Accident question

[Colts Fan]

I have been filling out quite a few applications lately and have come across the section asking to list prior accidents (ranging from 3 yrs to 10 yrs).

I had an accident in my personal vehicle in Nov. 2004 in which the other party ran a red light and hit me as I was going through the intersection. A police report was taken and the other party was determined to be at fault.

I had another accident in 1999 when the other party failed to yield at a stop sign and struck my driver side. Again the other party was determined to be at fault (and my sweet little Caddy was totaled).

Since neither of these accidents were my fault, is it necessary that I list these on my application? What sort of report do the companies find this accident information?

[mudpuddle]

You need to list them as they will turn up on your MVR. There is usually a comment section where you can note that you were not at fault. Each state is a little different some only list accidents if you are at fault some list all. Same with violations some list only moving while others list all violations moving or not. If a citation was written at the scene and a police report generated, assume that someone checking your background will know about the wreck.

[Colts Fan]

I got a copy of my MVR about a month ago and there are no accidents or tickets on it. Am I giving too much information?

[Twilight Flyer]

No, you're fine. That '04 accident will likely show up on the MVR. '99 probably won't. If they are asking for information that far back, be truthful. Just explain it like you did above. You may, though, have to provide a copy of that accident report from '04. That's done easily enough...just contact the DMV or the police department that filled out the report and tell them you need a copy. They'll tell you how to do it.

[Mr. Ford95]

What if no report was ever filed but fault was found?? I had one 2 years ago in my pickup where I was not at fault but the responding officer refused to write a report because the damage was under $1000 in his view. The only reason he was called out was because an off-duty county mounty was behind me when I got hit. Is that for the "Comments" section??

[Twilight Flyer]

Again, you'll probably be OK if you're honest. Interesting thing about accident reports, they sometimes show up when you don't expect them, too. In your case, the cop may have told you he wasn't going to do a report, but did it when he went back to the office. It happens and quite frequently, I might add.

[Mr. Ford95]

I'm sure it does happen, just not on mine, had a terrible time with the other guys insurance because of that. State Trooper of all was who responded and when their insurance called him, he had no recollection of who he faulted, thank god for that county mounty who had my back. Lesson learned, never leave the scene until you get a report even if the officer doesn't feel like doing it whether it's your personal vehicle or commercial. I could have called on the Trooper for not doing a report(they are required to do an accident report in VA no matter how much $$ damage is done, which I found out about 2 months after the whole deal from another Trooper.)