Minor accident on i-495. What should have been done? (car registration, insurance) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

sequon · 10-13-2016, 08:12 AM

My wife was involved in an accident on I-495 yesterday. She was driving alone. There was evening traffic but the cars were slowly moving along with frequent stop-and-go's. Suddenly the driver behind her rear ended her minivan. The cars weren't going fast, about 10-20mph (only my guess). The damage was clear on our minivan--the bumper got a little loose with visible paint damage, plus the back of the car was damaged with the severely bent door latch(?) part. The other car didn't seem to have much visible damage.

It was very clear that he's at fault. He was negligent. There was no lane change or anything like that, the other driver simply hit her car from the back. He admitted that he put the accel pedal instead of the break when he saw her stop. She asked what his insurance he had--it was Statefarm but he didn't have the insurance card in his car--it was his mother's car, he said. He let her take the photo of his driver's license and car registration (his mother's) and said "I will call my insurance company tomorrow morning. You do the same." And left the scene.

Now, without having been in the scene I don't know exactly, but I don't understand his action. I think it was 100% his fault, then shouldn't he be responsible for ALL? Why does he tell my wife to call our insurance company?

We in fact don't carry a collision coverage on the van. So when she called our insurance company, the answer was, not surprisingly, "call the other insurance company and file the claim." Then, she called and filed the claim.

I don't like the fact that he didn't give her his contact info and left the scene. I would have just called him and demanded that he take care of everything, instead of us having to deal with it while being shaken. I think he should have given his phone number to her, so we could have contacted him with any questions. I'm not sure if he violated the law by not giving her his phone number--probably not, in the legal sense probably he's OK because he showed his ID and car registration to her. But he could've done better.

The Dissenter · 10-13-2016, 08:24 AM

Was this around 6:15ish near the 66 interchange? Just curious because I drive by that yesterday.

HokieFan · 10-13-2016, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sequon

My wife was involved in an accident on I-495 yesterday. She was driving alone. There was evening traffic but the cars were slowly moving along with frequent stop-and-go's. Suddenly the driver behind her rear ended her minivan. The cars weren't going fast, about 10-20mph (only my guess). The damage was clear on our minivan--the bumper got a little loose with visible paint damage, plus the back of the car was damaged with the severely bent door latch(?) part. The other car didn't seem to have much visible damage.

It was very clear that he's at fault. He was negligent. There was no lane change or anything like that, the other driver simply hit her car from the back. He admitted that he put the accel pedal instead of the break when he saw her stop. She asked what his insurance he had--it was Statefarm but he didn't have the insurance card in his car--it was his mother's car, he said. He let her take the photo of his driver's license and car registration (his mother's) and said "I will call my insurance company tomorrow morning. You do the same." And left the scene.

Now, without having been in the scene I don't know exactly, but I don't understand his action. I think it was 100% his fault, then shouldn't he be responsible for ALL? Why does he tell my wife to call our insurance company?

We in fact don't carry a collision coverage on the van. So when she called our insurance company, the answer was, not surprisingly, "call the other insurance company and file the claim." Then, she called and filed the claim.

I don't like the fact that he didn't give her his contact info and left the scene. I would have just called him and demanded that he take care of everything, instead of us having to deal with it while being shaken. I think he should have given his phone number to her, so we could have contacted him with any questions. I'm not sure if he violated the law by not giving her his phone number--probably not, in the legal sense probably he's OK because he showed his ID and car registration to her. But he could've done better.

Did she ask for his phone number and he refused to give it to her? With the exception of not getting his phone number, I think your wife did the correct thing by taking photos of his DL and registration card. And insurance card, but if he doesn't have it, what can you do?

I was rear ended on I-95 during rush hour traffic. It was a low speed collision but I called the police because I wanted a report for insurance reasons. We waited for 30 minutes, and they didn't show so we exchanged contact information and I took a photo of his driver's license and insurance card. He also took a photo of mine even though he was at fault.

When I got home, I called my insurance company (State Farm) just to report it and they advised me that I could either file a claim with them and then they would go after his insurance company, or I could go the direct route and file a claim against his insurance (Esurance), which is what I decided to do.

