Pros & Cons of calling Police in an accident

I thought if you file Police report, it will immediately show up on the carfax.

What is if other party is manipulative and lying?

What advantage is there in calling the police when there is no immediate physical injury?

Where did you get that idea ? A police accident report can only help the insurance companies approve or deny a claim . Why do you ask ?

If there’s property damage to you, a police report could make it easier for you to get reimbursed. If there’s property damage to the other car’s owner, a police report could make it harder for the other party to get reimbursement from you for damage that wasn’t your fault; e.g. damage that was present before the accident.

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Everyone take photos. So damage is in photo - claim is immediate - so I am not following the logic. Police is not taking photos. Why would it be harder for them to claim if the damage is per-existited?

Why would PR make it easier "If there’s property damage to you, " to get it reimbursed? Is that because both parties statements are on paper?

Not everyone takes photos of their accident and no the claim is not immediate . It has to be reported and all state insurance laws are not the same . Many accident fault can’t be determined by photos . Maybe you should talk to you insurance carrier instead of strangers on a forum .

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The police are an independent observer. They have no horse in the race, and therefore no reason to mislead or obfuscate. If both parties to the accident agree what happened, no disputes, in those cases forgoing a police report can be ok.

Are you qualified to determine if the other driver is impaired ?

Does the other car/ driver have a valid license, insurance ?
Just because they have the pieces of paper doesn’t mean they’re valid.

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In my state any no injury accident that would cost more than $500 to repair must have an on site police report.

Since virtually ANY car to car contact costs more than $500 these days… EVERY accident is a police call.

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What state is it?

Well two different things in Minnesota anyway. An accident report to the state is required if there is an injury or the damage is over $1500. It must be filed within 15 days.

A police report is local and don’t know what they do with it. When I had a crazy lady back into me, the guy filed a very nice report with what the lady told him and so on. Picked it up the next morning and it was very helpful when her insurance started to hem and haw. Some larger cities don’t want you to bother with a fender bender though and just exchange information.

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Not calling the police is not my preference.

JMHO, but the cops should always be called even if they don’t want to show up for whatever reason.
There are too many people out there who will say initially the collision was my fault entirely, I’m not hurt, hope you are ok, and so on.

A few days or weeks later, or even years depending upon the statute of limitations and how much thinking they put into countless trolling lawyers on TV, they will then claim the other party caused it all and they are now physically and mentally scarred for life. Then the finger pointing, summons, and depositions begin.

And there are cases when symptoms of an injury may not show up immediately but weeks or months later so there is that aspect of it.
I was in a wreck (passenger only) many years ago and it was over 2 months later that it was discovered my right knee was badly damaged. That led to surgery and 2 weeks in the hospital.

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Florida is the state

I don’t remember who told me but many years ago I was told to always get a police accident report for all the reasons you stated.

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In N Y State any injury must be reported to the police and any property damage over a certain amount must also be reported. I din’t know what the current amount is. That does not mean the po;ice will come out and make a report. When I drove a school bus for 15 years after I retired from trucking, our school district spanned parts of two towns. One town which considered itself superior to the other, would not come out for an accident unless there was an injury, the other town would respond to any accident and Buffalo would also take a report at any accident scene.

The town that considered itself superior was also deficient in snow plowing and garbage pickup also.

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Many states have laws about reporting accident data to third party companies. Personally - I’d ALWAYS call the police. Take pictures and get all the information (Name, Address, Phone, Insurance data and license plate) of everyone else involved.

What is if the other party still does not accept responsibility? What will the police do - police reports say?

Doesn’t matter, either the police or the insurance will dertermine fault, based on the statements of all involved, witnesses if any, and what is observed at the scene.

Tell the rest of the story, what are you trying to get out of?

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If the insurance were to determine, will the police report might make a small contribution?

A friend was involved in an accident. The other driver discouraged a witness, initially unwilling to provide insurance and now she is accusing my friend.

More than just a small contribution. Your friend needs to let their insurance handle it. They have the lawyers.

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