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Car Accident Advice (Any attorneys out there?)

Financially this won't be a big deal for you, but be prepared to get totally pissed off if/when they come back claiming "injuries" and seek damages. A few years ago, my son was leaving the high school parking lot in a line of cars, took his foot off the brake and rolled forward and I mean barely tapped a 1990 Bonneville. Damge to my son's car? None. Damage to the Bonneville? hard to tell based on the age/condition of the car, but one of the brake light covers was cracked. The resource officer just happened to see the whole thing, and had my son call me so I could tell the "victim" that I would pay to replace the light cover.
When my son got home, I lectured him on paying attention/not playing the radio too loud, etc., b/c I've seen how kids leave that parking lot. My son gave me the whole "you're overreacting" thing, but i told him not to be surprised that when the "victim" and his passenger went home, someone "got to them" and saw Daddy (me) as a source for easy money.
Sure enough, next day at work I get a call from my son, he's with the resource officer filling out a police report, and those two sob's who were in the other car are standing there grinning and wearing neck braces. But it gets better: I told my insurance company this whole thing is a fraud, and not to settle w/o talking to me first. The insurance company interviews the other two parties separately by phone, and the driver correctly said he was driving and his cousin was in the passenger seat. Well, "cuz" says he was in the back seat and "thrown" to the front, and some friend of his (we've added a 3rd person now) was in the front seat, so that's why his injuries were so "severe". So now we got them, right? Didn't hear a thing back on it, figuring it was dead. A year or so later I happened to ask my local agent if she ever heard back on it; "no, I never did, but let me pull it up". To her surprise but not shock, $2K damges to the car and $4K to each of the two "victims" was paid out. And I've got two other stories from here at work about frivilous and fraudelent accident claims that are just as absurd; maybe for another time.
But in my son's case it was mostly a positive, b/c our insurance didn't go up and it was a great lesson for him in how there are people out there who are just looking to get into your back pocket and will use any means to do so, so be attentive at all times when driving.
 
What appears to be superficial damage may still result in a larger than anticipated estimate from a body shop. Someone ran into me a couple of months ago, probably doing < 10 mph, when I was stopped in traffic. The impact wasn't enough to deploy their airbag, and it seemed like my rear bumper was fine other than needing to be repainted. I went to a body shop recommended by their insurance company, and the estimate was $700+. You should also be aware of the fact that w/i about 2 days after your accident, the person you hit will be besieged with solicitations in the mail from personal injury attys who routinely check accident reports.
 
ResIpsaDeac said:
What appears to be superficial damage may still result in a larger than anticipated estimate from a body shop. Someone ran into me a couple of months ago, probably doing < 10 mph, when I was stopped in traffic. The impact wasn't enough to deploy their airbag, and it seemed like my rear bumper was fine other than needing to be repainted. I went to a body shop recommended by their insurance company, and the estimate was $700+. You should also be aware of the fact that w/i about 2 days after your accident, the person you hit will be besieged with solicitations in the mail from personal injury attys who routinely check accident reports.
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if there's ever any repainting that's necessary, the price skyrockets. if it's just a dent, it's no big deal and pretty cheap. but even the smallest scratch can end up costing several hundred dollars. when my car got hit while at wake (somebody hit it while pulling out of a parking spot, so SUPER low speed. just a dent and a scratch), the car was worth something like $8000 total, and the damage estimate was $900. it seemed ridiculous to me, but they have to repaint a large area even if the scratch is pretty small.
 
Yeah, they usually repaint the whole quarter-panel or bumper or door because it takes less time than trying to blend the paint with the undamaged area.
 
A few years ago my car was hit in the parking lot of my office. I was in the office at the time and the person that hit my car took off. I had backed my car into the parking spot so the damage was the the front bumper, one headlight, and part of the hood. My insurance company checked it out and drew a diagram of where it was hit and authorized the repair at a body shop. Unfortunately the diagram did not show that the car had been backed into the parking spot so the morons at the body shop assumed it was not backed in, and replaced the perfectly fine rear bumper, leaving the front a mess. True story.
 
She is claiming medical damages to her back and neck, but her friend who was also with her isn't making any claims. At the scene, she told me that she was fine and that my car was in much worse shape than hers, and all she needed was some paint to the bumper. She also told the cop she was fine. I assume her father in Michigan is telling her to take full advantage of this situation. I sent the picture to my insurance company, and I am going to make a statement for the attorneys tomorrow.

