Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Translate

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Accident on private property who is at fault?

Accident on private property who is at fault?

Question: My father had a accident in Houston, Tx when he was just pulling out of burger king drive thru some man was not paying attention and side swiped my father on the drivers side of the car, there is damage to our vehicle and none to his. We have a claim number and everything but now after the information was exchanged he is calling us back saying that he will not pay the damages because it was on private property.... Who is at fault and is there any way that we can take them to court since they drove off and we were unable to file a police report?

Asked by nikyo_kurasaki 6 hours ago

Answer: The fact that the accident happened on private property doesn't denote fault or have anything to do with a liability decision. Most times, police will not come out to a scene of an accident if it happens on private property so "blue forms" should always be filled out after the fact. This form is a filing of the accident with the police, after the fact. You can still do this filing. The problem with not having police come to the scene and document the accident, is that people can change their stories and it ends up being one person's word against another. If this happenes, it could be hard to collect from the other person and Insurance companies will probably side with their own insured. Go ahead and place a claim with the insurance comany of the other party for a decision.
To prevent this situation, always call the police. They will usually ask if someone is hurt and if there is no injury, they will not come to the scene. Be sure to file a blue form report anyway, take lots of pictures of the scene, damages to each vehicle, get the names and contact information from witnesses, and exchange insurance information. If you still can't collect from the other party or their insurance company, you can take them to small claims court. If all else fails, file for repair coverage with your own company and they will try to recover their money plus your deductible, if there is enough evidence to support your case.

No comments: