Car accident with no police report but insurance information?

Question

I go into a minor accident a few days ago. My car was not damage but he had a long stretch on the the left side of his car. I told him I was would pay for the damage. He agreed to not get out insurance involved in this but ask for mine just to make sure I could through with the agreement, so I gave it to him. I met up with him yesterday to see all the estimates that he had and saw there were more damage to his car now than there was a few days ago. I told him that I would only pay for the strech to be remove and that's it. He's said no and is asking for 1900 or else he'll go to my insurance. We didn't call the police so there's no police report. Can he report this and would it be a valid claim if there was no police report?

Answer 1

My best suggestion to you is to get your insurance company involved.  They may even determine that the accident was not your fault.  Basically it will be your word against his unless you took pictures of his car immediately after the accident to prove that the other damage was not there.

Answer 2

You can go down to the police department to fill out an accident report after the fact......but it's not so "official" ---

Answer 3

some states require a police report if there is more than $500 damage.  you don't have to file an insurance claim to get a police report. i would still report it to the police they can tell if the damage was caused by the accident or not and so can an insurance company.  Always get a police report. yes it is still a valid claim even tho no report has been filed yet and you could get in trouble for not filing a report.

Answer 4

he can still claim for up to 3 year after an accident.

Answer 5

It's perfectly valid to make a claim without a police report (in NYC the police won't even write a report if it is estimated that there would be less than $2000 in damages). In this instance it sounds like the person you hit is trying to take advantage of you by overcharging.  I would actually, in this instance, involve the insurance company, as it is there job to pay for repairs in the event of an accident, and they would have an adjustor look at the vehicle to determine if the damage is real or not.

Answer 6

I'm not sure, but if he alerts police, you both may face charges of leaving the scene of an accident. You should have gotten a police report anyways just so he couldn't say there were a ton of damages that weren't.

Once I had an accident,. and this guy said I caused $1,200.00 worth of damages to his door, but I saw it and it definitely wasn't that expensive. But because I was at fault in the accident I had to pay it anyways, even despite the fact he was parked in an illegal parking zone. He wouldn't even let one of my close friends, who owns a body shop, to look at it. He made up a bunch of excuses about it every time I asked. And it was an old car, a 1994 and he tried to tell me it was a 2007.

If I were you I would let him report it so they can investigate and see what damages you actually caused. They don't want to pay the extra money to fix his car any more than you do. The more claims they deny the more they get paid.

Answer 7

You should definitely let your insurance company handle it BEFORE any money is exchanged.  There's nothing to keep this guy from coming after you for more and more and more even if he accepts your first offer.  If you give him one dime, your insurance company won't touch the claim, and that guy can take you to court and drag it on and on and on.

Answer 8

Unfortunately he can.  You dont always need a police report.  Even if you cann the police and the damage is under a certain amount the cop will just leave and do nothing.  Its happened to me.  Tell him to go through his insurance and when your insurance will call you just inform them that he is trying to get you to pay for stuff you didnt do.  Also inform them that you offered to pay what you damaged (long stretch on the the left side of his car) and the insurance will investigate further.

Answer 9

If damages do not not pass an estimate of 1000$ dollars and you are still able to drive both your cars, reporting to police is not required. **** But u Must report the accident to a Collision Reporting Centre Inside the 24 hours the accident has happend. Both cars must. and police will take a look at the damage and see it as proof of collision.

Answer 10

Yes.  It'll be your word against his.  Technically, he cannot file a "claim" with your insurer - only you can do that.  He is supposed to work through his insurer.

Answer 11

first of all, your big mistake was not getting the police involved,because now it sounds like this persons fixing to take you for a ride. Second of all......NEVER promise to pay for anything out of pocket to avoid having the insurance company being reported to because now he/she knows now you have no choice but to report it to your insurance company and it can get jacked-up to what ever the cost can and WILL be and there is no ploice report to support the accident.

Sorry but you just been taken and you just had your first hard luck run.

Answer 12

Yes, he can report it and will likely get the money from your insurance to pay for it if it's your fault. It may look a bit sketchy now though because generally you're supposed to report an accident immediately after it happens even if it's not your fault. Pretty much the only thing you can do now if you know he's going to report it to his insurance is to contact your insurance and explain the situation. At least get them on your side so that he doesn't try to get away with doing more repairs than what actually happened. Unfortunately since it is your fault, you will probably have to pay your deductible and your rates will probably go up.

Answer 13

The guy sounds dirty.  One strategy would be to deny liability for the accident and tell him you will not pay for his damages.  He may go to his own company who will subrogate against your policy or if he's shady enough and wants to avoid possibility of being caught on something, may just go away.  Either way, you may want to report the incident to your own insurance to cya.  Sounds like it will be your word against his.  For future reference, keep a disposable camera in your car and if in an accident, take pictures immediately... and never admit liability.

Answer 14

I can tell your Chinese for two reasons:

1) the way you write and

2) you caused a car accident.

Of course there is a valid claim without a police report. All they have to do is match the damage up on the cars, and the guy has your information- if you never got out of your car, how would he have your contact information?

The police hate taking accident reports, and will only do so if someone is injured.  Why would someone purposely add damage to their car?

Answer 15

If there's no police report and no proof or anything at all that was documented at the time of the accident, then it is just a battle of "who did what, what happened, what was the damage and who is at fault". If he cannot prove anything, then you do not have to pay for more than what you agreed. The only other solution would be small claims court. But honestly, both partied will end up paying court fees. Also from my experience, NO MATTER how small the accident, always have the police called out for a report. It saves A LOT of headache and much more in the end!

Answer 16

It is essential to remember that he can't go to your insurance company as he has no contract with them. If necessary you must go to them for protection.

The worst case is that he has to bring a case in court to the effect that you were responsible for the damage to his vehicle.

From your question I suggest that such a case would fail.

I would see his bluff.

Tell him, stand by the original agreement or see me in court. I expect that he will back down.

Ian M

Answer 17

he most certainly can, it happened to me once and I learned my lesson. If you were the one at fault you probably would have gotten a ticket but would have saved in the long run. We want to trust people to be honest and fair and some people still are but its jerks like that that make us skeptical and pessimistic.