as for those who've known. I recently got into an accident. Cops never showed up to file a report...

Would the Insurance company offer me more money if they had a police report? I was told by a police officer that if I mail in the police report, then it gets added to my record.

So I'm kind of confused on whether or not I should go down to the police station and get a report and fill it out myself or not. I certainly don't want it to show up on my records though, but not for the expense of them being cheap on me and wanting me to go to one of their preferred body shops.

I'm with All State Insurance by the way... and I heard that they probably won't cover my rims, since it was on the opposite side of the accident. I got hit on the passenger side, but my front driver's side rim got scraped when i swerved to avoid him... sigh I really hope they cover all my damages even without a police report. (I contacted the police on my phone over 30 tries, they kept saying that they will dispatch the next available unit everytime. I ended up waiting at the shopping plaza for over 3 hours, and I gave up and just left... I also had a laptop in my car that got damaged as well... the screen is acting funny now... I really hope they cover this. I'm not too familiar with how all this works, since I've never got into an accident before.

Any advice and help would be appreciated on what the best way to go about handling this would be a life safer for me.

 

The insurance company is going to pay you the replacement value of the damage. Your rim included. They have too. The $ it take to get your car back the way it was is the amount you get. You need a police report. Get it done ASAP. What record are you refering to? How ever the repot gets done, it's the same thing. The report is a must. It's to protect yourself from liability.

 

ok i went down to the police station and got a report and they told me to fill it in, under estimated amound of damages for my car i put in $2000, it was just a guess, i wasn't sure how much it was going to actually be. But today i took my car down to the body shop and they said it would be $4000 to fix.

I just hope they wont see me put down $2000 and then not give me a check for $4000 is what i am worried about.

 

no, they will pay for whatever the bill is.

Thats what insurance is for.

 

Your estimate doesn't matter. The reason they ask for that estimate is not for insurance purposes or anything like that. From what you described I would have guessed $5000 + lab top. Never low ball yourself.

When Al Bundy was asked "What did you have in the trunk of your car" when it was stolen, he said "They stole my salami". He thought for a moment and said, "Wait a minute, I had two(2) salami's"!

+ The Mona Lisa, etc., etc.

 

well hopefully the insurance will give me a break since this is my first accident claim ever. I've had a clean record. Hopefully my rates won't go up.

Since the police gave me a report form and told me to take it home to fill out, i guess i can write up exactly what i want. And I'll know it'll be pretty much as accurate as I can be, well at least for what happened and the damages that occured. I don't quite remember my exact speed i was going nor the speed limit of the road I was in. I hope that's ok if i write down a guestimate and that the insurance claim representative won't hold those values that i put down against me. Because I don't remember exactly.

 

nyckid-First, your laptop will not be covered by your auto policy. Only the vehicle will be covered as long as you have collision coverage. A laptop is personal property that would be covered under a homeowner's policy if you have one. If not, then unfortunately your auto policy is not going to cover the damage to your laptop. Now if the accident was the other parties fault, their insurance must cover all of your damages including your laptop and anything else that was in your vehicle that was damaged. If it is your fault, only your vehicle's damage will be fixed by your auto policy and you would need to make a claim under your HO policy, if you have one, for your laptop. If not, then you are going to have to pay it out of pocket. Now as far as your record, if the accident has already been reported to your insurance company, it is going to show up on your driving record. If it is not your fault, then it will not affect you at all. However, if it is your fault, you will definitely see an increase in your insurance premium not to mention that you will now have what is equivalent to a point on your driving record. Without knowing the specifics of your accident, it is kind of hard to give you a better idea of what to expect so these are all generalizations. BTW, I have been in the insurance biz here in Cali for almost 10 years now so of course I am basing my response on the way things are here in Cali but I doubt that they are very different in NY.

 

ok, well the accident wasn't my fault... im out of luck with this one i guess, since the guy who hit me doesnt have a driver's licenser nor insurance. I know the insurance company will give me a check for the damages inflicted on my vehicle. But like you said if it wasn't my fault. Then it's the other party's insurance who should cover for ALL damages, including my laptop. Thing is, he has no insurance. :/ and the vehicle he was driving wasn't even his.

 

Make sure you keep a copy of your phone bill for that month that showes that you called the police 30 times.