Accident question.

[StangerBanger96]

94NDTA;178353 wrote:
My gf totalled her car yesterday, she is doing fine, but neither of us have ever been in an accident before.

It was her fault, but is it true in ND it is no fault? Also, the car is worth maybe a grand, and she doesn't have full coverage. She can't get anything if she wrecks her own car, right?

Do we need to report it to her insurence if we are not going to get anything from it anyways?

Did she hit someone else or just some object that only you and her know about?

If someone else was involved you are SOL. If it was only your car that was destroyed and nothing else I'd just not tell the insurance company at all, especially if the car was a POS. Only thing you'd get is higher rates.

[moparguy]

if you wreck your car and have liability only your screwed. you wont get anything for it. it sounds like there wasnt another car involved so your lucky there.

[StangerBanger96]

Yeah like I said, if nobody else was involved just take the loss of the vehicle, $1000 or so you make it sound like, and consider yourself lucky nobody else was involved because otherwise you'd be paying mucho bucks.

[RidinRails]

i'm pretty sure she has liablity,

so therefor if she hit someone her liability insurance would cover the costs to repair the car she ran into.

Liability doesnt cover your own car.

[Guest]

If she is at fault in a 2 car accident, liability insurance covers the vehicle she ran into, but not her own...the other persons insurance would not cover hers since they were not at fault (by your own admission).

[thrash]

Overview of insurance terms for the person that is insured

• liability: if someone else has a reason to get money from you (you hurt them, you hurt their car, etc), this will come against the liability coverage you have. I.e. if you are found "liable" for damages, those damages will be wholly or partially offset by the coverages outlined in your liability policy

• collision: if you damage YOUR OWN car in an accident, collision coverage will attempt to pay you to restore the usage of your vehicle, either by repairing it or by paying you an "ACV" (actual cash value - determined by them but somewhat negotable) that you can spend how you like. The latter option is what is referred to as "totalling" a vehicle - the vehicle is a total loss and you get a check for its ACV (but don't get to keep the vehicle

• comprehensive: if the vehicle is damaged by a non-collision way (neighbor spray paints it, someone breaks a window, etc), a comprehensive policy will tend to partially offset the cost of repairing the damage

There are other types of auto insurance coverages as well:

• uninsured motorist: if someone else hits YOU (and thus, their liability policy would normally pay you to restore you / your vehicle), but they are uninsured and thus cannot/willnot pay, uninsured motorist coverage essentially means that your company will cover the costs instead.

• umbrella: this is a "whatever is left" policy, usually with enormous limits (millions of dollars or higher). Essentially, an umbrella policy says that if something so amazingly severe happens, and you are found liable, and your liability policy exceeds its coverage limits, the umbrella "fills in the rest". If you have a fair bit of assets, and are in a litigious part of the country, and are worried about what sort of judgement a sympathetic judge / jury might make against you, this makes a lot of sense. A lot of drivers are ticking timebombs looking to cash in if someone "hits them". And then there's always the off chance that you hit a bus full of kids or something.

(others that i'm forgetting)

Basically, my approach to insurance is:

• I carry very high liability rates. Liability coverage means I fucked up somebody else, and they're going to expect me to pay for it. Liability coverage has a per-person and a per-accident cap... you can imagine that t-boning a single person could easily cost them a 6 figure hospital bill.. which you'd be on the hook for. Now if you put 4 people in a car you're easily talking 1m dollars that you'd be on the hook for. If your liability coverages don't cover this, you're on the hook for the rest. You'll almost assuredly have to declare bankruptcy. Your car(s), most of your assets, etc, will all be subject to forfeiture to pay off your debt. Your house and certain other things are "protected", but recovering from bankruptcy takes years and years, above and beyond the amount of time you spend servicing the judgement against you.

For collision coverage - i look at it two ways. On cheaper / beater vehicles, i don't carry it. On nice vehicles, I do. Basically if I couldn't go out and replace the vehicle tomorrow without a painful asset liquidation, I'll carry collision / comprehensive coverages on it. A more concrete way of looking at it is... however much it would cost you to replace a vehicle... if you just lost that amount in cash.. would you be pissed or would you be fucked? Pissed? Don't carry insurance. Fucked? Insure it Collision coverage is really about you not being a dipshit, but that's why its called insurance.

All of that said, if a person is in a multi-car accident, and is at fault, here's what will happen

• that persons liability coverage will pay for car repair and medical costs for the people that they hit

• that persons collision coverage, if they have it, will be the ONLY thing that would pay to repair their own vehicle.

[Bookem]

In North Dakota I believe the no-fault law states if a person is only at fault if they are issued a ticket. I've never claimed an accident so I don't know first hand, but this is coming from my agent a three years ago.

[DWeigs]

Isnt it illegal to not report an accident if the damage is more then a $1000.....

[thurmanmerman]

Not unless the accident happens with another vehicle or you hit a person. I totalled a car by hitting a baby deer and wasn't going to file an accident report. Well that all changed when we came back with a trailer to pick up the car. 2 HP were there waiting for me asking what happened. Supposedly there is a charge for killing a deer with a car.

[moparguy]

thurmanmerman;178366 wrote:
Not unless the accident happens with another vehicle or you hit a person. I totalled a car by hitting a baby deer and wasn't going to file an accident report. Well that all changed when we came back with a trailer to pick up the car. 2 HP were there waiting for me asking what happened. Supposedly there is a charge for killing a deer with a car.

You are supposed to report deer/car collisions. and in the state of ND a extra 10 dollars they used to be allowed to let you keep the deer you "pre tenderized" with your vehicle.