Auto Insurance Claims: pay off for a fender bender, fender bender, release of liability form

Question
My wife recently backed into another vehicle causing minor damage (dented door panel). No personal injury reported, no police report of any kind.  The other driver does not want to  have the incident reported to insurance, and may in fact not be insured themselves.  If they are willing to take a small cash payment to settle, what documents should I obtain from the person?  Should I request to see their registration and an ID to ensure they are really the owners of the automobile?


Answer
Hi Karl,

Yes. You should verify who the owner of the vehicle actually is by seeing a copy of the title or registration as well as the individualy drivers license. In addition, you need to have that person sign a "Release of Liability" form. You can typr this up yourself or you can find one on line at at www.nolo.com or www.legalzoom.com.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh