Accident questions?

Question

Ok, so I got into an accident with a stalled vehicle, I was travelling down a road, changed lanes and there was a car stopped in a non stopping zone apparently for running out of gas. Its emergency blinkers were not working as well. I realize that I hit a stopped vehicle, so it is probably mine to blame. Police came, my car received more damage, but theres would likely be totaled due to its lesser value. Both our cars are towed off, and the police gave me the ok to go home. I exchanged phone numbers with the driver, and when i got home got a call from the actual owner. They accuse of fleeing the scene and are demanding I pay for a rental car. I told them to contact the insurance or the police if they have more questions and hung up. I want to remain helpful, but dont want to get harassing calls and fleeced at the same time. Any pointers in what to do in this situation.

Answer 1

If you have a police report (you said the police came and they would have written an accident report), call your insurance company and give them all the details about the accident, they will want a copy of the police report.  Once you have turned this over to your insurance company, they will start a claim and they will deal with the case.  You may be asked to give a statement to both insurance companies, yours and the person you hits insurance company. The insurance companies will fight it out, that's their job.  You did right by telling the other person you hit, to call your insurance company......let the insurance company take care of it.  

One last note, be as honest and truthful about what you know of the accident as you possibly can.  The insurance company will investigate the accident and make a decision as to who was at fault and offer a settlement.  There is questionable fault from what you explained in your post and only an expert claims adjuster will be able to determine fault, the fact that this person was stopped in a non stopping zone will be considered but again let the experts do their job, that's why you pay for insurance.

Good Luck To You

Answer 2

You cant be accused of fleeing the scene, as the police gave you the ok to leave.

IMO, it should be a neither party at fault and each chase it up through their own insurance company.

If they told the police the car was broken down, they werent in a breakdown lane or on the kerb, and didnt have hazards on, im amazed they werent considered to be at fault.

Make sure you tell your insurace company all of this and whenever the owner rings again, refer them to your insurance company, and the police, like you did.

You are in no way responsible for the hire car, its up to the owner to take out the hire car option when they take out insurance,.

If they keep phoning, let the police know and have them charged with harassment.

Answer 3

tell them to f off

Answer 4

Answer from a General Insurance Agent

Don't worry, you’re just fine

You have done everything properly in regards to the accident. Obviously you did not hit and run because you made the police report and exchanged information otherwise they would not even have had your phone number. Be sure to keep the police report number for your Insurer, they will ask you if the officer gave you the number and it will speed up the claims process for both you and the other vehicle.

I can imagine how hard an officer would be laughing as they tried to prove a hit and run while giving the officer the phone number, address, Insurance information and Police Report number from the scene.

From your description of the accident you are right that you are almost certainly going to be found at fault or at least primarily at fault in the accident. #1 because you hit them from behind, and #2 because their car was not in motion.

Let your Insurance Company handle the matter, you never know, if an investigation determines that they have a history of this sort of accident before, it could eventually be revealed that they were intentionally causing an accident in order to commit insurance fraud. I'm not saying this has occurred mind you. Just let the insurance company do their investigation, that’s what you pay them for.

You do not need to provide them with a rental car either. All that can be handled through your insurance company. That's why you have insurance.

If they call again I would just tell them to call their insurance company and give them the police report number, all they have to do is call and report the matter to their own insurer and the companies will handle the matter for you both. You can also instruct them not to call you again if they can’t be civil or you will report them to the police department.

Be sure to call your insurer as soon as possible, Some Insurance companies have a 24 hour telephone number, usually found on your Insurance Identification card for reporting an accident. If they don’t have a 24 hour service then you'll just have to notify your insurer in the morning.

It is true that if they begin to hound you on the phone, that can be considered harassment. It sounds like they are just acting stupidly and don't want to wait until morning.

Just Relax, Most Insurance companies have a small army of very competent Insurance Claims Adjusters that can handle the entire matter.

Take care and Good Luck

Answer 5

Sounds like you did exactly what I would have done. If they want a rental, they better hope they have rental coverage on their policy. If not, the only way they could get one is to pay for it out of pocket and add the total to their claim.