jng

Today is not a good day for me ... my two month old TSX was hit by a Lexus SUV today. I have a big dent in my bumper and scratches in my trunk lid!. So much for my pristine and new car.

I did not see the incident happen but somebody who did said that a Lexus SUV backed into my car (it was in the lot of a mall) and when they realized that they hit my car, they sped away. Fortunately, the witness was able to catch the license plate of the vehicle.

My insurance agent tells me that I dont have to pay for the deductible if I can find who the driver is. The bad news is that the police nor my insurance will not do anything to investigate. Apparently, the police department here in MI will not investigate anything if it occured in a private property (mall lot).

Does anyone know if there is a way of investigating people based on their license plate?

The only thing that makes me feel better is that the SUV suffered more damage that I did. I have a dent in my bumped but the SUV lost part of its tail light. Pieces of the tail light were on the floor

Lung Fu Mo Shi

Well, the privacy act does not allow you to access DMV records.

Basically you need to file a police report with that license plate. You then need to ask the someone at the police to look-up the license plate owner. You basically need to classify this as a "hit and run" situation. It's still a crime if it's on private property. In most states it's a Class E misdemeanor (I think.)

In addition, since it was in a mall parking lot, you may be able to ask the mall security for a copy of the parking lot surveillance tape for those approximate hours. You would then have video proof of the actual incident.

That should be more than enough.

tsxhondatuner

first thing....get rid of your insurance company. thats there job is help you with accidents etc...investigate stuff, atleast my insurance company that is. Cops arent going to do anything. they could care less. call your insurance company and threaten them or you will drop them.

VeniceBeachTSX

The insurance company has no such responsibility. Their responsibility is to make sure you're paid in accordance with the policy, which is to say that you only have to pay your deductible. Unless there's five figures worth of damage or injury, their "investigation" will consist of reviewing the paperwork to decide who is at fault, possibly making a deal with the other insurance company, and paying their share.

If you want to try to recover the deductible from the other guy, then you're usually on your own. No insurance company is going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to help you save the few hundred dollars on the deductible. If the damage is bad enough they'll try to track him down so that they don't have to spend their own money, but generally it has to be into the thousands before it's worth their trouble.

The police can look up the information for you if you file a report. In California there has to be at least $750 of damage in order for the accident to be reportable. An attorney can also do this, as can your insurance company but there are limits on how much your insurance company can disclose unless you can document that you've filed suit.

Keep in mind that even if you find out who it is, your only way to get him to pay is to take him to small claims court, which means you'll need to produce witnesses, affidavits, etc. in order to prove the case.

As infuriating as it is, it's rarely worth it over a few hundred dollar deductible.

sipark

If your insurance company gives you b.s. just switch. If they don't have your business, they don't have your money!

tsxhondatuner

ya seriously, my insurance company does anything to keep you as a customer. thats why you pay them. your insurance company is B.S.


im sure the damage is over $750 for a tsx. tsx is one of the most expensive cars to get fixed. read online and watched crash test videos.

xizor

whether its their responsibility or not, they don't seem to care about your situation. you'd think they'd at least give advice.

VeniceBeachTSX

Technically not quite true.

If you can figure out who it is and get him and/or his insurance company to cough up the money, you won't have to pay. That will usually involve a small-claims court appearance, and you'll need to be able t prove to a judge that he did it.

In most urban and suburban areas, police will only investigate accidents if there's a huge amount of damage and/or injury or death. If you're away from a big town youmay have a chance of getting more investigation.

Like I said before, usually only law enforcement, insurnance companies and a few other approved types of businesses can get this information, and often only if they show good reason for needing it. You can get it if you go through the motions of filing a lawsuit against "Jon Doe, owner of vehicle license 123XYZ," but by the time you're done with all that, you've probably spent more than your deductible. State laws vary, and I'd start with your local DMV website.

slo007

Bad advice will cost them more on the long run. No profitable corporation will give you "advice".

tsxhondatuner

a similar thing happened to me cept.... (car in front of me slamed on there brakes cause someone made an illegal u turn and cause me to run into them. so i got there license plate and gave it to the insurance company and had them pay for both (my car and the one i hit) so either your insurance company is B.S or my insurance is worth what im paying

VeniceBeachTSX

Sounds like he's talking to an agent, not the insurance company claims adjuster. And the agent's giving bad advice already.

tsxhondatuner

i agree. an agent is like a car salesmen. a LIAR!!!! talk to the sales manager...i.e (claims adjuster)

slo007

tsxhondatuner

yup.... just like if you get rear ended.... you aint going to pay for it and you have all the info. a license plate is enough information. its a lot of information. the other person will pay the deductable and all the repairs. etc...

