Rear-ended by a nun

March 26, 2008 1:45 PM

My wife was rear-ended today by a couple of nuns while stopped at a light. She didn't call the police to the scene and now she is feeling some stiffness in her neck. What should we do now?

I'm not very concerned about the scratches to our bumper but I am a little worried about the health of my wife and child. The must have hit her car with some force because my wife said their front end was all pushed in. Something tells me that if either of them end up with whiplash in a week or two I'm going to have very little recourse without a police report. Do I need to file a police report or should I just report it to my insurance company even though there is very little damage to my car? What if the nuns file their own police report and change the story? What if they weren't even nuns at all just women who dress that way out of habit? ;) Basically I'm just looking to cover us financially just in case this ends up being more than what I hope it ends up being, just an unfortunate fender bender.

posted by any major dude to human relations (20 comments total)

file teh report and get a lawyer. The nuns' order almost certainly has a capacious insurance to cover this.
posted by By The Grace of God at 1:47 PM on March 26, 2008

So you don't have health insurance? Or you have health insurance but might have significant deductibles and / or copays? Is that what you are looking to have covered?
posted by dendrite at 1:50 PM on March 26, 2008

yes, a pretty substantial deductable
posted by any major dude at 1:51 PM on March 26, 2008

File a police report. You should ALWAYS file a police report and call the police at the scene of an accident, if only because most injuries don't show up right away due to shock.
posted by agregoli at 1:51 PM on March 26, 2008

Nuns always get off the hook, but they generally have good personal insurance. Find out who they are and file a claim. So their nuns, not god.
posted by parmanparman at 1:52 PM on March 26, 2008

You need to go to the police station and fill out an accident report, even if you cant find the other party. This documentation is your first step. Then you would contact the others and specifically their car insurance.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:52 PM on March 26, 2008

Normally (at least in CA) you're required to file with your insurance and the DMV - police is optional.

Generally at this point the insurance is going to duke it out from there. Really the police won't do much in this situation. Besides a rear ending is pretty cut and dry.

Also of note, the smashed up front end isn't really indicative of force most cars are designed to crumple that way and tend to do so even without too much force.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:57 PM on March 26, 2008

Did your wife get any information at the time of the accident? Drivers license, plate number, names. If not, I think you are pretty much SOL. If you got ANY information, report the incident to the police, and call your insurance company. With the information you have on hand, your insurance company will handle the rest; investigation, interviews, damage assessment, etc. Those are the services provided in exchang for high premiums. Get your wife to a doctor ASAP, so the medical bills will be covered, as well. If the accident can be shown to be the fault of the other (known) driver, you shouldn't have to pay a penny out of pocket. If your wife failed to get any information at the scene, and no witnesses are available, it is going to be really hard to convince the insurance adjustor that she didn't just back into a pole.
Take luck
posted by Acacia at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2008

File a report. Your wife (and child?) should go to the doctor to start a paper trail and to start treatment. Whiplash symptoms can take up to 6 weeks to appear.
posted by acoutu at 2:02 PM on March 26, 2008

You're letting worst-case scenarios scare you. Call the police, and go to the station to file a report. Call your doctor, and go in to see her.
posted by theora55 at 2:04 PM on March 26, 2008

we are in CT, if we file a police report can we do so without getting our insurance involved? I've heard horror stories about rate increases even when it wasn't your fault.
posted by any major dude at 2:07 PM on March 26, 2008

FYI, as another person in CT who deals with insurance: the nuns in CT have very good insurance. Your rates may or may not go up, depending on your auto insurance and who you have it through, as well as your own driving record.

Go get your wife checked out and worry about the insurance and the deductables later - choose to get billed for the visits, if you can, (the YNHH system hospitals allow this, such as Greenwich Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital as well as Yale itself) rather than paying up front. That will give you a little more time to deal with the insurance nonsense.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:14 PM on March 26, 2008

Well definately go to a doctor asap. And of course file a claim with your insurance company. I've been in more accidents than I care to admit to (and been injured) but bringing the police into this seems a bit excessive, but hey, if it makes you feel better, go right ahead.

After that, let your insurance company handle it (ask them if you should file a police report). Insurance companies are like ravening sharks. That's their job and its what you pay them for.
posted by elendil71 at 2:17 PM on March 26, 2008

For what it's worth, last year my husband & I were in two accidents that were deemed not our fault, which involved lots of money in repair & health bills, and this year our rates actually went down. (I was concerned that our insurance company would see us as unlucky ... of course our car is getting less valuable as it ages and gets banged up.)

In my accident, we didn't file a police report -- and I got medical coverage for whiplash through my car insurance, not my health insurance. The other driver & I pulled our cars into a safe area, looked at the damage, exchanged insurance information, and drove off. (Both of our cars were damaged but drivable.) I called my insurance company and gave them my scenario of what happened; the other driver did too. I talked to the other driver's insurance company as well. Luckily everyone agreed it was the other driver's fault. (And if you were rear-ended, it was almost certainly the nuns' fault.)

