QuestionHello,
I came home from school and my wife was frantic. Her car was hit in the drivers side door while exiting a gas station. Luckily, she was not hurt. The man that hit her car starting yelling at her that he didn't have time for this, and it was her fault. My wife went into the store to avoid the vulgarness of this man while waiting for the police. She called our insurance company that morning, but since we have liability on that car, we must call his insurance company ourselves: so I called and opened a claim on his insurance.
My wife obtained a copy of the gas-pump surveillance tape. We finally received a copy of the police report from our insurance company. The police report does not match the tape. It reflects that my wife was parked in the parking lot: she was pulling away from the gas pump toward the exit. 2.5 seconds later he pulled away towards the exit and the front of his truck hit the door of my wifes car which was stopped waiting to enter the roadway.
No tickets were issued. There are no lines directing traffic. His insurance opened a claim on our insurance. We sent the tape to our insurance company, they sent it to his insurance company. Both insurances agreed to pay half of both claims because no tickets were issued and the tape does not show anybodys clearly at fault.
My question is, should I just take the money to fix her door? Or should I mention that the police report does not match where her car was (it was at the gas pump, not the parking lot), and that the damage is in the door, not the front bumper?
AnswerHi Ben,
Police reports are just one tool used by insurance companies to determine fault. There are many other things they take into consideration such as driver statements, photos of the vehicles and point of impact analysis. Considering that they have all seen the video tape and made their liability decision, getting the police report changed would likely be a waste of your time. Just take the money and get the car repaired.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
