No police report, accident report, witnesses, pictures

[seattlejer]

Hey there, rear-ended a car on the freeway. These are the facts:
This is in Washington State by the way.

I was not insured. He says that he was, but he would not show me his driver's license or insurance policy since we were both on the freeway, and he wanted us to get off of it. I showed him the information that I had. We agreed to settle this privately. I requested at least three estimates, and he only produced one. That estimate charged for crazy things like tinted windows and leather interior.....things that were not affected by a fender bender. He wants me to pay him $4,500. I never signed anything, but I have payed him $1,225. I did a lot of researce on the bluebook value of the car (which was a '91 acura legend) and the parts and paint required to fix the thing, and i found it for much cheaper. My question is, what can he do? It's almost been a month since the accident and he has no accident report, police report, witnesses, or pictures. Will his insurance even accept a claim if there's no police report? If a police report is made, is it admissable in the investigation/court even though the officer wasn't at the scene? How can I be accuartely faulted when there's no documentation of the accident? Please advise.

[aaron]

He can sue you. It is a good idea to negotiate the details of any pay-off before paying money, and getting a signed release of claims as part of any settlement of an auto accident case.

[seattlejer]

Without proof of fault, and no documentation, would it be a successful suit? Also, will his insurance cover him with no police report/evidence? I don't have any money

[Mr. Knowitall]

You rear-ended him on the highway. That's usually a pretty easy claim for the person driving the car that is hit.

I don't know if he had insurance, or what his insurance covers.

[Happy Trails]

Without proof of fault, and no documentation, would it be a successful suit? Also, will his insurance cover him with no police report/evidence? I don't have any money

The proof that he has damage to the rear of his car and the fact that you have paid toward the damage to his car is pretty good evidence.

The thing with small claims issues is that the plaintiff does have the burden of proof when presenting his/her case.

What will your response be when you are asked if you rear-ended him?

On a brighter note, if he is attempting to get compensated for more than he should be, the judge is only going to allow what is fair. So if you feel the amount he is asking isn't correct, then small claims would be one way of getting the situation rectified.

[cdwjava]

The police report is not evidence. And the officer won't even be a witness. he will simply regurgitate info that he is provided. Additionally, no conclusion can accurately be made with a counter report and it may well be that in WA - as in CA - that the officer will be forbidden by statute to make a conclusion of fault in a counter report.

- Carl

[moburkes]

By the way, if he did have insurance, and he decided to pay his deductible and have his vehicle repaired, the insurance company will then sue you for their money back for the accident that you caused.