Accident, insurance and how to ensure no future liability?

[webthrasher]

I have a friend who had a fender bender and did some minor damage to the back of another person's car. They decided not to report the accident and my friend is going to pay to repair the damage without going through insurance...since they hit the other person's car, how can my friend ensure that the other person doesn't report it later?

Is there any legal form or document they can write up for the other party to sign?

Thanks!

[iluvmikeharris]

Tell him to be careful, there's nothing stopping the other party from reporting it to their own insurance company, in fact they are bound to do so by their policy. I don't think a "contract" would be valid since it would involve breaching the insurance policy.

[FazerRider]

type out a release of liability. have both of you sign it. afterward warn the other party if they try to claim insurance it would constitute insurance fraud.

[COSMIC5]

maybe have someone at the garage be a witness to the 2 signatures...

[webthrasher]

Tell him to be careful, there's nothing stopping the other party from reporting it to their own insurance company, in fact they are bound to do so by their policy. I don't think a "contract" would be valid since it would involve breaching the insurance policy.

Yes, thats what I'm somewhat confused about. I had always thought there was a time limit to reporting accidents. Doesn't it have to be reported to the collison center within 48 hours? Can it still be reported after that time? I guess she's concerned that if she pays for it and they still report it, then her insurance will go up regardless.

type out a release of liability. have both of you sign it. afterward warn the other party if they try to claim insurance it would constitute insurance fraud.

maybe have someone at the garage be a witness to the 2 signatures...

Is there a standard release of liability for collison damage? Can anyone sign and witness it?

Thanks for all the replies!
wt

[iluvmikeharris]

type out a release of liability. have both of you sign it. afterward warn the other party if they try to claim insurance it would constitute insurance fraud.

That's funny, you're suggesting typing up a contract that is based on violating the insurance contract in the first place!

[watching]

That's funny, you're suggesting typing up a contract that is based on violating the insurance contract in the first place!

How does that violate an insurance contract? Nobody is obligated to put a claim through their insurance company.

[bythehour]

How does that violate an insurance contract? Nobody is obligated to put a claim through their insurance company.

You're right about no obligation to submit a claim. BUT, every auto insurance contract I've read has a clause about reporting incidents.

If you don't report an accident, it is a breach of the insurance contract. If the insurance company finds out, it can cancel coverage immediately.

I'm pretty sure that you cannot enforce an illegal contract.

[iluvmikeharris]

You're right about no obligation to submit a claim. BUT, every auto insurance contract I've read has a clause about reporting incidents.

If you don't report an accident, it is a breach of the insurance contract. If the insurance company finds out, it can cancel coverage immediately.

I'm pretty sure that you cannot enforce an illegal contract.

Correct.

[watching]

You're right about no obligation to submit a claim. BUT, every auto insurance contract I've read has a clause about reporting incidents.

If you don't report an accident, it is a breach of the insurance contract. If the insurance company finds out, it can cancel coverage immediately.

I'm pretty sure that you cannot enforce an illegal contract.

I questioned why it's illegal to do the following:

type out a release of liability. have both of you sign it. afterward warn the other party if they try to claim insurance it would constitute insurance fraud.

That quote above is just advice about covering oneself if not making a claim through the insurer. Filing a claim and reporting an accident are two different things.

[NitrousGasMan]

I have a friend who had a fender bender and did some minor damage to the back of another person's car. They decided not to report the accident and my friend is going to pay to repair the damage without going through insurance...since they hit the other person's car, how can my friend ensure that the other person doesn't report it later?

Is there any legal form or document they can write up for the other party to sign?

Thanks!

I don't believe you MUST report all accidents to your insurer. If you scratched your car parking it in your garage, would you even consider reporting that to your insurer? How's that any different than your current situation? The insurance companies of course would prefer you to report all accidents because they can use the information as an excuse to raise your rates.

If you choose to not report your accident, you are taking a risk. You can get the other party to sign a release agreeing to not go through insurance, but I don't think it's any guarantee and you have no recourse if they report it anyway. As well, if your report the accident to the Collision Reporting Centre, your insurance company will find out. That happened to me. However, my insurance company wasn't really upset that I tried to avoid claiming the accident.

The bottom line is you can try not reporting the accident, but there is no guarantee that you will wind up saving money.

[bythehour]

I questioned why it's illegal to do the following:



That quote above is just advice about covering oneself if not making a claim through the insurer. Filing a claim and reporting an accident are two different things.

Because in order to file a claim, one must report the accident.

The "covering oneself" part has nothing to do with the claim (it doesn't come out of your pocket). It's plainly about liability and coverage.

[ES_Revenge]

You're right about no obligation to submit a claim. BUT, every auto insurance contract I've read has a clause about reporting incidents.

If you don't report an accident, it is a breach of the insurance contract. If the insurance company finds out, it can cancel coverage immediately.

I'm pretty sure that you cannot enforce an illegal contract.

You seem to have a strange interpretation of "illegal"? Breaching a contract doesn't make a contract illegal. The contract is, in fact, still legal and that's how the insurance company can cancel coverage--based on the breach of contract.

To me, an "illegal contract" means one that cannot be enforced because it was never legitmate in the first place.

[bythehour]

You seem to have a strange interpretation of "illegal"? Breaching a contract doesn't make a contract illegal. The contract is, in fact, still legal and that's how the insurance company can cancel coverage--based on the breach of contract.

To me, an "illegal contract" means one that cannot be enforced because it was never legitmate in the first place.

A conspiracy to breach an insurance contract is not illegal?

(I'm not referring to the insurance contract. I'm referring to the mutual release and non-disclosure that seems to be the subject of this thread.)

Also, what would be your argument that the non-disclosure agreement would not constitute fraud (criminal or otherwise)?