Insurance Implications of this Accident

[gh05t]

My friend recently got into an accident and since I don't know much about insurance I decided to turn to the forum where more experienced persons might share their knowledge.

He was changing from the left lane to the right lane in the vicinity of Bloor and Dundas West.
As he checked his blind spot he noticed a car parked in the lane he was turning into.this is a common occurance despite the lane being a driving lane.

What made him think the car was parked and not at just at a standstill in traffic is that there was at least 2 to 3 car lengths of space in front the car.

Anyway, as my friend moves into the right lane the other car pulls off and broadside's my friend's car from the right rear fender straight up to the right front fender which sustained the most damage.

The front door is just dented a little and the back door and rear fender scratched.

The guy's left fender took some serious damage and was actually hanging off the car but he never stopped but instead sped off.

My friend was in shock and did not even think to take down the licence plate number of the guy nor did my friend approach any witnesses for contact info.

He reported the incident to the collison reporting centre immediately.

He did not call the police as he was able to drive the car to the collison reporting centre.

My questions include:

In a case like this where it's just his word, is th e insurance company suspicious that maybe he hit a parked car or that he is at fault and is lying etc since there is not police report or witness accounts?

This is his first accident, he has a G licence, he is an Accountant with one of the big firms and has group insurance with Meloche Monnex and wishes to know if he goes through the insurance to fix his leased 2004 Nissan Sentra 1.8S if his premiums will increase?

If he fixes it himself out of pocket will it still increase when the insurance company gets wind of the accident from the reporting centre? and

Is is customary for the Insurance company to know about this accident if the other driver has not reported it or is not claiming? It is not likely the other driver reported since he sped off and so may not have got my friends number plate info.

My suggestion to him was to get a quote for the damages which he claims is over $1000 for sure and then decide if to fix out of pocket or not.
Another consideration if to fix through insurance or not is if he might be lucky as some have suggested in other insurance threads to receive some sort of leniency form the insurance company seeing that it's his first accident and providing they belive his "no fault" account of the accident and how can he go about getting this info from his insurance company without actually divulging to them initially that he was in an accident?

Thank you in advance for your answers/suggestions.

[D-3vil]

Look into fault determination rules at http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/R...h/900668_e.htm. The way insurance companies assign blame is different from the way police assigns blame.
After giving your long post a quick read, it seems to me that he failed to ensure that the car is parked and decided to switch lanes anyway.
I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have been able to see any brake lights turned on (though it is possible) or a driver in the car. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say he's at fault. The other driver likely ran due to not having insurance (general profile for that tends to be a young male with a neuron deficit).

A quick answer to your question is for him to talk to his insurance agent. Meloche Monnex agents have been, in my experience, very friendly and approachable (and since he reported to the collision reporting centre, they'll find out about it anyway). It's very likely that his premium will not increase regardless of the choice he makes, as it will be his first claim.