I was rear ended the other day, low speed and only need the bumper skin replaced, plus diminished value.

I picked up the police report yesterday and the listed insurance company is the name of the used car lot that owns the car that hit me, an employee of the lot was driving the car that hit me.

I did some research and found some phone numbers for the lot owner, business address and home address. I called him and asked for the insurance company name, he said he was driving and would call me back. Nothing, have called several times since then and left messages. His deductible is more than likely higher than the amount I am seeking.

The question is, are the police required to get the insurance info and relay it to me?

I do have full coverage with uninsured but do not want to involve my insurance company.

Drop by the lot with a damage estimate and demand payment.

He should have had the insurance listed on the report. Otherwise he is driving uninsured.

A car lot should not be self insured.

His deductible does not matter one bit.

That is my possible next step , but I wouldn't want my temper to take over. This dude sells crap cars, seems shady

Turn it in to your carrier, let them subrogate against him and his carrier, that's what you pay for, you should not have to pay any deductible since they are going to subrogate.

Since he's being a dick, go see a doctor, get checked out, just to be safe, and in many states you only have so many days to get a medical check or you give up your rights to claim.

Not saying that you need to file a medical claim, however you should protect your rights to do so...

Many times the knowledge of a potential large medical claim vs just a fender bender repair will help motivate the guilty party to provide the information.

Why not just give it to your insurance and let them deal with it? They can track him down and pursue him.

I would call the police department in the jurisdiction and also the Georgia Insurance Commissioners office for an accurate legal answer rather that confront the guy at his business.
I got hit by a guy years ago that also tried the bogus insurance approach and learned that they (courts & cops) don't like people that try this trick.
lowlifes with no assets don't care much about being sued. Handcuffs are somewhat different. If your local department won't follow up, call the state patrol.

From the GA DOR site:
"Motor vehicle owners and lessees are required by law to maintain continuous Georgia Liability Insurance coverage on vehicles with active registrations. Driving a vehicle while the registration is suspended, revoked or cancelled is a criminal offense. Additional penalties will apply, if convicted of driving a vehicle with a suspended or cancelled registration."

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
Why not just give it to your insurance and let them deal with it? They can track him down and pursue him.

Because your insurance will have you make an uninsured motorist claim and in my case they count that like a collision claim with the deductible and potential future rates. Should be illegal for them to do that.
Getting hit by a deadbeat really sucks in the real world.

Insurance has some great resources, I'd argue better than your local LE. If its more than your deductable I'd have them go after the lot.

If its less just ask the agency/officer that responded to get the info for you. Often times its just a phone call and when its from an official source you typically get quick compliance.

If its not working by phone I'd advise against personal contact. You get pissed off(which is reasonable) and you wont get the outcome you want. Let a third party take care of it.

Either he is self-insuring or he is lying that he has auto insurance.

Turn it into your auto insurance and let them fight the battle.

Your insurance company does have a lot better resources than the local PD when it comes to this sort of stuff. File a claim and take advantage of it.

If you turn it in to your own insurance, they can and more than likely raise your rates and you will get fucked out of your deductible.

quote:

The question is, are the police required to get the insurance info and relay it to me?

Unless a report was taken at the time of the incident...no. Display of insurance information is only required (in some states, not all) when actually operating. Agencies will not go back and take a report if they were not at the scene. Some have a non-official type form that allows self reporting.

Your other option is using your carrier and let them go after the other vehicle owner. But some will require a official police report for a mv accident. Can't hurt to talk to your agent about the options.

Agree with the stay away, it's not worth the aggravation, the goal is to be made financially whole.

Check with your insurance on the claim, they won't necessarily raise your rates for a not at fault accident, Did the police ticket the other person or leave it just a report.

If he's screwing with you, see a doc, hire a PIA and go after his ass.... Property claims are nothing, no PIA will take them, now PI claims.. Big money...

^^^^^^^^^^^
This is the best avenue.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
If you turn it in to your own insurance, they can and more than likely raise your rates and you will get fucked out of your deductible.

No, they won't. This was a clear not at fault accident. Worst case scenario he'll lose the deductible but he won't get a surcharge for this.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
If he's screwing with you, see a doc, hire a PIA and go after his ass.... Property claims are nothing, no PIA will take them, now PI claims.. Big money...

Please don't advocate insurance fraud in an open forum.

I got the full brunt of what my own insurance company can do to you by using them against an uninsured driver.

They TRIPLED my rates and I never recovered the deductible.

He rammed my car from behind, destroying it, then ran off.

Car had no insurance, driver had no license when caught.

UI in Georgia is ONLY for Med Pay, collision is for vehicle damage.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
If you turn it in to your own insurance, they can and more than likely raise your rates and you will get fucked out of your deductible.

No, they won't. This was a clear not at fault accident. Worst case scenario he'll lose the deductible but he won't get a surcharge for this.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
If he's screwing with you, see a doc, hire a PIA and go after his ass.... Property claims are nothing, no PIA will take them, now PI claims.. Big money...

Please don't advocate insurance fraud in an open forum.

Would it not be better to never advocate insurance fraud? The reason insurance is so expensive is partially because of the amount of frivolous claims and fraud that drive up all of our rates.

Yeah that too. But I was more worried about saving Para the ass-ache.

There was a police report, the other driver was marked at fault, but I don't see a citation on the report. Could be because it might technically be private property, entering traffic from da wallmarts parking lot.

Update, I did call my agent to get some advice,left a voice mail, no response

I called the police dept. and spoke to the clerk, told her my problem with the wrong insurance info on the report. She said she would look into it and call me back.

She calls me back and states that the officer that wrote the report won't be back until Friday and she would talk to him then and get back to me. She also stated that she called the dealers number and left a message

I can hear it now,Georgia southern accent on

"this is Betty with small town police dept. we are needing your insurance info from collision the other day, please call us back" or something like that

Wouldn't ya know the used car guy called me back while out getting a sandwich, I gave him may email address ( I was driving ) so I could respond with the estimate for repairs. He asked if he could pay or did I need to involve insurance, I said I didn't care, I just need it repaired and diminished value for marring my clean CarFax. We will see

Mars is right on this one. He, I and the OP appear to be in Georgia and state law rules.
I was also rear ended at a stop light (almost into a deputy stopped in front of me) and the guy got a ticket only for the accident because he had an insurance card to show the cop. A few days later when I called his insurance to file a claim, they said he had been cancelled for nonpayment. I called mine and filed an uninsured claim, had to pay my collision deductible and went on my way. At the end of my policy term the renewal went up due to a collision claim (their term, not mine) and that's when I learned the bitter truth. The only satisfaction I got was years later I got a check from my insurance towards the deductible for the percent on the dollar they recovered from the deadbeat (about 20%).
At the time of the accident he was arguing with his soon to be ex-wife and distracted. He had very few assets so they garnished some of his pay but it took years.