Hi,

I don't post much on H-T, but I need some legal advice on what to do on a hit and run incident that happened about a month ago.

Details:

I was in San Francisco with my girlfriend on Christmas Eve and stopped at a red light on market. Just as the light turned green, I got rear ended before the car in front of me could move. I talked it over with the driver, and got down his license number, driver's license number, and took pictures of the accident. The driver did not have insurance and asked if he could pay me after I got a few estimates.

After we settled on an amount a few days later, he said he would pay in about 3 weeks. But now when I try and call him, it seems he has disconnected his phone. Is there anything I can do now? I was hoping to report him to my insurance agency.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I will post pictures of the what the damages looked like. Thanks

 

Did you get a police report on the scene?? Otherwise you might be SOL...sorry to say. Even your own insurance will want a police report for a hit and run.

ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE!!!!

EDIT: unless someone on HT is a Cali lawyer and is willing to give free advice, I suggest calling a lawyer yourself.

 

this is not a hit and run. and since you didnt call the police it is now a civil issue.

why didnt you get a police report? very stupid. now it is your word against his since now it is a month later. photos wont do much unless you set the date function on it, most likely you didnt.

your only option is to go to small claims if your insurance doesnt cover your costs. you dont necessarily need a lawyer since this claim will most likely not be over $5,000 in costs. you can tell him you've highered a lawyer but if the guy is smart he will know until he gets a notice to appear in court nothing will happen.

getting money even if you win the small claims court judgement is harder than you think, and you will most likely not get an outside collector to process the judgement since unless its a $5,000 judgement most dont waste time. and if this guy cant afford simple liability insurance he most likely doesnt have a high/good paying job to cover your cost after the judgement.

you biggest mistake was not getting a police report. ALWAYS GET A POLICE REPORT NO MATTER THE DAMAGE NO MATTER THE SITUATION.

**the fact that this guy didnt have proof of insurance should have been your clue NOT to trust this guy.

also if you look at your yearly insurance premium those costs alone should have gotten you mad at this person for not having insurance. "why do i have to pay insurance and this idiot gets to drive around without it?" and called the police.

good luck, the longer you wait the more time your giving this turd to relax.



if you have full coverage, your insurance company most likely will pay the claim to get it fixed, but this depends on your insurance company aswell i guess.


oh and keep your car safe we dont need it to get stolen at this time either.

goodluck











Modified by cxSHOE at 5:49 PM 1/22/2007

 

you cant report a fender bender to the police if nobody was hurt,... they wont show up. The only way they do show up is if they are driving by and happen to see it.

Report that guy, and see what they will do to him. If they dont do anything then you can also take him to court and you will most likely win the case from the way things sound.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you cant report a fender bender to the police if nobody was hurt,... they wont show up. The only way they do show up is if they are driving by and happen to see it.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

do not post incorrect information. the police have to make a report of any automobile accident regardless of injuries if a someone has called and is requesting a report.

depending on how busy they are they will always take the report over the phone (dependant on situation). if they have a unit nearby they will come by get the information and write the report later in the day. if there are injuries of any kind they will send a unit. if there is any government damage they will also make a unit report to the scene. and like i said if there are any crimes they will aswell make sure a unit is sent.

and them having to see anything has nothing to do with a report being generated, all they need is the information.




Modified by cxSHOE at 7:06 PM 1/22/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cxSHOE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do not post incorrect information.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn.

 

Actually, that's not incorrect. I recently had to deal with that, and the police operator bitched me out for wasting her time with a "non-serious" accident. She flat out refused to send a cop, so no report was made. We even found a cop walking the beat farther up the road, he wouldn't do it. I dunno if this is a new policy or something, but it sucks.

