Yup! About to write up a new post on it actually :) Goods and bads are coming from it :(

Really? that’s kinda strange. But awesome that BOTH of y’all had USAA! That’s a dream for me, haha… Although so far working with Progressive has actually been pretty good. We’re just in intro talks with how it all works for future, but so far been impressed.

Man, that’s crazy about your friend!! What are the odds?? I think you pretty much convinced me to get a report going forward too – as long as I can remember it in the heat of the moment :) Def. good points

The one thing to keep in mind if both parties have USAA, is that you need to call the right folks to answer questions, etc. My husband got rear-ended with baby and carseat in the car, and I insisted that they replace the carseat (manufacturer recommendation, even for minor accidents). If we called “our” USAA agent, we got nowhere. If we talked to “their” USAA agent, we got it all straightened out in about 5 minutes.

Always, always, always insist on a police report. Even if the police say they don’t “have to” come out, politely request that they do so when they have an officer available. Not getting a police report is basically ASKING to have someone change their story and/or for the other insurance company to sue. Even if the other driver “admitted fault”.

In both of my incidents, the police came and had a report done within 30 minutes. Granted, it’s a small town. Well worth the peace of mind, and I would have insisted even though both parties were nice as pie at the time. In the first case, the other driver was in a rented truck from Enterprise due to a previous accident in their regular vehicle, and Enterprise later tried to sue, saying it was 100% my fault, which was totally ridiculous, as the police officer had interviewed us both and determined that it was equal fault. The police report shut them down pretty fast.

My second happened a mere couple of months later and I got hit in exactly the same corner of my brand new replacement bumper. In the second, the college kid in question was, again, totally willing to accept fault to my face, and to his credit, also ‘fessed up to the officer that he hadn’t even looked before gunning it out of his parking space, while I was sitting totally still. He begged me not to report it to insurance since he had a previous accident and didn’t want his rates to go up. He didn’t want his parents to know, he would pay for my repairs in cash, and so on. I calmed him down and told him that I was willing to do so, but the police report was just a way to protect us BOTH. Having it officially documented meant no one could suddenly change their story, even if we didn’t report it to the insurance company.

Turns out he had no proof of insurance with him, but swore he had insurance. They couldn’t cite him for that as he was in a parking lot at the time, but warned him that they could have if he had been about 25 feet away on the street. He did indeed end up paying for my repair bill in cash and was a hell of a lot less enthusiastic about it when confronted with just how expensive a bumper replacement can be. I have a feeling the police report might have just helped a tad, and if he had reneged, I wouldn’t have been out of luck in getting my insurance to go after his insurance or him for my repair, if need be.

Contrast that with a friend’s experience in the exact same town. She also got hit in a parking lot, the other car was completely at fault, the local police officer who showed up claimed there was “no need” to do a police report. He didn’t exactly refuse, and obviously, given my experiences, that’s not their policy to skip a report for non-injury accidents, he just heartily *discouraged* it. Initially, she and her husband chalked it up to laziness. She did not insist and the police officer didn’t do one. Turns out the lady who hit her had a forged insurance card and did not actually have insurance. The friend also later found out that the officer in question seems to have been quite well acquainted, possibly romantically involved with, the driver at fault, which may explain why he discouraged the idea of getting a report. The woman who hit her was all nice as pie and “oh it was all my fault” at the scene, but skipped town and stuck her with the damage.

Takeaway? Call the non-emergency number and ask for a report, even in a non-injury accident where the vehicles are in no one’s way. Just be up front that you’re not their highest priority call and most departments are happy to send someone as soon as they can. Usually they’ll tell you to get out of traffic’s way (if possible) and document the damage, but get an official report and get contact info for any witnesses. Even if the person in question is honest as the day is long and accepts fault, their insurance company’s lawyers may NOT be so nice and honest.

Keep the tape for the headlight. Good character and keeps it real!

You know what’s funny? I literally thought of that like 2 seconds after we drove away from everything :) A little too late, but at least somewhere in the back of my mind it was there! Now if only that app would magically pop open when it felt in impact of a crash ;) THAT would be dope.

Well it was certainly not MY first accident, haha… but yeah – I’m sure the girl who hit me will be fine when all is said and done. I bet she still pays some hefty increases though in the time being.

haha… I always forget you’re one :)