Will Insurance Company Find Out?

[RedDawn]

My parked car was hit a couple days ago. 100% other driver's fault with him on record admitting fault to the police. Other driver wants to settle outside of insurance.

However, we both have the same insurance company. This being my first time dealing with something like this, I was wondering:

a) Since we both have the same insurance company, even if we do settle privately, won't the insurance company still find out and hike his rate once I report it to them?

b) I haven't informed my insurance company yet. If we settle outside of the insurance company, do I still have to tell them? I've reported it to the police already and obtained the collision sticker. ~$3k in damage.

[MR2-3SGTE]

If you do it privately, you do not/should not report it to insurance. Otherwise they will increase his rates. If the other driver was also cited a ticket after admitting fault to the police officer, the insurance company may be able to find out. But most likely they'll only increase his insurance due to the ticket and not the damage.

[eblend]

The whole idea of settling outside of insurance, is to not get insurance involved at all. Why would you tell your insurance company, you got the funds to fix the car, the guy didn't want insurance to know for a reason, to prevent premium increase, so don't tell anyone, take the money and fix your car (or not, do whatever you want with it)

[RedDawn]

I'd still like to report it so there's an official record of what happened, if I can do so without his rates going up. I'm just trying to understand if his rate will go up or not. The two opinions are:

a) It won't go up because, even though it was reported, he didn't file a claim.

b) It will go up solely because it was reported.

Which one is it?

[relyt92]

Originally posted by RedDawn
I'd still like to report it so there's an official record of what happened, if I can do so without his rates going up. I'm just trying to understand if his rate will go up or not. The two opinions are:

a) It won't go up because, even though it was reported, he didn't file a claim.

b) It will go up solely because it was reported.

Which one is it?

Would depend on the company. If you're settling, you don't tell insurance, otherwise put it through as a claim. You said he's admitted to police it was his fault and was ticketed, is that not official record?

[Jonathanl10]

He doesn't need to file a claim because you did. The second you tell the insurance company for 'record' purposes, it's a claim, and they will pursue damages. It's their job.

Settling outside of insurance is like dealing under the table with cash. No record, no one knows and no strings attached.

If you're deciding to settle out of insurance and you report it to the insurance company anyway then you're being an asshole lol

The fact that you want to report it to your insurance company means you don't want to settle out of and yes, his rates will increase accordingly because there's a record of him being 100% at fault. Quite frankly I wouldn't give a damn whether his rates went up or not because I'm not paying for damages. The only reason why I would do it is if the damage was small enough where I don't want to waste the deductible or where I don't want a claim on my car that affects later resale value.

[Cos]

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[codetrap]

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[Thaco]

police report is your official report, echnically you should report it to your insurance, but all that will do it pur a note on both of your history which will be take in to account for future incidents.

[Jonathanl10]

Originally posted by codetrap
Huh? This makes no sense. Assume I'm the guy who's at fault. Why would my rates go up if I'm paying for the repairs to another vehicle out of my pocket? There's no claim against my vehicle.. so?

Well, I could agree to settle out of insurance and one day bite you in the ass by telling insurance company anyway. Now you paid me cash, and there's a claim on you so you got ripped off. I pocket that cash and get insurance to deal with repairs, and you can't do anything because there's no receipt or proof that the transaction happened.

Generally this doesn't happen because the guy whose at fault is the usual one trying to weed himself out.

One day, someone is going to back into your car and be all sorry and want to settle it out of insurance. Then one day later, there's a claim on your vehicle saying you rear ended him and that you conveniently didn't file a claim. Now you're fucked and look like the enemy. If I get into an accident where I'm not at fault, I call insurance right away because if you don't, you're setting yourself up for a scam.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by Jonathanl10
Well, I could agree to settle out of insurance and one day bite you in the ass by telling insurance company anyway. Now you paid me cash, and there's a claim on you so you got ripped off. I pocket that cash and get insurance to deal with repairs, and you can't do anything because there's no receipt or proof that the transaction happened.

Generally this doesn't happen because the guy whose at fault is the usual one trying to weed himself out.

One day, someone is going to back into your car and be all sorry and want to settle it out of insurance. Then one day later, there's a claim on your vehicle saying you rear ended him and that you conveniently didn't file a claim. Now you're fucked and look like the enemy. If I get into an accident where I'm not at fault, I call insurance right away because if you don't, you're setting yourself up for a scam.

lol, you think insurance is an "i told daddy first so i win" game? its facts based on the evidence... not who tattled first

[Jonathanl10]

Originally posted by Thaco
lol, you think insurance is an "i told daddy first so i win" game? its facts based on the evidence... not who tattled first

Well, I did leave out the fact that since there's a police report and what not so there's paperwork to back up what happened.

My scenarios being completely blind/no proof or police involvement. When there's no proof you can't deny that it's a tattle game.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by Jonathanl10
Well, I did leave out the fact that since there's a police report and what not so there's paperwork to back up what happened.

My scenarios being completely blind/no proof or police involvement. When there's no proof you can't deny that it's a tattle game.

avoiding insurance has nothing to do with the police, you ALWAYS file a report with the police.

[Cos]

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[Jonathanl10]

Originally posted by Thaco
avoiding insurance has nothing to do with the police, you ALWAYS file a report with the police.

I just meant that a police report is proof... I know that a police report and the insurance are independent of each other...

I'm just emphasizing the fact that if stuff is unreported with insurance, the risk of one person not keeping their end of the deal and reporting it anyway can quickly turn the tide of the argument.

[CompletelyNumb]

Originally posted by Cos
Super dick move to take his cash and then still file a claim.

Settle in cash or go through insurance, pick one.

[Cos]

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[codetrap]

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[Thaco]

Originally posted by Jonathanl10
I just meant that a police report is proof... I know that a police report and the insurance are independent of each other...

I'm just emphasizing the fact that if stuff is unreported with insurance, the risk of one person not keeping their end of the deal and reporting it anyway can quickly turn the tide of the argument.

you;re still saying its who tattled first, which it certainly is not.

[schurchill39]

Originally posted by Jonathanl10
If I get into an accident where I'm not at fault, I call insurance right away because if you don't, you're setting yourself up for a scam.

This. I've unfortunately learned my lesson on both sides of this as I was a bit of a shit head driver when I was younger.

I've been in accidents where I was not at fault and the other driver wanted to settle outside of insurance. I took their word and when I presented them with 3 quotes they didn't like how much it cost. I was too dumb at the time to call my insurance company after because I thought I would be penalized for not going through them in the first place.

In my personal experience, the police did nothing to help outside of taking the initial report. When I went to them I got the "its not our problem" treatment.

I've also slid into people in the winter and wanted to settle outside of insurance. When I paid them in cash I later found out they submitted a claim then disappeared when I called to get my money back.

All in all unless its my wife or a friend, I will never again try and settle outside of insurance. There is way to much potential for you to get fucked over regardless of which side of the accident you're on.