Insurance Questions

[SVXMAN2001]

Ok so i was involved in my first accident yesterday (nothing big at all, very minor damage) I was turning left into a driveway came to a stop and saw the car in the driveway start to back up, i hit the horn and he continued to back up into the front corner of my truck smacking the part of the truck where the fender and the door meet.

Now there was no cop involved, and of course i couldn't find my insurance info at the time, have it now and am trying to get in touch with him to get his insurance info.

My question is how should i proceed with this...call my insurance company? His insurance company? Since there was no cop involved i feel its his word against mine as to who is at fault...any advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks, Chris

IF the damage is minor and not too expensive, and IF the two of you can come to an amicable agreement over fault and payment, then I'd try to arrange something privately and leave the insurance company totally out of it. It all really depends on the personality of the guy and the laws where you are. Usually there is some minimum amount of damage before the police must get involved. Same often goes for insurance (eg. deductible sometimes higher than damage.) There's nothing that says you must get insurance involved for every little thing.

By not claiming it, the person at fault can keep their record "clean" and avoid possible higher insurance payments later. Of course, some folks don't care and will fight tooth and nail to try and get out of taking responsibility. In that case, you'll have to get the insurance company involved.

Many years ago a neighbour of mine backed into my parked car, causing a dent in the driver's side front door. She left a note, apologised, and offered to pay for it out of her pocket. My mechanic gave me a quote of $200 CAD to fix it, and the neighbour was happy. No fuss, no bother. Got fixed, neighbour paid, no insurance involvement. But that was an ideal situation.

Good Luck!