So about 3 months ago I was stopped in the middle lane at a light and needed to get over. I was in the middle lane, and the other truck was in in the right lane next to me. My buddy reached out and waved to the guy on my right signaling that we were trying to get over, and the guy gave him the go ahead. So when the light turns green, I hit the gas and merge into the right lane, and the other driver hits me on my passenger side, hits both the passenger front and rear doors ($2300 in body work out of my pocket). We're downtown, so I turn right and pull over and he takes off and leaves the scene. I ended up paying out of pocket instead of filing on insurance cause I totaled my truck last year and filed a claim for it. I like my insurance costs at a reasonable price so I chose to take the hit on this one and just pay cash for the repairs and not claim it. But today I got a letter from a debt collector saying that I was liable for 9k of this guy's damages and that they had been retained by the insurance company. They want my liability insurance provider's info or cash payment. I'm assuming that this collection agency has bought the debt from the insurance company (since it was 3 months ago), and theyre just trying to make some money out of nothing. The reason I'm worried about this, is cause technically I turned into his lane, even though he obviously ran into me and caused damage on my passenger side. And here's the kicker, I searched the database for my city and he actually did file a police report for leaving the scene later in the day but he said that I left the scene, not him. So now I'm in kind of a weird spot. I haven't received anything from the PD showing that I have been cited for any kind of accident, and this is the first I've heard about this in the last 3 months. Obviously his insurance company didn't feel that there was enough evidence to go after me. I don't want to say anything to this agency that can make implicate me and make the debt valid. Can they collect from me for this?? I just don't have any experience with collection agencies and I'm worried about them doing something that will hurt my credit or even take me to court to collect this $9k worth of damages that this guy had. What should I do?
Well I never filed a claim so my insurance company is not involved. I don't see how they can force me to pay for this guy's damages if I've never been proven at fault or even been charged with a crime (ie leaving the scene which he filed a false report on me for)....
This is why you ALWAYS call the police when involved in an accident. If you called the police and let them come write a report at the time of the accident then you would have something to fight this. Sadly, I am not sure what your options are other than getting an attorney.
