<p>Friday, 7/26, my younger D was at a friends house 30 minutes from home. During the visit someone hit her 2004 Jetta and did maybe (?) about $2000. damage. The police were called to the scene. My D and her boyfriend suspect that a girl who was leaving the house hit and ran. They have no proof, but told their suspicions to the police. The kids don’t know this mystery girl, but the policeman got her name from another girl (who refused to give this info to my D.) Now my D tells us that without some proof that this girl did this, the police would need a judge to sign a search warrant to go inspect this girl’s car. I am just thankful that nobody was hurt, but feel bad that my D will have to pay the insurance deductible because sounds like the girl will not be found. The police dept. will not give any accident report type info over the phone, and the accident report will not be finished for us to see for 5- 7 business days! I’m calling the insurance company Monday (tomorrow) morning. Any advice?</p>
<p>I thought that one was supposed to call one’s insurance company immediately after an accident.</p>
<p>If no one saw this other girl hit the car, why do people suspect her of doing so? If someone knows who she is and what car she drives maybe they can spot check it to see if there’s any damage on it. If not, then the girl should be left alone.</p>
<p>Your D will likely get stuck with the deductible if there are no witnesses. She’ll just have to understand that it’s part of the cost of driving a car. It’s irritating but there’s nothing to be done other than considering decreasing the deductible - but this has the tradeoff of increased premiums.</p>
<p>I think by the next business day is adequate notification for most insurance companies.</p>
<p>We did but could not speak to anyone (except a machine) because it was the weekend. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, so we didn’t use the medical emergency line. I’m calling our local insurance agent early tomorrow morning. We’ve been with them for 25 years and they have been very helpful in the past.</p>
<p>Good questions. The girl left the house in a hurry, she was late for her curfew. My D left the house 15 minutes later and noticed the damage to her car. The damage looked consistent with how the girl would have had to back up to get out of the driveway. D’s car was parked on the street. We do realize that there is neither proof, nor witness. Again, I am thankful that nobody was hurt and that this girl hit a car, not a child.</p>
<p>I would definitely go for the search warrant, although, if the other girl’s car was damaged, she might try to get it fixed before the warrant comes through. If it is her, they should be able to match up any paint that came off of one car and onto the other. Also, 5-7 business days is not bad. To get an accident report from a semi hitting me June 8th in Philadelphia, I had to wait at least 30 days before even submitting the accident report request, with my $8.00. Our form said specifically, do not mail in until at least 30 days after the accident. However, we had all the insurance information from the semi driver and the car I hit before we left the scene.</p>
<p>You’re assuming there is no proof, but if this girl did that amount of damage, she will have proof on her car if she hasn’t gotten it fixed. </p>
<p>A kind of funny story - 12 years ago I was hit by a hit-and-run drunk driver one night on a state highway (but in a suburban area). When the police showed up, and went to clear the debris from the roadway, they found her front license plate laying in the middle of the road next to my rear bumper!</p>
<p>I was once in a minor hit & run accident - thankfully no one was hurt, and I wasn’t driving. When the police came, they basically said that it’s nearly impossible to find the person responsible, to be able to avoid getting screwed on insurance, unless someone’s injured (which makes it a felony and they do a much more thorough investigation) or you can give ID like license plate or such.</p>
<p>Either way, good luck.</p>
<p>mmom,
Good luck on this one. As ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad said, it’s part of the cost of driving a car. Many years ago, I was a victim of a similar incident. Our neighbor in the apartment complex was a known drunk, and his assigned parking space was next to mine. One day I cam outside to find damage to my car. His car was still parked in the space. I took numerous pictures which clearly showed the damage to be caused by his car (used a ruler to show the height) his paint was on my car, etc. I lost in small claims court because the judge said I didn’t have a witness. Circumstantial evidence was not going to do it for him.</p>
<p>One note, based on experience in a high-insurance-cost state:</p>
<p>It may not be worth going through your insurance company. Between the deductible and the incrase in premiums resulting from the accident, you mjay end up paying as much for insurance over the next several years as you will for paying the repair costs out of hand. This is especially a factor with younger drivers, but also applies to adults in that gray area of $1,000-$3,000 damage costs.</p>
<p>I would ask your insurance agent if your rate will go up. My husband had a fender bender a couple years ago (his fault!) and his insurance did not go up at all. He asked the agent beforehand, the agent said it would not be a problem- and it wasn’t. Maybe it depends on age, history, nature of accident…all I know is that our insurance did not go up (because of the accident, that is).</p>
