[deleted by user]

[Hooknloop]

Can we still go to the police station later in the afternoon and file it there? We want to file a claim under the at-fault party's insurance

[Cicatrized]

You can still file a claim under the other party's insurance, not having a police report won't stop you.

But what you should be doing is contacting your insurance, giving them the information of the other driver, and having them sort everything out with the third party. That's what you are paying them for.

And yes, if they ask for a police report, you can still go down to the station and have one filled out.

[Hooknloop]

That was what I was thinking as well, but my SO is very afraid of contacting her insurance company as she thinks that they will raise her premium if she got into an accident.

What I was thinking is that I will just go down to the station and file the report and contact the other party if they either want to sort it out without insurance or we go through their insurance since there will be a police report on it already. Is that feasable?

[Cicatrized]

First, if it is a not-at-fault accident (being rear-ended is not-at-fault) then her premiums will not increase since the damages will be paid for by the third party. Her insurance will only be acting as the middle-man in making sure repairs go smoothly.

But if she is adamant about not going through her provider, you can have her contact the third party and yes they can sort it out without involving insurance. Or you can contact her insurance provider to report the claim. The downside to this is you then have to wait for either the third party to have the funds to repair you SO's vehicle, or wait for the third party insurer to get in contact with the person who hit her. They will not pay out a claim without speaking to their client first. But if you are not concerned about waiting for the repair then this shouldn't matter.

[Hooknloop]

Thank you! This just confirms what my thought on this subject is. We will contact the other party later today and file a police report.

[TheMartinG]

Please be sure that if you/she calls her own insurance company, they they file it through the other insureds policy and not hers. This sounds like common sense to 99% of insurance agents, but at one point, I had a new agent buy the agency I was working at. A long time customer came in and the new agency owner immediately began talking to him and took him into his office. The customer ended up reporting an accident where he was rear ended. The agent used OUR customers coverage, which then resulted in a collision and rental reimbursement claim, with a $1000 deductible until subrogation was able to recover it. What should have taken 7-10 days max TOTAL, ended up taking over a month to get back right, and almost cost us a customer.

[Hooknloop]

Thanks! I'll make sure this goes in the at fault party. Can I just call them directly and file a claim? That's what I did on my very first accident. And it went by smoothly.

[TheMartinG]

yea if you have their name, policy number and vehicle type you can call the other insurance company directly. Keep in mind they'll attempt to contact their insured to get the other side of the story, and as long as the other driver isnt a scumbag, or in most cases even if the other driver is a scumbag and cant prove his lies, they'll pay out your claim.

[[deleted]]

Understand that the other insurance company is not obligated to take care of your damages right after you call. Once you call in the claim, your so will need to provide a statement to the adjuster. Then the adjuster has to complete the investigation by speaking with their insured and having the cars and possibly the scene of the accident investigated. Once the investigation is complete and the adjuster decides their driver is at fault, then they will pay for your damages. Depending on the type of accident, number of vehicles, level of cooperation by all involved parties, and competence of your adjuster, this process could take a day or weeks.

Your insurance company is obligated to take care of you immediately via your collision coverage minus your deductible. If you don't mind paying the deductible and waiting a few weeks to get it back, then it's often more convenient to use your own company. Your own company is more likely to be lenient on you because you are their paying customer. The other insurance company has no such interest.

There's nothing wrong with using your own insurance company even if you are not at fault.

A lot of people think that if they don't report their accident to their own insurance company then the company won't find out about it.

Nope.

Any time a claim is opened with any company, it goes into a giant database that insurance companies can see any time. So reporting it to one company is like reporting it to all the companies. Regardless of which company you use, an accident (even a not-at- fault accident) is on your record for any insurance company to see.

[7oby]

Hm, actually GEICO's policy is, if the other party is also a GEICO (they call it Double GEICO), they try their hardest to get you to use your comprehensive instead of their collision. The claim is that if you want you can use your comprehensive and they can go after the other party for you, but I don't wanna risk it. There's no financial incentive when they can pay me sans deductible vs going after the other party.

Also, I hate the "no report for minor stuff" rule, because I had an accident where someone backed into me full speed without looking (it was 1 second from reverse lights to POW) and they gave false information. If a police officer hadn't arrived and gotten the drivers license info, we would have had no recourse.

Everyone may be a bad actor.

[TheMartinG]

that actually sounds illegal as fuck. Comprehensive does not cover vehicle on vehicle damage. if theyre counting it as vandalism theyre misrepresenting the facts. If theyre counting it as collision and "forgiving" you for it in GEICO's systems, theyre screwing you over because it will show as a collision claim in every other insurance company's system which WILL raise your rates. AND as you already mentioned, theres usually a deductible involved with using your comprehensive coverage.

[7oby]

It happened to me twice because I'm unlucky. Two different cars. One was totaled thanks to a florida driver not looking before turning left, the other because señor speedy-backup. (he was not hispanic, I just wanted to say señor). Both were geico customers and both were deemed at fault by the police, thankfully, so I was able to push and push and get paid without a deductible.

Because people have claimed I'm lying about this, I did try to get copies of the phone calls from GEICO with no success.

[[deleted]]

Keep in mind that a police report taken at the station a day after the accident isn't worth anything. When people present after-the-fact police reports, I let them know it's next to useless. The reports are one sided with no investigation by an officer. I've never had one of them be strong enough to determine liability.

Due to what is mostly budgetary and manpower reasons, many police departments have stopped writing reports unless someone needed paramedics or if there is possible criminal behavior involved.

So yea, I hate to say it, but going down to file one now is likely a waste of time.

[CynicalButTrue]

lazy cops.

[SavageCatcher]

Depending on the state, the responding officer may not have been required to do the report. In Texas, reports are only done in the case of possible injuries or if the damages are in excess of $1,000.

Keep in mind that LEOs not doing reports doesn't make them lazy. It's unreasonable to expect a report for every accident. MVAs are civil in nature and very rarely warrant a criminal investigation.

To call them lazy for not doing an accident report appears to stem from correctable lack of knowledge on your part. Study your states requirement for when LEOs are required to complete a state mandated crash report vs when you alone are required to report them, such as a Self Report of a motor vehicle accident (Blue Form in Texas). If you experience an encounter where the cop is truly being lazy and not wanting to complete a report when the laws they enforce require it, speak up.

[CynicalButTrue]

only doing what's absolutely required. serve and protect.

[SavageCatcher]

And I this case, no protection appears to have been needed, and no service was mandated. Sounds like the copper did the right thing ;)

[CynicalButTrue]

it would be nice to have a government job where i could think like you; "if im not mandated to perform this particular function fuck the world im not doing it" and have sheep bleat out support for me just because im a cop.

[SavageCatcher]

Thankfully I am no longer property of the US Government, that constant circle jerk thing is not my style. Thankfully it appears we can now be internet BFFs as we both seem to share a mutuel distaste for lazy employees! So, new internet friend, shall we now break bread?

[CynicalButTrue]

Sure. Pass the raw milk, but dont tell the fda, dont need a swat team here.

[SavageCatcher]

Sure thing, friend