I was in an accident around Cinco De Mayo. The impact was a low impact 5mph type of accident. I reported to my insurance company and they totaled it and said I had to register it as salvage in CA, but I could keep the car. I have replaced the windshield straightened out the hood and dents. All that is next is the airbag. When I register it again. Is it going to be on the record as salvage since the insurance company totaled it?
A better question is when I report the accident to the insurance company and they total a car like mine. Does the insurance company report the accident to the state?
That is a mystery? Sometimes they do, But most of the time they do not.
Yes. As said before, do not put coverage on an old car - and if you do, do NOT report damage less than a (in YOUR opinion) total loss to the insurance company. If you fix it without insurance co involvement, the car is not "branded"
If you lie to the insurance company your opening yourself up for all kinds of exposure. You get into a collision and the accident is your fault, you try to avoid reporting it to the insurance company and suddenly a year later right before the statue of limitations runs out your slapped by a million buck medical lawsuit by some ambulance chaser. Now your screwed because your insurance company investigates and finds out you didn't report it to the insurance company, or lied about the damage, and they cancel the policy under the terms of the contract, perfectly legally, and you now are fighting the ambulance chaser lawyer on your own.
If you are going to not report an accident, your far better off not filing a police report if it's just property damage. Most states have a dollar limit that you are required to file a police report at, and if asked you just tell them that the damage was underneath the limit, and the other driver's insurance carrier wouldn't give you the dollar value they paid out on their car. They can't prove otherwise on a property claim of this nature. Medical, of course, is a different story. But you should -never- not tell your insurance company if your in an accident with another car, or your in an accident where you have a passenger. The only ones that you can keep secret are the dumb fuckups like when you drive into the ditch at 2:00am in the morning by yourself, then come back the next day with a chain and pull it out.
No. If having a no salvage title is that important to you, you can simply not cash the check from the insurance company, or take less than the book value as compensation. If the insurance company doesen't pay out book value on your claim, they cannot total the car.
Ted
I did not say do not report the accident to police. The insurance company will STILL know of your driving record - but there is no law saying you have to let the insurance company look at the damage on your car, see an estimate of repairs, or pay anything for damages to your car. The liability side is a different situation.
You are free to repair your car, or not repair it, any way you wish. You can scrap it for a broken headlight if you like.Or you can spend $20,000 rebuilding a $500 peice of trash. As long as the repairs are properly done, the insurance company, or the law, can do nothing about it. Period.
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