Glad to be a member. Hope you guys can point me in the right direction.

On Friday, February 6th my father, who was visiting from out of town, was driving my car and got into a minor accident with another man. The man admitted fault and asked that this be handled without involving his insurance. His reasoning was that he wanted to avoid the hit on his insurance premiums on such a relatively small accident. My father's then girlfriend was in the car and witnessed all of this.

My father took his name, drivers license number, and address. I know... he should have gotten the insurance info but that opportunity is long gone.

I called the man on Monday morning and left a message stating that I would get estimates and get in touch with him.

In the following week I got 3 estimates for the repairs. The high was $1800 and the two lowers ones were $1150 and $1200 respectively. There was also cosmetic damage to my front right wheel which all 3 body shops said would just have to be replaced due to the finish. That would be about another $300. So, realistically, about $1500 total damages.

I have tried numerous times to call and text him with no success. Last week I sent a certified letter that included copies of the estimates that just came back to me "Return to Sender - Insufficient Address" I think this may be because he lives in an apartment complex but I really don't know.

It is now March 31st, almost 2 months after the accident. My question is, do I have any legal recourse at all? Since I have his driver's license number can I simply call the police and explain it to them almost like a "hit-and-run"?

He also claimed to be in the military and told my father he had just returned from duty. Is there any recourse I could take with the military? Can I report him for improper conduct?

Ultimately I'd prefer to have my damages paid over getting him in trouble. But I can't even get a hold of the guy.

Thanks in advance for the help!

The Police aren't going to take a report this long after the accident. As far as reporting him for improper conduct - the Military doesn't care about auto accidents and I don't see a crime committed here.

Also it's either a hit and run or it's not. Stopping and exchanging information, not insisting that the Police be called, not getting insurance info, does not make it an "almost" hit and run.

Was his vehicle damaged? I'm sure you realize that admissions at the scene mean little and he is probably going to "counter" against your father.

You have to locate him and sue him in Small Claims Court. If you can't find him on your own, then you have to hire someone with a source to locate him, such as an investigator.

By any chance did you turn the claim over to YOUR auto insurance at the time? YOUR collision coverage would repair your car and then YOUR company would seek to recover from him. Very possibly too late to file now if you did not at the time.

I feared as much about possibly not really having any options.

I was just hoping for the decency of mankind to shine through with this whole situation... although I guess during your 13k+ posts you've probably seen otherwise. People suck.

As far as him trying to go after my father... good luck to him. My father lives out of the country so I don't think he'd have a chance in hell. Also, I don't think he got any of my dad's info anyway.

I haven't tried actually going to his apartment yet. I guess if I went there with the estimates in hand and threatened to sue him I might be able to accomplish something.

The best thing about this guy is that he claimed to be Christian and his voice mail greeting ends with "God Bless". It's irritating every time I call. I don't want to make this a religious discussion... but if you're going to throw it in everyone's face then you really got to follow through.

Thanks for your reply.

This guy hasn't answered calls for over a month. The time has passed for you being a nice guy.

If you want to give him one more chance, leave him a message that, if you don't hear from him within 24 hours, you will be submitting the claim to your insurance carrier.

Since you have his driver's license number, your insurer can find his insurance and they will go after them for the claim. In the meantime you get your car fixed.

Agree with Scott - I'd tell him that you are turning it over to YOUR insurance company which, in turn, is turning it over to HIS insurance company which, because of the time frame, very well may not cover him and then he'll take care of it on his own.

And as far as mankind and so forth - I'm a liability investigator. You would be AMAZED at what I run into. It's hard to believe anyone after a while about anything and not become jaded.

People look me directly in the eyes all the time and lie, lie, lie. I've worked matrimonial surveillances where I have photographs and the party claims it's not him/her. It's a brother, sister, total stranger, terrible mistake. I guess no one owns up to his/her own life any more.

Thanks for the good advice. I called him shortly after you guys made the suggestion and left one final ultimatum voice mail.

No reply, so I just filed the claim with my insurance company. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Thanks again.

Update in case anyone cares.

I just spoke with my the rep from my insurance agency. Turns out the dill-hole that hit my my car also uses the same insurance provider. Convenient.

The thing is NOW he's saying that either there was no incident or that it was mutual fault... couldn't get a clear answer from the rep since I don't think she had all the details at the time. In any case he's contesting the claim.

They are going to look at my car tomorrow as part of the investigation and I should know more after that.

