What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
I got into a minor car accident. I was backing up and hit a lady who was parked behind me. The accident occured on private property. The cops were called but they didn't file a police report due to the accident being on private property. Me and the other motorist exchanged insurance information.
Since the damage was minor (her headlight came loose), we agreed that it's better for me to just pay for their damages instead of getting the insurance companies involved. The damage to my estimate was less than $100 (and the cop estimated it between $50-$75).
The lady and her husband seemed pretty shady. The guy asked me for $500 in cash for the damages. Obviously, I'm not a fool. They seem like the type of people that would purposely do damage to their car to get more money out of me. She insisted that she wanted to take the car to her mechanic and get the "estimate" from him, which I'm sure is going to be 5 times the actual cost.
So my question: if a claim was filed, am I able to say that it was her fault in the accident? I mean it's her words against my words, plus there's no police report on file to conform the accident. I'm hopping that they don't think that they can pull a fast one on me but I'm not willing to pay them more than the damage.
Should I be worried if they take me to civil court?
I got into a minor car accident. I was backing up and hit a lady who was parked behind me. The accident occured on private property. The cops were called but they didn't file a police report due to the accident being on private property. Me and the other motorist exchanged insurance information.
Since the damage was minor (her headlight came loose), we agreed that it's better for me to just pay for their damages instead of getting the insurance companies involved. The damage to my estimate was less than $100 (and the cop estimated it between $50-$75).
The lady and her husband seemed pretty shady. The guy asked me for $500 in cash for the damages. Obviously, I'm not a fool. They seem like the type of people that would purposely do damage to their car to get more money out of me. She insisted that she wanted to take the car to her mechanic and get the "estimate" from him, which I'm sure is going to be 5 times the actual cost.
So my question: if a claim was filed, am I able to say that it was her fault in the accident? I mean it's her words against my words, plus there's no police report on file to conform the accident. I'm hopping that they don't think that they can pull a fast one on me but I'm not willing to pay them more than the damage.
Should I be worried if they take me to civil court?
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