Big Problem weighing on my conscience

[wishmaster244]

im sure it will all blow over man, take a few bong ripps and smoke a blunt it will all be better in the morning

[jamstigator]

Nothing's gonna happen, dude. She won't make a claim for such minor damage because if she does, her insurance rates will go up, and that isn't worth it for the amount of damage done. The shoe's not gonna drop, breathe easy.

But next time, be sure you get all the relevant information. I suspect pretty much everyone goes through this at one time or another.

[birdgirl73]

Thanks for the help. I am still going over four issues in my mind though. Number 1: should i tell my paretns and risk getting in a lot of trouble. Number 2: Do you think if she was gonna file a claim she would call me first (told her to do so as a favor to me) Number 3: Does anybody know the standard operating procedure for insurance companies? For example, do you know how soon they would contact me if she did in fact make a claim? Four: Do you think if she has not already called me then i am off the hook seeing as it was 5 o'clock yesterday. Thanks for all the input its really helping me out.

1. I think you should tell your parents simply so you'll quit worrying so much. That will relieve your fears in a big way, and Tootsie was wise to make that recommendation. If they're reasonable people, they'll know it was not a big deal and will not give you any grief. And since they've had your sister to compare car incidents with, I suspect they won't sweat this. Parents know how things happen with teenagers and cars. It's expected. This, in the scheme of car incidents, was a tiny matter.

2. No, I don't think she'd call you first. That's not how people behave once they've left the scene. You're like someone she might have to interact with on a business level. She'll simply call and make a report and, possibly, a claim. (And Jamstigator, since he tapped her car and is the one at fault, she'd be making a claim on his insurance company, not her own.)

3. Time limits vary from state to state according to insurance regulations, but generally people have 72 hours to make an initial report of an accident or injury to their insurance company. And they have a period of weeks, usually six, after that in which to work through the small claims process. If she's going to make a report, she'll do it fairly quickly, which is why the 72-hour policy stands. People need to report claims while they can still recall what happened. You'd be contacted by her insurance company within three weeks, I imagine, and probably within one week or less so they could hear your statement while the incident's still fresh in your mind.

It's time to go fess up to your parents. Like Tootsie said, go talk to whichever one you're most comfortable with and who'll be the least critical. They will probably be very proud of you for unburdening yourself and telling them the truth.

[birdgirl73]

Sorry, I missed question 4. No, I don't think you're quite off the hook yet since we don't know if she's made a report or a claim. Refer to the time limits in question 3.

[Buddha Man]

yeah the old "my neck kinda hurts" thing. if she seemed like a nice lady she probably wont call. i hope she doesnt. good luck

[RedLocks]

once i got ina multi car accident cause some old guy decided not to stop on the highway, rammed me into the car inf ront of me into the car in front of her. The woman tried to sue me and the guy that caused the accident because apparently she couldn't have sex with her husband, totally got thrown out and ignored. point being, any bs claims usualyl just go away

[jamstigator]

Well, I got in line at a drive-thru one night, behind this guy in a monsterously large truck. I was driving a Corolla. The guy in the truck was a bit drunk, and the line was kinda long, and I guess he didn't see me since my car was a lot lower than his huge truck. He decided to back out of the line, so he put his truck in reverse and gunned it, and slammed into my car, hard. My insurance company made a claim against his, of course...but MY insurance rates still went up, for about a year or two. His probably did too, I dunno, but ours definitely did. In that case, there was no choice but to file a claim though, as the damage was about four thousand dollars, and even though my rates went up some, they didn't go up anywhere near four thousand dollars worth. I was a nice guy and didn't mention that the guy was a bit drunk, which probably saved HIM a lot of hassle.

If it had been my fault, I'm sure my rates would have gone up way more than they did, but insurance companies are statistics freaks, and if you drive around getting into accidents, even if they're not your fault, well, I guess they don't like that. At least my insurance company didn't!

That experience kinda taught me not to make claims unless absolutely necessary. A $100 fender bender? Even if it's someone else's fault, I'd let that go, because my rate increase would exceed that. I'd ask whoever did the damage for the $100 though, maybe even threaten to file a claim if they were a prick about it...but I wouldn't do it. You get a discount if you drive "accident-free" for enough years. That's probably why my rates went up: I was no longer accident-free...even though I had zero fault in causing that accident.

[RedLocks]

yeah making claims for little stupid crap is so stupid. years back i was pulling out onto a highway when the lady in front of me decided to come to a full stop and i ended up giving her a little love tap. she gets out and is liek YOU JUST HIT ME YOU JUST RAN INTO ME.. like bugging out. So i'm like yeah no shit why the fuck you stop? Long story short we are talking to teh officer that came to the "accident" and he basically tells her she is a mroon if she wants to fill out a report, only thing that happened really was some chips of paint from my bumper came off on her's, which we flicked off. Then the moron fills a report and also makes a claim to insurance, fucked her own damn self, not like my insurance could go any higher!!

[Breukelen advocaat]

If she wants her car repaired, and does not claim injuries, can't you just pay the bill for the auto repairs out-of-pocket? It seems like that would make things a whole lot easier for everybody involved.

[RedLocks]

not sure about where other people live, but where I live ur fucked if ya don't report the accident and file a police report makes it hard to screw with people later