<p>I know that my insurance company negotiates rates with the body shop. A couple of years ago I got an estimate w/o insurance involvement. The people causing the damage gave me a hassle, so I called the insurance agent and returned to the same body shop and received an estimate that was approx. 1/2 the cost of the original estimate.</p>
<p>I also learned that our coverage for rental car use during body work provided a negotiated rate of about 2/3 the cost to walk-ins.</p>
<p>Our Insurance company’s policy is that if the damage is not over $1800 to fix, then we pay the $500 deductible and they pay the rest with no increase in rates. BUT this deal is only good if you have not had any claims by anyone on your policy for the last 3 years. </p>
<p>In a recent fender bender (my fault) our body shop owner knew of this policy and worked hard to keep the cost below $1800 for us by ordering a used part instead of new and taking a damaged part off and fixing it rather than ordering new. The dealership where we bought the car (Toyota) made no offer to do this and their estimate was twice as high. It was just a back bumper so no safety issuses were involved and the used bumper looks perfect.</p>
<p>Definitely check into how much your rates will go up versus fixing it yourself.</p>
<p>Although there may be “proof” on the girl’s car if she is the one liable, it is highly unlikely that the police will bother to investigate an accident of this nature, which did not have any personal injury. They’re too busy for it. </p>
<p>Also, because this was not an “at-fault” accident (even though your d will have to pay the deductible), and was not a moving accident for your d’s car, it is not likely that your rates will go up. Ours didn’t when my H’s car was hit while legally parked. And in our high-insurance-rate state, rates go up for almost everything! But as advised, check with your agent or insurance company.</p>
<p>OK, here’s what I would do…
Someone at that house knew the girl, and knew her pretty well, or she wouldn’t have been there to begin with. Find out who that someone is and ask them to ask the girl if she accidentally hit the car, or to give you her name so you can ask yourself. If the kids aren’t willing to talk (they’re probably just scared to death, which they shouldn’t be- anyone can have an accident!), then start with the mom at the house. </p>
<p>Don’t go accusing anyone- just tell the parents at the house what happened, and that the kids think it might have been that girl, and you just want to find out who bumped the car, so you can work this out in a rational manner. Tell them exactly what you told us here.</p>
<p>It’s just a fender bender. If this group, and/or the parents of the kid at the house, is so uncooperative about helping you resolve this problem, they’re no friends of your daughter- I’d rethink hanging out with them.</p>
<p>I agree with doubleplay. A search warrant is way over the top. If you know who the girl is, just go and look at her car, it should be obvious. Or do what doubleplay suggested and make a few phone calls. I’d say odds are very high the girl knows she hit your daughter’s car and she knows everyone else knows too, and she’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop. (Or she didn’t do it, and is mad that everyone thinks she did. But I’m sure she knows that people think she did it.)</p>
<p>As for increasing rates, paying deductible, it all depends on what state you’re in and what the rules are in your state.</p>
<p>Thank-you everyone for your advice. I spoke with our local insurance agent this morning. They feel we should report the accident to the company because there is a police report. I’m beginning to feel that this is a good learning experience for my D. She is already rethinking her future plans as to where she’ll park her car and with whom she’ll spend her time.</p>
<p>Same thing happened to my son. Police report was filed. We did report to our insurance, paid the deductible. To me, not reporting damage over your deductible, and particularly $2000. worth of damage, because you are worried your premiums will rise defeats the purpose of having insurance.<br>
If the damage had been $500. I might say, “don’t report it” but in this case you certainly don’t want to pay that much yourself.
As far as where you park and who you hang out with, good point. Unfortunately for my kid he was parked in a legal space, attending a class. Just a random thing.</p>
<p>I was surprised to find out that the local police in the city near me say they don’t take reports or statements on an accident unless someone is injured. All they do is make all parties fill out their DL/insurance info on cards and hand the cards to the other parties. I guess they just don’t think it’s worth their time to take a report. Unfortunately, most people change their stories a day or two after the accident when they talk to the insurance companies and usually try to come up with a way they’re not at fault.</p>
<p>I agree that talking to the girl and her parents might be the way to go. She might just fess up to it and her parents might be willing to pay. She may have just panicked after the initial hit. If she does admit to hitting the car and her parents do pay, I wouldn’t report any of that to the cops.</p>
<p>My S was rear-ended by an older driver, and when he called the police, they would not make out a report, as the other driver readily admitted that it was his fault and that he would fix the damage. My S called me on my cell, and I told him to insist on a report right there, and also to note the officer’s badge # , time of day etc.</p>
<p>The officer did the report without a fuss.</p>