Got in an accident this morning....

[IndieDev]

I don't see what the big deal is. Two people get into an accident, one guy claims he can't find his insurance info, and the other guy wants to get a police report to document everything. Isn't that what everyone "who doesn't want to get raked over the coals later on" would do?

What do you expect? Take "his word" that he'll fess up to his mistake later when he magically finds his insurance info?

Forgot...dealing w a bunch of Irvine bubble folk here. Fyi, he could just as easily lie about what happened to the cops as the insurance co.

Btw, thanks for your two cents shay

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5jrcYUptSxA&v=5jrcYUptSxA&gl=US

Yes that's true, but at least the cop can analyze the scene and figure out if things make sense, they are trained for these type of scenarios by looking at impact points on each vehicle, tire marks on the road, etc.

If you don't call them, you don't even give yourself a chance. It's up to the other person's "honesty" to bail you out. You would bet your insurance premium on some random person's honesty? Really?

If the guy came out of the car ready to punch me, yes. A kid in a new car in Irvine, no. Been in 2 accidents (both weren't my fault) and never called the cops and everything worked out. Maybe I'm naive or lucky.

Let me guess...you're probably the type that gets into a fender bender yet stays in the middle of the road waiting for the cops to show up, totally oblivious to the traffic being built up.  As if you couldn't have pulled to the side and done the same, saving thousands of people from a $hitty commute.

I don't know why you're making assumptions about me, I'm honestly asking you if you would be ready to take a financial hit (or not) based only on the assumed honesty of another person.

Yes I have been in an accident when I was younger, where some old man and his son "merged" into my car. The old guy said he was "avoiding someone who tried to merge into his lane". I never saw that person's car, I only saw him crashing into my car. This was on the busy 880 in NorCal, we pulled over and looked at the damage. The entire right side of my Datsun was in need of replacement, including doors, headlights, windows, etc. His big Ford V8 was barely scratched. A witness pulled over, an old black lady, and said she would give a statement that said the Ford crashed into my car and would wait for the CHP or police. The old guy told me that it wasn't necessary since we both agreed that he was at fault for my damages, and we exchanged information and went our separate ways.

The next day, this old guy gives me a call and ask if we can handle everything "off the record", and I said, we could do that after I get an estimate. I get the estimate that week, and it comes out to $1,800 for a door, some windows, and a headlight (early 1990s dollars). After I tell him the amount on the phone, he says "Yeah maybe it's better we go through our insurance."

Two weeks later the my insurance agent calls me and says "The insurance agent for the other company says they'll do 50/50 since you could have avoided the damage by being aware of the old man's position on the freeway." I was livid. I told my agent you better not settle during arbitration, I want nothing than the old guy accepting 100% fault.

I give the old guy a call and ask him what the deal is. He responds saying, "You try to get me for almost two grand for a shitty datsun, then we'll let our insurance companies handle who is wrong or right. I have nothing more to say."

Fortunately, after arbitration, he was found 100% at fault, but I'm leaving this story here as a lesson, "Get the police report. People are dishonest scumbags."

 

[IndieDev]

The people on this board are funny. On one thread, it seems everyone and their mommas own(ed) a porsche 997 turbo 3 times in their life. And now it's the same people worried about an insurance premium bump...so much so they think you need to waste your time waiting for the cops and missing your kids preschool appt. I'd think personal time for an owner of a porsche 997 is > than a premium bump.

And most of you sound married. When I was single, my insurance was consistenly 2.5k-3k/yr. After marriage, a 40k+ car costs me 900ish to insure with State Farm. If my premium increased 30% ($270), I'd personally rather go to my kids preschool that I waited a month to go see. And maybe even took time from work, losing PTO hrs that will total much more than $270, thus causing me to miss work again to go see the preschool.

Many stories here don't add up.

You think it's about the money? Any small claims case ever is about principal, money is secondary.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

Datsun hmmmm........ You just gave away your age.

 

[MovingOnUp]

The people on this board are funny. On one thread, it seems everyone and their mommas own(ed) a porsche 997 turbo 3 times in their life. And now it's the same people worried about an insurance premium bump...so much so they think you need to waste your time waiting for the cops and missing your kids preschool appt. I'd think personal time for an owner of a porsche 997 is > than a premium bump.

And most of you sound married. When I was single, my insurance was consistenly 2.5k-3k/yr. After marriage, a 40k+ car costs me 900ish to insure with State Farm. If my premium increased 30% ($270), I'd personally rather go to my kids preschool that I waited a month to go see. And maybe even took time from work, losing PTO hrs that will total much more than $270, thus causing me to miss work again to go see the preschool.

Many stories here don't add up.

You think it's about the money? Any small claims case ever is about principal, money is secondary.

Not really. My folks used to own businesses and they'd go to small claims court w/ customers for unpaid receivables or seek restitution from terminated employees. It was never taken personal that an employee stole or a customer didn't pay, it's and inherent business risk. They never sued based on principal, rather their #1 was to collect their money and 2) set an example to scare other employees from stealing.

 

[traceimage]

The people on this board are funny. On one thread, it seems everyone and their mommas own(ed) a porsche 997 turbo 3 times in their life. And now it's the same people worried about an insurance premium bump...so much so they think you need to waste your time waiting for the cops and missing your kids preschool appt. I'd think personal time for an owner of a porsche 997 is > than a premium bump.

And most of you sound married. When I was single, my insurance was consistenly 2.5k-3k/yr. After marriage, a 40k+ car costs me 900ish to insure with State Farm. If my premium increased 30% ($270), I'd personally rather go to my kids preschool that I waited a month to go see. And maybe even took time from work, losing PTO hrs that will total much more than $270, thus causing me to miss work again to go see the preschool.

Many stories here don't add up.

You think it's about the money? Any small claims case ever is about principal, money is secondary.

Not really. My folks used to own businesses and they'd go to small claims court w/ customers for unpaid receivables or seek restitution from terminated employees. It was never taken personal that an employee stole or a customer didn't pay, it's and inherent business risk. They never sued based on principal, rather their #1 was to collect their money and 2) set an example to scare other employees from stealing.

Your parents sued employees who stole? I would think calling the police and having them arrested would be scarier/more of a deterrent than a small claims lawsuit.

 

[ps99472]

Update:  just got my car back from the body shop, we did end up settling this without insurance.  I saved the kid some cash by going with Carsmetics instead of the body shop his insurance agent recommended.  He ended up going to Carsmetics as well for his repairs.  Think he saved about $1500.  My car looks brand new, Carsmetics even removed a huge door ding for free.. Got a free rental picked up by Carsmetics as well for a couple days. 

If you need body shop service, highly recommend:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/carsmetics-irvine

and for you BMW drivers.. the shop next to Carsmetics specializes in BMW only, hear they are less than half of what the dealer charges

 

[ps99472]

Stopped by Carsmetics again for some minor repair quote, they were able to buff out some nicks and scratches while I wait for the quote, free of charge, that was really nice of them..

 

[bitmaster20]

FYI, once  you report an accident to your insurance, the insurance is going to ask you to file the accident report with the DMV. That will then put 2 points on the other drivers record.