Expert: Ron Cercone - 1/24/2009

Question
My son's car was parked in front of my house.  It was not being used, as he is away at college.  Not having adequate funds, the insurance had lapsed. The car was hit, and the driver's door was smashed in.  If I report the damage to the insurance of the driver at fault, to fund the repairs of my son's car, could I face any repercussions for not having had insurance on the undriven car? And what is the statute of limitations to report such an accident in the state of Washington?

Answer
Hello Lynn,

In most states, if you have the driver and vehicle information on the vehicle that hit your car, then go after him. You don't need your own insurance. You can't make a claim against someone els'e insurer unless that driver or vehicle owner reports it to their insurer. If the driver or vehicle owner refuses to turn it in to their insurer, then you sue them. If they don't want to take a chance on losing in court or paying the bill, then they will turn it in to their insurer. And they may not turn it in until after they get the notice they are being sued.

To my knowledge, you don't need liability insurance on a vehicle in most states unless it is being driven on a public road. Being parked legally on a public road does not require insurance. But you should call the Washington department of motor vehicles or a Washington attorney to verify this. The laws and their enforcement vary in many states.

In most states, the statute of limitations "to sue" someone in court for property damage is 3 years from the date of the loss. Call your local small claims court clerk and ask. I don't know of any time limit on reporting an accident to the police or the insurer. If it was a report to your own insurance company, most policies say "as soon as reasonably possible." But in your case, its the driver of the other car who should be reporting it to his insurance. If you are talking about reporting the collision to the police, I would say make the report ASAP.

The most important thing you can do right now is take pictures of your vehicle and the other drivers vehicle (before he gets it fixed and he denies the accident ever happened). Get close ups to show paint transfer. Get witness statements, if any. And make a police report.