FWIW, before Esurance would pay the claim, they required their insured to give his statement of what happened. Which he did once I texted him to let him know that I couldn't get my car repaired until he spoke with his insurance company. He was dragging his feet a little on that but he did call them once I sent him a nicely worded text message.

Since he was driving his mother's car, the claim should actually be filed against her insurance. The vehicle is insured (or is supposed to be), not the driver.

spencgr · 10-13-2016, 08:29 AM

1) Pull to the side of the road.
2) Exchange information.

Why should he have to give you his contact information? Assuming the insurance is valid, you have no need to contact him. I've been in a minor accident (our side lights "touched") and I provided my name, insurance info and showed him my license. He then demanded my phone number. I saw no need to provide it. He also wanted my physical address (my license has a PO box), and I didn't provide that either.

sequon · 10-13-2016, 08:35 AM

Thank you for the reply. It was right before 7. I495 SB. Near Gallows Rd Exit. You might have seen it, there were a lot of cars.

I just received a call from StateFarm. The other party accepted the liability so they will repair the damage. I feel better now. What difference a 5-min conversation with someone who knows how to handle the situation!

Moderator---I don't have any more grudging feeling about this. If you think it's appropriate, you might delete this.

z28lt1 · 10-13-2016, 08:51 AM

Just to throw this out there, here is the VA Code on what the driver legally has to provide:

"report his name, address, driver's license number, and vehicle registration number"

So, legally a phone number or even insurance information seems to not be required. I think part of that is because that information must be reported to the police and the other party, so the police probably don't care about insurance. I can't imagine not providing insurance information, particularly for a driver that pretty obviously was at fault, but it appears they would not be required to do so.

car54 · 10-13-2016, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HokieFan

I was rear ended on I-95 during rush hour traffic. It was a low speed collision but I called the police because I wanted a report for insurance reasons. We waited for 30 minutes, and they didn't show so we exchanged contact information and I took a photo of his driver's license and insurance card. He also took a photo of mine even though he was at fault.

When I got home, I called my insurance company (State Farm) just to report it and they advised me that I could either file a claim with them and then they would go after his insurance company, or I could go the direct route and file a claim against his insurance (Esurance), which is what I decided to do.

This ^^

My wife got rear-ended turning into our driveway. The guy's insurance immediately "totaled" our car and made an extreme low ball settlement offer. I was getting ready to call my attorney when I thought....can't hurt to call my insurance company. So I did and they said they would send an adjuster to look at our car who said it was close to a total loss (older car but with very low miles).

My insurance company then told me to take the car to one of their preferred body shops for a closer look. If it was repairable, they would fix it. If it was indeed totaled they would then negotiate a fairer settlement with the other guy's insurance company. They put me in a loaner car and off I went. Turned out the car was repairable and they fixed it like new at zero cost to me.

Always remember that you are not a customer of the other guy's insurance company...they could care less what you think. You ARE your insurance company's customer...and the good ones will go to bat for you.

NOVA_guy · 10-14-2016, 05:32 PM

I'm always wary of leaving the scene with just someone's phone number or someone's license plate number but sounds like your wife did the right thing.

paposo · 10-16-2016, 07:36 PM

It's actually better if the person that got hit calls the insurance. You can't expect the 'at fault' party to call on their own.

sequon · 10-22-2016, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spencgr

1) Pull to the side of the road.
2) Exchange information.

Why should he have to give you his contact information? Assuming the insurance is valid, you have no need to contact him. I've been in a minor accident (our side lights "touched") and I provided my name, insurance info and showed him my license. He then demanded my phone number. I saw no need to provide it. He also wanted my physical address (my license has a PO box), and I didn't provide that either.

Thanks to z28lt1's comment, now we know that you are legally required to provide not only insurance info but also your contact info.

You may wonder why the contact info is needed when the insurance is available to take care of the incident. That's because the insurance company does not always handle it properly. If they don't pay enough for the repair for all the damage, for example, I would have to go against the at-fault driver.

Unfortunately, that's what's actually happening now to us.