So my sister was in a mall parking lot the other day and watched a guy back into her car. She was in a restaurant and by the time she got out the guy was gone. I guess one of the bartenders at the bar knew the guy so she was able to get his information (car, tag, phone). She called him and he was going to come see the car but he didn't show. She got an estimate of $450 to replace the bumper cover (I looked at it, it needs replacing and the estimate is reasonable). I told her to call the cops and she did but was told that since it happened in a parking lot there is no liability?

This seems odd to me - does this mean you can do whatever you want in a parking lot?

If it were me I'd just pay for it but she's in college, you get the idea. What are her options?

Thanks.

 

no, it's a hit and run because she has the witness. Cop should've arrest the guy.

 

Incorrect - as long as she has witnesses and pics of damage, she just has to file a police report. Should have done it when it happened, but afterwards is OK.

Then there are 2 ways that I know of to handle this:
1) file claim with her insurance with above said records, they pay her, and the subrugation(sp?) dept will go after that guy and his estate/insurance.
2) Go after the guy in small claims court and traffic court. 1st let the traffic violation stick (hit and run) then take that to small claims for the $$ win!!

I had similar experience - Guys that parked my car in a parking garage scratched it up, they deny..so I filed a police report next day (should have been right there) and used MY insurance. Sub. dept. went after parking garage and they won the settlement but by then the owner had filed bankruptcy. Case was won, but it was my insurance that covered...no recoverable onthe judgement.

Therefore I suggest you chase the dude down with Option TWO (2)..esp since you have witnesses.

HTH

 

I've had something similar happen to me recently. Parking lots here are private property so for insurance purposes, it's covered under the no fault portion. So going through insurance is a no - no. You can call the cops, and they will most likely do an accident report, no one get's charged, but you have some documentation. They would advise the guy to pay your sister. Now, if he's a *****, your next option is to go to small claims court.

For me, this guy slammed his door into my rear driver door. The body panel was waved, three small dents and a scratch / scuff about 8 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide. I got an estimate to fix it and it came to $470. I gave a copy of the estimate to the guy and he gave me the cash.

Now, when did this accident happen? If it's been less than 48 Hours (or is that just for insurance?), take it to an accident reporting centre and get a report filled out. With all his information (if available). Contact the guy again, and if he's not cooperative, get the police involved. They will go and talk to him.

Good luck!

 

My brother just went thru the very same type of problem, and his insurance company told him that altho the police may feel that there is no liability, and that they probably won't issue an incident report, in fact in this type of issue, there is liability assigned for insurance purposes, so witnesses and other pertinent info is very important.

If she hasn't talked to her insurance agent yet, tell her it's important to do so.

G/L
C.

 

i say take a bag full of $h!t, place it under his door, step on it, and then go to the ins. and get his a$$ handed to him....

 

That's all good but she would still have the $h!t to deal with on her shoe...

 

I believe that the sequence is:
take a bag full of $h!t, place it under his door, knock, light the bag and then leave
ps it would be a good idea to make sure someone is home.

 

As I know, police will only come to parking lot accident if the hit is more than $500...I am not too sure tho...
Ya, as some one here have said, it's a HIT AND RUN...coz that guy didn't leave any info and ran away???
Anyways, good luck with this problem...

Kcc

 

Awesome - thanks guys. I will let her know in the morning exactly what you suggested. This is kind of what I expected and I'm happy to hear it confirmed. I really appreciate it.

 

Its in the private area (parking lot) and there is no one injured, therefore police and/or ambulance will not attend the accident scene. Technically, if the bartender did not see the accident occur, then he is technically not a witness. Therefore, there is no witness for your sister. So it is a hit and run situation. As far as i know, the last thing you want to do is report to the inurance company (unless its a very big damage), because your insurance premium will go up for sure.

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned 4 people actually witnessed him hitting her car. The bartender just happened to be the one that knew the guy. The place they were at has outdoor seating right beside the lot, so pretty much everyone sitting there saw it happen.

I just got off the phone with her and told her to call her insurance company (not claim it) just to ask her agent what she should do. At this point its more about principle than anything else - I could probably repair the cover myself but the thought of that ***** getting away with it just irks me. To think you can just ram your car into others peoples stuff and no one will do anything about it.

 

That's not right that the police wouldn't come to a witnessed hit and run.
Private property notwithstanding... .....are they that busy?

G/L with the insurance co., Picus,
With a witnessed h/a/r, you'd think they'd lay the blame on the guilty party (and will I'm sure) so that the claim won't affect your sister's record, and will be assigned to the guilty party.
That S.O.B needs to be taught a lesson too... B*stard. GRRRR

C.

 

From my understanding, and my friend confirmed this with me (he works at a bodyshop) that this incident occured on private property. Insurance purposes, this falls under the no fault area of our insurance. If a claim goes in, her insurance will go up. She'll be paying for it for the next 5 years.

 

I read recently an article on auto insurance and my recollection is that the article said that the fault for any collision in a parking lot is assigned 50/50 by the insurance companies so even if the other guy hit you, you are still liable for 50%, which means your insurance premiums will go up. I don't know if that changes if you have witnesses who saw the other guy hit you. Seems unfair that your premiums go up if it wasn't your fault but it wouldn't surprise me if that's what insurance companies do.