Greetings,

I was in a 3mph parking-lot rear-end - no visible damage on my car, scratched up rear bumper on other car. I'm at fault.

I acknowledge fault and other driver and I agree to let me just pay for the paint myself rather than make the insurance claim. Car is a new-ish Corolla or like. Estimate damage seemed to be $100 for the paint, which probably really means like $300, but not over the $750 required for SR1 filing.

We agree that I'll pay directly, exchange information and contact info. Weeks go by, I hear nothing from other driver.

I get a letter from California DMV warning me that I haven't filed the proper SR1 paperwork, that my license can be suspended, etc. The other driver is filing an insurance claim >$1000.

The only thing I can conclude is that the other driver is making a much larger insurance claim, and I've heard that the insurance company will often file the SR1 on your behalf.

My question: what should I do at this point? The damage, by any curbside estimate, was not over the $750 CA high-water mark, I'm guessing this guy is puting a bunch of other "fixes" into the claim, and I'm not sure what to do about this filing issue.

Recommendations?

--Doug

Well soudns like it will go to court because you did not call and get a police report, so now it is one person's word against the other in court. I hope you have some pictures. I suggest talking to an accident attorney before talking to your insuranve company because this can get tricky and you need to prove the small damages and prevent the piling ons.