Minor car accident

[Smallpotatoes]

Yesterday, when I was done covering a game, I returned to my car and found a note on it. "Sorry I hit your car. Call me ASAP. I will pay for all damages without going through insurance."

The damage was to the rear panel of the driver's side. Mostly scuffing and scratches, but a few divots, too.

When I got home I called the guy. He said once I got an estimate, he'd cut a check to pay for the damages. I told him that I'd also need a rental for a week or more while it's being repaired and without insurance paying for it, I could not afford that.

I'm going to the shop across the street to get an estimate tomorrow. Another concern I have is what if they find more damage when they take apart the car.

I can see why he would not want to go through insurance, but is there any reason why I shouldn't?
Would it be rather petty of me to file a claim or is there a chance even though I'm not at fault that my rates might go up? If I file too many claims in a short period of time, even though I'm not at fault, could there be a problem?

 

[Dick Whitman]

False flag.

I need more proof that you’re not a crisis actor.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

False flag.

I need more proof that you’re not a crisis actor.

 

[sgreenwell]

If you go through insurance, you'd almost certainly get all of the money for repairs, and possibly a rental, depending on what sort of coverage you have and what he has. The fact that he doesn't want to go through insurance is kind of... odd. I mean, he left a note, which seems like some sort of decency, and it sounds like he's going to pay for everything, which is nice too, if you get the money. Maybe he's worried about his rates going up, or maybe he wasn't supposed to be driving (suspended license from a DUI or something).

 

[wicked]

I'd imagine it's about the premium and points on the license.

 

[BTExpress]

I was rear-ended at a stop sign a few weeks ago.

Young guy was in a panic. Apparently had just got the car, sister handled everything, had been in trouble previously, etc.

I wanted to call police right then and there. He begged to follow him to his sister's house and would pay cash for what looked to be only paint/surface damage. Sounded suspicious as hell, but he was on his way before I could tell him the police insisted we stay put.

We finally get to his house. He tells his sister what happened, then goes to the ATM to get $300. He's gone a good half hour, and I'm getting mighty suspicious again. Finally he does show up with the money.

Two days later, I go to Advance Auto Parts and buy some $10 buffing solution. In 20 minutes you could never tell my car was hit. $290 profit.

 

[YankeeFan]

I was rear-ended at a stop sign a few weeks ago.

Young guy was in a panic. Apparently had just got the car, sister handled everything, had been in trouble previously, etc.

I wanted to call police right then and there. He begged to follow him to his sister's house and would pay cash for what looked to be only paint/surface damage. Sounded suspicious as hell, but he was on his way before I could tell him the police insisted we stay put.

We finally get to his house. He tells his sister what happened, then goes to the ATM to get $300. He's gone a good half hour, and I'm getting mighty suspicious again. Finally he does show up with the money.

Two days later, I go to Advance Auto Parts and buy some $10 buffing solution. In 20 minutes you could never tell my car was hit. $290 profit.

Had a similar situation.

Got hit driving to work in Houston, by a company vehicle.

Owner of the company offered to pay for any repairs as long as I got two (or maybe three) estimates.

I went to a couple of dealerships, and got fairly expensive quotes. The guy paid the lower/lowest of them.

Then I brought the car in, and the place I took it to said they would just buff it out for free.

 

[cjericho]

I was rear-ended at a stop sign a few weeks ago.

Young guy was in a panic. Apparently had just got the car, sister handled everything, had been in trouble previously, etc.

I wanted to call police right then and there. He begged to follow him to his sister's house and would pay cash for what looked to be only paint/surface damage. Sounded suspicious as hell, but he was on his way before I could tell him the police insisted we stay put.

We finally get to his house. He tells his sister what happened, then goes to the ATM to get $300. He's gone a good half hour, and I'm getting mighty suspicious again. Finally he does show up with the money.

Two days later, I go to Advance Auto Parts and buy some $10 buffing solution. In 20 minutes you could never tell my car was hit. $290 profit.

