Police Report Filed. Do I Inform Insurance? Driving Me Crazy
February 1, 2012 6:34 PM Subscribe
Should I call or not.. This is driving me crazy... I really don't want to mess up my perfect driving/insurance record and don't want higher rates. I've also heard horror stories about Progressive, and am hesitant to call. This is in Nj, and I have liability only.
An older relative who doesn't live with me and does not have a car/insurance of his own, borrowed my car, got into a minor accident with another driver. He hit the forward moving car as he was pulling out from a street parking stall. There's now a dent/scratches on the driver's side door of my car and squeaks if I try to open it too wide. But it's an old car, don't care about it too much. On the other hand, there's "not a single scratch" on the other car. If this is in fact true, it would seem like a waste to tell my insurance. If there is damage, I'd like to pay out of pocket. Unfortunately, neither party exchanged numbers, and I have no idea what the other party plans on doing.
1) My understanding is that DMV is notified anytime a police accident report is filed. Will my insurance definitely find out from the DMV? Will this go on my MVR record even if someone else drove my car and got into an accident?
2) As I understand, insurance follows the car. If my insurance finds out, will i have a record in C.L.U.E even though I wasn't in the accident? If so, will other insurance companies see that I was not the driver OR does that not matter?
3) Even if I contact them to report an accident only, would that still ultimately be considered "reporting a claim"?
An older relative who doesn't live with me and does not have a car/insurance of his own, borrowed my car, got into a minor accident with another driver. He hit the forward moving car as he was pulling out from a street parking stall. There's now a dent/scratches on the driver's side door of my car and squeaks if I try to open it too wide. But it's an old car, don't care about it too much. On the other hand, there's "not a single scratch" on the other car. If this is in fact true, it would seem like a waste to tell my insurance. If there is damage, I'd like to pay out of pocket. Unfortunately, neither party exchanged numbers, and I have no idea what the other party plans on doing.
1) My understanding is that DMV is notified anytime a police accident report is filed. Will my insurance definitely find out from the DMV? Will this go on my MVR record even if someone else drove my car and got into an accident?
2) As I understand, insurance follows the car. If my insurance finds out, will i have a record in C.L.U.E even though I wasn't in the accident? If so, will other insurance companies see that I was not the driver OR does that not matter?
3) Even if I contact them to report an accident only, would that still ultimately be considered "reporting a claim"?
I have State Farm. As far as reporting a claim goes, I got into an accident involving myself only(hydroplaned and hit a wall, but thankfully no other cars,) got a police report and called insurance. I gave them the info and was told to go get estimates. I asked the person I talked to what was going to happen, whether my insurance would go up if I got an estimate but decided not to get the car fixed, etc. She said that a case was simply opened but since a claim was not made it wouldn't make any difference. The claim was made when they received the bill.
So I would just call customer service and maybe not give any identifying information unless they insist.
posted by fromageball at 7:58 PM on February 1, 2012
So I would just call customer service and maybe not give any identifying information unless they insist.
posted by fromageball at 7:58 PM on February 1, 2012
Response by poster: To my surprise, I got an email from the other party (I had sent him a mail asking him to call me) saying he got an estimate for damages and will accept a check for $1000 (which is less than the actual estimate). He also emailed the estimate. If I agree to this, they "will not submit it to the insurance". I'm not exactly sure if that also means they will not INFORM their insurance, but I definitely want to just pay out of pocket instead of using insurance for a payout.
1)What exact form can I ask them to sign in order to protect myself from having to pay more money in the future?
2)But.... even if I handle it this way, I still have this dilemma of whether or not to inform insurance.........Is it too late to tell them now? (it's been 3 and a half weeks since accident). ...OR should I just pay out of pocket and leave insurance alone?
posted by rushtickt0ck at 4:29 PM on February 2, 2012
1)What exact form can I ask them to sign in order to protect myself from having to pay more money in the future?
2)But.... even if I handle it this way, I still have this dilemma of whether or not to inform insurance.........Is it too late to tell them now? (it's been 3 and a half weeks since accident). ...OR should I just pay out of pocket and leave insurance alone?
posted by rushtickt0ck at 4:29 PM on February 2, 2012
Response by poster: Also, can I get away with not telling my insurance since the police report indicates it as "Non-Reportable" (meaning they don't need to forward this to DMV)? Please help..
posted by rushtickt0ck at 11:02 AM on February 4, 2012
posted by rushtickt0ck at 11:02 AM on February 4, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
This would still go on record even if someone else drove your car and got into an accident. The reason is because insurance follows the vehicle. This means that regardless of who drives your vehicle, the vehicle is yours and as a result claims and reports have to be filed under your name and go on your record.
In Canada you are at the very least required to file a report even if it's not a claim with the difference being whether or not you choose to go through insurance for the repair process.
The fact that there is only liability on this car means that you are going to have to deal with repairs on your own. This does not mean that you don't have to file a claim or report though.
It's just that your insurance company is less inclined to deal with the repairs because a collision occurred and you do not have collision coverage. They will expect a report from you which follows the same steps as a claim.
Google your insurance company and look for their 24 hour emergency line. Contact that number and notify the claims representative that you want to file a report and not a claim because you only have liability insurance. An adjuster would still contact you on the next business day and can provide you with further guidance.
posted by livinglearning at 7:24 PM on February 1, 2012