And, please do not underestimate the physical damage to your human body! You may have whiplash and suffer for years. I know, I did and regret it. You think you’re not hurt, but you very well may be.
1-800-call-Valvecap ?
CSA
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Nevada_545 basically spelled it out for your options at this point. I’ve used this approach previously when I did not carry collision. In one instance I had to hound the person that rear-ended my truck and her Dad actually paid eventually. Having to deal with this stuff personally is why I now just pay for collision coverage. On older cars it is actually not that expensive and then I only have one call to make…
He’s 100% right. When I was 18 I got t-boned by someone who ran a stop sign. Was pretty banged up at first. Ended up settling for the value of the car and medical expenses + $7,000 for personal injury.
Oops. Decades later and I still have back issues from that wreck. Most days I’m lucky and it’s pretty low-grade pain, but others aren’t so fun. By the time I croak, I’ll have dealt with the effects of that injury for somewhere between 50 and 80 years. That should have been worth a lot more than $7,000.
Depends on the state and insurance. Some companies will split the uninsured motorist coverage for Liability and collision. So if you don’t have collision then the uninsured motorist coverage my not cover your damage, but it should cover any personal injuries.
You can guard against going into a rage with prayer, meditation, or whatever you use to manage your emotions (alcohol? marijuana?). Insurance companies stay in business because they collect more in premiums than they pay out. I have only liability and have dealt with every (small) accident myself, out-of-pocket. I didn’t have to wangle an insurance company, wait for an evaluation, and I paid less over those 22 years than I would have paid in premiums.
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Random troll has a post I find sensible. Kind of a news flash. No offense, Mr. T.
$10k value and up cars need collision and uninsured motorist. $5k value and less cars need liability only. There’s a gray area in between depending upon how much money I have on hand at the time 
That’s the way I see it. If your bank account or tolerance for cash outlay differ, your opinion will differ. But there’s no way I’m paying collision or uninsured motorist each month on a car I’ve got cash to easily replace outright. There comes a point where the value of the vehicle, vs money spent on insurance if nothing happens, vs your income, makes full coverage a waste. My opinion only. But if you’re paying full coverage on a $2500 car, you’re wasting money.
Lets go back to part where the police wont get involved. Did you call them or not? Every state has a property damage limit where the police must be called and they have to respond. It’s not just injury. In most states, the damage limit is so low that almost any accident with visible damage will meet the criteria.
Always call the police. If they refuse to respond, then it is on them if the damage exceeds the reporting requirement. If you don’t call them, then you violated the law.
There are a lot of lawyers out there will take your case on contingency. If they won’t, then they believe you don’t have a case or they won’t get paid because there are no assets to collect from.
I had a similar experience about a year ago, different state, different insurance company. I did not have collision on my 21 yo vehicle but did have uninsured motorist. On a truck that I paid about $11,000 brand new 21 years ago, they paid me $2700 for the truck and over $7k to the towing a and storage company (cops took the full 10 working days to issue a report). They went after the uninsured motorist and guess what, they got my deductible back for me as well. She had assets or insurance.
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Yep that’s a normal calculation and I don’t dispute can make some sense. On the other hand, my collision coverage is $68 for six months or $11 a month. For $11 I have no argument if some crazy lady with Traveler’s insurance backs into me at a drive through. I can just get if fixed regardless for $200. Otherwise I’m sitting here arguing with a Kansas insurance company or I can pay the $3000 out of my pocket to fix it and try and recover it later. Or if its really bad, I’ll have to go out and pay maybe $20,000 to get a new one that I’m sure the oil changes have been done on. I don’t like arguing with insurance companies, and I don’t like going out looking for cars. For $11 a month which is less than I pay for coffee, I’ll keep my coverage.
The other thing is when you trade cars, you apply your old policy to the new car, at least for 30 days. If you have only liability coverage and apply it to a new car where full coverage is required, it can get a little confusing changing the policy over. Not a big thing, just easier for the $11 a month. So everybody does their own cost/benefit analysis and makes their choice. Then most don’t wine and rage when it doesn’t turn out good for them. You put your money down or not and win or lose-your choice but I don’t tell other people what to do.
I just paid my Grand Prix insurance, due in February. The collision with zero dollars deductible is $64.64 for 6 months. I carry zero dollars deductible comprehensive coverage, also.
I do this on all my cars, otherwise it would become too confusing.
I have had other drivers “total” 3 of my vehicles over the years and have recovered more than a fair settlement in each case.
