Situation:
Young driver with no driver’s license driving an insured car. He hit the front bumper of another car and caused bumber to dislodge. Police was called but they did not show and no police report was taken. Driver is claiming car is not his and was indecisve as to what he wanted to do.
Young driver leaves phone number and plate info. Can the other driver pursue a claim? What if young driver does not acknowledge what the other person is claiming?
June 3, 2010 @ 4:47 am
You can make a claim but it may fall under hit and run or comprehensive policy (like if you came back to find a smashed window). Different deductibles may apply. Talk to your insurance agent about it and see what your best option is. It may not be worth it to file a claim. Lots of legal questions come into play on this one that are outside the whole insurance issue, based on what I understand you to be saying.
June 3, 2010 @ 5:00 am
Things are not in your favor. The way I see it the best thing that you can do is contact a lawer or i you can pay for the domage you better do it. The insurance company ask you to fill a report withing 24 hours of the accident. You don’t have a police report to prove the accident to them and that it wasn’t cause intentionally to get money out of them. On the other hands, if you called the police and they didn’t show up and exchange driver information I think that you might be able to use that in your favor. But the kid driving without a driver license is bad. I’m not telling to call the other person and agree that you were the one driving the car, because that will be insurance fraud. Eventhough they were not there to see it, but that’s bad. The best thing to do is contact a lawer. In the other hand the other person has no tangible proof that the accident occur only the contact information of the young driver. He can still pursue a claim without a police report. The best thing to do is to come to an agreement with the other driver.
June 3, 2010 @ 5:17 am
Absolutely, you can file a claim without a police report. Most of the time, it’s darned hard to get the police to the scene, if both cars are drivable and there’s no bodily injury.
Likely, if he was very young, the car belongs to his folks – and they’d be on the hook for any damage.
Here’s what I’d do: 1. File the claim with YOUR insurance company. Let them chase after it. The vehicle could be stolen, and the other guy might not have any coverage for the unlicensed driver. 2. Call the pd, see if you can file a police report over the phone. Give them the plate number, and in 10 days, get a copy of the police report to see if the info on the other owner is there. If it is, you can then sue the other owner AND the kid, and his parents, if you can find them, in small claims court for the damages. 3. Also do a reverse number lookup at http://www.anywho.com. Maybe you can track someone down that way.
Regarding the acknowledgement . . . all you have is the paper with the number and plate . . .which IS an acknowledgement that SOMETHING happened.