Question about liability and hitting someone's car.

[Mom21]

My dd was parked in her dad's driveway. Her half brother hit her car with his motorcycle. $600 worth of damage. I sent estimate to the dad. He says he's not paying it, but refuses to give me the phone number of his son or the insurance info. He said I should have to pay for it.

He says son only has liability and that won't pay if she wasn't in the car when it was hit. Is that true? Also, is there any way to get the insurance info since I can't get any contact info from the family? This son is 21, doesn't have a job, and lives in a halfway house which his dad pays for every month. My dd says he was busy smoking a cigarette and driving the motorcycle so that is why he hit her car.

Where can I go from here? I already have another $600 worth of work from where she hit a pole. I can't afford 1200.

 

[davedmaine]

My dd was parked in her dad's driveway. Her half brother hit her car with his motorcycle. $600 worth of damage. I sent estimate to the dad. He says he's not paying it, but refuses to give me the phone number of his son or the insurance info. He said I should have to pay for it. He says son only has liability and that won't pay if she wasn't in the car when it was hit. Is that true? Also, is there any way to get the insurance info since I can't get any contact info from the family? This son is 21, doesn't have a job, and lives in a halfway house which his dad pays for every month. My dd says he was busy smoking a cigarette and driving the motorcycle so that is why he hit her car. Where can I go from here? I already have another $600 worth of work from where she hit a pole. I can't afford 1200.

Call the police

 

[kerplop]

Yep, file a police report which will require them to provide proof of insurance. Then voila, you have the insurance info. For the record if all he has is liability, it will be covered because that's exactly what it's for. It covers damage HE does or in other words, damage he is liable for.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Tritto for calling the police.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I agree with pp. You should have filed a police report the moment that you found out what happened. Because it happened on private property some departments will not make a report, but if they do then you need to go to the station and have a " post incident" report made. If you have anyway of getting the tag number of the car then the police will be able to pull the info and it will be provided on the report. Also, if the son does not have the proper insurance to cove this and because it happened on private property then in some cases the homeowners insurance might pay. My cousin had a similar thing happen and her homeowners paid for the damage to the car. I do not know what your relationship is like with your DD's father, but you could threaten to sue his homeowners if he does not provide you with the information that you need to peruse.
Worse case, you might have to eat the cost if you want your DDs car fixed, but I would go down every road I could to recoup my cost.

 

[MomToOne]

Liability insurance will cover it. But I suspect DD's father already knows that. He's probably paying that bill as well though, and doesn't want to see the rates increase. Or he knows the son is driving without insurance.

Do you have collision damage on your insurance for the vehicle? If so, call your agent and give them whatever info you have - name of the son, who the insurance carrier MIGHT be, license plate, etc. They probably have some ways of locating the carrier, and they will help you go after them.

There's always small claims court too, but I'm not sure if suing the father would be allowed, or if you'd have to sue the son. And if you don't have an address or phone for the son, suing him may not be possible.

If you don't think any of that would work, you'll have to weigh whether calling the police is worth the fallout from taking that action.

ETA: If you can get the license plate, go down to your DMV and see if they can help you get any information. In my state, there is a form you can fill out to obtain registered owner name and address from the license plate for insurance reasons, legal action, etc. (At this point, I'm wondering if the motorcycle is actually registered in the father's name.....)

 

[libinatorsmom]

I know that in cases where the damage was done on private property sometimes the police will not get involved. I had a lady hit my car in my work parking lot and leave the scene I called the police and they said since it was done on private property they are not responsible and didn't and would not take a report.

 

[tvguy]

I know that in cases where the damage was done on private property sometimes the police will not get involved. I had a lady hit my car in my work parking lot and leave the scene I called the police and they said since it was done on private property they are not responsible and didn't and would not take a report.

.

Same here, Police wouldn't even respond let alone take a report on private property. But if you have insurance, they will handle it, get your car fixed, then take them to civil court if they have to.

 

[bumbershoot]

I know that in cases where the damage was done on private property sometimes the police will not get involved. I had a lady hit my car in my work parking lot and leave the scene I called the police and they said since it was done on private property they are not responsible and didn't and would not take a report.

That was my experience as well.

My case was a bit different: a child ran smack dab into my car on his bicycle. I saw him coming through a gap in the bushes but couldn't maneuver at all so I just stopped to keep my velocity out of the damage equation. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day and many people were out and saw it happen and verified that there was nothing I could have done. The boy ran away but others knew him. In the end, his dad's home owner's insurance paid for the damage to my car (broke the sideview mirror and messed up my hubcap and did some paint damage).

In other questions like this, some have suggested having your own insurance company go after the other party.


It's so sad that her dad won't pay for the damage her half-brother did. If one of my half brothers did that to my car my dad...well my dad would try to fix it himself as he thinks of himself as a mechanic...but at the very least he would take responsibility. And my dad isn't the greatest of people. So I definitely feel for your daughter. It's not fun at all to have that dynamic in a parent.

 

[scrapquitler]

My dd was parked in her dad's driveway. Her half brother hit her car with his motorcycle. $600 worth of damage. I sent estimate to the dad. He says he's not paying it, but refuses to give me the phone number of his son or the insurance info. He said I should have to pay for it.