VeniceBeachTSX

Big difference:

Your insurance company had to deal with:
* Damage to your car
* Damage to the car you hit
* Maybe a whiplash or other claim from the guy who you hit.

In other words, they had thousands of dollars on the line.

They also had two witnesses (you and the guy you hit) who could say what happened and help make the case.

In other words it was:
* Worth a lot of money to them
* Easy to prove

So they went after it.

In this case they've got one witness who thinks he saw the license plate, (who may or may not still be reachable, does anybody have his name and number?). And the damage is relatively minor, and there are no injuries.

It's not worth their trouble.

A typical TSX is probably giving the insurance company $150-250 profit each year. They're not going to spend a whole lot of money to keep that business. If running an investigation costs them $500, that's 2 years of profit. Worth it if they're going to avoid a major payout. Not something they're going to do just to help you avoid the deductible you signed up for when you took out the policy.

Sorry, that's reality. To your insurance everything's a numbers game. They want you as long as you're giving them more money than you're costing. When you start demanding all sorts of extras, they're going to care less and less if you leave...

(Incidentally, this is one of the reasons it is usually a good idea to stay with an insurance company for a while and not switch all the time. They're alot more likely to be helpful to a long-term customer whose given them good profits and no trouble over the years, than to one who moves around often.)

tsxhondatuner

my car did not have thousands damage and i left a 4 inch scratch on the toyota sienna i hit.

tsxhondatuner

maybe thats why they did help us out....we have 5 cars on the policy, 2 houses, boat, and 2 jetskis so maybe thats why they actually cared.

VeniceBeachTSX

That would be EXACTLY why they did it.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they just paid it off themselves to keep you happy and avoid the possibility of the person you hit making any kind of claims for whiplash or other BS. They're making THOUSANDS of dollars a year on you and they want to protect it.

Another rule: Keep all your insurance in one place. They care more if they have a lot more of your business.

VeniceBeachTSX

I should mention, I've worked in insurance, and my brother was the assistant to the insurance commissioner out here in California. I've seen it all.

Remember, the insurance companies are good at what they do, which is figuring out the numbers. They know exactly what you're worth to them, and how much it's worth doing to keep your business. If you're young, with a minimal auto policy and nothing else, you're not worth much to the insurance company. They'll meet their obligation to pay their share, and drop you without a second thought if that's not good enough for you.

tsxhondatuner

wow, your so true. by the way my integra did not have full coverage in that accident and shortly after that they dropped me from my parents coverage. so now we have 2 insurance companies cause they kicked me off. so basically as you said, i was costing them money cause i only had liability. so now im on a different company by myself

VeniceBeachTSX

Yeah. They covered you like they're supposed to and dropped you. Under 21 with an accident and you're screwed. Even more so if there's any fault at all, which in that case there would have been (you hit him from behind, doesn't matter what else happened, you were too close, so it's partly your fault).

More likely, they told your parents that they had to get you a seperate policy, or see their insurance rates on everything triple. Cheaper to have you insured seperately with much lower liability limits.

tsxhondatuner

ya they said its my fault but wahtever. then when i got my new insurance for my tsx last month my record only says "1 non at fault accident" lol fine by me, i pay a lot less with my new insurance than my last so whatever.

VeniceBeachTSX

Yup, pretty standard.

They drop you because they think it's your fault. But they report it as a "no fault" situation to the DMV, to make it easier for you to get insurance somewhere else and be somebody else's problem.

tsxhondatuner

tahts cool im somoene elses problem. whatever. been over a year so i could care less. im paying $9 more a month for the tsx than my integra (liability)

VeniceBeachTSX

Cool. Stay clean for another 2 years and you're probably OK...

