Tonight I bumped into a person. I was driving into the sun and there was a glare, next thing I knew I was jamming on my breaks because the man had stopped. There is absolutely no damage to my car, and his has a few scratches on it. However, his car is an older car (2000 Maxima) and had some prior scratches. I am not sure whether I should tell him to get a quote and I will pay out of pocket, or if I should go through my insurance company? I have had my license for 10 years and have never been in an accident. What do you think is the best thing to do. I am not exaggerating when I say there is NO damage to my car and his car looks like after a few years of parallel parking very little marks on it. Please give me some advice so I may act on this tomorrow, 7/20/06, morning. Thanks for all your input.

Hello Sport2005, and Welcome to AF.

IMO you should report it to your insurance company. They might be able to tell if the scratches on his bumper are old and minimize the payout. It seems that despite the glare, you are at fault in this accident (in a 2 car accident it's very rare for the rear person to not be at fault), so don't take chances with the guy nickel and diming you, or saying later that he had injuries and going to court over it. Let your company handle it, especially since there's little or no damage.

How fast were you going when you hit him? Was he moving?

I was going to say just pay out of pocket, but Fred brought up some good points. If he took you to court, that would be quite the predicament.

As an auto claims adjuster, I saw far too many people get screwed because they tried to settle their claim out of court.

As an auto claims adjuster, I saw far too many people get screwed because they tried to settle their claim out of court.

Indeed, you never know what a jury is going to do. And if the damage is the minor and you havent had an accident in ten years, it shouldnt raise your rates so really, you have no reason not to.

P.S. Always call the police

If you do decide to settle with him yourself, make sure you get a written release. You meed to check your local laws regarding releases. In California, one would get a full release of all claims, which specifically included unknown claims, and cited the specific Civil Code provision. Otherwise, you could pay the guy off and he could turn around and sue anyway, saying he didn't know there was hidden damage or that his back would start hurting.

Better off turning over to your insurance company, they know all that stuff.

Well, it's been 3 weeks since the accident. Any update, Sport2005?