What to Do?

[SomeGuest]

Hi, I have a problem and I am trying to decide how to approach this.

Few weeks ago September 20th I was rear ended by another car. This was a low speed accident in which I was waiting at a red light. Estimate speed is about 5 MPH.

Anyways, I got out of the car and saw that the other persons vehicle took most of the damage. RAV4(me) vs 2000 ford contour.

The person hit the spare tire on the RAV4 and scratched the wheel cover with a long scratch mark.

The other persons hood was bent from the accident.

Anyways I said I will go get a piece of paper and a pen to get the other persons information. Since no one was hurt and this looked like it was < $500 damage better to get the other persons information, and try to arrange some sort of repair for the big scratch mark on the wheel cover.

As I was getting the other person information, This person informs me that the vehicle does not have insurance nor is it legally registered. They did provide a valid drivers license and I did get the persons address and a phone number.

I made contact with this person a few days later and the person said they know someone at a detail shop that can buff it out and make it look nice again. It was a friends shop and they would give the person a discount, so it won't cost this person to much.
I agreed.

The person said because they were living off of disability, they would have to wait until the disability check to come in first so they have some funds to pay. The funds should be available by the 3rd of this month and for myself to call this person a few days ahead of time so we can meet at this friends detail shop.
The meeting would the 4th of this month. It would require us to just drop it off and come back in a few hours to pick it up.

Well, here we are a day later, no calls return. I just get voice mail.

Since this is only a few dollars out of pocket I probably end up just eating the cost and repairing the cover out of pocket myself.

I was wondering if I should:
1. Report to my insurance agent that I was in a rear end accident with a driver with no insurance or registration?
2. Should I also file a police report indicating the person who hit me did not have insurance or had a valid plate on the car at the time. I do have the license plate number at the time of the accident.
3. Would it be to late to do any of the above?

It has been 3 weeks since the accident and time did go by.


Obviously suing this person is a waste of time, the cost of repair is about $100 from what I gather, and I don't plan to file a insurance claim since it is less then the deductible. the questions I asked above is. Since this person obviously did not take responsibility and I was being extremely fair and reasonable I was wondering if their is anything I can really do about it or if there is someone I should notify? Just calling this person once a week will probably get no where. If I do notify the police, I don't know if they have the vehicle registered and insured by now.


Any insight would be appreciated it thanks!

Also this is my FIRST accident. Being rear ended was a huge surprise since I sat in the car for a few seconds wondering what the heck just happened.

 

[djs]

If its only a few hundred to get it all solved, just do it and move one. Its already going to cost you some bucks, don't add in the frustration of your time as well.

Send the bill to the guy, tell him you'll take payments to get it taken care of, even if its only $25 a month. You'll never see it, but its a reasonable thing to do.

Personally, I get frustrated in this type of thing. Its silly to let them off the hook for being irresponsible, but I value my time to much to pursue it. In a few days, its become a distant memory (okay, maybe a month or 2).

Dan

 

[Milkman1265]

For me personally, either collect money on that day or file a claim and get a police report.

I've see and hear about all these experience where they want to take care of it outside the insurance. If you cant get the money right there and then, you're probably not going to see the money or hear from them. They might string you a long and then disappear.

Happens A LOT here in nyc.

 

[SomeGuest]

Thanks,

Just in case this ever happens again. If someone hits me (minor fender bender) without insurance. Should I just go to the police station and file a report regardless?

I the police around here don't usually come out to the scene unless it was $500 damage or more, thats what someone told me anyways.

If they have insurance should I still file a report? (Not to call insurance company to claim immediately but I was wondering if I should just have something documented)


I am thankful the accident didn't break anything else. I took the cover off and the spare tire was ok and the rim was fine. The door also looked good. The latch on the spare tire was also ok.

I remember watching dateline years ago where they had an episode in which the IIHS did 5 mph bumper test and any vehicle with a rear spare tire on the tale-gate did poorly. (As the rear window shattered and the entire rear door got bent. Since this is a second gen rav4 the crash was very similar to the CRV they tested. Except instead of directly into a pole or wall this was hit on the bottom.

So lucky or unlucky me just need to get it buffed out. I called a few toyota dealerships and they want $160 for just the tire cover...

 

[USF3983]

I'd for sure take pictures with your phone. I don't have experience with filing police reports but I wonder if that's possible after the accident. I was under the impression you're supposed to call the cops at the scene of the accident. I've had people at-fault AND not at-fault tell me they had a cop at their door telling them they were being issued a citation for fleeing the scene of an accident. It can't really be determined who is at-fault if both parties leave the scene.

 

[xrac]

I would call the cops especially if I found out the other guy doesn't have insurance.

 

[spinghe]

Sometimes you will cost more if you report it to Insurance agent.

 

[rccola]

Former LE here. Although we typically would not do much for damage under $500 (unless insurance is requesting a filed police report), it is a felony to drive an unregistered/unlicensed vehicle(or misdemeanor depending on your state). PD would have come out to the scene due to this. I would venture a guess that whoever bumped you may have an outstanding warrant or may be on some type of probation. Just for kicks, since you have his name, you can google your states public court records and see if he's got a rap sheet to boot.

Again, not really worth your time probably, but always fun when bored.

 

[USF3983]

Yeah I have become very friendly and acquainted with my states court records.

 

[samanr]

go for bet insurance company and please understand the polices there offering