 

false again ^^ I got in an accident about a year back, hydroplaned my car into the ditch, long story short, i called the cops, they asked me how many cars were involved, how many people were hurt, i replied 1 car and nobody seriously hurt, then they told me to call the tow truck and hung up. So in that case, no police had to be present. im not sure about an accident involving 2 vehicles tho.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually, that's not incorrect. I recently had to deal with that, and the police operator bitched me out for wasting her time with a "non-serious" accident. She flat out refused to send a cop, so no report was made. We even found a cop walking the beat farther up the road, he wouldn't do it. I dunno if this is a new policy or something, but it sucks.</TD></TR></TABLE>


it has to do with people being lazy (police) and the public not making the necessary complaints to get things to be changed and is then see as normal.

and the operator is wrong, she would have had to send the call to a station instead of making the emergency call to the patrol cars. and like i said a unit doesnt have to come to get the report generated. and the other officer isnt going to get involved only because he doesnt want the extra paperwork and dispatch obviously didnt let him know of the problem.

the sad thing is the only thing you can do is put in a complaint...which goes nowhere except in an audit list.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITRfaithful &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hi,

I don't post much on H-T, but I need some legal advice on what to do on a hit and run incident that happened about a month ago.

Details:

I was in San Francisco with my girlfriend on Christmas Eve and stopped at a red light on market. Just as the light turned green, I got rear ended before the car in front of me could move. I talked it over with the driver, and got down his license number, driver's license number, and took pictures of the accident. The driver did not have insurance and asked if he could pay me after I got a few estimates.

After we settled on an amount a few days later, he said he would pay in about 3 weeks. But now when I try and call him, it seems he has disconnected his phone. Is there anything I can do now? I was hoping to report him to my insurance agency.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I will post pictures of the what the damages looked like. Thanks </TD></TR></TABLE>

As far as I know you have 2 weeks to make the police report from the accidents date (that is probably why the guy wanted to wait 3 weeks) and police does not come out to the accident if there is little damage done to the car/s. Also, it is drivers responsibility to get the report done. Long story short = Police will not hold nobody's hand. You have to make the effort and drive to nearest police station.

It is always best to report the accident to the police right away (unless the damage is minimal and the person who is faulty pays out cash on the spot!).

......if the guy did not have insurance than your insurance would have paid for the damage (of course if you had full coverage). It is also good to have only $50 deductible, like I do

I wish you best in getting the money back from the guy but it will be a pain in the ***.

 

Also....

did you get the drivers address from his drivers license?

I say... pay him a visit..................

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually, that's not incorrect. I recently had to deal with that, and the police operator bitched me out for wasting her time with a "non-serious" accident. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you call 911?

I think I'm going to store the local PD's non-emergency number, or *nn cellular shortcut, in my phone. That way in the event of a non-injury accident, I can call them and ask what protocol is.

My insurance agent told me to ALWAYS call the police in the event of an accident. That police report is golden when it comes time to forcing the other guy to settle up. In the OP's case, it should have been doubly important since the guy who hit him didn't have insurance.

 

This is exactly why i always carry my camera on me, or try and have one in the car at all times.

A police report should have definitely been filed, but pics of the incident with a shot of the other parties license plate would probably do you some good.

I would start collecting any and all info you can at this point. That means collect cell phone bills with calls made to the other party etc....

I hope everything gets resolved for you. If nothing else i hope this taught you what you must do in the event you find yourself in the same situation some day.

 

same thing happened to me last year. i got rear ended last year and called the police to come out and they refused. the operator ask me if anyone was hurt and if the cars are driveable and that was it. then i told her that i needed it report it to my insurance and she told me that some type of law passed that doesnt require a police to come out if its not serious and that my insurance should already understand that. when i reported it to my insurance and asked they made it clear to me that they didnt need a police report if it wasnt serious as long as i got the other parties information.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cmGSR916 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">same thing happened to me last year. i got rear ended last year and called the police to come out and they refused. the operator ask me if anyone was hurt and if the cars are driveable and that was it. then i told her that i needed it report it to my insurance and she told me that some type of law passed that doesnt require a police to come out if its not serious and that my insurance should already understand that. when i reported it to my insurance and asked they made it clear to me that they didnt need a police report if it wasnt serious as long as i got the other parties information.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are right but it is still safer to make the police report (it really does not take much effort. I mean really... 30 minutes tops).

In this case the other driver did not even have insurance so it is a must to make police report in such case.

 

yes. thats what i was about to say that his case is different. i was just giving my experience from the police coming out situation.

