No one wants to get into an accident. It means headaches, repair bills, and increased car insurance rates. It also opens the door to being scammed.
Staged automotive collisions are nothing new in the scammer world. If you feel that you have been involved in a scam speak to law enforcement immediately. It would also be an idea to contact your insurance company to make them aware.
What about when you have been in a minor collision and you are at fault and you want to settle a claim without going through insurance? Start by taking photos of the incident for your own records. Then, you should create a letter that you both sign off on. This is a great step in protecting yourself from you paying out the victim and then having them turn around with your insurance information and make a claim against you stating they were never compensated. So how do you best insure that you have all of your basis covered? We created a letter template that you can download here titled “Accident-Letter”:
To walk you through this document, you would start off with your full name and the date of the day you are paying the individual. Put in the sum of the money you are paying and the full name of the individual you are paying it to. Indicate on the next line that they are the owner / insured driver of the type of vehicle you hit. Enter the VIN # of that vehicle. The VIN number can be found on the lower right hand side of the windshield, visible from the outside. It is a serial number that uniquely identifies the car. You should make sure that this number matches what is on the ownership of the vehicle as well. Go onto the next blank in the document and fill out what type of collision happened (rear end, front/rear fender bender, etc) followed by the date and time and location of when it happened.
You should always make a police report to cover yourself. If the damage is minor a law enforcement officer may not take the report. That is fine as well. Document the date, time and badge number of who you spoke to for your own records. If an officer did take a report, put the report number in the letter. You should also include the date the report was filed, the officers name and badge number.
The letter should then restate your name absolving you of any further cost outside of what is documented in this letter for the accident that took place on the date of (the day the accident took place). Put the full name of the person you are paying money to stating that they agree and acknowledge through signing this document that the full damages to the specific vehicle and their health and well being have been fully compensated with no further monetary compensation required.
At the bottom of the letter both of you should sign your full name, record your drivers licence numbers, signature and the date. Both of you can have a copy. Make sure that their name and their driver’s license is the same.
While this letter doesn’t make you scam proof, it gives you a solid piece of documentation that proves you paid the damages that you could use against them if they try to scam you.