Insurance issues with incorrect police reports

by Julie

My daughter was in an accident in the high school parking lot. She was going straight and the other car came from the left did not see her and they collided. His car had a lot of damage her car had little.

The hwy patrol was called and he said that because it was in a parking lot and there were not stop signs or yield signs that he had to deem them both at fault. They were not ticketed but he told us to call our insurance co. that each persons insurance would be responsible for fixing their own cars. We are not filing do not feel the need to have hers fixed .

Do we have to file anyway. And will it automatically make her insurance go up?


Answer:

Hello Julie,

This is interesting because I believe the statements of the police officer are incorrect (unless you live in Michigan or Florida – no fault states). In other states, the person who hit you pay for their damages (their percentage of fault). If your daughter was 10% at fault, and lives in pure comparative fault states like Washington, she would have to pay 10% of the damages of the other party.

However, states like Montana will require that your daughter be 51% or more at fault to owe damages to the other party.

Can you simply fix your car or not file? It really depends on where you live. If you a duty to report all claims under your policy if you are seeking coverage (like they come after you) see:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Duty-to-Report-Losses.html

As you noted, filing a claim can increase your rates. We do not know how much, as it also depends on each individual insurance company. However, few times is better to not report and pay out of pocket. Visit:

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/when-not-to-file-an-auto-insurance.html

Good Luck,
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com