ITRfaithful, i dont know much about the legal system but i think your not going to get anything from this guy so just report it to your insurance agency and tell them what happened. im guessing you were being nice and let the guy sly because he wasn't insured. alot of times this will get you screwed over just get the itr repaired and continue with life

 

sum bitch hit my car and when I called the Police, they first asked me if anyone was hurt, then told me to take care of it myself and they werent going to send anyone. I'm not sure if the lady was lying to me or if she was telling the truth, but I should have said, "i think someones hurt" so I could have at least got a police report cuz i got screwed without it.

Moral of the story, do what you have to do to get a police report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure if you would want to do this, but since the guy screwed you over, you can pretend like you never got his information, and just say you wrote down his license plate when he got away. They will check and see he had no insurance and that gives him a reason for running away. Dont let this guy get away with it.

 

I was just in a fender bender 3 weeks ago... THE COP DID COME OUT! he didn't write a report because he said it was under $1000, he said that cops still will come to the scene and make sure everyone trades information. He then game me a REPORT number, even though no CLAIM was filed.

 

In my situation at least, I talked directly with the police station, not a 911 communicator. The woman I talked to said, "we don't do reports for that." Maybe this is different state to state for whatever reason (this happened in MD).

 

In CA it needs to be over 1k err 5k for a police report right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sum bitch hit my car and when I called the Police, they first asked me if anyone was hurt, then told me to take care of it myself and they werent going to send anyone. I'm not sure if the lady was lying to me or if she was telling the truth, but I should have said, "i think someones hurt" so I could have at least got a police report cuz i got screwed without it.

Moral of the story, do what you have to do to get a police report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure if you would want to do this, but since the guy screwed you over, you can pretend like you never got his information, and just say you wrote down his license plate when he got away. They will check and see he had no insurance and that gives him a reason for running away. Dont let this guy get away with it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dont think police would bother writing him a ticket without any evidence. it's not that easy getting someone into trouble, you'll get yourself into more trouble. actually my gf was in hit and run accident a few months ago while coming over my house. she got the plate number of the white chevy van and reported it to the police when she got to my house. this time the police did come out about an hour later but basically did nothing about it. he phones in the plate number and verifies that it is a white chevy van that hasnt been registered for 2 years and told us that he couldn't do anything about it. alot of police in my area i guess they think they have better things to do like pulling everyone over and sending them to the state ref.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SiR99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you cant report a fender bender to the police if nobody was hurt,... they wont show up. The only way they do show up is if they are driving by and happen to see it.

Report that guy, and see what they will do to him. If they dont do anything then you can also take him to court and you will most likely win the case from the way things sound.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah...this is complete BS....as a matter of fact you are required by law to call the police if the damage looks to be over $500, and the polic will always come no matter what the damage is. Its their job to record an accident just in case it does go to court. You use the police report as proof of neglegence. Whether the police tickets the person at fault is up to the officer, but he will always make a report.

I ALWAYS call the police no matter what, and I never move my car, even if its blocking traffic. Let the police see the EXACT position the cars are in after the accident so that can better assess who is at fault. It solidfies your case just in case the guy decides he doesn't want to pay.

If you got his license plate # drivers id #, call the police. Its not too late to report him. The SFDP are awesome. The handled my car accident case real professionally and were able to assess that I wasn't at fault even though I thought I was. (I got side swiped on the freeway BTW)

Taking pictures after an accident will ALWAYS work in your favor, so that was a good move. Also, if you had anyone with you in the car, use them as a witness. Even if the other person had another person in the car with them, you can supena them as a witness as well. DON'T let the ******* get away.....SUE SUE SUE!!!!

 

Someone hit my fender and he had expired policy for past 2 months and i didn't call the cops, but i report it to my insurance with his information and it took over 5 months for me to receive my insurance check. I was planning on a lawsuit for no insurance, but forget it i felt bad for the guy getting his license suspended/fine.

 

Anyone know any actual cops we can ask about this? I was surprised when it happened to me, as I'd always been told to call and get a report made up. Regardless of if everyone thinks it's necessary/WILL happen, it clearly isn't in many cases. It'd be nice to know what the word of the law is.

 

That's crazy about police not showing up if someone isn't hurt! I'd never heard that before. I guess here the cops have nothing better to do because they're always here in a few minutes for any type of little incident... I suppose I should be happy for that now that I'm hearing these other stories. I'd be really worried if I didn't get a police report because it's your word against theirs -- that just opens up a whole other mess to deal with.

Good luck to the OP