Auto Insurance Claims: Extremely minor fender bender in california, no damage to either car, received call from insurance, survival in the city, occupy


Question
Auto Insurance Claims: Extremely minor fender bender in california, no damage to either car, received call from insurance, survival in the city, occupy
"Damage"  
Hi there!

Question for you:

I was a party in an extremely minor fender bender in California, if you could call it that. A person in front of our vehicle went through a stop sign then inexplicably stopped short. We bumped them from behind at less than 5 mph. We pulled over, investigated cars, and there was limited/no damage to either vehicle (attached picture. It is hard to see what is dirt and what is damage. The only thing we could attribute as damage is the 1" vertical scratch on the bumper) We were in a friend's car (the owner was not present).  We took photos of their car to prove no distinguishable damage, and agreed with the owner as such.  It was a black car with scratches already on it/around the bumper, and it was impossible to distinguish any damage done. There were no witnesses, outside of one person is his car and people in our car.  It was night time.

We were both in an extreme rush. No police were called, and I actually didn't get the other car's name (have his license plate). He took down our NJ driver's license, name, and cell phone.  No insurance info was exchanged. We parted ways amicably.

Just received a call from a Farmer's insurance agent asking for the car owner's name and policy numbers.  How do you think we should proceed? We were driving a friend's car.  Again, limited information was exchanged between us, and no police were called. My thinking is just to respond to the next Farmer's call and ask them to send me precise details of what was involved and why. I have no interest in getting my friend's auto insurance raised over such a small incident (I know, no incident is too small).

Thank you and best regards.

Answer
Hello,

No matter how much the rush, police should be called to protect you! There are many shady people out there that will take advantage of the situation and from your description this is exactly what is happening. You most likely got the call from the agent because a claim has been filed against you. This could have even been a staged accident where the other driver deliberately stopped short.
It does not matter if you have a picture of a scratch. The guy can go back his car into a fixed object, claim personal injury and your picture of the damage means nothing. You cannot defend yourself! Your insurance company will defend the limits of the claim. DON'T TRUST ANYONE! This is how pukes and puke attorneys make a ton of cash! You have no say in the payout!
In fact, looking at the scenario you have given me, you are dealing with a dishonest person because if the driver was not concerned about the scratch at the time of the accident, why is he filing a claim now?

I would suggest you give your insurance info to the Farmer's agent because this is not going to go away. You could be turned in as a non-insured in California that may reciprocate with NJ, I don't know and you could end up with fines and the loss of your license. Do not know if this can happen, but it is something to be considered.

These situations that appear to be minor can blow up in your face for this exact reason! If you can't get a cop to the scene, you must get all information from other driver!

Good luck on this.

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