I was driving on the highway yesterday and I was in the passing lane. Well, I saw a car come up behind me and I guess I wasn't going fast enough for him, so he went in the non pass lane to get around me. Well he realized there was a car in his way and he must have thought he could cut in front of me. He was wrong. He pretty much rammed my car and then when I braked he sped off. I followed him and got his lisence plate number, but I couldn't get him to stop. I called the police right away, but they didn'tget him. I can't get a hold of any insurance information on him through the police, big surprise there. He probably doesn't have any. I dont want to claim it on my insurance when it's his fault. He should have to pay for it, not me. I figured I'd give my insurance company a day or two to see if they could find his insurance before I started calling people. I have his info (phone number, address, lisence number). What would you do if you were in this situation? Should I sue him or what? Just accept it and claim it on my own insurance? It's not right that he'd get away with it, I mean I got his lisence and stuff...the police dont seem to care!

 

If you have no fault insurance then by all means call your insurance company...and by the way call the police for a report and give it to your insurance company so that they dont drop you!

WheelBrokerAng [sm=chattypair.gif]

 

since you have his plate information and a police report, they will catch him and bring him in. File a claim with your company and they will sue him to collect the cost of repairing your car. He will also get charged and you will have to appear in court to indentify him....

I was hit an run by aperson in 1997, they had to pay big time when it was all said and done......

court cost
jail time
restitution

 

Yeah, since you DID call the police, there will be a police report. That should clear you from the insurance point of view.

Im gonna change the title to see if it can attract our resident insurance experts...

 

As they said above, report it to your own insurance.

If you try to sue him, the judge will ask you why you did not report it to your own insurance company. The courts require everyone to "mitigate their damages" meaning you need to report it to your own insurance company and let them pay you. Then your insurance compnay will go after the responsible party. If you don't let your own insurance pay for it, many judges will say you are wasting their time.

If you have "uninsured motorist" coverage or sometimes it is called "no fault insurance" your deductible should only be $200 - that is the nationally recognized amount.

Hit and runs are difficult to prove. Likely they guy responsible will say he was not driving. Unless you can identify his face, you may not be able to get anything out of him even in court. I would not want to trust 12 morons (the jury) to give me my money anyway, even if you can identify him.

Your insurance rates should not go up because of an accident that was not your fault. If they increase your rates, you need to ask them why. If they don't give you the answer you want, you need to change insurance companies.

All of the above said, you need to report it to your own insurance company ASAP if you have not done so already (from reading your post, it looks like you already have). Many companies have clauses written into their policiesspecifying timeliness of claim reporting. Some companies will deny claims if the claim was not reported within the time frame outlined in the insurance policy (my company does not do this.)

-I am the resident lowly insurance adjuster

 

Be careful, because that really varies from city to city...

In dallas the police refused to file any kind of report unless someone was seriously injured (more than just whiplash)...
The guy that hit me didn't have insurance, didn't have valid registration, or inspection (they were both 8 years expired!!!!!!!!!!!!)...
I had taken the keys of the guy that hit me and waited for the cops to show up, and they refused to write a ticket, file any claims, or anything unless one of us needed to be expedited to the hospital...
I tried to pull some strings but no-go..

Similar situation, Different city, the guy was arrested on the spot for not having insurance, and a ticket written for expired inspection.

I then called Dallas police dept. and they even told me the same thing - different places run differently... They also reassured me that no police report would be filed unless soeone was seriously injured...
pissed me off cuz then it came out of my insurance cuz i didn't have "uninsured motorist" (aka no fault) insurance... just liability

My wife was also hit 2 times last year with hit n run, and the Dallas police did jack squat about it, even though we gave them all the info they needed to bust down their doors....


I'm not saying don't pursue it, but don't expect much... ymmv

 

^ Exactly. The police in have been an extreme disappointment to me in my 3+ years of insurance claims handling. It seems they simply don't care. Police reports for years wer enot even admissible in court because so often they are dead wrong and place fault on the wrong party. Scumbag tial lawyers have found waysof making them admissible again though - if it helps their case. A great example: one of our insured drivers was minding his own business driving through an intersection. Someone came into his lane andslammed into him head on, then veered off after impact and slammed into another car. After a week, the police had not completed the report yet. The 3rd party harassed the police every day and finally called the police chief. The police put out a report that said our insured hit the one car (and placedour insuredat fault), then drove 100 yards up the road and caught up to the other car that was headed in the same direction as our insured was, and crashed into it. This was a physical impossibility given the state of our insured's vehicle after impact - they had to use the jaws of life to remove our driver and the front axle was broken and both front tires shredded. The cop that wrote that report was obviously a total idiot, and nobody at the police department bothered to look the report over before it was finalizedand see it was written by an idiot. The cops even had a witness to the accident and didn't even bother getting their story.

You could try to sue the guy in small claims court (no jury), but again, you would be at the mercy of the judge. if you lose, you are screwed. You will even have to pay the court costs. Could you identify the guy in a police lineup? If not, you really don't have a leg to stand on if you tried to sue him.