Should always call police. You can get the accident report and not file a claim with insurance. But if you don't get the report the next day, he can say 'that accident wasn't my fault.'

 

[BTExpress]

I actually did call. But the guy took off as I was on the phone. And they wouldn't come to where we was going, only to where the accident occurred.

There wasn't even a plate on the car, just some temporary piece of paper that listed the date it expired.

 

[User 149557]

In 20 minutes you could never tell my car was hit. $290 profit.

I read that in the voice of that British guy in the bow tie from those 1990s "Amazing Discoveries" informercials for car wax.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Long story, so apologies going in ...

I was fresh out of college, working in Bumblestick, Hicksville, and driving down main street one evening. I saw a hot female with her boobs very much on display, and with my then-fiancé/now-wife living about 3 hours away and me being sexually frustrated, I gawked for a little too long. I turn back to the road just in time to rear-end some kid in a Camaro or something similar.

Crushed out the grill of my car and it looked like his car had only a little scratch. We get out and the first thing he says is, "Please don't call the cops. I have no insurance, and it looks like there's no damage to my car anyway." I say fine, we exchange info, and he says, "You know, you should just tell your insurance agent that someone backed into you in a parking lot, and it will be less of an insurance hit." Trying to end our interaction, I said, "Yeah, I'll do that."

I turn it into my insurance company and tell my agent what really happened and start the process of getting my car fixed.

A couple of nights later, the kid calls me and says, "Wow, I took my car in, and it looks like there's pretty extensive damage underneath and to the frame that will cost about $3,000 to be fixed. Seems like it would be in your best interest to just write me a check, because my mom talked to a lawyer and he said the no-insurance thing is not a big deal, and you lying to your insurance company by saying that it happened in a parking lot is a pretty big deal." I tell him I'll get back to him.

I immediately go to the police station, where they let me file a report, and they tell me they'll contact this kid, ask for proof he was insured at the time of the accident and if he can't produce it, they will take his license, his plates and revoke his registration. I let my insurance agent know this kid's scam, and he says they won't pay anything to fix his car, seeing as how the car was on the road illegally in the first place.

I called this kid the next night, tell him his mother needs to find a better lawyer, tell him I filed a police report and they will be coming to take his license, plates and registration any time now, and my insurance company will be denying his claim. You could hear him dying a little bit inside with every word I told him.

I felt a little bad, because it was my fault he was in an accident, but trying to con me out of paying straight cash for damage that didn't exist, wasn't cool. Never heard from him again.

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

I read that in the voice of that British guy in the bow tie from those 1990s "Amazing Discoveries" informercials for car wax.

I loved Amazing Discoveries. Favorite Saturday morning show. I mean, where else can you find something that will turn skim milk into whipped cream!

 

[User 149557]

I loved Amazing Discoveries. Favorite Saturday morning show. I mean, where else can you find something that will turn skim milk into whipped cream!

I enjoyed the human calculator.

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

I will admit to having watched the entire infomercial for the copper cookware thing with Betty Somebody Or Other.

 

[sgreenwell]

Should always call police. You can get the accident report and not file a claim with insurance. But if you don't get the report the next day, he can say 'that accident wasn't my fault.'

I agree with you in general, but in this specific case, OP did mention that the guy left a note. As long as he didn't throw that away, it's a pretty strong piece of evidence that it went down how he's saying.

 

[cjericho]

I agree with you in general, but in this specific case, OP did mention that the guy left a note. As long as he didn't throw that away, it's a pretty strong piece of evidence that it went down how he's saying.

I know in that case not much you can do. was just saying in BT's case think it's best to always get the accident report from police.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I was rear-ended at a stop sign a few weeks ago.

Young guy was in a panic. Apparently had just got the car, sister handled everything, had been in trouble previously, etc.

I wanted to call police right then and there. He begged to follow him to his sister's house and would pay cash for what looked to be only paint/surface damage. Sounded suspicious as hell, but he was on his way before I could tell him the police insisted we stay put.

