Posted: 10/19/2006 9:12:29 AM EDT
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My daughter just got in an accident in Pheonix. Nothing serious, noone hurt, but some damage to my truck. She was leaving the Pilot truck stop when a big rig pulled in and caught the rear of my truck with his trailer. The driver offered to pay $350 cash if she would agree to no insurance company involvment. She called me and asked what she should do. She sent me pictures of my truck and there is a lot more than $350 in damage.I told her to get the ins. info. and any other info. she could get. It turns out the insurance company never heard of this driver. The phone number he gave her is answered by someone who claims to no know the name the driver gave my daughter. I have the impression that my daughter was kind of intimidated by the driver, so she did not call the P.D. at the time. This all happened in the last hour, or so. We have the license numbers for the tractor and trailer. My daughter is currently waiting for the police to arrive and make a report, but I'm thinking a low priority call might take a while. Any advice on what to do now? |
I work as a handling rep. for a fairly well known insurance company and I here stories like this ALL the time. I hate to say this but there is probably little that can be done unless a report is made by the Phoenix PD. I am not sure if you have gotten ahold of them yet but all too often when some of my customers leave the scene of the accident the police will refuse to make a police report. If by the grace of God they do take a report you might be in luck. File the police report and when you call your claims adjuster they will go ahead and order the report. Once the report is complete the police should have been able to track down some info on the driver with the license plate number you gave them. With this information that was obtained by the police department the handling rep for your insurance company should be able to send the claim to subrogation. Please do not ask the handling rep if he can gather information with a license plate number. We do not have the means to do this nor is it legal to do so. The police are the only one who can legally get information with a license plate. Even with subrogation your chances are slim that you will get any money back from the deductible you will have to pay out. My fiance was rear-ended by an unisured motorists over a year ago and we have yet to see a dime  Next....to make your life simple. ALWAYS Call the Police and have them take a report....let me know how it turns out |
Yup...worth the wait. I've seen roving claims adjusters get to the scene before I do...check book in hand for a "one time offer." I'd always say "no" if I were on that side of the wreck. |
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If the accident occurred inside the actual parking lot, then the damage must be 5000 or greater for the phoenix officer to take a report. If the damage occurred on the roadway then the threshold is 1000 If an accident report is not made, then the officer will assist the two drivers in exchanging information. Phoenix has a triplicate form for this purpose. The officer is supposed to make sure each driver has filled out his/her section and then he will write his own name/# in the space provided. This is for verification if at a later date an adjuster has a question. I can see 'after the fact' arguments over liability if a report w/diagram is not made, and in some cases, if the officer chooses not to cite the 'at fault' driver. I wish you and your daughter the best. |
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Thanks for the replies. My daughter spoke with the police a short while later. They were able to give her the names of the owners of the truck and the trailer. The insurance company never heard of them, either. I will talk to my ins.co. tomorrow. I only carry the min. required, so I am not expecting a whole lot of help from them. The accident happened as my daughter was leaving the parking lot and the other truck was pulling in. My guess at damage est. woould be between $800 and 1500. i haven't had any body work type things done to a car since the early eighties, so my guess probably ain't worth much. Thanks again. |
Might be a total loss on the truck if it is from the 80's with $1500 worth of damage. By minimum coverage do you mean just liability???If that is the case then you are probably right about them not helping out much. Since they cant collect on the damages they will probably assist you on the right direction but not be able to refer subro. P.S. most fender benders that I write estimates on are around $1000 so your guess is probably right on. |
The truck is a '97 F-350 crew-cab 4x4. "By minimum coverage do you mean just liability???" Yeah, pl, pd, uninsured and under-insured. |
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My daughter brought the truck home this afternoon. The damage doesn't look as bad in person as it did in the pictures. The driver's side of the bed is trashed from about half-way between the rear tire and the bumper, the bumper is twisted around like a pretzel, the taillight is smashed, and the frame for it is caved in, the rear of the bed is pushed over into the tailgate, and some of the sheet metal is torn. All in all, I think I can bend/pound the metal back into usable shape. I did get the tailgate working. I'm probably just going to cut the bent part of the bumper off with a sawzall as a temporary measure. I guess I'll look like a true redneck for awhile.  |
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I would start leaving messages with the owner of the trucking company now. You should be able to look up the company here: starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/connect.p?app=names-report.p Tell them you want the name of their insurance carrier to file a claim and would prefer not to have to sue them in small claims court. My guess is they will offer you a cash settlement. Make sure you get a repair estimate before you go chopping and bending things. |
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I was unable to find anything on that website. Unfortunately, I don't have the company name. It is an owner/operator out of Ca., the owner apparently was not the driver. The police told my daughter that the driver's license number matched the name the driver gave. Sometimes it's hard to be an optimist, but (Jules voice)I'm trying, I'm really trying(Jules voice). |
If you have the trailer license number your insurance can get the owner's name from Ca DMV. With that they can get his Ca permit number and his insurance carrier info. Any "motor carrier" in California must have his insurance on file with the permit deptment of Ca DMV. |