Some drivers buy automobile insurance, but do not embrace the chance to take full advantage of their policy. For instance, those particular policy holders might hesitate to report an accident. That sort of action can increase the risks to which the policy holder gets exposed.

Each policy holder is expected to report any accident to the insurance company that sold him or her that particular policy. The purchase of a policy constitutes the making of an agreement, like the signing of a contract. For that reason, failure to report an accident carries the same legal weight as violating a contract. Consequently, if an insurance company were to discover that a policy holder had failed to report an accident, it could deny the coverage promised in the purchased policy.

Some policy holders try to avoid paying a deductible, and, so, do not report minor damage, as caused by an accident.

Does that approach make sense? The cost of a deductible is usually about $1500. Meanwhile, the cost of a minor repair could run as high as $2,000. At the same time, the injury lawyer in Apple Valley failure to report the accident could result in the need to pay a higher premium.

If a collision involves 2 cars, one driver cannot be sure what the other driver might do.

At the scene of the accident, the other driver might say that he or she is not going to report the collision. Yet that same driver might later experience some mild symptoms. By the same token, the same driver might find that the collision has forced him or her to deal with some costly repairs. That combination of circumstances might push the other driver to report the accident and also to deny any liability. If that second driver has denied liability, then the first driver becomes responsible for all of the collision-associated injuries, those sustained by both drivers.

In other words, the carrier for the driver that originally promised not to report the collision would ask the first driver’s insurance company to pay for the injuries sustained by its policy holder. That request could come as quite a shock to an insurance company that had never heard about the accident that caused the injuries.

Obviously, that same insurance company would become quite annoyed by the policy holder’s action, or lack of action. For that reason, it might well state that it refused to cover the cost of the other driver’s injuries. Consequently, the one driver could become responsible for those injuries, and could be without financial help from his or her insurer. Ponder that possibility. It illustrates the risky nature of a decision that encourages a driver to skip the process of reporting an accident.