Man I was on my way home when a damn truck decided to go around a car waiting to turn. I saw him trying to come into my lane so I immediately hit my brakes. It looked like he was gonna make it, but side swipped me. Now my fender and bumper are fucked up. I told the driver and we pulled over. It turns out he didnt even have insurance and tried to offer me $50 bucks for damages thats about $400 bucks. WTF is that. I threattened to call the cops and he told me he would take me to his boss. Anyway, when I got there the boss apologizes and agrees to pay for the damages and refers me to a friend of his. I got to his friends and made an appointment for nextweek Wednesday. On the way home the guy calls me and tells me I should pay half? WTF? He agreed to pay for it in full and now he tries to tell me to pay half? I got pissed off and explained to him that it wasnt my fault. Why should I pay half? He finally agreed to pay for it in full before we hung up the phone. Now I'm getting nervous cuz what if he doesnt want to pay? I got the trucks plate number, business address, bosses name and number, and the trucks DOT number. How do I fully protect myself so I dont have to spend a penny and get my car fixed? This sucks cuz the car just got painted too!

 

should have filled a police report. It would have looked better in court, either way if they don't pay then you just file on the bitchs. Sooner the better the legal system is always slow.

 

Get an estimate at a real shop, not his friends, and if its over $500 report it to the DMV.

If you have insurance, you can call them and they will fight to make him pay for it. Your insurance company doesn't want to pair the repair bill and will try to make them pay for it. It wont hurt your insurance either, since the accident wasn't your fault!

 

Yeah b/c both of you left the scene its gonna be hard to get much done. He could deny everything and then you'd be up the creek w/o a paddle. Sorry but you should've called the cops

 

Was there any damage to his truck? I would go back and take pictures of your car and his, plates, everything. Just in case they don't want to pay, you will have some sort of evidence to show for it. Just my .02.

 

What the hell??? Why the hell didnt you call the cops? You better call your insurance ASAP and let them know because that guy is going to try to get out of it.

 

That sux! Damn uninsured drivers shouldn't be on the road, or at least they should be more careful.

If they don't end up paying, and you have uninsured motorist coverage/hit-n-run... then make sure your insurance company files the claim under that. (And not your collision coverage.) Sometimes they will make you file a police report, and if you don't....they will just file it under collision and your rates may go up. At least my insurance company (State Farm) tried to do that when I was hit by an uninsured motorist.

 

Man, I can't belive you didn't call the police. You better call them ASAP and search for any witnesses. Chances are that the trucker will freak out when the cops call him and he will tell them the truth. The longer you wait the more the trucker will think he got away with.

 

wow dude, cops should've been the first thing to do. I've been in my share of accidents so I know what to do. SAFEST thing. I mean if he's gonna offer 50 in damages, you know something's fucked up. cops would've been the thing to do. No insurance is bad though, take it to get a real estimate too, get all the money you can to make your car as good as new.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by starbrite &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That sux! Damn uninsured drivers shouldn't be on the road, or
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Especially for a work truck! DOH!

 

should have called th police!!! but a least it is only $4000 and not like $1200

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Marauder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get an estimate at a real shop, not his friends, and if its over $500 report it to the DMV.

If you have insurance, you can call them and they will fight to make him pay for it. Your insurance company doesn't want to pair the repair bill and will try to make them pay for it. It wont hurt your insurance either, since the accident wasn't your fault!</TD></TR></TABLE>

i agree with most of what this guy said. don't let his friend fix it unless he has a shop that is a real shop. not a shop out of his home garage or anything like that. go to a real business. also, call your insurance and tell them what happened. as was said, your insurance will not want to pay for it and they will fight to make the driver of the truck pay.

as for your rates not going up because it is not your fault, that is not always the case, unfortunately. a tree limb fell on my dad's truck in a big storm and put a big crease in the bed. somehow, his rates went up for it. of course, not his fault. my dad does not control the weather.

 

Document everything such as plate, drivers license number, etc of the the guy. ALso, you should get a letter notorized from the boss or guy statinghe agrees to pay all dammages. The alternative if he does not sign is that you report the incident to the police. If you have a valid contract preparedby a lawyerthat will be enforcable in court if he does not pay. Also, if it is a business it is easier to collect from than an individual in court. Individuals can hide fromthe law, but companies have a harder time hiding.

Sorry to hear about your problem.

 

I think you guys are forgetting that the cops don't even bother to show for fender benders anymore (depending on where you live).

 

Atleast get his plate #'s and his name. Plate #'s are the most important thing. But yea, its definetly not a good situation to go by the word of somebody don't know, let alone somebody who is not even insured to be driving. Good luck though man.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RevenantAE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you guys are forgetting that the cops don't even bother to show for fender benders anymore (depending on where you live).</TD></TR></TABLE>

They have to, because most insurance companies require a police report as proof of who was actually at fault. Not to mention that most fender benders deserve a ticket to the person at fault.

 

i wouldnt do anything until i got a police report.... thats the worst mistake ive ever made.... not getting a police report.

 

go to the most expencive shop you can think of and get an estimate. Keep it on file. Also, if you have to, take the guy to court, and when/if you sue him, make him pay for court fee's as well... take note of when he verbally agreed to pay for the damages, write it down, and make sure you date and time it. Take notes of every time you talk to the guy on the phone, or in person. If you dont get exact times then make extimates (5 minute ranges for example) this gives you liability, and makes you look DAMN good when representing yourself. Make sure that the work is done maticulasely incase he does it. Until you are COMPLETELY sure that everything is the way you deem fit, take note... and always keep these papers on hand incase something comes up in the future.

 

like said before, you should've called the cops and file a report. anyhoo, file a report anyway, get an expensive estimate, let the insurance companies duke it out, and fix it for cheap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They have to, because most insurance companies require a police report as proof of who was actually at fault. Not to mention that most fender benders deserve a ticket to the person at fault.</TD></TR></TABLE>
When my wife got hit last time the cops said "Is anyone hurt? Are either of the cars disabled? No. Sorry we got other things to do."

 

Mistake #1: Didn't call the police
Mistake #2: Didn't get the deal on paper and signed.
Mistake #3: Agreed to have it fixed at his friends shop (He will have them do crappiest job for least amount of money)

I've learned my lesson before, now you did too. Gotta learn the hard way sometimes.

 

Report to the cops right away.... I wouldn't trust this guys word at all. He sounds shady.