Long story short:
Got rear ended in LA. Not much damage. Other driver and I agreed to do it without insurance. I got his information, didn’t hand over mine. I got estimate, he venmo’ed me.
Got a call today from his insurance company to talk about accident (his car had pretty signifcant front end damage). He seemed rather insistent.
Question: Do I need to talk to him? Seems like there is only downside and no upside.
Thanks.
So he paid you on Venmo?
You can ask him if it is ok to answer his insurance company, they might be fishing for fraud.
Settling without insurance is legal (at least where I live). I’m guessing his damage was more that he was willing to pay out of pocket and he decided to file a claim. The adjuster will want to talk to all parties to determine fault. I would be up front in the fact you took money for the estimate directly from the insured as he did not want to involve insurance in the beginning.
Taking cash is also risky in the fact if you end up with an injury and no claim it could end up costing you $$ down the road.
What’s the downside?
You’ve been made whole and no one’s gonna come after you for that money.
They’ll probably ask you to sign a release saying the claim has been resolved.