united-states traffic property insurance north-carolina
What are possible motives for avoiding insurance in an auto accident?
<p>My parked car was involved in a hit and run accident outside of my house.  Luckily, one of my neighbors saw the incident happen and the other driver ended up getting caught and cited by the police for it.</p>

<p>The driver is a minor, so his father is handling the ordeal.  He is very insistent that we not go through insurance, so he would like to pay me directly for the damage to my vehicle.</p>

<p>My question is: what is his likely motivation for wanting to go that route?  Is his motive purely financial (i.e., not have his insurance rates raised) or is there some legal benefit to him paying for my damage out of pocket?</p>

<p>I live in the state of North Carolina.</p>

<p>The most likely reason the other driver doesn't want to go through insurance is to avoid a raise in his premiums. However, there could be more serious consequences, up to and including having his insurance cancelled, for example, if the son was not supposed to be driving the car, or based on the criminal nature of the offense.</p>

<p>However, there can be serious consequences to not dealing with insurance. Some (if not all) insurance policies require him to report the accident; by failing to do so, he may risk losing his insurance.</p>

<p>More importantly to you, if he does not report a claim to his insurance, his insurance will not pay it. This is important to you, because insurance companies, as a general rule, pay claims. Random people don't always; they ignore you, they move out of state, they go bankrupt. If this is a serious amount of money, you need to talk to a lawyer before you enter into a contract with this person, to make sure that it's enforceable, and that if you don't get paid, you have some recourse.</p>
