Today’s blog topic is a common question that I get as an accident lawyer and injury attorney in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade County.
I highly recommend, particularly if you are not at fault, calling the police after a minor collision or a moderate accident. In more significant accidents, other people will call the police or it will just be abundantly obvious that the police should be called as the cars need to be towed and so forth. What I have seen a lot this year for some reason, is that my client gets into a smaller type accident and the other person begs for the client not to call the police. The client agrees to this and sometimes phone numbers are exchanged and/or insurance information exchanged. What can happen in these situations?
If you or a loved one has been in an accident, please call Drucker Law Offices for a no-charge consultation at 561-483-9199 (Boca Raton), 954-755-2120 (Coral Springs) or 305-981-1561 (Miami). At the Law offices of Gary J. Drucker, P.A., my motto is personal injury deserves personal attention.
First of all, someone can give the wrong phone number and then when you call them later to pay to fix your car, you have no recourse.
The second thing that can happen is that the person, after telling you that they will pay to fix your car, can change their story and say it was not their fault or basically refuse to pay to fix your car. While if you have their name and phone number you could sue the person, this possibly could hinder that process. In a case I am working on, after exhanging phone numbers with the other car who acknowledged fault, the client received an estimate to fix his car at about $500. He called the person that hit him who sent him to another shop. He received a cheaper price there (but why should he have to go to another shop???) and the other driver essentially refused to pay the lower bill also. In another recent case, after acknowledging fault but exchanging numbers, the other car claimed that the damage to my client’s car was there beforehand and that it was not her fault and that she did not owe anything.
In these situations, much of the problems that the cliens are having would have easily been avoided if the police had been called and a report written up. While the police report is inadmissible, it is extremely helpful in resolving property damage issues and is very persuastive to an insurance company. Further, the police will ask the other driver for their insurance information which in the cases above has become challenging to get from the other drivers solely with their phone number. The police will also document the VIN number of the other car which provides useful in determining the insurance information if the other driver does not have the insurance card or insurance information.
Thus far I am only talking about helping the client getting their car fixed. These problems are compounded if the client is injured and ultimately seeks to make an injury claim against the other driver.
Thus, the answer to the questions is that it is highly recommended to call the police after ANY car accident, especially if you are not the one at fault. The other person may have good intentions about fixing your car but this very well may change later. They may acknowledge fault at the scene of the accident and would do so to the police but may change their story later. The other person commonly is afraid of making an insurance claim against their policy where their car insurance rates may go up because they caused an accident and may make a persuasive argument to just exchange number. While this may work out, many times it does not work out and it may result in you having to fix your own car, even though it was not your fault.
Every case is different and must be judged on its merits. It is a good start to get a complementary consultation regarding an accident case in case this happens to you. The advise contained in this blog is intended to be of general matter and not as to a specific situation, so pelase call a licensed Florida attorney, like the lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, to determine if and how Florida law applies to your case.
I recommend calling the police so that a report can be written when you are in a car accident. This way, all insurance will be documents, the damages to your car will be documents, and statements from the drivers and any witnesses will be documented. If you or a loved one has been in an accident, feel free to call the injury and accident lawyer at Drucker Law Offices, Gary J. Drucker at 561-483-9199 or 954-755-2120 or 305-981-1561.