Helicobacter Pylori

It's good to have insurance people on board

blackjackman

let's see the pics

briny319

People like that need to be executed.

jng

I do have the phone number of the witness. I've called the guy and he's been cooperative enough. Unfortunatley, neither he nor I are able to do anything right now without knowing who the other person is.

As an update - I called the cops again (I'm in Ann Arbor, MI) the Leiutenant I spoke to was adamant there they will not investigate anything in a parking lot. He cited lack of resources to help me. However, when I called another number, all they told me is to go to the DMV and use the Freedom of Information act. Apparently, he thinks I can get the information there (although another poster earlier said I cant get it...its still worth a try though)

As for my insurance agent, now they are telling me that they (state farm) have a separate unit called a Subrugation unit that investigates incidents like this. However, they told me not to get my hopes up and that it can take 6 months for them to figure who this person is.

It seems like I'll just have to go through the leads I've been given and go from there. Based on whats been posted, it seems like there is a small chance that this will be resolved. Right now I'm resigned to pay my deductible. However, what gets me is that nothing much can be done about it. What this just tells me is that if someone hits a car in a private property, that person is probably better off running away. There is no disincentive for them to do the right thing.

Anyway, I want to thank all of you who have provided insight on this topic. Its been great to be part of this forum.

BTW, I just got an estimate for the repairs ....$1100.

tsxhondatuner

how can it take 6 months to figure the person out. I knew it would be state farm. you pay the most for the crappiest insurance company. my brothers girlfriend used to work there couple months ago. after what she told me i would never go there.

GA_TSX

Having lived a large portion of my life in Michigan, people outside the state do not understand how insurance works in Michigan. Michigan is a no fault state. You go to your insurance company regardless of fault. They do the estimate and help you with finding a place to fo the repair. And many people have broad form collison which waves the deductible if you are less than 50% at fault. Also if the other person is at fault, your insurance company then goes to the insurance company of the person at fault to recover reimbursement of the costs. Overall much easier to deal with than other states I have lived (but you pay for in your premium).

You should go to the police and demand they file a police report so it is on file. That could get your deductible waved. Private or public property, the dfriver of the car that hit you committed a crime and it needs to be reported. Plus if you move out of state, not having that police report can cost you money in getting insurance where ever you move.

VeniceBeachTSX

In California it can take a couple of months.

The information is private. The insurace company can request it from the DMV if they want to, but they have to explain why, document it all, and then send it off. Then the DMV has to review the reasons and decide whether or not to provide the informaton. Neither the insurance companies nor the DMV have a whole lot of people working on this stuff. It can take forever and cost a fair amount of money, which is why the insurance companies usually won't bother unless the cost to them is in the high four figures or more.

Six months sounds like a lot. But State Farm isn't the greatest in my experience.

VeniceBeachTSX

Didn't realize Michigan is no fault. In a no-fault state I'd say don't waste your time. The deal is you work with your insurance company, they compensate you, they may or may not decide to go after the other insurance company if it's worth their time, and you pay the deductible. It's almost impossible to force anybody to pay the deductible for you in a no-fault state, as lawsuits are not possible in most cases.

Vehicle registrations are not considered public information in most cases, so I doubt the FIA will help you much. I'd say again, consult the Michigan DMV website to see if there's any information. I'm not familiar with the specific laws there.

In most places they won't investigate ANY accident that doesn't involve injury or loss of life. I suspect the "parking lot" bit is just an excuse in this case.

GA_TSX

And if you want to find the SUV you might just want to take a peek at the Lexus dealer in Ann Arbor. Just like you probably want the Acura dealer to do your repairs, they probably took their SUV to the Lexus dealer. It could be sitting in Lexus dealer lot while it is being repaired. Also if I remember correctly the Acura and Lexus dealers are not too far apart on Jackson Ave.

drkangel348

Sorry to hear what happened I had a hit and run happen to me last week, but my tsx isn't damaged too bad. I hope you get things sorted out with your insurance and get your TSX fixed ASAP.

jng

I filed the police report right after I found out about the accident. It was when I was reporting the incident that I found out that the police would not do anything to investigate. So I think I have my bases covered with regards to future liability or risk. I'm just mad that there is nothing in the system that can be done about it.