no bodily injury to me and the other driver. i just happened to be in his blind spot, he was slightly ahead of me, other lane. he changed lanes (i THINK he was trying to make a wide turn from the left lane into the liquor store we collided next to, but i obviously can't prove that) and nailed my drivers side front end.

he didn't want to get insurance and such involved. said he had hit a deer a few weeks ago with his truck and couldn't afford another raise in his premium. said he'd pay cash for whatever damage. i was darn tempted to be the naive nice guy, but told him i wanted to do it by the book. called local police, he did his thing. we exchanged insurance info (at least he HAD insurance, right?), and before i left he reminded me that he'd pay cash for it.

i couldn't help but feel sorry for him (presuming of course, he was telling me the truth). but instead of waiting to get some estimates from some body shops, i called my insurance company and started a claim.

there's that mushy push-over (or is it sympathetic?) part of me that feels bad for the guy who might not be able to afford his insurance now.

someone get in here and tell me i did the right thing.

You did the right thing!

That sounds dreadful, though. I wouldn't have the foggiest notion what to do in that situation. It's the thought of getting into awkward situations like this that puts me off driving. Then I remember how much I hate walking.

I think you made a wise decision. Remember him in your prayers, I suppose; whether he was telling the truth or not, they'll do him good. And I'll be sure to remember you.

Not claiming won't stop a rise in premiums. Even incidents have to be reported - and that will result in a rise in premiums. If he didn't plan to report the incident to his insurance company he might as well cancel it because if he wanted to claim in the future and they found out they would have cause to cancel his cover and refuse all claims due to lack of disclosure.

If anything you did the guy a favour, although I'm sure he doesn't feel that way. Thinking of it a immediate $$ value terms, it could very well cost him more to pay for the repairs himself even taking into consideration the rise in premium that will result.

You did the right thing to protect yourself as well. You'll *should* have a lot less problems letting your insurance company handle things than you would privately. You're likely get things like guarantee on the work, better equality parts etc as well, although that of course depends on who you are with.

My response would have been simple: if you didn't want me to report it, you shouldn't have hit me.

I didn't know that insurance companies raise their premiums after hitting a deer. Mine didn't when I hit one.

Before I was a priest, I worked in property-casualty insurance. The above is not correct in the United States--at least, and to the best of my knowledge, not in any of the states in which we wrote insurance. My knowledge is 10 years out of date, give or take, but I don't think things have changed that much.

Don't believe a word he said, it sounds like he was trying to guilt trip you into not reporting the accident and paying for the damage yourself.....even if it is true, the fact that he is a terrible driver is no reason for you to feel guilty....it is his fault not yours....

You did the right thing.

You did the right thing. Around here the law is that you MUST report it if the damage is over.... $500 I think it is. Either way, always report it to be on the safe side. I don't know of any insurance company that raises your rates because you hit a deer. Around here it is only "at fault" accidents that will affect your premiums. And hitting a deer isn't usually your fault.

He was definitely in the wrong but let me just say that always try to stay out of peoples blind spots when you can. If I notice someone coming up to my blind spot and staying there I always speed up or slow down. I really hate it when people pull up next to me, or just just a tad behind and just hang there.

My wife backed out of our driveway and hit another car, obviously her fault and the other driver had the same attitude your guy did and did not want to report it. My wife offered him cash and he took it. No one was hurt and his car was an older model and there was not allot of damage. My wife avoided a ticket which she would have gotten because she was in the wrong, the other guy got his car fixed and nothing was reported to the police or to the insurance companies so our rates did not go up. I believe you have to look at each case separately.

Obviously it is best to report each accident but many people don't report them. In Utah many times the police will tell you on the phone to exchange information instead of them coming out if there are no injuries and if traffic is not blocked. If there is a dispute then they will come although sometimes you have to wait for over 30 minutes.

My son go hit from behind one block from the house and we called the police and the guy had no insurance and we got his information and it has been 4 years and he never paid anything so I would say you did what was right. It is hard to know when to trust someone because the guy told my son he would pay for the damage and never did.

Some people will tell you the best thing to do is to call a lawyer anytime it is not your fault and then sue. This is what is screwing our country up, this attitude of being sue happy and now many insurance companies will take advantage of you if you don't get a lawyer. So back to you, I believe you did the right thing.

My youngest dd hydroplaned into the side of a bridge during a heavy rain. Our insurance company raised her premiums. Didn't matter if she was at fault or not. She wasn't speeding and that particular spot is very dangerous when it rains.

Over the course of about two years she hit several deer and a drunk Mexican, none of which were avoidable. The deer were not reported to the insurance company. I assume our insurance company was notified about the drunk since there was a police report, but we didn't hear anything from them. Our insurance went up only when she hit the bridge.

You did the right thing.

Uh, do you ride with your DD anywhere?

I would think that the reason that the rates went up when she hit the bridge is because that would be considered her fault from what you described.

The same thing happened to DH's dad, backing out of our driveway. He hit a parked car across the street. The guy whose car he hit wasn't even phased, and just asked him for $50 (the damage was very minor, and the guy apparently wasn't even planning to get it fixed, judging by the fact that it's still damaged and that was a while ago).

However, it's different when the person who is NOT at fault offers to settle it without the insurance companies. They are taking on a risk by making that offer, rather than asking YOU to take on a risk. Sorry but you just never know when someone is actually going to pay you for the damage that they caused or not, unless they pay you right on the spot. But if you have no idea how much it will be to fix, then that's not really feasible. Plus you never know if there is more damage than you realize.

Toad....Why did you file a claim with your own insurance company? If you filed a claim it should of been with his insurance company.


SV

Exactly.

If the other drive had been uninsured then yes you'd file with your own company but when the other person is insured you contact his company and file the claim with them. Your insurance company shouldn't be involved at all UNLESS you run into a problem with the other driver's company.


SV

I think it depends on where you live. In a "no-fault" state your own insurance company takes care of your car regardless of who is at fault. You can sue the other insurance company for your deductible. If you you don't have collision insurance on your car and someone hits you, you are out of luck unless you take them to small claims court or, if the other insurance company decides to settle out of court.

Here is how it works in Michigan (a "no fault" state):

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_o ... 5083_7.pdf