Had a little too much to drink and let my buddy drive my car back home since he was sober. My memory is a bit foggy but I think he ran a yellow light hoping to make it before red. Some lady either went way early or just on time for us to get into a wreck. We pulled over and my buddy was talking to the other driver the whole time. I remember bits and pieces but I remember him giving my car insurance info to the lady and my ID. Now here is the problem my insurance papers were expired. I have the up to date ones but have just been lazy to put them in my car. I’m not sure she realized it was old but she took it anyway. After we left and got home my buddy said he never got the ladies information or she didn’t want to give it to him. One of the other. We only got her phone number and tried to call her but she never responded or picked up. My bumper needs to be replaced and can do it myself. I found one on eBay for under 400. My question is should I file a claim ? I can’t even give my insurance the ladies information since she never gave it up. What should I do? I can eat the 400 and do the job myself but what if the other lady tries to make a claim since she has my information. I got into a little wreck some years ago and my rates went up. I don’t want that to happen again.
Posted by GrabRecent
2 Comments
Did you switch carriers between then or are the updated ID cards from a renewal? If everything is the same except effective and expiration dates, then it still applies.
She may try and make a claim. Call your insurance up and notify them of the incident. Give them all the details of the incident, doesn’t sound like liability is black and white here and they’re not just going to give her what she wants until they do their investigation and determine if/how much you’re even liable for.
If you just have her phone number, with no license plate or other information, it’ll be an uphill battle trying to file a claim on your own vehicle through her insurance. Even if you do, they may deny because again liability may not be black and white.
Now if you want to fix your car regardless, you would have to have had collision coverage. If your suspected total damages are under your deductible, it’s not worth filing a collision claim.
First of all, Thank you so much for knowing that you were not sober enough to drive and having a sober friend drive you instead. This situation still sucks, but it could have sucked much much more. You did the responsible thing.
(US based insurance info)
As far as insurance is concerned you have active coverage. Your friend should be a covered driver under the permissive use clause if he does not live with you. I’m fairly certain most people have expired ID cards in their cars, but as long as you have active insurance that is what matters. Some people are weird about giving their (very public info) to other people. It happens. If she files a claim with her own insurance, they will have questions. When she provides the ID card that she got and your DL her company will likely come after yours for the damages to be paid back. Its called subrogation and its normal. If you get anything in the mail stating shes suing you or whatever, give that all to your insurance agent or company.
How much are the damages on your own car? If you can afford to pay them rather than making a claim that could be something to consider. On average, when someone has an at fault accident their insurance rates raise about 50% the first year, and are chargeable for 3 years after (this may be state dependent). The unfortunate part is now a days when you call your company to ask about potentially filing a claim that can pop us as “info only” but still shows as a $0 paid out claim, but a claim is a claim is a claim yadda yadda…
Also, if the damages are only $400 out of pocket for you, is it *really* worth paying higher premiums? Insurance is for the catastrophic stuff you cannot afford.
Good luck, and dont freak out if you get a letter stating she’s suing you for damages. Pass it along to your agent and follow instructions. Tell the truth. Make sure they know you were not driving because you were intoxicated and chose the responsible thing.
As a side note, I dont know what your coverages are but think about insurance this way: What are you willing to lose if someone successfully sues you after an accident? If you have low limits you will be personally responsible for paying any and all damages above what your insurance pays out. If you are a renter, you dont necessarily need as high of liability coverage as homeowners, but that doesnt mean that you cant cause a horrible accident that will financially ruin you. Insurance is to make sure you are not financially ruined, but you have to make the right choices with insurance for that to be the case.