Minor accident with a tractor trailer? Always call cops.

[spock123]

On my insurance if you file a claim and it's less that $1500 they don't charge a deductible and it doesn't make your insurance go up. Plus I know it costs more but I have $100 deductible.

[Silver Dollar]

Originally Posted by youroo

Some states are "No Fault" you pay for your own! Youroo!!

"No fault" only refers to bodily injury, where each person's own insurance pays for their injuries, up to a certain limit. Property damage is altogether different.

[emm-dee]

I have a regular dash cam in the windshield which is on whenever the key is on or, if I flip a switch, on continuously. In addition, my rear "observation" camera does double duty as a dash cam. It has a built in SD card that keeps a video file of everything it sees for the past 10 hours.

[SidecarFlip]

Interesting thread. I think you are hosed. Under ICC regs any accident between a commercial vehicle and another vehicle, commercial or not must have a report done on the scene by either a DOT officer, Highway Patrol or local LE, that is the law. You should have called LE immediately and stated a commercial vehicle hit you and then left the scene of the accident. They would have been there in a flash. That is their responsibility to do so. That applies in any state at anytime...

Was the driver an Asian by chance?

Pilots are fuel stops, not gas stations. Sunoco is a gas station.

[Lloydg]

Originally Posted by Silver Dollar

"No fault" only refers to bodily injury, where each person's own insurance pays for their injuries, up to a certain limit. Property damage is altogether different.

Some states maybe, but not Michigan. That's what "fun" about insurance. Every state has their own laws.

[1nshort]

Not only do I have a dashcam, I also record the rear looking camera. Hard to deny hitting you when you have video w/sound.

1n.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by Lloydg

Some states maybe, but not Michigan. That's what "fun" about insurance. Every state has their own laws.

Lets not even mention Michigan. The roads are poor, taxes stupid high and insurance rates insane. Proud to be a Wolverine..... not.

[Rick_Geneseo]

Always take
Pictures as soon as possible. Make sure to get pictures of his rig.
In the mean time get a lawyer as sue him and the company he is driving for. My bet is he can't have anymore reportable accidents.

[F.R.O.G.]

Getting past what the OP perhaps SHOULD have done, may I suggest sending a letter to the tractor-trailer driver's state Department of Motor Vehicles, Insurance Department, and Attorney General, with a copy to the insurance adjuster? I'd be sure to mention the part about his leaving the scene until you caught up with him. Leaving the scene of an accident can be grounds for revocation of the driver's CDL.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

Interesting thread. I think you are hosed. Under ICC regs any accident between a commercial vehicle and another vehicle, commercial or not must have a report done on the scene by either a DOT officer, Highway Patrol or local LE, that is the law. You should have called LE immediately and stated a commercial vehicle hit you and then left the scene of the accident. They would have been there in a flash. That is their responsibility to do so. That applies in any state at anytime...

Was the driver an Asian by chance?

Pilots are fuel stops, not gas stations. Sunoco is a gas station.

Still will not get a response from the troopers...

[hankpac]

I have a front and rear recording dash cam on my truck and Jeep. I have an observation camera on the trailer, but am installing a recording camera there as well. Heck they are only about 20-50 bucks at Walmart.

[CaptnJohn]

NC troopers are about worthless for anything but writing traffic tickets or major accidents. Local LE are better and if you can get a sheriff deputy ~~ they are the real LE in NC. I live in NC and have seen them in INaction very often.

[txkreddog]

Sorry to hear about your experience, glad everyone was OK. The single incident wife had resulted in medical expenses, and damage repair to the rear of her car. All we wanted was compensation for medical care and repair to the vehicle. The insurance company of the guy who hit her put us off for months. Finally, we contacted an attorney. Don't know if that would help in this case, but for us it resulted in all bills paid, a slight bit more, and attorney fees for the insurance company.

[pmsherman]

If this happens in NM, NEVER NEVER AVOID CALLING THE POLICE. NM law requires that the accident be reported before anyone leaves the scene.

If you don't report the acident when it happens, and report it later, you will be cited for failing to immediately report the accident. (Please don't ask me how I know this.)

