Minor car accident, no insurance, no police report, now costing me $2000 in Adelaide, Australia ?

Question

what's the procedure there? there were only few scratches and 2 small dents in his car, but his insurance company sent me a bill of $2000!!!!! lot more than the damaged i caused. i am a full-time student, dont hav that much money...and yes i dont deny it wasn't my mistake...what should i do...please help......

Answer 1

If the damage was over $500 then it needed to be reported to the police.

Taking photos is the only way to protect yourself.

I bet most of you have a mobile phone with a camera in it.

Use it to protect yourself.

Basically you have to pay the amount.

I am sure the insurance company asked for more than one quote so they all would have been a similar amount. Ring the insurance company to work out a payment plan. If you ignore them they will take it to the courts and you will end up paying more. And also take out 3rd Party Property insurance (this covers someone elses car if you have an accident and are in the wrong). It costs under $10 a month.

Answer 2

I had the same thing happen to me.  The problem was the body shop fixed all the damage ever done to his car, not the small scratches I had caused.   I hadn't done what you need to do after an accident- take pictures, get a police report, etc.  I did talk to an attorney and ended up having to pay it all anyway.  Make payments, as much as you can over time.

Answer 3

hi there - i work in insurance claims in australia.

if i got paid a dollar every time i heard someone say, "but it was only a scratch - how did it end up costing that much??!" then i'd be a very rich lady.

repairing cars is not a cheap process, hence this is why insurance companies exist.

when the insurance company sends you the demand for payment, they will send a detailed costing of what repairs were conducted to the other persons car.  before the insurer agrees to pay for their repairs in the first place, the assessor checks all the costs off - to make sure a) that the damages occurred in the incident they are claiming for and b) that the costs on the quote submitted are 'fair and reasonable'.  usually, repair quotes are adjusted DOWN to the insurance company's going rates.  this means that if the other person had of done the work privately, it would have likely cost more.

what you need to realise, is that when repairing a car sometimes other panels need to be removed and replaced to get to the part that was damaged - this costs time in labour and so ultimately, money.  

the 'few scratches and dents' could mean that there are clips broken underneath the panels that you will not be able to see - this is common when bumpers are damaged.  

at the end of the day, sort out a payment plan with the other persons insurance.  and for goodness sake, at least get yourself some third party property damage insurance - it's dirt cheap and will mean that you don't have to stress if you hit someone else's car!

ps. further to the above.  if you refuse to pay, then the insurance company can choose to have the debt recognised by a court and YES, it will show as an unpaid debt and affect your credit rating.  i know this is a fact as i do it as part of my job.

Answer 4

Insurance agencies use bully boy tactics so just ignore....  You will have the usual guff about your credit rating being impinged etc, etc.  But really they are toothless tigers....