What to do with an accident with a driver with expired tags and registration?

My son rolled into a car at a red light leaving a small smudge mark...the police was called and they said the damage was under $50 and the other driver opted not to have an accident report filed because he was going to receive a ticket for his tags and registration being expired for 2 months...now this person is telling me that the damage was underestimated and his estimate is $800...i want to pay for damages i am responsible for, but it doesn't seem fair that this guy opted for no accident report to get out of a ticket and fines and has jacked the price way up....if i turn it into my ins my premiums will go up.....does he have legal rights if he was driving a vehicle that wasn't legally supposed to be on the road????...and should i offer him what the officer said $100 and just let him take me to small claims court..... thank you for your help

What to do with an accident with a driver with expired tags and registration?
Let him take you to court. Make sure you still have the policeman's details (which, please tell me, you took at the time) so he can be a witness.
Reply:beat him with a brick
Reply:Regardless of that guy's license status, your son negligently caused damage to his car and you are responsible for reasonable repairs. You should file a claim with your insurance company. That is what you pay insurance for. It is unlikely that your rates will go up for a single (small) claim. They can advise you and act on your behalf to make sure the estimate for the damage is reasonable.
Reply:i aggree with Tony R - HIT THE TARD WITH A BRICK! (and then run like hell) worked for me :)
Reply:Please let your insurance company deal with this - that is what you pay them for, and they can put adequate pressure on them to get real or back off.
Reply:You're right, offer the 100.00 or explain to him, he can explain in court why he was illegally on the road. Make him take you to court. He will back off. You may need the officer as a witness, to say what damage he saw.
Reply:Do you have photos of the damage?





My husband had an incident last year. It was his fault, but I happened to have my camera with me, so we took pictures of it.


The people kept calling saying it was $600. My husband told them to have it fixed and we will reimburse them for the bill. They wanted the money, and we refused. They never contacted us again.





We were lucky, but we think they jacked it up thinking we would pay for the damage. The photos would have been good proof in court, because there just wan't much damage.
Reply:Hmm.. interesting question. I would check with your insurance company first. Just be general about it, don't give them specifics. I would imagine that because there was no report filed or anything, this guy can't do jack all because there was no "proof" your son hit his car. In other words, because he never filed an accident report, he cannot prove that your son hit his car.. If he did file a report, he would have to pay for the damages because it would be proven that at the time of the accident, he had no insurance because his registration was overdue. If you ask me, he's just trying to gype you out of money. DO NOT pay him any more than what the officer suggested. Ask someone from the insurance company first how they would handle something like that.
Reply:I think it is a scam. Call your insurance company and tell them the story. Did you son get the name of the policeman and his badge number?





Do not let him get away with this.
Reply:well for one call and talk to the officer involved and explain what is happening. Because he shouldn't get nothing from you especially when he said it. It's a verbal agreement. If he wants take him t to take you to small claims court let him. Because what he doesn


't realize is that the cops know what happened and they can be your witness. He doesn't have a leg to stand on. Also what kind of cops do you ahve there cause if they were doing there jobs they would have noticed the tags were expired. Good Luck
Reply:Turn their claim into your insurance company telling them what you told us. Insurance fraud is not taken lightly, and once your company tells them that, and reminds them the police are ready to testify the damage was under $50 I would bet the whole thing will suddenly go away.





And no, turning in an accident of that small an amount will NOT increase your premium.
Reply:His having expired plates will have no bearing, whatsoever, on the accident. You need to call the officer who responded and tell him that you need a report filed. At the very least the officer should have filled out an Exchange of Information Report. You also need to immediately put your insurance company on notice, most have restrictions that accidents, no mater how small be reported within a certain amount of time. And let you company call him. Let him see you are not going to be pushed around. Let an adjuster go and look at the damage and laugh. You pay for insurance and this is what they are for! You rates are not going to be affected that much





My son got his license and had a rear end accident with two different cars involved, his fault, my adjuster went to inspect the cars with check book in hand. Money speaks loudly. Both drivers and one passenger settled for a small amount in a matter of days. My rates did not go up much at all. Another time my son and another boy had a "run in" after school. It totally looked to be the other boys fault but neither called the cops (ugh!) anyway the boys mother called and told us she was making a claim. I laughed but called my company and they pretty much informed her that since it was HER son's fault that WE would also be making a claim. There was so little damage on either car it was pitiful, but she back off immediately!



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