damage to uninsured parked car

[imtrying119]

What is the name of your state? Idaho

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my question.

We bought a new (to us) minivan from my husbands father (a car dealer in a neighboring state -Montana). The minivan was delivered to a dealership nearby where we live in Idaho. and we picked it up on Saturday. It has a temporary plate from Montana, was not yet insured and was parked in front of our home. Yesterday afternoon, a young man failed to negotiate his turn and slid on the icy street impacting our van and causing a goodly amount of cosmetic damage along the length of the drivers side and sticking shut the drivers side sliding door. He admitted fault, apologized and provided his name address and insurance info.

The police were not called but I wonder if they should be.
I am concerned about our lack of an insurance policy on our new van although this accident were not our fault. I am hoping someone may be able to tell me how this may play out, what i should expect from our dealings with the other driver's insurance co. and if it is possible that we are left without recourse by our failure to have purchased insurance on the minivan.

This accident happened in Idaho state.

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated, truly. Thank you for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.

[xylene]

Is insurance a requirment for vehicles in your state?

Where the temp tags MT or Idaho issued?

Why didn't you call the police at the time of th accident?

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? Idaho

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my question.

We bought a new (to us) minivan from my husbands father (a car dealer in a neighboring state -Montana). The minivan was delivered to a dealership nearby where we live in Idaho. and we picked it up on Saturday. It has a temporary plate from Montana, was not yet insured and was parked in front of our home. Yesterday afternoon, a young man failed to negotiate his turn and slid on the icy street impacting our van and causing a goodly amount of cosmetic damage along the length of the drivers side and sticking shut the drivers side sliding door. He admitted fault, apologized and provided his name address and insurance info.

The police were not called but I wonder if they should be.
I am concerned about our lack of an insurance policy on our new van although this accident were not our fault. I am hoping someone may be able to tell me how this may play out, what i should expect from our dealings with the other driver's insurance co. and if it is possible that we are left without recourse by our failure to have purchased insurance on the minivan.

This accident happened in Idaho state.

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated, truly. Thank you for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.

Call the police and file a report. Then contact his insurance company If you have insurance on your other vehicle(s) contact them and see if they will take over dealing with the insurance company.

[moburkes]

Do you have collision coverage on the vehicle that this vehicle replaced?

[imtrying119]

Thank you to those who spent time in reply. I do so appreciate your consideration.

Is insurance a requirment for vehicles in your state?

Where the temp tags MT or Idaho issued?

Why didn't you call the police at the time of th accident?

xylene, I am not a law professional (as if this were not already glaringly obvious... ahahaa) but, I do believe that liability insurance is required on vehicles in Idaho state.

The temporary tags (i called it a temporary license - is it tags? it is a piece of paper anyway which is mounted within a protective plastic sleeve where the license plate should be) were issued in the state of Montana.

The police were not called out of concern that we may be cited for our failure to have yet purchased liability insurance on our van. That was the worry i had in my head about calling the police... and the young man were so cooperative and he felt so so awful... he asked that we just call his insurance agent, promising that it would be taken care of....
i have never been in any sort of traffic accident, and honestly did not know until after this happened that it appears to be pretty much a standard practice -calling the police even when there are no injuries or disabled vehicles. But, our lack of coverage on the van is really the nitty gritty reason i declined to involve the police.

Do you have collision coverage on the vehicle that this vehicle replaced?

shamefully, no. It was allowed to expire.

Call the police and file a report. Then contact his insurance company If you have insurance on your other vehicle(s) contact them and see if they will take over dealing with the insurance company.

Call the police and file a report. okay. should i be prepared to explain why it took me 2 days to decide to do that? Will they ask me for proof of insurance on the van? Since the van is in my husbands name will he be cited for no insurance?
and, finally.....
are these just really stupid things to be worried about? I do not wish to try anyone's patience, honestly i don't. And, i hope it won't take harsh words to refocus me, if my perspective is askew..
Thank you again for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.
Sincerely,
imtrying

[moburkes]

You can call the at fault party's insurance company and get your vehicle repaired

OR You can be scared, because you don't have insurance, and pay for the repairs yourself.

They MAY ask about your insurance, but since the accident wasn't your fault (the vehicle was legally parked), they shouldn't.

You may be able to walk into the local police station to make a report. They may ask about your insurance coverage. They may not.

I don't see the laws in your state in regards to the penalties of being caught uninsured. However, even with the required liability coverage, it wouldn't have covered the damage to your vehicle.

[imtrying119]

you did it moburkes. thank you.

i think I've got it now. i can do this, I can get it together and get my car fixed.

thank you, truly.

-imtrying