Uninsured vehicle accident

[3fifty7]

My wife was having the tires rotated and oil changed on her Expedition at a local tire shop yesterday. Service was complete and an employee parked the vehicle in the parking lot facing the road(their way of letting you know service is complete). When I get there I see the manager and another man looking at the back of her vehicle. He backed into it while it was parked with no one in it. He stopped and told the manager what happened. He did not have proof of insurance, he claimed his wife was renewing it at the time. Which translates to he has no insurance but will get some and try to claim it after the fact. When he renewed his insurance which had lapsed 4 months ago, he told the company he had no accidents, the next day he told them he had a parking lot accident to which his agent replied with you shouldn't pay for anything unless your vehicle is damaged. And that I was responsible for my vehicle.
Now it is my fault for having a little faith in humanity that the right thing would happen, instead of calling the police where he should have been fined and had his vehicle impounded.
$2000 in damage and a $500 deductible thanks.

Done with the rant for now.

 

[bsoileau24]

Damn that sucks. I would have called the cops.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Civil matter. Sue.

 

[freedive10]

Civil matter. Sue.

As much as I HATE telling people to take this route, THIS one deserves it for crawfishing!

 

[kingfhb]

My wife was having the tires rotated and oil changed on her Expedition at a local tire shop yesterday. Service was complete and an employee parked the vehicle in the parking lot facing the road(their way of letting you know service is complete). When I get there I see the manager and another man looking at the back of her vehicle. He backed into it while it was parked with no one in it. He stopped and told the manager what happened. He did not have proof of insurance, he claimed his wife was renewing it at the time. Which translates to he has no insurance but will get some and try to claim it after the fact. When he renewed his insurance which had lapsed 4 months ago, he told the company he had no accidents, the next day he told them he had a parking lot accident to which his agent replied with you shouldn't pay for anything unless your vehicle is damaged. And that I was responsible for my vehicle.
Now it is my fault for having a little faith in humanity that the right thing would happen, instead of calling the police where he should have been fined and had his vehicle impounded.
$2000 in damage and a $500 deductible thanks.

Done with the rant for now.

Sounds like you and the driver got screwed by the Insurance company... They will do whatever they can to avoid paying. The driver should pay... as stated above... now its a civil matter, sue.

 

[Specularius]

Your insurance company should file suit against that person and may do just that to recover their money. You still have your deductible though.

 

[ta2d_cop]

Now it is my fault for having a little faith in humanity that the right thing would happen, instead of calling the police where he should have been fined and had his vehicle impounded. $2000 in damage and a $500 deductible thanks.

Sounds like a lesson learned the long way around. In cases like this uninsured motorist coverage is worth the price you pay for it. Unfortunately you still would have been left holding the bag had you called the cops, but at least he would have had to play games too.

 

[jquinnett]

I tell my family to always call the police. Look at the back of your Insurance card and prob says call police. Even if you don't get a dime from insurance or person, with a police report you can sue or maybe write it off your tax as a loss.

 

[olivs260]

Have you called your insurance? He's absolutely responsible for the damages (obviously), and as long as you carry uninsured motorist, your insurance company will likely be able to work it out with him, or his company. We had to file an uninsured motorist claim a few months ago, and although we're still waiting to be reimbursed for our deductible, we've been taken care of and were told that when our company goes after the driver, we're entitled to the first $500 to re-pay us.


That said, I don't know how I would handle the date thing. I'm an honest person, so I don't think I would lie to my company about when it happened vs. when his coverage started up again, but I would probably feel bad knowing I put somebody in that situation... but then again, he's the one that got himself there.

 

[US Infidel]

Before taking insurance advice from anyone, I would validate their expertise on the topic.

 

[slogoat]

I was under the imperssion officers don't come out for parking lot fender benders, and that it had to occur on the road. Not accurate?

 

[kingfhb]

I was under the imperssion officers don't come out for parking lot fender benders, and that it had to occur on the road. Not accurate?

You can always file a report, even in a private parking complex.

 

[slogoat]

You can always file a report, even in a private parking complex.

Right. Years ago I had someone hit me in a parking lot and was basically told (paraphrasing here) "I would need to come to the station to fill out a report, officers don't go out to parking lot accidents". I should have included more detail in the first post.

 

[seawolf]

They do come out for accidents in parking lots. Its called a damage to property call.

It should have been called in no matter what the other person says. That way their statement is on file.

This is one of those cases where the nice guy finishes last and why our insurance rates are so high. If he knew he didn't have insurance, he knows he should have never been allowed behind the wheel. I'm sure that was a condition of employment with his boss.

 

[RedStickChick]

Regardless of what anyone says on an accident scene, I always call the cops. Unless the shop has security cameras, it's a game of he-said-she-said here on out if you ever want to file with your insurance regarding the matter.

Sorry you're dealing with that. My car got hit in a parking lot a few weeks ago and no note was left. $1800 to pop a dent out. The dent is staying.

 

[3fifty7]

My wife just got out of the insurance business. We have uninsured motorist coverage and they will try to collect from him my $500 deductible will be the first to be repaid.
Tomorrow he will get a call stating that he has been dropped from his insurance coverage hence my wife just got out of the insurance business.

 

[Kraut]

LA 32:867 provides for enforcing the insurance laws on private property used for commercial purposes, so a no insurance violation and accompanying impoundment could have taken place had police been called. Whether or not a state crash form is completed or just an in-house report depends upon the agency policy.

 

[ta2d_cop]

LA 32:867 provides for enforcing the insurance laws on private property used for commercial purposes, so a no insurance violation and accompanying impoundment could have taken place had police been called. Whether or not a state crash form is completed or just an in-house report depends upon the agency policy.

Like I said, he still would have been assed out financially but at least the dude who hit him would have gotten his due issue on the front end.

 

[Nomad.2nd]

Your insurance company should file suit against that person and may do just that to recover their money. You still have your deductible though.

This.


And (as has been said) ALWAYS call the police.

One thing they are good for (paper trail)

 

[charlie12]

Would it be insurance fraud if he was trying to make a claim for a crash he had before he was insured?