Got hit by uninsured - file claim or deal with privately

[Anonymous]

Got hit pretty bad (read-ended) by uninsured driver. Police report filed.

Driver of other car didn't speak English much but through my broken Spanish and his broken English he said he would prefer to pay for damages privately.

I would estimate damages will be 4-6k.

Insurance said I could claim under collision insurance and they would cover it with $500 deductible. They would then "go after him." (Sounds horrible).

Or I tell him cost and see if he pays. But based on a number of factors I have a hard time believing he could come up with the cash and I don't want to do a private payment plan.

I want to do what's fair, and I feel like I'm justified in filing the claim and not going out of my way to help him avoid the consequence for not having insurance. He had a drivers license in the state so I assume he's not without papers, just maybe didn't get around to renewing insurance?

I do feel bad, but really don't want to be in the hole 4-6k for something that was not our fault and also preventable had he had insurance.

Wwyd?

[Anonymous]

I would have called the police first, and then filed through my insurance, providing the police report. And let them handle it, that’s why they’re there. Why all the weird under the table stuff? How is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

Let your insurer handle. This is why you carry uninsured motorist coverage. If the guy really can’t pay, they will write it off. If you agree to some informal side deal, you are in an ongoing relationship (which you don’t want), will have to deal with endless haggling if he pays anything at all (debatable), and may jeopardize your ability to make a claim later when he doesn’t pay (quite likely IMO), although it sounds like you've spoken to your insurer so maybe that’s not a real risk here. You want this to be your insurers problem, not yours.

[Anonymous]

Unless you're rich like Keanu Reeves, use your insurance policy to fix your car. It's unlikely someone that can't afford insurance can afford to repair your vehicle with cash. If it was something that cost a few hundred bucks then that's one thing but 6 grand? I seriously doubt it.

[Anonymous]

If he can’t afford insurance, he can’t afford to fix your car. File insurance claim. How is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have called the police first, and then filed through my insurance, providing the police report. And let them handle it, that’s why they’re there. Why all the weird under the table stuff? How is this even a question?

This is what I did. Got the repairs and never thought about it again.

[Anonymous]

Do not try to go through him privately. Best case scenario he drags his feet and slowly pays you some small amount of money. More likely he drops off the face of the Earth and you never hear from him again. Pay the deductible, have your car fixed, and have insurance deal with trying to find him, collect, or more likely eventually get a default judgment that he never pays.

[Anonymous]

I would ask him for the $500 deductible..you have nothing to lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he can’t afford insurance, he can’t afford to fix your car. File insurance claim. How is this even a question?

Yeah exactly. There is no way this non-english speaker without insurance is going to pay $6k to fix your car. They offered to settle it privately because driving without insurance is a big deal and they could lose their drivers license, if they even have one in the first place.

[Anonymous]

This is why you have uninsured motorist coverage in your policy. Do not deal with the other person, let your insurance company pay you.

[Anonymous]

In California if you can’t show proof of insurance at an accident they impound the car. Wish that were the case everywhere.

[Anonymous]

The one person I know who tried to settle privately ended up having to file a restraining order against the person who caused the accident.

[Anonymous]

Definitely let your insurance handle it.

My daughter got hit and fell for a sob story from the uninsured motorist.
She felt bad for the person and did not want them to get into any trouble
So she devised a payment plan and only received three payments before completely losing contact.

My best advice?
Go through your insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In California if you can’t show proof of insurance at an accident they impound the car. Wish that were the case everywhere.

So true.
I am a resident of CA and can say that yes, driving w/out auto insurance (liability) will get your car towed.

[Anonymous]

Guy is driving with no insurance and you feel bad for them. Amazing. You know if you didn’t have full coverage you’d be screwed right?

He’s driving illegally, you should have called the police.