I nailed a hit and run driver...I Hope.

[Pedersen]

... those that do could easily give false info with no repercussion, because the troopers on scene can't verify anything, they can simply record the info given to them.

The part that ticks me off, though, is that insurance company. A week after the fact, I got told by the rep who was handling my claim that the policy number was false, and he knew it as soon as he got it, because the first character was an R, and that company had never issued a policy number starting with an R.

I called her company at the scene to get things started. The guy on the phone could have said the same thing. He could have tried to pull up that policy, and found a non-existent policy. That would have been enough to detain her until things could be sorted out. He didn't.

So, now I'm out my deductible ($500). My truck still looks slightly funny because the bumper was installed slightly different from original. And she's free as a bird, no consequences, other than her car might have a dent still. Due to the way she hit, though, her car was perfectly drivable.

I still want to know why that company didn't say something as I was speaking to them the first time. It took me nearly a month to get my vehicle back because of that mess she made. I could have expedited that, and gotten my money back by now, and she would have received some form of punishment for deliberately screwing with me like that.

Yes, deliberately. She had a false insurance card. She had to have that made, or made it herself. She knew it was false. It wasn't a matter of expired/non-expired. Policy never existed. So, yeah, deliberately screwing with other drivers, and I just happened to be one of the lucky ones that found out about it.

[Banrion]

If she went so far as to make her own insurance card, it's possible the "claims rep" you talked to either a) worked for the company, but possible in on it, or b) didn't work the company at all, and was stringing you along the whole time

[Pedersen]

You would not like the phrases that just came to mind. I think the nicest of them was something similar to "I'm such an idiot!", but was about three times as long, and had a whole lot of curse words in it.

I never thought of that. And that is a very real possibility.

Wait, just thought of something: They actually did send out an inspector who gave me an estimate to get the damage repaired. It probably was on the up and up for that much, I hope.

I dunno. I do know that if ever I'm in another accident, though, and it's clearly the other person's fault, I'll be using 411 to get their insurance company's claim department, and confirming that it's an active policy.

That will not happen again.

[Banrion]

Wait, just thought of something: They actually did send out an inspector who gave me an estimate to get the damage repaired. It probably was on the up and up for that much, I hope.

That would be VERY strange. Why would they waste man hours going out to get an estimate for damage, when the policy never existed?? Unless it was in fact a very elaborate scheme to the point that even the company wasn't sure the policy never existed.

[South Texan]

So, call her company I did, to report the claim. Took them a week to finally tell me: The card she presented wasn't a valid insurance card. The first character of the fricking insurance policy was enough to tell them so. Had they told me this on the phone when I spoke to them at the scene, I could have had her arrested right then and there for presenting fraudulent insurance information to the officer, driving without insurance, and probably a few others.

If your insurance company is not going after her right now for this, SEE AN ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY! As it only has been a year, the statute of limitations probably has not run and it usually is possible to have charges for driving without insurance filed long after the wreck. In my city, it is done all the time. It also is possible to sue her for the wreck and recover your deductible and all your damages.

Attorneys LOVE to take cases in which the other party admitted fault to the police. These are slam dunks for them.

[protege]

Hit and run drivers suck.

Some of you know that my grandparents lived along a two-lane rural highway. It twists all over the place and the 45mph speed limit is a joke. Right in front of their house, is a straightaway. Even so, it didn't stop idiots from driving through the fence. I could understand on a corner, but on a straightaway? Anyway, most people who wrecked always came clean with their info. If they didn't, the car was usually messed up so bad it was undriveable, and we'd get it anyway.

One guy takes the cake though. He went through the fence, and took off He got caught though, since one of the neighbors tracked his ass down. From the clues left at the scene, he was in a silver or grey late-1970s Monte Carlo. That car was found in the next town--it broke down, and was abandoned. When the cops compared the broken grille section and parts of the lights, they fit exactly. Driver got busted, and was forced to pay for the fence.

