LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – In just four days, the Lubbock Police Department will begin its new crash policy, no longer responding to minor crashes.
LPD says its officers spent nearly two thousand days worth of time over the last four years filling out minor crash reports, time they want to spend elsewhere. Starting in the new year, that report becomes your responsibility.
Ron Hettler, president of Hettler Insurance Agency, weighed in on that new policy and told us what insurance companies need from you to file your claim.
“I understand the big cities are doing it, I am sorry that we are becoming a big city,” Hettler said.
Hettler, who has worked in insurance for roughly 40 years here in Lubbock, says LPD’s new crash response policy is going to be a learning curve not only for the public, but for insurance companies as well.
“When you call the insurance company about everything that happened, they are going to say, was a police report filed. The answer is no,” Hettler said.
Since there will no longer be a police report for minor crashes, Hettler says gathering evidence for your insurance becomes your responsibility.
“They need to take pictures, they need to seek witnesses, and perhaps figure out some cameras on what’s going on,” Hettler said.
Hettler says he expects that evidence-gathering might be difficult for someone not wearing a badge.
“The public will respond to a police officer; will they respond to an insurance company? Will they respond to a driver of a vehicle on what they saw? Would they write down a statement and notarize it for me so it can be used in a court of law? They just don’t have that authority,” Hettler said.
Hettler says without statements or proper evidence, crashes become a he-said, she-said situation for insurance companies. which usually results in each involved party’s insurance paying for their client’s damage. He expects this could become costly for Lubbock drivers.
“It will increase the cost of your policy in general,” Hettler said.
CR-2 crash forms are available at LPD and on LPD’s website. Hettler says although those reports are mainly for your records, it may help you recall information to submit your claim.
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