Originally Posted by eippo1
The cops were just saying that it will be marked on your record as an accident. He was telling you that b/c if you didn't know and were at fault, then it's a ding against you (he has no way to determine fault besides your word, so he was doing you a favor by telling you). An accident where you have no fault doesn't make any difference.
The police told me that when one person files a report it will show up on that persons record, not the other guys. Further, in CA they don't differentiate whether or not an accident is your fault or the other persons when it comes to putting it on your driving record. It just shows up as an accident and it's your job to convince your insurance company that it was not your fault - some insurance companies don't care who's fault it is, it's held against you either way. So the police were doing me a favor by mentioning this - filing a report WILL go in my driving record and will not assure I gain anything. I'm going to chase down this guys insurance company next week and see what they have to say. If they tell me I need a police report, I'll go back and get one. I think it all depends on whether or not the driver admits to the accident (I'm not holding my breath).
Moral of the story is to get a police report at the scene or kiss your chances good bye of getting anything out of the offending party.