Not to pick specifically on Sam, but here is a great example of the problem. So far, from the list and from other sources, here is what I've heard on calling the police in an accident: Only call the police if there are injuries "" if damage > "what you can wipe off with your sleeve" "" if damage > $100 "" if damage > $500 "" if damage > $1000 Always call the police (damage or not, injuries or not, etc) It seems that everyone I talk to has taken the $5 law class instead of the $10 law class :) Sam may be right. But my dad might be right, my wife might be right, my agent might be right, or any of the dozen other people that responded might be right. Basically, I've decided that it doesn't matter what circumstances REQUIRE you to call, I'm just going to call every time, just to be sure. If the police don't like coming out for nicks and scratches, so be it. I'd much rather have them busting the neighborhood meth lab, but I've got problems too. As for why I didn't call my insurance company, let me explain that. When you are in an accident, and your insurance company knows you were in an accident, your rates go up. I believe for most insurance co's you will pay a higher premium for 3 years after the latest accident. This is regardless of fault or whether they paid any damages. If you have an accident on your record, and they see it, your rates will go up. This has been the case for all 4 companies I've been with in the past. Furthermore, 5 months ago was my 3 year accident anniversary (no cake), and my insurance agent called and told me they wanted to switch companies because with my record clear now it would be cheaper through this new company. The accident 3 years ago was not my fault, and there were no damages paid, but it was still on record with my insurance company, and my premium was still much higher. I am not wrong here. I spoke with my agent again yesterday, and she advised me to avoid getting the insurance company involved and just pay the damages myself, to avoid a rate increase. She didn't have to pull my file to see which company I was with to tell me this. This seems to be an across-the-board policy for all insurance companies. The thinking is, if you were in 1 accident, you are likely to be in more accidents (dictated by where you live, where and how you drive, etc). So obviously the best solution is to have the other guy's insurance pay the damages, and let his rates go up. This is what should normally happen when you are in an accident and you're not at fault. Because I was driving the "uninsured Ford driver magnet", his insurance company is not going to pay the damages. Now, I can take him to concilliation court, where I will probably win (he won't show), but he isn't REQUIRED to pay me. He will have a judgement against him for the amount, and I can send him to a collections agency and shoot his credit to hell, but the kind of people who drive w/o insurance already have bad credit so he won't care. I can also send Louie and Mikey down to do a "scientific study" to see if it's easier for him to pay me with broken kneecaps - but I won't. So now, I can have my insurance company pay it, or I can pay it out of pocket. Now, regardless of my deductable, it's going to be cheaper in the long run for me to just pay the $850 directly, rather than have my rates go up for the next 3 years. But stil, thanks to everyone who responded, and special thanks to those that offered help. I met St. Paul's finest at the corner last night and actually got them to file a report, so we'll see what happens. On Sat, 27 Sep 2003, Sam MacDonald wrote: > BTW it the care has more then $100 damage you are required to call the > police. We all know this but sometimes people are so nice willing to > help you out. Call the police, call the police, call the police. > > Sam. > > Wayne Johnson wrote: > > >Having this done to me about 2 years ago, no it isn't hit and run, but it > >might be considered fraud if the police can convince the DA to prosecute. > > > >Needless to say, the OWNER of the car can get slapped with a misdemeanor > >for allowing the car to be driven without insurance. > > > >Call the police department of the city where the accident occurred. They > >can give you immediate access to the registration. > > > >And ALWAYS call 911 when an accident happens. The squad can verify > >address and insurance info on the spot. I learned the hard way. The > >driver that hit me gave me a bogus name and address. If I hadn't written > >down the plate, we never would have gotten to the owner, who had stopped > >paying the insurance bills. Turns out the driver was a well known drug > >dealer from the Brookdale area. A guy with one brown eye, and one blue. > > > >Ben Lutgens said: > > > > > >>-- > >>Ben Lutgens > >>US Admins, Inc > >>System Administrator / Server Gumby / General Purpose Lackey > >>On 2003-09-25 10:03:04 -0500 Clay Fandre <clay at fandre.com> wrote: > >> > >> > >> > >>>On Thu, 25 Sep 2003, Adam Maloney wrote: > >>> > >>> > >>>>Does anyone know of a quick and easy way to get this kind of > >>>>information? > >>>>Free is good, but I don't mind paying a small fee if anyone can > >>>>recommend > >>>>somewhere that I won't get (more) screwed. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>Know anyone who's a cop? > >>> > >>> > >>This is a matter for law-enforcement. Its tantamount to hit-and-run. > >>Its called a crime. > >> > >>Call the police. > >> > >> > >> > >>>_______________________________________________ > >>>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > >>>http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > >>>https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>_______________________________________________ > >>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > >>http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > >>https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > >http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > >https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list