QuestionWhile driving my car, my boyfriend was involved in a minor accident. Another car switched lanes suddenly in front of him, crossing the continuous line between lanes, while going about 20 mph in a 45 mph zone. My boyfriend, who was in the leftmost lane, tried to avoid the car that was cutting him off by swerving to the right (there was no space to the left). He couldn't go entirely around the other car, and the left side of his front bumper hit the right side of the other car's rear bumper. This happened at about 20 mph (the other car was already at 20 mph and my boyfriend braked from 45-50 to 20 by the time of the impact). The damage is minor - dented bumper and cracked left headlight on our car; scratched paint and dented left corner of the rear bumper for the other car.
When the police came to do a report, the other car's driver said she was driving at 45 mph in the leftmost lane all along, when my bf hit her from behind; this is of course a lie. She had two other people in the car, while my bf had one other person with him. The cop took down the depositions, didn't decide whose fault it was, and let both of them go. There were no skidmarks because the cars had ABS, and no photos were taken at the place of the accident.
My question is, is there any way for my boyfriend to prove his innocence and get our car fixed by the other driver's insurance?
I should mention that my boyfriend has his own insurance on his own car - he just happened to be driving mine when the accident occurred. He is not on my policy as he rarely drives my car. Both mine and his insurance are liability only.
He reported the accident to his insurance company, who said it should be reported to my company. The latter took a full account of what happened, and that was the last we heard from them. That was 3 weeks ago. What should we do next?
AnswerHello Iuliana,
You need to get in contact with your insurance company as soon as you can. Insurance follows the car, which means, if he is a driver of your car and he is not excluded (specifically excluded), then he is probably an "insured" per the definition of the policy.
His insurance company will likely not get involved, unless there are a lot of damages (more than the policy limit in your policy to trigger his). His insurance company is secondary to yours.
The issue of fault will be more difficult. The point of impact will make it look like as your boyfriend rear ended the vehicle in front, and act that would put him at 100% fault.
You can show innocence by having witnesses or a very strong independent witness that saw the accident happening. The police report can also you help.
The other thing that would be dependent on would be the other driver to admit what happened.
All of these things are difficult to get, but you can only give it a try. You can also hire a lawyer to defend you.
For more information about how to determine fault, visit:
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Fault-for-the-Accident.html
Good Luck,
Anne
http://www.SpokaneLegalHelp.com
