Lexus ES 350, Does this parking lot accident have to be reported? (Ontario)

[Provincial]

I was in my co-worker's Lexus ES 350 as he was driving through a parking lot at work. He accidentally scraped the front left of the car above the wheel because he manoeuvred too close to the concrete base of a lamp post.

I'm telling him he should report because it's going to be over $1000 to get that fixed. But he doesn't want to because it really wasn't a "collision" so to speak as no other cars were involved, and it was in a private parking lot anyway. He doesn't want it messing with his insurance record, or interfering with the lease return. He wants to pay privately to fix it. No other car was damaged other than his own.

Doesn't he have 48 hrs to report before he creates bigger troubles for himself? Or am I just being overly paranoid and pestering him over nothing?

[kamakurakid]

Makes sense really, my car was keyed and the insurance claim came out to $1,200. The body shop told me if I did not go through ICBC they could do the repairs for $700. I bet they would have gone down to $500 if I paid cash and asked for no paperwork.

Your buddy is doing the smart thing.

[Provincial]

Originally posted by kamakurakid
Makes sense really, my car was keyed and the insurance claim came out to $1,200. The body shop told me if I did not go through ICBC they could do the repairs for $700. I bet they would have gone down to $500 if I paid cash and asked for no paperwork.
But doesn't that mean that the body shop will not give a warranty if it's done under the table? They have no incentive to do a good job.

And if you go back and complain, they would probably just blackmail you and say you would get convicted of insurance fraud if you made a big deal out of it. I say it is smarter to report!!

[boxer23]

making a police report is completely different from reporting it to the insurance/lease company. The bodyshop must by law ask for a police report. Also it's up to the owner of the car to report the damages to the insurance.

[Abeo]

Originally posted by Provincial

But doesn't that mean that the body shop will not give a warranty if it's done under the table? They have no incentive to do a good job.

And if you go back and complain, they would probably just blackmail you and say you would get convicted of insurance fraud if you made a big deal out of it. I say it is smarter to report!!

Its Ontario, people are free to get work done on their car... it happens all the time with lease returns, it doesn't even need to be under the table. People actually have the choice of getting things fixed themselves there, you don't need the police or insurance company's permission. Calm down, no one is going to be convicted of fraud unless he is somehow taking money from the insurance company (ie, claiming vandalism or getting a buddy to 'steal' the car and write it off).

[Provincial]

Originally posted by boxer23
making a police report is completely different from reporting it to the insurance/lease company. The bodyshop must by law ask for a police report. Also it's up to the owner of the car to report the damages to the insurance.
Thats' weird, I got rear ended last year and got estimates at 4 different body shops. Not one asked me for a police report (though I did get the report.)

[Provincial]

Originally posted by Abeo


Its Ontario, people are free to get work done on their car... it happens all the time with lease returns, it doesn't even need to be under the table. People actually have the choice of getting things fixed themselves there, you don't need the police or insurance company's permission. Calm down, no one is going to be convicted of fraud unless he is somehow taking money from the insurance company (ie, claiming vandalism or getting a buddy to 'steal' the car and write it off).
This doesn't make sense to me... if you are failing to report an "accident," then you are hiding information that would be used to re-assess your risk category. So you would be "taking" money from the insurance company in that manner because they no longer have an honest risk assessment. It's a violation of the terms of your insurance policy because it looks to be over $1K in damage.

Am I just too honest / paranoid here? I thought beyond's response would be the opposite of what I've seen.

[Abeo]

What do you think happens when you don't have comprehensive insurance and a ladder falls on it in the garage or it gets damaged in a hailstorm or whatever... you just pay yourself to get it fixed. I had a car burn to the ground, it wasn't insured for that, I took the loss... insurance is for people who can't let that happen. The risk assessment is from what you choose to expose yourself... ie traffic tickets and claims, you have the choice to claim or not (however if you are in an accident with another party and they claim, it goes against you).

Technically, yes, you need to report if its over a certain amount, but you don't need to tell the insurance company about it unless you want to claim it.

[911fever]

Originally posted by Abeo
What do you think happens when you don't have comprehensive insurance and a ladder falls on it in the garage or it gets damaged in a hailstorm or whatever... you just pay yourself to get it fixed. I had a car burn to the ground, it wasn't insured for that, I took the loss... insurance is for people who can't let that happen. The risk assessment is from what you choose to expose yourself... ie traffic tickets and claims, you have the choice to claim or not (however if you are in an accident with another party and they claim, it goes against you).

Technically, yes, you need to report if its over a certain amount, but you don't need to tell the insurance company about it unless you want to claim it.

bingo!

[canuckcarguy]

I thought the requirement to report accidents over a certain dollar amount was to allow the police to look at the damage and make an educated guess as to whether the vehicle hit another vehicle or damaged private or public property. If they chose to, they could visit the site of the accident and verify that there was no damage for which the driver might be responsible.

I don't think it has anything to do with insurance. If the bodyshop is willing to fix it, great.