And, for the record, no, the police will NOT take a report this long after the accident. My insurance rep recommended that I at least try to get them to take a report but the officer I spoke with said that my testimony wouldn't be factual anymore this long after the accident. No surprise there.

Will post an update when I have something to update.

Did you tell the insurer that the other driver admitted fault and offered to pay the damage, which is why you didn't report it immediately.

But I suspect, that what will happen, without proof to the contrary, is the insurer will assign 50-50 liability. This means each driver's collision coverage will pay for the damages and the liability coverage will pay half the deductible.

You need to be sure you include the names of the witnesses to the accident.

In the end,
1. ast least they insured him and knewe his complete address

2. and you are going to get car fixed

3. learned a good lesson, always call the police if someone asks you not to, there is always a reason, I have been bite in the rear all but one time someone asked me or my wife not to call.

In the end, if in a accident and you can not get police, ( they will not come to some private property accidents in some areas, take photos, if someone admits fault get them to sign a note to that effect or record them saying it on your cell phone ( most have a record feature)

I just got off the phone with the adjuster handling MY claim (come to find out the earlier rep was handling HIS claim) and I got a little more info.

The other driver is saying the accident did happen but that it was my father that merged into him.

What they will do now is take down both of their statements and sit down together (the adjusters that is) and make a decision. MY adjuster did say that it might come down to a "Word vs word" case. In that case my insurance covers my damages and his covers his. She did say that since I've been with them for over 9 years and I wasn't actually the one driving that she would be amazed if it ended up making any difference on my insurance premiums.


I do have a couple things on my side that I made sure my adjuster knew.

1. I had been trying to reach him for almost 2 months now with NO results. Left numerous voicemails and texts and nothing. She confirmed that the number was a valid number listed on the policy. If I had someone calling me over and over again saying "Contact me because you need to pay for this" and I wasn't at fault you can believe that I'd be calling that fool back.

2. I have his driver's license number. She confirmed it is the correct number. Yet he took down no information from my father. Hrmm... why's that?


Yeah, I've learned a lot of valuable lessons through this experience. Mainly that people are lying b@stards. But besides that, which I think I already knew, I've learned some valuable lessons which are actually practical.

Hopefully I'll have a good news update soon.

Unfortunately whether he took your phone calls and father's information has little to do with the cause of the accident.

The biggest lesson to be learned is to ALWAYS call the Police. Let them fill out an incident report. Then you can either claim the accident or not but at least you're covered.

I run into this all the time. Nothing surprises me. Same company? 50/50.

Like I said, his behavior is suspicious. But it may not be enough to overcome the 50-50 fault. Since it really doesn't matter to the insurance company.

I guess I probably shouldn't even care anymore... beyond the $500 deductible I have.

So they won't take into consideration that I have been hunting this guy down and I was the one to file the claim while this guy did nothing?

Why would I file the claim if it was my father's fault?

Why wouldn't HE file the claim... or at least try to contact me so that I could make payment for his damages?

If this ends up 50/50 then I am fully convinced that the legal system is totally FUBARed. I know this isn't technically "legal" but it's being handled in the same way I would imagine a legal case with these facts would be handled.

And please understand, I'm not copping out on the mistakes that I made. "The biggest lesson to be learned is to ALWAYS call the Police" is a quote that I will burn into my memory and make sure I tell all my friends.

You guys have been a very balanced and helpful resource and I appreciate it immensely. If I wanted pity I'd talk to my friends. ;)

Don't mean this to be harsh but you are into mind reading and not into accident investigating.

Who knows why people do/say whatever they do/say? I've run into situations you absolutely wouldn't believe - trust me. It's a zoo out there.

You've kept your sense of humor and taken the advice well and learned something - congrats to you and that's about all you can do in these situations.

And, yes, tell you friends how to behave in the case of an accident.

My own husband had his car backed into by someone two years ago - guy didn't want the Police called, exchanged info (which was incorrect), never got the license plate, we took the hit to the tune of $5,000. So live and learn. My husband wandered around saying, "How can people behave like this?" My answer? Who knows.

If there's one thing I've learned about human beings over the years, if they can screw you over, they will.

There are very few honest people anymore, so do everything you can to protect yourself.

I know it seems and is unfair, but such is life. Next time, if there is one, you'll know the steps to take to protect yourself.

Good luck. :)

Its not the legal system at issue, it's the insurance system. If the insurance carrier rules 50-50 then you can still sue over your deductible and request a jury hearing. But that will probably cost you more in time and fees then its worth.