Should I report?

[aleii]

I was in a minor fender bender yesterday on private property in Illinois. About $50-$100 damage to my car (small scrape on my bumper) and it was approximated to be $150-$200 for hers (small bump but at passenger side car door hinge area, barely noticeable but now the door won't open all the way. She has a 10 year old car.). Are there any positives or negatives about filling out a police report for such a small amount of damage? We are not going through insurance but are working out the financial details between us.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[MagicRat]

Why fill out a police report?

A report is only helpful to collect money for your damages, (especially if you think the other driver will not pay her fair share) or if you feel that the other driver was doing something illegal, such as driving drunk.

Otherwise, the report can only do you harm, such as going on record that you had an accident, which may increase your insurance rates, even if the accident was not your fault.

The police may not be willing to file a report if it was on private property, with minimal damage, several days after the incident.

[RandomTask]

^^^^^

[greasyhog]

also, if it was your fault she could try to claim more damage than what was caused because hey, no report was filed and i need other things on my car fixed. Its not like you could get a ticket anyways becuase it was on private property.

[shawnwilliams]

u only have to claim a police report if there over a thousand dollars of damage.

[aleii]

well the main thing that I was worried about is my insurance finding out and increasing my rates because of it if I filed a police report. I also don't have the name of the owner of her car; the insurance was under her father's name, but not sure if I remember how to spell her father's name, so if I do fill out a report, could I leave that section blank?

I was backing up out of my parking spot and clipped her. I have one other fender bender on my record which was found no fault. Can she really come back 1 month, or 6 months later and try to get more money? I already gave her a check. She seemed pretty cooperative and willing to work with me. (And her car is 10 years old) I just don't want this going on my record, that's the main thing.

[CraigFL]

In my 40 years of driving I have always found that reporting it to the police immediately is a good thing. When the police respond, you have the best witnesses in the world to what happened even though they may not have been there at the exact moment of the accident. They are trained to extract what happened by talking to the people and observing the situation.
I can't tell you how many problems I've seen when people don't report it. The two involved people will stand there, each admitting their part of the guilt and go back home, talk to a friend or lawyer and then completely change their story only remembering that you admitted guilt.

The things I tell people to remember:
1. Don't admit guilt
2. Only talk to the other party to exchange insurance information
3. Call the police
4. Ask people if they witnessed the accident
5. When you get home write down your story while it's fresh in your mind