Sorry for the theatrics, but I was in an auto accident his morning. Car rear ended me at a stop. Guy tried to get away but I followed him and got his license plate number and already filed a police report and contacted my insurance company. My question is, since he fled the scene, now I'm pissed, I want to get paid. Any advice?

 

If you have insurance and a police report, you should be covered. Sorry to hear about the accident but you are LUCKY you got the plate number.

 

Your insurance should take care of everything. No need to do anything else.

 

Ahem...I think your neck really hurts and you now need to go to the doctor...Cough cough wink wink.

The guy fled the scene. You should really get a lawyer and get the loss of value on the car along with pain and suffering compensation.

 

What is cause of concern is that the car that the OP was following was stolen, or the car was not registered, etc.

If the driver won't stop, especially when there are witnesses, there must be a bigger pressing concern. He might be a car thief, or an unlicensed driver without any insurance. In that case, your insurance company would be completely footing the bill.

OP is lucky if he has full coverage, because if he has just liability, then he might be screwed. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there.

 

Regardless of the situation, if this car was stolen or the driver uninsured let your insurance company handle it! This is why we pay our premiums so we can depend on our coverage. Good job getting his license number, hope he is the owner and goes to jail for hit and run. These are the kind of people that wouldn't stop if they hit your Grandmother in a crosswalk.
Gary

 

Did you read what I said? If the OP doesn't have full collision coverage then he's screwed. If he has just liability insurance will not cover it. There are plenty of people in that situation and ended up having to pay out of pocket, regardless of fault. Some states have a no fault policy and each party has to shell out their own damages.

It's all about what kind of insurance you have in your car.

 

From what he posted it sounds like he's smart enough to have full coverage....
Anyone that can afford an Infiniti should have the common sense to have full coverage other wise there's to much liability to ourselves. We have "No Fault" insurance in CA. due to all the illegals in their throw away cars.
Gary

 

You'd be surprised how many don't have full coverage...if you visit the marketplace you can see some people parting out their cars due to no insurance coverage with an accident to recoup some of the losses.

I saw a 2008 G37 coupe on there that was being part out because he didn't have full coverage insurance when it was totaled. Our cars are not worth as much as they used to- I would ballpark it around $17-18k so it is just like owning a brand new Honda Civic without full insurance coverage, which many people do.

There are also plenty of people who own salvage title/ flooded cars and I don't believe you can get full insurance coverage for those either. What's interesting is that the insurance rates stay the same even though your car has depreciated in value significantly, so sometimes, it is wise to change your insurance from full coverage to other plans.

 

Best is to have all your insurance with one company so the cost isn't significant. Home and all cars along with life insurance with one company will lower the cost. If you're living at home being on your parents policy will help too. Having full coverage is more important than what oil or octane gas you use. It doesn't take much damage for company's to total our cars as we've seen on DRIVER too often....Gary

 

Yes, but not all auto insurance companies offer home insurance, life insurance, etc...Also, sometimes, in order to keep your auto insurance you need to have a clean driving record. I used to have the whole package deal until other drivers in my policy started getting into too many tickets and was kicked out of auto insurance, which can happen to anyone with a bad driving record, no matter how many " bundled package deals with umbrella policy" you have with that insurance company.

Sometimes, people can't get everything covered for other reasons. If they bought the car with a salvage title they can't get full collision insurance. It isn't as simple like that. Having full coverage only applies to those who really have the money to afford all of those things. As we all know, insurance is getting extremely expensive as years go on.

 

No clue if you were serious about this or not, but if you are, this is exactly one of the reasons why America is becoming a less desirable place to live. Everyone bringing lawsuits against other people for very little reason. Let insurance deal with it and move on in life rather than trying to milk $ out of something that doesn't exist (and for no valid reason). Trust me, I'm not advocating a hit and run, but the thought of getting "pain and suffering" entitlement from this incident is laughable.

 

Exactly. The OP should just be made whole again. If he does have neck injuries from this accident then he should get paid for it, but to fake injuries that don't exist just to get more money is unscrupulous. The driver who attempted a hit and run will have his license suspended or arrested because that's a separate crime altogether. He's already going to suffer consequences once he gets caught.

 

WOW!!! really a hit and run?!? Good job on getting the guys plates! I hope your insurance nails the guy. Where was this (where your from)? Glad your ok and i think your neck is a little sore.

 

I can be wrong... but even if you have full coverage, don't you have to have Uninsured Motorist if you're a victim of a hit and run? Or if the person who hits don't have insurance?

If you do have UI insurance, and if you are injured, you can make a claim against your Insurance company without having your premium go up is my understanding.