[darkhunterII]

well I read this post yesterday and thought to myself "guess I'm lucky to never have been in an accident, they seem like such a pain." I had just come back from a long trip and was driving back from the airport. It was three am so I figured it would be a good idea to stop and grab some caffeine well I come back out and my rear bumper is laying on the ground the whole light assembly on that side is broken and there's a long gouge running the entire length of my car getting deeper at some points and shallower towards the end. no information to speak of. Drivable, barely but enough to finish getting home. CS I blame you for jinxing me, well not really but you get the point.

[draftermatt]

They actually did send out an inspector who gave me an estimate to get the damage repaired. It probably was on the up and up for that much, I hope.

Dude, call a lawyer. An insurance company would not send someone out for someone without a policy. They would check shit like that (a lot) first. I think the person who told you it was a fake lied. Either that or it is some very elaborate scheme cooked up.

My insurance company sent an inspector out for my hit & run, when I was the one with the policy for 6 years, and my dad for longer than that.

[Reyneth]

Pederson, you can also go to the DMV and request that her license be suspended as she was driving without valid insurance. If the accident happened in RI, I'm surprised your insurance didn't do that (call them and find out!) if they had enough info to do so because trust me, they want to get the rest of their money back too. Have you talked to them about their process when dealing with uninsured motorists.

I'll check on RI's SOL (statute of limitations) for dl suspension requests and any other requirements at work today for you.

And if your truck wasn't repaired correctly, talk to your adjuster at your insurance and get it fixed! That's why you pay insurance, it's their job to make sure it gets done correctly.

The # of people out there with fake insurance is and unfortunately a lot of those jerks don't pay a dime for the damage they caused. People with a short lapse in coverage that are very unlucky, I feel bad for. But the scammers? No pity.

[Pedersen]

Actually, she was from Rhode Island, according to her paperwork. The accident happened here in NJ.

[Dips]

Last week Mark was hit by the world's stupidest hit and run driver.

He was sitting in a long line of cars waiting to merge from one highway to another at rush hour. There was an accident on the highway he was getting onto and things were backed up badly.

Along comes a truck whose driver decided that the best way to cope with a long line was to barge into it and pray someone would see her and let her cut in.

Mark didn't let her in. Next thing he knows: CRASH! SCRAAAAAPE! And he can't see his left side rearview mirror any more.

Since the other driver stopped he pulled up and motioned her to roll down her window so they can agree on a safe place to pull over and exchange information. She stonily stared ahead for a few seconds then drove off and pulled the same maneuver (successfully, this time) and wound up about ten cars ahead in the line.

Just think about it a moment. She gave him plenty of time to look her car over, then fled into the line of cars entering a traffic-jammed highway. To top it off she had a distinctive vanity plate with her first name on it. I won't say exactly what it was, but it started with a B and ended with an I.

How did she think she'd get away with it? All Mark did was call the state police and they nabbed her when she reached all the police cars surrounding the accident which caused the traffic jam she was trying to beat. It wasn't exacltly hard for them scan traffic and spot the huge tan truck driven by B***I.

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I got rear-ended in my last car (me, Chevy Prizm, stopped waiting to make a left; him, mini-van, moving at least 50 mph; car, totalled) the guy didn't have a license (came up suspended but when it went to court I learned he was unable to get a license in the first place, I'm guessing because of immigration status; he had an accent from somewhere in Eastern-Europe) and he also couldn't find the insurance card. At the time I was too concerned about the whole collar-and-backboard-in-an-ambulance situation to worry about it but luckily the owner did have insurance and I got my deductible back. The driver was arrested at the scene.

He did come up to my car and ask if I was OK, though, so I guess he wasn't a heartless jerk. And in court I didn't get him 45 days in jail**, cuz I'm so nice (on my birthday, no less).

(**if I had been more seriously injured he would have had a mandatory jail sentence; I had severe whiplash and some lingering shoulder problems for a while but I didn't feel the need to exaggerate things to the judge)

[Reyneth]

Actually, she was from Rhode Island, according to her paperwork. The accident happened here in NJ.

Dang. NJ isn't one where insurance companies can request suspension. RI has no time limit, btw. It's still worth a trip to your DMV though. Gotta hit the people who think they don't have to pay back what they owe where it hurts. Maybe they can say to Paris if they decide to drive on a suspended license.