Question
"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.
Thank you and best regards.
AnswerI'm sorry for the delay on this one, I answered it, but somehow didn't get it submitted, it showed back up today.
Okay, so here is my take on the situation.
If you were using your friends vehicle with permission, simply provide the information Farmers is requesting and let your friends insurance handle it. The photo you have is not really great evidence, we need to see what's underneath. You can argue that there is not much damage, but it will need to be investigated, especially if the other party is making a fuss. Definitely tell your company and just let them handle it.
Now, if you want some alternative, off the record answers, look up the petty details of claims and you'll figure out how to contact me directly.
