Legal Question in Insurance Law in Illinois

Re: failure to report accident to insurance

You are correct in your assumption

that it violates the law to fail to report an

accident to the authorities.

You have a claim for damages whether or

not he reports the accident.

I do hope your son and husband are faring well.

Please contact me for a free consultation.

Thank you for your consideration.

Re: failure to report accident to insurance

QUESTION: My husband was hit a couple weeks ago while my son was in the backseat. The truck that hit him never reported the accid. to his insurance is this against the law, to not report an accident. And because where he hit him, if he would have been going any faster he could have killed my son because he hit the rear passenger door and caused $5300 worth of damage. Would we have a case against him?

ANSWER:

There is no law that says someone must report an accident to their insurance company.

The agreement you have with your insurance company; however, does require your participation in the defense of the case and it also requires that you report accidents to the insurance company.

Therefore, your failure to report the accident could result in the insurance company not having to "indemnify" you.

Likewise, the other driver's failure to report the accident could result in the insurance company not having to pay for the other driver's damages.

On the Traffic Crash Report given to you by the police, the name of the insurance company and the policy number will be printed below and to the right of the other driver's name.

With that information, you can report the accident yourself to the other driver's insurance company.

Once reported, you can follow the claim procedures established by the insurance company or you can fix the car yourself and sue the other driver for the cost of the repairs.

I would recommend that you follow the insurance company's procedures.

My office files claims in your situation all the time - however, we only represent clients when someone has been seriously injured.

If your husband or son have a permanent injury, need surgery or have been hospitalized, please contact me and I will do my best to insure that you family is compensated for their damages.

If you do not have a serious injury and just have property damage, your car will be repaired by the at-fault driver's insurance company.

Good Luck,

Matt Belcher