Any advice for this? Does what she said at the scene matter at all?
 
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Again, deep breath. It doesn't matter what this girls gets. You're not paying a dime, your insurance company is, and I can guarantee you they're not going to fork over thousands of dollars just on her say-so.

Tell the truth, answer the questions they ask you, and don't be in a rush to give your whole story or try to make her look like a liar. The worst witnesses in the world are those who sound like they have an agenda/vendetta, and right now that's exactly how you sound. No paranoid theories about her dad in Michigan, no speculation about how badly she is/isn't hurt, just ell them what you saw and heard. Don't sweat it; you have nothing at stake tomorrow.
 
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OldGoldBeard said:
Again, deep breath. It doesn't matter what this girls gets. You're not paying a dime, your insurance company is, and I can guarantee you they're not going to fork over thousands of dollars just on her say-so.

Tell the truth, answer the questions they ask you, and don't be in a rush to give your whole story or try to make her look like a liar. The worst witnesses in the world are those who sound like they have an agenda/vendetta, and right now that's exactly how you sound. No paranoid theories about her dad in Michigan, no speculation about how badly she is/isn't hurt, just ell them what you saw and heard. Don't sweat it; you have nothing at stake tomorrow.
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This. The claim has been filed and you were at fault. Depending on your insurance company and policy, your premium may go up, but the amount they pay (or don't) to this girl should have no impact. Just answer the questions they ask truthfully and let the insurance company take it from here.
 
Some good advice here. I do a lot of insurance defense work (for several different insurers), and what you've been told so far is pretty much right. I can't even begin to tell you how many cases I've handled with (1) a lack of significant damage to the vehicles, (2) assurances from the party who isn't at fault that they aren't hurt at the scene, and (3) a later injury claim in addition to the property damage claim.

From what you've said, liability is not an issue--you're at fault, so what happens from this point forward is really out of your hands, as there will be a provision in your insurance policy that gives your insurer the right to either pay or deny the claim as they see fit. Your responsibility will be to provide them with whatever information they need and assist in the defense of your case should a lawsuit be filed.
 
You are getting good advice from others here about not taking it personally, staying calm and just telling what you know. The fact that you were involved in a minor impact collision, in which the other driver or passenger claimed no injury at the scene and later claims injury, by no means makes you unique. There are likely thousands of claims that fit this fact pattern currently pending in North Carolina, and many of them are legitimate claims. Full disclosure, I'm an attorney and I handle personal-injury claims as part of my practice, but there are many good and honest people who get in a car wreck, initially think they are fine, but end up having pain develop in their neck or back in the hours or days following the wreck. Obviously I don't know if that's the case with the person that you hit, but you can rest assured that your insurance company has tons of experience defending these claims, and will examine the claim closely before paying these people any money.
 
KitchinDeac said:
You are getting good advice from others here about not taking it personally, staying calm and just telling what you know. The fact that you were involved in a minor impact collision, in which the other driver or passenger claimed no injury at the scene and later claims injury, by no means makes you unique. There are likely thousands of claims that fit this fact pattern currently pending in North Carolina, and many of them are legitimate claims. Full disclosure, I'm an attorney and I handle personal-injury claims as part of my practice, but there are many good and honest people who get in a car wreck, initially think they are fine, but end up having pain develop in their neck or back in the hours or days following the wreck. Obviously I don't know if that's the case with the person that you hit, but you can rest assured that your insurance company has tons of experience defending these claims, and will examine the claim closely before paying these people any money.
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Kitchin: I agree her insurance company will take a close look at it, but only to quickly determine a number to make this go the hell away. I deal with this stuff on a regualr basis, and while there are tons of people with legitimate claims and medical issues, there are boatloads of sorry-ass people who see any minor bump as a chance to cash in. In the personal example with my son that I posted earlier, I gurantee you those kids were probably "hit" harder that week when they brushed against someone walking down the hall; i.e. you say "excuse me" and keep on walking. But in this society, once you put someone in a vehicle, everything is subject to a lawsuit for basically no other reason than it occured in vehicle.
 
I would like to invite DownEastDeac to serve as a juror in pretty much every case that I take to trial...
 
Well, apparently my company settled with her for $25 for her medical injuries and made her sign a release. Her father was the one who opened up the claim for pain and suffering. She hadn't even gone to the doctor.

They are claiming $1500 on the bumper on their 1998 Dodge Intrepid on one estimate. The retail value of her car is about $2,500 so we want a second estimate before we pay that.
 
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