Before giving the details, I'd be happy to give a generous tip if
anyone can give me advice that helps protect me in my current
situation. (Of course, I am the judge, and to get any tip, it has to
be something that I did not know, that helps protect me, that I
consider to be valuable information.)
That being said, I know Google answers is not a replacement for legal advice.
I have had more than my share of fender benders, and unfortunately, I
recently had a new one, in Maryland. There was bumper to bumper
traffic on the interstate, and when traffic seemed to pick up, I
started rolling forward with my foot off the brake, and traffic
stopped again. I was distracted somehow, and did not notice until it
was too late, and I rolled into the person in front of me.
I did not see any damage, but I gave the guy I hit my info and
listened to him complain that I should pay attention. (Which I should
have been.) He agreed to contact me first if he found there was any
problem. I apologized and he started to walk off: I hollered at
him because I did not have his information, but he left. Not sure if
he did not hear me or he meant to leave without giving me info.
The next day, I get a phone call from him. He states that there is
about $1200 in damage, that the fender is bent down (something about
the brackets being bent). I asked for an itemized statement with all
the details, and he agrees to send me one.
I figure I can call around, ask a mechanic myself, and see if it is
reasonable. If it was, I'd pay it if he'll sign I release. (I had
not told the man I was going to look around or ask him to sign a
release, yet.)
The next day I get a handwritten letter, with prices of all the parts, etc.
He states that if he doesn't get a check within a week of the day he
wrote the letter, he will contact my insurance company. The total in
his letter has gone up to $1340...He wrote that he forgot $68 in tax.
I took his letter to a lawyer. The lawyer said, I can try to call him
up and reason with him, but that I was correct not to pay on any
handwritten document. (I already knew that it was why I went to talk
to a lawyer.) He said to make sure I got him to sign a release if I
still worked with him myself, and that my other option was to turn it
over to the insurance company. The lawyer said it would probably rack
up a lot (more than it was worth) in fees if I used a lawyer to handle
it.
After seeing how the man acted, 4 days after the accident occured, I
called it into my insurance company, Geico. Now the man is claiming
all kinds of stuff, and saying that the accident caused complications
with his ear surgery, and threatening to get a lawyer. Geico wants to
take pictures of my vehicle, to compare, and I have other damage on my
vehicle. I am sure it will make it look like the accident is worse
than it was.
I had a very similar accident about 5 years ago, only I slid on ice
into someone. It looked like there was only bumper damage, and again
I tried to work it out, and again the next day I got a call that the
whole undercarriage of their car was damaged, and I knew that wasn't
so, so I turned it in to Geico. They paid $300 to fix the bumper, but
then the woman complained about back pain, and they paid her $2000
even though the only damage I had done was to break a bolt on the
license plate, and put a scratch on the bumper. Geico had promised me
that they would do their best to minimize it, and the agent I talked
to on the phone after the fact was shocked at the medical payout. (She
did not say, you could hear it in her voice when she looked it up for
me.) The woman was fine when we talked at the scene, out walking in
the snow looking at the damage with me. (While I realize there could
have been some whiplash, I did not have any, the accident happened at
a slow speed, and my car took most of the damage.)
I truly don't believe there was any medical damage in either case.
I know the best thing for me to do is to be more careful and not get
in accidents, but I'd certainly appreciated any advice for the current
situation, as soon as possible.
I had a young man hit me in the grocery store parking lot, and I told
him not to worry about it. That's just me. If there is little or no
damage, I figure I should give someone a break, and not try to milk
the system. |