He says son only has liability and that won't pay if she wasn't in the car when it was hit. Is that true? Also, is there any way to get the insurance info since I can't get any contact info from the family? This son is 21, doesn't have a job, and lives in a halfway house which his dad pays for every month. My dd says he was busy smoking a cigarette and driving the motorcycle so that is why he hit her car.

Where can I go from here? I already have another $600 worth of work from where she hit a pole. I can't afford 1200.

Call the insurance that covers DD's car. They will tell you know to proceed (and they will likely do most of the work in investigating)

 

[mistysue]

I want to wish you good luck.
I was hit on private property once. It was a few thousand dollars of damage (a woman drove onto the hood of my car!) and the police would do nothing.

 

[Pembo]

Ditto on calling your insurance company. Tell them what you know about the driver of the other vehicle and they will go from there. No charge to you.

 

[Ranger111]

DON'T CLAIM IT is my advice.

1) Police will not <usually> do anything -- not even take a report -- unless there is a serious accident with a chance of injury -- even if it is on a public road.

2) As said -- you can call your insurance company and make a claim -- tell them all the details and they will deal with it -- but not what I would do

3) The "other driver" can and may deny hitting said car -- may deny ever saying they hit it.

4) If it were me -- I would probably get it repaired myself. Not worth the HIT your insurance is going to take (yes, it was not your fault, and no it may not make your rate go up, but KNOW it will be on record, and if you have another accident -- even again if it is not your fault -- ODDS are it will cause some adjustment in your rates (it's called the unlucky driver syndrome). For $600, I would not claim it. Just not worth the hassle and the ping on your record for such a small amount.

5) If you insist on claiming it -- I might just go the "phantom driver route."

 

[JillyBean1899]

1) Police will not <usually> do anything -- not even take a report -- unless there is a serious accident with a chance of injury -- even if it is on a public road.

*WRONG*!! I had a lady roll backwards into my car that was stopped at a traffic light and start screaming at me for hitting her car. I called the police, they filed a report (minor damage to each car, she rolled about 10 feet back into me in neutral) and gave me a copy. Even noted in his narrative that the other driver still had her car in neutral when he arrived (why it was in neutral I'll never know). My copy got sent to my insurance company, and they handled everything.

Call the police department and see what they recommend. And calling your insurance company should be your next step; tell them you're not filing a claim and just want information on how to proceed.

 

[crisi]

Around here, if you call the police and say you need a case number for insurance, they'll take the report to get a case number - then they don't do anything.

Your biggest issue is going to be that this is "he said, she said" it doesn't sound like your ex or your DD's half brother is likely to own up - at which point, you can't make them pay.

And it sounds like your ex is a real winner. Thank god he's your ex.

If its your daughter's car, it sounds like it needs to be your daughter's problem. If its your car, I wouldn't let her have it in the future at her Dads.

 

[manning]

File with your insurance. They will go after him for reimbursement. You will have to pay the deductible, but when they collect will refund it.

 

[pad406]

Over here your insurance company would definitely follow up on it and chase them up, but I don't know what the rules in the US are like. But it could take a long time and get messy, with the potential of affecting your insurance rates in the future. Personally I'd contact him once more and make it very clear that you are not going to let it go and are prepared to go to all lengths to get it sorted, he could be just hoping that if he plays hardball, you and DD will take the easy way out and drop it. If I understand your post correctly it's your DD's car not yours? God help the man if he has no sympathy for his own daughter!

 

[plummer925]

God help the man if he has no sympathy for his own daughter!

I was thinking the same!! Goodness - this is his daughter! So sad!!

 

[Ranger111]

....Your biggest issue is going to be that this is "he said, she said" it doesn't sound like your ex or your DD's half brother is likely to own up - at which point, you can't make them pay.....
If its your daughter's car, it sounds like it needs to be your daughter's problem. If its your car, I wouldn't let her have it in the future at her Dads.

Exactly and exactly.

1) I would not want to deal with whole he/said she/said thing. And, as there is no evidence....well, if this was a TV show, they would go into the whole paint thing and all...but this is real life.

Which is why, and I don't recommend making a claim at all, but if you do, go the phantom route.

2) Daughter should deal with it. Having come from a large family (eight kids) and having six kids myself, the earlier they deal with these things themselves, the better -- make yourself available, of course, but let them get their feet wet -- esp. something like this. Very straightforward.

 

[tvguy]

*WRONG*!! I had a lady roll backwards into my car that was stopped at a traffic light and start screaming at me for hitting her car. I called the police, they filed a report (minor damage to each car, she rolled about 10 feet back into me in neutral) and gave me a copy. Even noted in his narrative that the other driver still had her car in neutral when he arrived (why it was in neutral I'll never know). My copy got sent to my insurance company, and they handled everything.

Call the police department and see what they recommend. And calling your insurance company should be your next step; tell them you're not filing a claim and just want information on how to proceed.

You certainly can call police. Certainly in some states police may come from such an incident on private property, and others will not. Just don't be shocked if they tell you they won't respond. Here they often don't respond to such a small incident on a public road, they instruct you to exchange information. For a lot of folks $600 damage would not even be as much as our deductible is.