We finally get to his house. He tells his sister what happened, then goes to the ATM to get $300. He's gone a good half hour, and I'm getting mighty suspicious again. Finally he does show up with the money.

Two days later, I go to Advance Auto Parts and buy some $10 buffing solution. In 20 minutes you could never tell my car was hit. $290 profit.

This is an amazing story. Reminded me of a less delightful one I endured. A few years ago, I rented a car to drive to Virginia and see some friends. It was at the end of a really awful two-year period in which I lost my job and my Mom and I just wanted to have some fun.

On the way home along I-95, I got hit by a speeding car coming off the onramp. The force of the collision sent my car into another car and sent me spinning across four lanes of traffic. With every turn, I thought I was dead and was going to see my Mom again. Eventually, I stopped spinning and ended up in reverse in the breakdown lane. I patted myself down a few times, expecting vital organs to be hanging out. But I was fine. Not a scratch. I should be dead.

Long story short, the driver was drunk and she got arrested. The guy I hit had a warrant out for something so he got arrested too. Cop comes to my door, I roll down the window and say "My turn?" (It was not my turn)

The next day, I went to the junk lot to retrieve my belongings (my CDs had fallen into a box of donuts, which I always thought was symbolic of the chaos). It was literally in the middle of the woods and the guy looked like he should have been co-owning the gun shop with Maynard. There's someone else there and she's talking about how she got in an accident while driving her brother's car last night and she got arrested for drunk driving and she didn't have a license or insurance and she's here to get the stuff out of her car and...

Me: "Did you get in a three-car accident on I-95?"
Her: "Yeah."
Me: "I'm the guy you hit."
Her: "Oh."
(awkward pause)
Her: "How are you?"
Me: "I'm OK. How are you?"
Her: "I'm in a lot of trouble."

This was some Tarantino-level ****.

A few weeks later, I woke up one morning unable to talk or drink out of one side of my mouth, I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. Doc asks me if I've been through a lot of stress lately. I recap my previous two years, ending with how I should have been dismembered in a car accident. Him: "Yeah stress will do it."

PS: A few years later, I got a notice to appear in court for this woman's DWI trial. By this point, my daughter was here and I wasn't taking two days out of my week to go to this dumb ****'s trial. For all I know she skated b/c I wasn't driving six hours south to tell a jury how she was a really ****ty drunken driver.

 

[Songbird]

I was in LA last week and rented a Cadillac SUV. Really nice ride. Just 50 bucks a day.

On Monday, 4 o'clock or so, I lucked out on the 405 north, not much traffic, and hauled ass from Long Beach to Culver City. That was one of the best drives I've ever had.

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

On the way home along I-95, I got hit by a speeding car coming off the onramp. The force of the collision sent my car into another car and sent me spinning across four lanes of traffic. With every turn, I thought I was dead and was going to see my Mom again.

Similar accident here, about 10 years ago. Guy in a black sports car rips into Route 80 in Paterson, NJ, crosses four lanes and sets off a chain reaction with four other cars, for which I was the caboose. My car broadsided a spinning minivan in my lane at 70mph. First thing I see through the airbag smoke is that sports car backing up out of the wreckage and taking off.

Everyone is knocked out or whatever (nobody died; I survived, though my chest later was the color of an eggplant) and I’m trying to tell police about a black sports car that whipped in front of everyone. No witnesses mentioned it. Finally, as they’re getting rid of the debris, a tow truck driver notices the door panel from a black sports car. With a VIN etched in it.

Car was stolen. After fleeing, the driver dumped his passenger at home, where the guy nearly died from internal bleeding. The driver was charges with assault, among other things.

In the end, who filed the first lawsuit? Yep? Black sports car driver.

 

[ChrisLong]

I was in LA last week and rented a Cadillac SUV. Really nice ride. Just 50 bucks a day.

On Monday, 4 o'clock or so, I lucked out on the 405 north, not much traffic, and hauled ass from Long Beach to Culver City. That was one of the best drives I've ever had.

Did you find a parking space at Tito's Tacos??