Well I had gotten into a car accident in the middle of a light storm and the truck I hit instantly stopped because a tree had fell in front of him and the tread of my tires wouldn't catch and I slid right into him, he said everything was fine and that he had to head home and to just say the tree in front had hit me, but would the insurance inspect it? Its been 2 days and the storm died down. What should I file and how if its been days after? I have prgressive full coverage but even then I don't want bills to just skyrocket for me.

Did you trade information with him, at least a name and phone?
He may not have had damage, or he may have had some reason to not want to be part of a claim, even though you were at fault, such as uninsured.
Yes, they might examine your car and can tell you didn't hit a tree, so that's out. There's no point in lying.
Only you can weigh the difference in cost between a higher premium (if they do) and the cost to fix your car, after deductible. Call them and ask if anything happens to your safe driver credit if you file an accident claim. If you don't like your next premium, you can always switch companies.

Yes they will inspect and will know you did not hit a tree.

If you turn it over to insurance tell them the truth ( it was your fault legally anyway)

Well i had gotten into a car accident in the middle of a light storm and the truck I hit instantly stopped because a tree had fell in front of him and the tread of my tires wouldn't catch and i slid right into him, he said everything was fine and that he had to head home and to just say the tree in front had hit me, but would the insurance inspect it? Its been 2 days and the storm died down. What should i file and how if its been days after? I have prgressive full coverage but even then i dont want bills to just skyrocket for me.


I'm a liability investigator. Yes, the damage is different if you run into a tree or if you run into a car. Progressive is not stupid.

Then there's the whole issue of you saying you hit a tree and the other driver showing up and claiming damage or injury.

I would leave out the "tires wouldn't catch" part. That sounds - whether it's true or not - like the tread on your tires was low.

Contact Progessive and tell them what happened, report the accident. That's why you have insurance. I do not know if Progessive raises rates following an accident - I would doubt it but, again, I don't know.

... the truck I hit instantly stopped because a tree had fell in front of him and the tread of my tires wouldn't catch ...

You were clearly at fault bacause you failed to maintain a safe distance between your car and the truck ahead of you. You should count on the car in front of you stopping Instantly, as what happened in this case.

Driving on someone's tail isn't going to get you there more than a tenth of a second earlier, so what's the hurry?

If I were dictator, I would send you back to driver's education until you learn not to tailgate. There is a lot of incompetent drivers out there who do that. Every day, some Yahoo follows me with about 10' between us, going 55 MPH. Really ticks me off. I wish I could find a flashing sign to put in my rear window reading "Back off!"

*Thus endeth the rant for today.*


... I would leave out the "tires wouldn't catch" part. That sounds - whether it's true or not - like the tread on your tires was low. ...

A storm was in progress? That's what hydroplaning is all about. If so, the amount of tread doesn't mean a lot.