Got in a fender-bender, 3 wks later guy says he has injuries (fraud)... what to do?

Hi guys,

So I need a little advice... I was in an accident and I think now the other guys is trying to pull insurance fraud....

Background:

About 3 weeks ago I was pulling out of my ally to go to a friends house. As usual, I was slowly creeping out making sure the coast was clear before pulling out and making a left hand turn. Well another car made a right hand turn off of a parallel street onto the street I was turning left on. Long story short, I must not have seen him, and he must not have seem me. I'm still now sure how this happened, but for now, it is what it is.

As I turned into the street, I saw him to my left and stood on the brakes. My truck's front end was in the middle of the lane when he slammed on his brakes too and ended up hitting my front drivers side tire. He hit me at about 10 mph. Just fast enough to crack his front bumper (it was sagging down about 2 inches after the accident) and since it was about 4* F outside, his radiator must have been super brittle and cracked too (there was a small stream of coolant that pooled on the pavement under his car). His car was a 1998 busted ass Oldsmobile (literally, it looked like a pile of crap all around). There was no real cosmetic damage to my truck (I think there was a small scratch on the front lower part of my bumper, but nothing I really cared about... afterall, it's a 7 year old truck and I'm sure it has scratches elsewhere). The only damage to my truck was just a bent lower control arm, which a shop fixed under my insurance.

Since the accident happened about 50 feet away from my house, we just walked over to my front porch and exchanged information. While I was taking down his info, he asked if he could use my bathroom. The guy seemed a little sketchy, but I just attributed it to just being in an accident. So I let him in and showed him the bathroom. Well, he walked in, shut the door, dropped something in my toilet and flushed it. 20 seconds later he comes back out. I don't know for sure what he flushed down my toilet, but I'm assuming it was something illegal that he didn't want the police to find.

After exchanging info he says "Hey man, I live in Conifer... can you give me a ride home?"

Conifer is a good distance away from Denver, and on top of that, I did't feel comfortable driving my truck, or a complete stranger who was kind of creeping me out after the whole bathroom incident, back to his home down. So I offered to call him a cab, but he said, "Man, I only have $6 and I'm sure it'll cost more than that". So I told him I was sorry I couldn't help him, but maybe a friend could come pick him up or something. So he gets on the phone and calls up someone and the first thing he asks the other person is "Hey man, have you been drinking yet? Well what about Shelly? Can she come pick me up? Ok well I was in an accident and I need someone to pick me up."

Right about that time the police show up to do the report. They ask both of us if anyone was hurt and we both said no (police report even says "no injuries"). They looked at his car but didn't even bother to look at mine since it was too far away for them to walk to apparently (still in the ally where I had back it up into to get it out of the street).

As the police sat in their car filling out the report the guy asked me if he could stay at my house until someone came to pick him up. At this point I told him I wasn't comfortable with that but that there were several 24 hr gas stations within walking distance he could wait at. As I was telling him where the nearest one was, the police return, give me a ticket for turning in front of a car and then offer to give the guy a ride to the gas station.

So they all pulled away and I get on the phone with my insurance. About 15 minutes later, I look out my front window and low and behold, he had walked back from the gas station (10 blocks away) and driven his car away!?!?!? I was like WTF? It leaked coolant and he suddenly thinks he can drive it away at 9PM back to Conifer?!?!? Well, to each his own I guess.

Anyway fast forward to today...

I get off work and check my cell phone. I had a voicemail from my insurance companying (Geico) saying that a new claims representative had been assigned to my claim because the guy is now claiming that he sustained body injury.

I had such a bad feeling about this guy from the start that I almost knew he was going to try to pull some shit like this.

So what am I supposed to do now? My insurance covers liability, but I'm scared that this jerk is going to try to play the system for all it's worth and ultimately screw me in the end (maybe try to sue or something!?!?!).

What should I do guys??


Thanks for your input!

 

police report says no injuries, if he didnt go to the ER within I think 48 hrs, hes SOL.

 

1. make sure you have multiple copies of the police report that states no injuries.
2. Let insurance deal with it for now.
3. Get a lawyer just in case.

But i'm pretty sure he would have had to go to the ER within a certain amount of time.

 

They (geico) will cut him a check for a couple hundred dollars and jack up your rates. At this point I hope you have medical coverage on you insurance. I don't know colorado laws on the subject so don't quote me on any of this. like previously mentioned if he didn't seek treatment within 2 days insurance isn't going to do much for him. Always go to the ER right after an accident and take an ambulance or have someone else drive you just to cover your ass. If he drove home and a good distance at that he's both dumb and uninjured.

 

this ^^

you typically have upto 2 years to report injuries because you can end up with injuries you don't notice the first few days. That is why you never state you are uninjured at the scene because then you may forfeit this right.

 

Tell him to gofuck hiself

 

thats not true

 

In Washington you have three years to settle the claim once it's been started. Once a claim is closed you cannot go after the insurance company you will have to go through civil court after the responsible party.

 

Then what is? From my experiences with geico they will do everything possible to pay as little as possible. The other party stated no injury at the scene, if he has not sought medical attention and is only "claiming" that he is injured with out proof he will get a small check for "pain and suffering" and geico will send him packing. I'm open to hear other opinions or what you feel will happen.

 

Whole lotta advice in here from people who aren't lawyers in the OP's state/county...


OP: Get a consultation with an attorney versed in the laws in your area. It'll cost you a couple hundred for an hour of his/her time, but it'll be very worth it in the long run.

 

you are correct here. If it is all hearsay, he won't get much. He will need doctor bills to prove the pain and suffering to get much money.

 

This is what you have insurance for, this won't be the first time someone trys to pull this on them, nor the last. Let your insurance company deal with it.

 

Also good advice.

 

Get a lawyer. And let the insurance deal with it. Injuries can pop up later down the road. I slammed a go cart into a wall at 40-45 didn't have any injuries till about 10 days later. Now I have random back pains. Somedays I need a lot of ibuprofen. Been like this for the past 6-7 months.

 

^^^^i agree, no lawyer is needed, that is what you pay insurance for, let them do there job, then tell that jack ass to go fuck himself

 

Depends. Insurance works for insurance, not for you as the policy holder. Insurance may ask you to sign paper settling his claim that put you, as an individual, at a disadvantage.

This is why it doesn't hurt to consult an attorney. They'll advise you of common occurrences in that regard, what is/isn't legal, and can review documents sent by your insurance agency to ensure you understand what it is you're signing.

That said, insurance will often rebuff these situations themselves without any help. So really, it's the OP's call on how informed he wants to be.

 

Tell him your toilet backed up and you have his drugs Ask him if he wants them back or to hand them over to the police...

 

This is what I meant, this guy smells of dbag from a mile away...they will sniff that out.