Phil

[twdenman]

Originally Posted by Live4boating

On our drive home to Fl from picking up our brand new work & play in Ga we pulled over at a Pilot gas station. When we were leaving we stopped at a stop sign on the access road leading into the Pilot gas station. We were sitting behind a truck waiting for him to turn left. A tractor trailer turned into us and caused minor damage to the rear drivers side corner of our brand new camper. He hit us pretty hard so our whole rig rocked. Luckily we have no injuries. He stopped for a minute, I got out of my truck, got a good look at his rig, then he took off. We found him after we turned around. He argued that he didn't hit us until I showed him the damage, he then apologized and gave me all his insurance info. I also got a copy of his DL. When we got home we called his insurance company and filed a claim. They are denying the claim because the driver said he didn't hit us and we didn't think to get any statements from witnesses. We also didn't call the police because the damage looked minor and there were no injuries. We have progressive so we are covered for the damage but we are probably out our $1000 deductible. Our son is an insurance broker in Texas and told us (when we called him later that day) that tractor trailer insurance companies are notorious for trying to get out of paying claims.

Moral of the story - always call the police and immediately find witnesses even on minor accidents with a tractor trailer!

Mods - I'm not sure this is the correct category so please move if incorrect.

ALWAYS call police! Take photos of truck, driver, license plate(s), and your rig. The truck driver knew his boss would deny claim because you had no witnesses. Sorry to hear you'll be out your deductble. Enjoy camping!

[Live4boating]

Thanks for all the responses! It was a learning experience for sure and hopefully our cautionary tale will help another camper in the future. We won't be lawyering up or trying to get our deductible back, the juice just ain't worth the squeeze. We will let our insurance company handle it. The camper is being repaired right now and should be good to go. I will say that progressive was great to work with. They paid for pickup and return so we didn't have to haul it over there. We will have to look at some of the camera systems some of you mentioned.

[Sterlingsilver]

Best advice I can give is to file a state accident report. Get the form from the proper agency and file it. It doesn't have to be done by a policeman. You can do it. Be factual and provide all the info you can. Refer to the report in filing a claim with trucker's insurance company. It is most likely the trucker did not file a report with his side of the story, therefor your's is the record the state has. If you get no positive response, get a lawyer to write a letter. The threat of a lawsuit should get the insurance company to settle. Especially a minor claim.

[Chpusmc]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

File a police report now. You can file them at a later date. Hen you will have a police report for the insurance.

A late reported non injury collision is not investigated by the police, at least in CA. It clearly states that the information you provide on the counter report is not investigated. I'm not sure why it would help this person if they now filed a report that isn't an official report.

The issue is not that they don't have a police report, it's that the at faults insurance rejected the claim. This could happen even if you have a police report. The victims insurance claims adjustor should be on their insureds side on this and should be diligently working on this for their insured. If not one should reconsider who they pay their monthly payments to.

A great point is made here, how does the victim have the drivers info if "nothing happened"?

No witness statements are funny as well. Believe it or not there are collisions where there are no independent witnesses who see it. How can you get witness info if no one saw it. Or if someone did see it how can you get their statement if they are unwilling to provide it?

[Ejs4029]

Would it be beneficial to record the conversation in this situation with your cell phone in an event like this ?

[DDC]

Originally Posted by Live4boating

We did all of the above. We have pictures and we spent hours on the phone and an email chain saying the exact thing you all have said. Makes sense right? My son said unfortunately this is a common ending with truck insurance companies. What generally happens is they deny the claim and then your insurance pays, then your ins goes after the truckers insurance. Unfortunately our damage was only a few thousand dollars so I doubt our insurance will bother. IF we had witness statements it would have been easier. The dirtbag insurance adjuster actually said in response to the question of why would he have given me his license and insurance info, "all drivers are required to give out that information if asked regardless of whether there is an accident or not and doesn't prove he hit you." We were on the way home from picking up a BRAND NEW TRAILER hours before so I asked him to explain how we have damage when we had literally just picked it up from the dealer hours before. It didn't matter. This is why I am saying with a tractor trailer no injury accident no matter what, get witness contact info and try to get police to come out.

Put it through your insurance then go after him in small claims court for your deductible and any outstanding costs.