I have 12 insurance policies with the same agency. Trust me, even with full coverage & comp on the cars, the car insurance is very inexpensive and I always choose to be adequately insured for cars, house, condo, boats, lives, personal articles, etcetera.
I’m quite frugal, but insurance is something I won’t “cheap out” on.
Plus, I don’t like to argue with idiots either and I feel better and sleep better knowing my agent of 39 years will help me should the need arise. I can count on her. She is a first class individual at a company that treats me fairly.
CSA
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That is not true in every county, city or town for cases of property damage. While the damage limit for a police report requirement may by $500 or $1000 it is not always a requirement for the law enforcement agency to complete the accident report, in some areas it is the responsibility of the people involve to complete the accident report at the nearest department location.
I don’t recall telling other people what to do either. Stating my opinion, just like you. Full coverage for $11/month is a good deal, assuming there’s not a huge deductible.
I’m still of the opinion at some point, a car’s value gets so low that it’s not worth carrying full coverage on.
In Minnesota I think it is $1500 damage, or any injury, that requires an accident report to be filed to the state but just a box to check if the police were called. A little door ding now can cause that much damage. Heh heh heh, I did advise the lady’s insurance company to advise her client that she only had ten days to file the report and I hadn’t seen it yet. And that there is a penalty for failing to file and a worse penalty for filing a false accident report. If I remember right falsifying a public document can get you seven years. Might be something the OP should check just to harass her a little. Most people don’t know this and Texas should have similar requirements.
Isn’t at least liability insurance required by law in most, if not all states? Seems to me if they could enforce that law, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Maybe they need to start pulling licenses to get some of the uninsured people off the road. Theoretically, at least. The guy who hit me had insurance but no license 
In Minnesota it has been required for quite a while. Enforcing it is another matter. Easier said than done. For a while you were required to show proof of insurance when renewing you license tabs each year but that really became burdonsome to check. Now you just write the policy number down and they do a random check with the insurance company. Of course easier said than done. Computers make things a little easier but Minnesota is still trying to get their new software more than 60% operational so checking insurance would be pretty far down on the list.
Seems like they could at least check it when they pull you over. I imagine most of the folks running around without insurance rear ending people probably get pulled over a lot.
In MS, they seem kind of lax on checking it. I don’t get pulled over much (anymore), but I don’t recall being asked for proof of insurance the last time I went through a road block.
In Minnesota they check your insurance card and license when they pull you over. So as long as your wallet card still shows its in force, I guess that’s good enough. I know they access their computer in their car but don’t think there is any additional cross checking on information if a policy had been canceled. In Indiana they do the same thing except it’s the only time I’ve also been asked for registration information. I don’t know why since it’s on the insurance but for some reason they want to see the cab card. I’ve put them in the cars now. I think those Indiana guys could be a little friendlier though. I’ve never had any experience in any other state though.
Some simple math is in order. If I have a car worth $5k, I’m probably paying less than $100 per YEAR for collision in my circumstances. Let’s say it is double that at $200 or even 5x times that. How many years does it take to equal your $5k payout when someone trashes your ride and you’re paying out of pocket to replace it? Strangely enough, although I can easily afford to pay out $5k if some uninsured bonehead destroys my car, I’d much rather pay $200 or less and then it has replacement value including taxes, registration and other incidentals. And I only make one call and it’s handled. I guess the math doesn’t work for everyone…
Some years back, my 2003 Trailblazer got totaled. It was probably 10 years old at the time. I was paying about $140/year for collision on that truck worth in my estimation about $6k. Insurance paid me full retail value for the truck, plus taxes and registration fees. I ended up with a two year newer truck and $750 left over in my pocket after that experience. I had their check in 4 days, primarily due to my own indecision on how to proceed.
Well, now we’re down to $2500. Of course, at some point it no longer makes any sense. But if you can get coverage for $100/year, I would argue it may still make sense even at $2500 depending on your financial circumstances. In my lifetime, the potential for getting into an accident seems to have gone WAY up with all the knuckleheads out there and the repair costs keep going up as well. So while I used to go without collision, it seems to make much more sense every year…
That is NOT true in NH or MA. Police only HAVE to be called if there are injuries - as long as all parties agree. If no injuries and all parties agree then the police don’t have to be called.
Yep, the police may choose not to respond if you call them. I was involved in a fender bender and they just said to come down to the station to fill out an accident report.
It is the responsibility of the people involved in the crash to complete and submit an accident report if the police are not involved:
