No Accident Report

[mac_viper]

What is the name of your state? Utah

I turned left near a yellow light and was hit by an oncoming car who was speeding and changing lanes in the middle of the intersection. He barely nicked me and did not damage, but my car broke out one of his headlights.

The cops at the gas station did not see the accident, and assumed that I was 100% at fault. The individual who hit me was young, possibly uninsured, and did not want to get insurance companies involved. The cops did not report the accident, but gave the individual who hit me my insurance information and let me know that I would need to pay for his headlight. I had seen the damage, and I could tell he would not need more than about 50 dollars worth of work to fix the headlight. I agreed verbally to pay for the damages.

He has been promising me a quote for almost a year now. I am afraid he will demand that I pay 200+ for the headlight. I am more than willing to pay the 50 bucks it should cost to fix the headlight, but if he demands more and I refuse, can he take me to court and have a case? There was no accident reported, there was no proof of the damage I caused that day...

Please advise.

 

[CdwJava]

Anyone can sue anyone else for anything they want ... whether someone will win or not is a different issue.

He can ask you to pay $200, but you can always tell him to pound sand. Then it might go to small claims court.

No one can predict what the other person may or may not try to do.

- Carl

 

[mac_viper]

I understand that he can sue if he wants, and that he doesn't even really need a reason to do it, but I am wondering how much of a chance would he have?

There is no proof of the accident.
There is not proof of what happened to his car.
I didn't sign an agreement to pay for the damages.
And it's been almost a year since it happened.

Would he still have an excellent chance of winning a dispute in court if he demanded I pay $200 for the repairs and I refused? He has already threatened to go to my insurance company before when he thought I was ignoring his attempts to contact me... how realistic are his threats?

 

[CdwJava]

Chances are he will be able to show by a preponderance of the evidence that a collision occurred and that you were involved. Unless you wanted to commit perjury and deny being there (which would be silly - he had your name and contact info) the fact that a collision occurred will be fact.

He will have to establish a reasonable belief that YOU were at fault and are thus responsible for the damage. This may be hard to do ... but, it's not impossible. And if the court somehow decides to split the difference, that will mean $100 to you. It's very likely that you will end up paying at least half of whatever damage he claims. Consider the possibility that he may have fender damage or a repainting job that he wants paid for. If he's going to court, why not try?

If it were me, I would consider writing him a check for the $200, sending it by registered mail, and enclosing a letter and a memo on the check indicating that by cashing the check he releases you from any claim for damages and that any debt claimed against you as a result of the collision on that date is now paid in full. (Or something to that effect)

However, your state's small claims prosecures may be different than mine so you may want to ask around how it works and what he might be abl to go after you for.

- Carl