Can a person file charges in automobile accident without a police report?
27 Apr 2010My sister was in an accident where she re-ended someone, who in turn bumped into the person in front of them. The person in the very front had no damage to her car (and no insurance) so she left before the police arrived. The person in the middle declared no damage to her vehicle and my sister denied a police report because she didn’t want to turn it over to insurance ($$$). When my sister got home, the girl’s mother called (the girl IS a legal adult, as is my sister), stating that her daughter suffered “neck trauma” and was going to the emergency room – implying that she would need insurance information. Additionally, the girl’s mother also stated that the car did indeed have damage.
My sister’s father contacted their insurance agency and the police department. The insurance agency said it sounded like a scam and that nothing would probably come about from it due to a lack of police report. The police said she could indeed file an incident report, and that she could take matters to court if she really wanted to.
So, my question is, can this woman “prove” her daughter was injured and her car was damaged during the accident without a police report? Seems to me like if she could then she could easily “damage” the car on her own and then turn around and claim it was my sister’s fault.
Yes, I realize my sister should have called the police and file a report. However, she is young and inexperienced and therefore did not. That is not the matter at hand. The question is whether or not the other party can realistically do anything without a police report.
The girl in the middle drove an old beat-up clunker. It was such a light tap, it only dented the bumper of my sister’s Jetta.
But how can she PROVE my sister was the one who did it? I mean, realistically, without a lawyer involved, etc.
I think the fact that the middle girl’s car was older (read:stronger/sturdier) than my sister’s newer car (read:plastic) plays a large part in the amount of damage. The middle girl’s car (according to my sister) appeared to already have some scratches and dents (she actually personally knows this girl).
ACCORDING to my SISTER, this girl and her family are rather low-income and don’t, um, take pride (for lack of better term) in their appearance or home.
Oh, AND this happened in front of a school during dismissal so there was a police officer directing traffic right across the street. They couldn’t have been going faster than 10 mph…
Related Post :
Other Post :
Sponsored Links
Incoming Search Term from visitor :
reporting an accident without police, car accident without police report, claim without reporting accident, do i have to call cops in an accident, how can someone file a civil suit on accident that there was no charges, if there was a person sited in an accident will that persons insurance have to pay?, is a police report necessary for a suit, SUED IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT IF NO POLICE, wt the police will do without insurance, suing sisters insurance compnay,Comment Form
About this blog
This is about Auto Insurance Information.
Sponsored Links
Categories
- Auto (675)
- Auto Insurance (1029)
- Auto Insurance Claims Answers (963)
- Auto Insurance Claims Expert (165)
- Auto Insurance Coverage (596)
- Auto Insurance Quotes (89)
- Cars Insurance (1430)
- News (303)
- Questions Auto Insurance Claims (54)
- Truck (321)
- Trucks Insurance (193)
- Uncategorized (17)
- Value Auto Insurance Claims (428)
- Brandon M: when you get there go to the nearist dmv and they will point you in the right direction [...]
- oklatom: New Residents If you are a new resident in Ontario and have a valid driver's licence from another pr [...]
- PEEN69MGEEN: Well it starts at over 30k so probably 35k. [...]
- Jess/19: $28,000 [...]
- mbrcatz: Ah, those are easy states! So what you want to do, is contact a LARGE carrier - Travelers comes i [...]
- Car Finance – Which is better between Buying and Leasing
- The Way How to Refinancing Our Car Loan
- How Can We be able to Lower Our Car Insurance Premiums
- A Guidance of Auto Insurance Info
- Get Approved Auto Loans after Bankruptcy with Bad Credit
- An Easy Alternative to Buying a Car with Car Loans
- Finding a Good Lender in Car Loan Financing
- Saving On Premiums in Car Insurance
- Are You Obtaining the Most Effective Deal in Car Insurance
- High Risk Drivers Car Insurances
4 Responses to Can a person file charges in automobile accident without a police report?
Yeh Y
April 27th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
This is exactly why you call the police in any accident, no matter how major or minor. There are lots of scumbags like these who later fake injuries.
And, the other girl will probably get some sort of neck brace along with a doctor diagnosis on it.
Also how could the girl in the middle get rear-ended and have 0 damage to her car?
Basically, the girl in the middle can legally sue your sister and may be successful in doing it, even though she is blatantly lying.
Howard L
April 27th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Legally your sister has nothing to worry about because she did nothing wrong. In most states if there is no injury and the damage is less than some amount i.e. $1,000 it is not necessary to file a police report which was the situation at the time of the accident.
The other party has a right to later say they discovered hidden damage or woke up the next day with pain they think is the result of the accident and now want to file a claim. Having a police report wouldn’t matter because there appears to have been no visible damage and no one was injured. that’s all the police report would say other than the time of the accident and its location. Even if it is a scam there’s nothing you can do about it but report the incident to the insurance company and let them fight the claim. It really is out of your sisters hands.
sydkan
April 27th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Most of the times the police will not even come to the scene in most cities unless it’s a serious accident, a vehilce needs to be towed or an injury. Your sister hit the person in front of her enough so that this vehicle was pushed forward into another vehicle. This is more than a tap. So your question as to whether or not someone can do anything without a police report is yes, they can. The police will only put down that she did not request medical care at the accident scene. Some injuries will not show up for a few hours and sometimes a day or two. this is not that uncommon.
Could your sister caused bodily injury to someone, the answer is not only possible, but in this case very probable. T
Best to report it to the insurance company and let them handle it.
KazKam
April 27th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
As an answer to your question, yes. The girl can file charges and pursue your sister in court. As to if she’ll win or not, since she’ll be suing an insurance company, their lawyers will bring to light that she hadn’t issued a report at the scene and any damage could have been after the fact (adding reasonable doubt and removing a clean conviction). The girl’s character plays a lot into this as does the two automobiles involved in the accident.
Don’t worry. If a suit arises, do not settle. Let the insurance company handle it, they’ll decide what’s best. They’re always prepared for a little insurance fraud.