Possibility of an Accident Case Against Me - Help Required

[five46]

Hello Folks,

This happened at the late evening hours of 7th July in my home town 'Belagavi' when I was going to my uncle's office.

It was raining mildly. I was driving in my Getz along with my friend. A teen girl on a Scooty Pep was on the left side of my car. The road I was travelling was a double road and we were approaching a circle. I was on the right hand side lane. This girl probably had to circle and go inside, she didn't show any indicators and all of a sudden came right in front of my car to take a turn. I was doing some 30 kmph speed. I had no option but to sway my vehicle to the right to avoid hitting her, and in the process hit the Fiesta coming in from the inside. I've attached a picture to illustrate the scene.



Now, the girl sensed this to happen and quickly escaped straight without taking a turn. I stopped and asked the Fiesta driver to reverse his car, and that we get to the side of the road and see what damage has occurred.

We took our vehicles to a safe area. The fender on the front right wheel of my car has a nice big dent. The Fiesta has visible scratches over the front left wheel fender and front bumper.

The Fiesta owner says that he knows it's not my mistake and that it happened because of the girl. But, since I hit his vehicle, he'll catch me only. He talked very calmly, didn't show signs of aggression. After talking for a while, I agreed to look after the expenses of his damage if it's a minor sum. He took a photocopy of my DL and my cell phone number. Since, I had an interview on 8th, I told I'll call him on 9th July.

I called him up yesterday, had a small conversation. He told that his driver would be going to Kolhapur with his car and would enquire about the estimate for getting his car in shape.

Today (10th July),he called me and told that the following things need attention:
> Painting the entire front left fender
> Painting front half bumper
> A panel (I don't know what it is) on the inner side of the front fender has broke, it has to be replaced.

The cost for the above is roughly estimated at 12-13K at an authorized Ford service center at Kolhapur. The shade of the Car is metallic purple if I'm not wrong.

This amount isn't small enough for me to pay out from my pocket. I enquired with the Hyundai service center, they told me that to get the claim on both the cars, the owner of Fiesta would need to file a case against me and that getting only my car's claim will not be a problem.

Now, the owner of Fiesta is against going through the 'filing a case' route. He wants me to pay the expenses. He says that he doesn't want to register any accident record for his car which'd hamper it's resale value. I can't pay this amount from my pocket.

My concern now is:
> Can he file a case now (after almost 48 hours) against me?
> What'll be the hassles?
> Apart from the cars compensation, is there any means he can raise the issue higher by filing some case for me hindering his time, harassment, etc.?
> Is there any possibility that he has already filed a case to be on the safer side?

How do I go about this?

[Sha]

One thing is sure he will mince money from you also and will get claim from insurance also, For 12k you do not require FIR to be filed. No human injuries so no worries buddy nothing he can do.

[srishiva]

The first thing you should have done is to file a FIR yourself. That would have taken care of your insurance and did not have to worry about the other guy.
I had once touched a Innova from behind. Gave him the phone number and went straight to Police station and filed a FIR myself. Had to pay a fine also since I had rear ended the other guy. With the copy of FIR, I could claim my insurance.

[AbhiJ]

Tell him to get the money from insurance. Thats what insurance is for.

According to what a TASC owner told me, even if he files a case, and you are proven guilty (highly unlikely) the damages will be borne by YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY.

P.s. Gurus correct me if I am wrong here.

[govigov]

I would suggest both parties to claim insurance on the base that it hit a compund wall or something similar (not a public property) and claim insurace based on that, instead of telling that it is an accident, tell them that you hit the car on a boulder(huge rock) that was on the road, while giving way to another vehicle and your car did not hit any other car.

ps: is that insurance fraud?

[drpullockaran]

Ask him to file the case or that you are ready to pay him the no claim bonus of the cars comprehensive insurance.
When ever a vehicle has banged my Junkindica I have either got the guy to pay the cost of repairs or pay up the no claim bonus amount that I would be loosing for no fault of my own.

[srishiva]

There is nothing wrong in filing a FIR with exactly what happened. Insurance can be claimed and you dont have to worry about having lied or committed fraud.
Will also give you peace of mind.

[Abes]

Pls go as per the requirements of the law.
It would give you peace of mind later.
If you are not sure of the procedures, I suggest you consult a lawyer, or walk into a police station and ask.

[WanderNomad]

Originally Posted by srishiva

The first thing you should have done is to file a FIR yourself. That would have taken care of your insurance

My dear friend, it has been discussed on tbhp so many times that one doesnt need an FIR to claim insurance for self.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by WanderNomad

My dear friend, it has been discussed on tbhp so many times that one doesnt need an FIR to claim insurance for self.

One needs an FIR even for self if the accident is a major one, "major" being the key-word here. By major, I mean accidents where a pretty high claim is expected, or when the accident 'might' have caused injuries to a third party.

Originally Posted by five46

My concern now is:
> Can he file a case now (after almost 48 hours) against me?
> What'll be the hassles?
> Apart from the cars compensation, is there any means he can raise the issue higher by filing some case for me hindering his time, harassment, etc.?
> Is there any possibility that he has already filed a case to be on the safer side?

From what I understood from the explanation, the Fiesta Guy is just trying to fleece you.

You can just openly tell him that the amount he is asking for a huge sum, which you would not be able to bear. You may offer to bear his No-Claim Bonus amount. From my personal experience, typically people tend to extract compensation from other people, and at the same time also claim insurance.

He would not be able to file an FIR against you now, unless and until he claims that the accident occurred a while back at some local place in Kolhapur, and you fled the spot. You can counter this claim by producing proof of your vehicle being at the service station (by producing necessary records).

You are absolutely safe, except for the 'harassment' from the other car owner on phone.

[mjothi]

We do have thirf party insurance right? Cant he claim from his insurance for the Fiesta owner? Is it only if it was propven by court this Isurance guys are going to pay 3rd party or what?

[ajmat]

This is not your problem. Give him your insurance details and ask him to make a claim against the insurer. If he puts a case against you

1: He will spend more money to recover the Rs 12000 than getting the actual amount
2: Worst case, you get summoned to court, plead guilty and pay the 500 fine. To recover the Rs 12000 is a civil case which is not worth his time

[COUGAR]

If he claims insurance then then he wont be able to avail of a NCB (No Claim bonus) on renewal, so that is not happeneing.

What you need to do is to claim 3rd party insurance (that is if you had availed that). That way, you contact your insurance company and they will pay the damages for both your car as well as the other party. However you will lose your NCB for this year: but that is a non-issue at this point.

But for this to happen both parties need to come to an agreement. Right now it seems like that fellow is trying to fleece you of money as well as make a claim from his insurance. You need to get in touch with your insurance fellows and then talk to this guy that the claim will be setlled by your insurance and no cash transfer will take place.

Hope this clarifies.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by WanderNomad

My dear friend, it has been discussed on tbhp so many times that one doesnt need an FIR to claim insurance for self.

What if he files a hit and run. However small the accident, it is better to file a FIR. What does it take to file a FIR?
He wouldn't have been anxious like this if he had.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Guys, FIR is not required.

What may / is required is information to the police, and an acknowledgement that the accident has been reported. This "information" need not escalate to prosecution.


I have just skimmed through the other posts, and I guess it is possible to pay only the part of the bill not covered by insurance from you.

BTW, I think you can paint half a dozen cars with 12K.