Update on my fender bender

[xman59]

Never ever let a policeman deny you a report. It is their job to write a report if you ask for one. Ask the APD office back in '97 what happens when you refuse to write a report and your badge number and name are turned over to the local news. Not very good when the reporter contacts your boss with a story they want to air

accident reports are not required by law, and yes the officer can refuse to do it! and if the news agency decides to make news out of it, slander is easy to prove against a news agency,,,

[blacksunshine]

Nope sure don't, been called a lot of things. You may not like what I do or how I do things, but when you really need us we will be there no matter what you think of us. We are people too


Ha! Blue form! Thats what I did and I still got screwed over. The cop even said it was his fault, he said it was his fault and I was being a good guy. Never again.
TX is a no fault state so we may know what happened and how it happened and whos at fault, but it makes no diff to the insurance companies they are the screw'ers. Its all about the mighty $$$$$ to them.

Don't know what kind of experiences ya'll have had with LEOs but were not all the same. Trust me I know there are some A-hole cops out there, have worked w/ a few.

my point wasn't you specifically, it is directed at the 'accepted' chain of events....I don't have to assist so I don't. it SHOULD be a situation when comments of accountability or other obvious finalities are made that documentation be made to 'serve' the public good.

pushing this stuff down the road to the insurance companies is helping them screw people all the way around....if reports are made, then that takes some of the 'screwing' off the table.....

I don't know, it's all pretty logical to me...can't see where there could be any drawback from filing simple accident reports that could ever outweigh no report at all....

[blacksunshine]

accident reports are not required by law, and yes the officer can refuse to do it! and if the news agency decides to make news out of it, slander is easy to prove against a news agency,,,

what's slanderous about a news 'report' about a police officer who refused to file a 'report'.......that's not slander...may look really bad to the public....but it is what it is....

["DOC"]

Let your insurance company fight it. That is why you pay for it.

This X all the others.
Not your fight, Let your insurance handle it.

[Winman]

Most of the time the insurance will write it off rather than pay the big $$ for the lawyers to even write a simple letter. Cheaper for them to do it that way--simply stated they won't spend $1000 in legal fees to avoid paying $500 in damages. Sucks, but that's the way it is.

One thing I always would do--take lots of pictures of the damages to both vehicles, the other driver, the cop, the roadway, any roadsigns, etc.

This is true. I was told by a lawyer that the insurance co. lawers get around $500 per hour for their time....all of their time ...writing letters or counceling or court....billable hours...at that rate,it is much better for them to settle on the "SMALL' claims...[small to them,not to the working people].

[trailboss]

Well as often is the case in this forum, there has been lots of wonderful advice from people with little or no knowledge of the workings in situations like this.

Let me chime in wearing both my insurance hat and my police hat.

From an insurance agent point of view, if you are involved in an accident - call the police and report it. As stated numerous times above, police are not required to do an accident report in the case of minor accidents but at the minimum there will be a record of the call so that no one can acuse you of not reporting it.

Next - call your insurance company and report it to them - even if you don't feel you are at fault. Your policy contract requires you to do this in a timely manner and could save you and your insurance company from being named in bad faith law suit.

If there is damage to your vehicle that is less than your deductible or if you are not carrying collision coverage, your insurance company then has no exposure for damages to your car and will not try to recover damages from the other party. They will however be obligated to investigate it from a liability standpoint if the other person claims against you. If you don't know how to file a claim with the other company, your insurance agent can help you do that.

From a police point of view - understand that the Police Officer must do his job according to his authority and his department policy. If you're unhappy with his department policy or laws requiring his duties, contact your lawmakers and department heads and go through the processes necessary for such changes. Don't just automatically assume the LEO is lazy because he doesn't do a report. He has a job to do just like you do. And just like you, he has bosses to answer to. I think you know what would happen to your job if you did something contrary to what your company policy is.

Be careful about any advice to claim injuries where there are none. Making a false statement to a police officer can have some pretty serious consequences. If you're hurt, by all means, tell someone - but be careful about untruths.

And for some advice from underneath my "old man" hat - chill out! It's an accident! They happen hundreds of times a day! If no one is hurt, be grateful and move on. Let the police and insurance company do their jobs. Don't get your blood pressure up over a minor fender bender. I know that these things are inconvenient and I know they can cost you some money out of your pocket sometimes but we only have a few days on this earth - don't let something so minor ruin a single one of them.

Trailboss

[big_smith]

Once again Trailboss is the voice of reason.

[Bullydog]

Once again Trailboss is the voice of reason.

Yep sure is! Thats about sums it up.