I got into accident in snow storm!

by Ryan
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

I got into accident Mar 8th,2008 while under winter? or snow storm warnning.

My car is 2004 Toyota Collora,
and his car is 1993 Jeep Cherokee.

I was slid and over mid lane and hit his car, which was on coming traffic.

It was downhill for me and my car lose control.

After accident happen, no one was injured, and police told us that just go to report in accident report center so we left the scene.

His car was drivable and he drove about 10km, then his car was stop and called tow truck.

Then he asked me to pay him $4500, if I don't want to go throw insurance.

I wonder, in such case, normally how should I have to handle this happen?

Answer

Hello Ryan, well you are in Canada. Usually we do not address issues there, but given the fact that you have a general insurance question, we are going to outline the process.

If you get in an accident where you cross the center line, you are probably at fault. It would not matter that there were winter warning conditions or snow storms. If the weather was bad, the prudent thing to do is to stay home or drive very very slow (that is what a court would argue here anyway).

Assuming that you are at fault and that you do want to take care of this situation, you could pay out of pocket for damages. You can ask to see an estimate and all damages, you do not have to pay just a blanket number, see what the damages are and then pay that. Note, the damages could be more than that.

Or you can get insurance involved and have them protect you. Usually going through insurance is better because they are used to deal with insurance companies and they want to protect all interest so you are not bound by a judgment in a lawsuit. Also, if the other guy wants to keep coming back for more money, you could have the insurance company get a release of all claims, and shield you of anything later on.

The decision is yours but you should talk to your insurance company and ask them if you can handle the situation yourself or if they will take care of you.

Good Luck