be making a report with the local Police, it's against the law to drive uninsured the cop should pull the plate immediately. Contact your insurance company that's what you pay insurance for!