Question regarding Insurance/Police Report

[tiggerlover]

My MIL had an accident with a deer. She stopped and tried to find the deer, but he must have run off. She was on a country road and could still drive her car so she drove to the nearest police station, one town over. The officer told her that to fill out a police report she needed to pay $15. My question is two parts, #1, do you need to file a police report to claim damages from a car/deer accident and #2, is it standard procedure to have to pay to file an accident report with the police station?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[ahutton]

It is sometimes helpful but not necessary to complete a police report for a collision with an animal. In some cases (not with deer usually) if someone owned the animal they might be liable for the animal being on the road and the police report would help with verification of the data for your insurance company. I have heard of (and often paid) to receive a copy of a police report, but have not heard of being charged to complete one. That is new to me, and FWIW I've been an adjuster for 15 years!

 

[Disney Doll]

I have never heard of paying to file a police report. I have heard of paying to get copies, but it's usually a nominal charge, like $1 or $2.


My suggestion is that she should call her insurance company, tell them she hit a deer, tell them the police report story and see what they say. I mean, deer damage is pretty easy to tell on a car, so they may tell her not to worry about the police report. I also athink I might call the polce department and ask a general question about the cost of filing an accident report. Something about that seems fishy to me.

 

[peg2001]

I am GUESSING that they were quoting a cost to get a copy of the report. If the police actually start charging to file a report, I'd be flabbergasted.

Peggy

 

[MICKEY88]

I've never needed a police report to prove a deer collision to my insurance company{ALLSTATE}..although the last time I hit one,,it was 3 AM I turned around to go check on the deer and there were 2 State cops right down the road, they hit the lights and followed me wondering what I was up to...LOL

they were quite understanding when I pointed at the deer and at the front of the Mickeymobile...

the best thing to do with a deer collision is to get the car to your insurance agent as quickly as possible...so they can see it,,, if you've hit a deer hard enough to do damage there is usually blood or fur stuck somewhere on the car..which is very good proof of a deer / car collision...

 

[BedKnobbery2]

I work for a PI lawyer, and never heard of paying to file a report before. However, it is a good investment because as others have pointed out, insurance companies often request a police report for proof of the accident.

Regarding the cost of a copy of a police report...most are $5 or $10 in our area, and rarely is the report more than 1 or 2 pages....but there is one town in our area that charges $25 for the report--I said to my supervising attorney, that thing better be printed on gold leaf for that price! (It wasn't.)