The next day I was very much in pain, and went to my regular doctor's office. They had me fill out a form for car-accident victims, including my car insurance info. I didn't have to pay anything, not even a copay. I got some painkillers and, in the following weeks, some therapeutic deep massage and acupuncture, which helped a lot. I didn't pay anything myself. All was billed to my car insurance company -- which in turn billed the other driver's insurance company.

Filing a police report might help in your case, but it might not be necessary. I'd talk to your car insurance company as soon as possible, though, as well as the nuns' insurance company if you know that. If you go through your normal health-insurance plan, you'll likely be out of pocket for a lot of the bills, at least copays.
posted by lisa g at 2:31 PM on March 26, 2008

I'd be surprised if your insurance goes up -- this was clearly the nuns' fault, and at least here in California, if you aren't judged at fault, then your rates don't go up. Of course your situation might be different, as others have said.

I have experience in a couple of situations nearly identical to this. My car was totaled when I was rear-ended. There was substantial damage to the back of my car -- trunk compressed, bumper toast, frame shot, the whole nine, coming to about $14 grand in repairs, and my car was worth $10, so they just totaled it out. I was extremely sore for about a week, but my body eventually recovered. I went to the doctor's, got x-rays, and was examined thoroughly -- no injuries. My wife was rear-ended while in traffic, and there was negligible damage to her car. She was OK, but her friend was very sore for a week after, and complained of headaches. She got everything checked out, she ended up being OK. She tried to sue the insurance company for all her medical bills, and her lawyer encouraged her to go to a chiropracter for ten weeks and it turned into a gigantic disaster and there was a court case and in the end, she got nothing.

My advice, considering what I've been through: your wife is probably OK. She's probably really sore, not feeling well, and that's normal. She should see a doctor. You should also file a report with your insurance and the insurance of the nuns, and you should do all that immediately. You should be prepared to pay for whatever medical costs you incur, because even though fault is quite clear in this case, that doesn't guarantee that the insurance company will pay.

Your wife will be sore, whether or not there's any lasting damage. The only issue is whether or not that soreness persists and further problems develop.
posted by incessant at 2:37 PM on March 26, 2008

I have made the mistake of not filing a police report... and regretted it ever since. I would go an file a report asap regardless of how much or little info you have on the other vehicle - at least then there will be something on file.
posted by blaneyphoto at 2:42 PM on March 26, 2008

I spoke to the nun and told her we were going to wait a couple of days to see if the soreness goes away. If it does not I told her then we will get her checked out and escalate this through her insurance company. She said she was ok with it. I told her I'd rather have nothing come from this but I just want to be sure everyone is ok health-wise before I let this drop. I have her word that she will back up my claim if it comes to that. If I can't trust the word of a nun then what hope is there...
posted by any major dude at 4:13 PM on March 26, 2008

The Catholic Church has the deepest pockets in the world. Get a lawyer.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:14 PM on March 26, 2008 [1 favorite]

I had a very similar experience - rear ended on the highway when a car in front of me stopped suddenly, I have no idea why. I put on,then slammed on the brakes, and stopped, and the guy behind me rear-ended me. Not very hard, cracks in my bumper, and (surprise) he didn't want us to report it. It was about 4 F out (COLD) and i was tired, so almost did that. Some sort of cop pulled up (I was never able to trace her - tried Minneapolis police, highway patrol, and sheriff's office). She looked, said not much damage, and she'd note our licences, if we decided to report. I was a bit in shock , I think, and my back was starting to hurt, so I got the guy's information, and said I'd let him know the next day. Next day my back and neck were sore, so I notified the other guy and reported to my insurance company, and went to see my truly wonderful chiropractor/physical therapist. He found lots of knots and soreness in my back and neck, and has been working on them for about 7 weeks, including deep massage. I trust him (long history of helping and diagnosing stuff the docs couldn't help with) - he says "the TIME TO GET TREATMENT IS NOW. if the knots, tightness, persist they can turn into chronic trouble, and there's no way to tell when that will or will not happen." In my case, the medicals stuff is all paid by State Farm (my insurance) under nofault, and they've made no problems, despite no cop report. The body work is covered by the other guy's company because the rear-ender is always considered at fault.
So yes, get treated, report it, I would expect insurance to cover the medical stuff, but can't speak for your situation.
posted by judybxxx at 8:30 PM on March 26, 2008

Joke about Priests, Nuns and rear-endings omitted, but it wasn't easy

For what it's worth, if the front bumper of the car behind goes under the rear bumper of the car in front, the front car will end up with relatively little damage and the rear car will get a lot of damage -- that probably happened here.

That doesn't address your main question, of course, but perhaps will cover the question of impact severity.
posted by davejay at 10:46 PM on March 26, 2008