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I've had a car accident more than 6 months ago. At the time, I did not contact police because the person appeared to be unhurt and the car damage was minimal. Later, I found out that the other person filed claims with my insurance in excess of $1,800 for both car repairs and injuries. To the best of my knowledge, the other person did not file a police report, and I was not contacted by any law enforcement. Now, I had applied to remove conditions on my Green Card by marriage, and checked "No" on the question "Were you ever arrested, detained, etc. or committed any crime that you were not arrested for". I am sure I did the right thing at the time, but can this situation affect my I-751 application? I live in West Virginia, which appears not to have a single Immigration Lawyer that I can find. What should I do?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: West Virginia Already Tried: Internet search
Hello and thank you for the opportunity to assist you. There might be a slight delay between your follow ups and my replies as I am typing out my answer, or taking a quick break. Please remember that this is general information only, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed.Relax.I am sure I did the right thing at the time, but can this situation affect my I-751 application?The individual filed a civil claim. This is not a criminal matter. Unless a peace officer arrests you and/or a prosecutor charges you, this does not become a criminal matter. Nor will it likely because this was more than 6 months ago, and the authorities are not interested, obviously. This will remain a civil matter and not have any criminal component to it. Ergo, you have not committed any criminal act that you were not arrested/charged for, because no police officer has cited you for criminal negligent (etc), nor has a prosecutor filed a charge; nor will they, likely. Without them to state that a criminal action has occurred, it has not. Who is to say that the other driver was not at fault?Ergo, relax - you did the right thing. This is in no way considered a criminal act.I hope this finds you well. Please remember that I do not get credit for my time with you unless the answer is rated/concluded by you; I work very hard to formulate an informative answer for you – please reciprocate my good faith. If you still need information, hit reply so we can chat until you are satisfied. You may always come back to it to ask follow ups on this topic free of charge.
Thank you very much for the reply. I just want to clarify. Would any insurance information relating to this matter show up on any FBI or IBIS security checks? If it will, I would like to be prepared. Though I have no legal documentation, I have pictures of the damage to my car and some insurance paperwork.
No problem - my pleasure.Would any insurance information relating to this matter show up on any FBI or IBIS security checks?No - this is a private matter between two companies. This would not be on any state or federal database for criminal or national security matters.Now you can always bring it with you and if the agent asks at interview about it, you can explain. But I 99.99% doubt it.I promise you, at the I-751, they are more interested about the validity of the Marriage, anyhow. I cannot tell you how many I have been to, and never did I have the agent ask, "Tell me about that vehicular accident you had that the insurances settled out of court?"(Smile)It is natural to worry, but I think that here, you can relax a bit, and focus more on preparing affidavits, photos, and evidence of the validity of the marriage for the last two years.I hope this finds you well. Please remember that I do not get credit for my time with you unless the answer is rated/concluded by you; I work very hard to formulate an informative answer for you – please reciprocate my good faith. If you still need information, hit reply so we can chat until you are satisfied. You may always come back to it to ask follow ups on this topic free of charge.
Experience: Private practice in several areas, including immigration
Another concern, sorry! I'm wondering if the person who was involved in an accident with me without any record, and accepted an insurance settlement or at least had her bills payed by insurance (North Carolina), would still have the right to sue me later for any additional damages, if she sues inside the 2-year limitation period. And if she does, would I be notified, even though I moved to another state in the meantime?
No worries!No. Not if they took the insurance settlement that your company offered. In exchange for that settlement, they accept an 'accord and satisfaction' and waive their right to sue you.And they'd have to serve you a notice via certified mail or via third party (constable or private process server).Which they would not.Because if they took the settlement offer, they are done.
Sorry about the dislike message. My mistake. But I still do have some questions. It's about that car accident again. Since the person had made personal injury claim to my insurance, can't she later say that I had left the scene of accident without reporting an injury, which is a Class H felony in North Carolina. All she has to say is that she had to go the doctor, and it wouldn't matter that she claimed no injury on site, she has paperwork to prove injury or at least a need for medical attention. Would anything I say matter?
Also, if the Immigration Service somehow does find out about this insurance claim, they will see personal injury and no police report or record of me calling the police. I can claim innocence all I want, but from my conversation with the insurance agent I was made to understand that the other person claimed she had injury on scene. That's not what she told me, but who're they going to believe? I don't think that would be me. And being in an investigation over a Class H felony would make me inadmissible to the US.
No worries, although I would appreciate it if you let customer service know.Let me ask this - has the person already settled with your insurance company, do you know?
I did not receive any communication from my insurance, but when I changed my insurance in February, the disclosure the new company gave me said that claims had been filed for $1,800 with my previous insurance company (that was part of the reason they gave me a higher rate). I assumed that this was paid out, but I guess I'll have to contact the first company and see what the matter is.
Let us do this - although I am 99.99% certain of the answer already, just for your benefit, can I ask you to call the (old) insurance company tomorrow and confirm this - that is had been paid out?Then you can let me know and we can clarify and conclude. Would this be okay? That way there are no ifs, ends, or buts in my answer.Please let me know if this would be okay - this would require a quick telephone call on your part, of course.
Thank you very much! I'll call tomorrow and let you know.
Great - I have Court tomorrow but I should be back online in early afternoon and I will respond by them - talk with you then.(No need to reply to this communique.)
Ok, Mr. Ely, I did get the information from the old insurance company. They said they could not release this to anyone but me, but the damages were nowehere near the $1,800 amount reported to the consumer reporting agency (that's where my new insurance company got the info). Actually, there was no property damage at all, at least none that was claimed. And the person didn't go to the doctor either. She had just accepted a minimal amount for injury, even though she stated she was feeling ok and there was no harm done. Now, I guess that's good news, but I'm wondering if it is possible for me to contact the consumer reporting agency in question and ask them to thake the $1,800 off. I'm wondering if this is possible, since the old insurance company would not release the actual claims amounts to anyone but me, and I have no proof except their word.
Hello,You did not answer what we wanted to know - did she take the settlement from your insurance company?
Yes, she accepted the minimal amount, and the company is sending me a letter stating that all claims had been settled.
Thank you!I'm wondering if it is possible for me to contact the consumer reporting agency in question and ask them to thake the $1,800 off.You would not have this on your credit report. Credit report is for debt. This was not a debt, but a private settlement involving private parties. No one has access to it.So, now we have someone who has taken a settlement (in exchange for never filing a suit against you), and the matter is settled. There is no chance that they would go to the police to file a report because why would they? Also even if they did, the likelihood of the prosecutor pursuing a case where the party has been paid, it has been 6+ months ago, and no evidence really exists anymore - is NONE.And of course, you were never arrested and/or charged, so this is not on any background record.You should be fine in this regard.
Thanks. I don't think I even have a credit report, seeing as I never had a credit card. The agency in question is Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE).
If you discover an error on your C.L.U.E. report, an invalid claim report, or an incorrect loss payment, for instance, you can contact ChoicePoint directly and report the problem. ChoicePoint will then contact the insurance company on your behalf and ask for clarification on the matter. The company has 30 days to respond to ChoicePoint and provide evidence that the information on the C.L.U.E. report is accurate. ChoicePoint will follow up with the insurer after 20 days if the company does not respond and again after 28 days without a response. If the company does not respond within 30 days, ChoicePoint will remove the information from the database.Who has access to C.L.U.E.?Insurance companies that contribute loss data to C.L.U.E. can withdraw information from the exchange. In addition, some insurance agents, with the authority of the company they represent, can withdraw data.So you can try, but they may not agree to delete it. But even so, this has NO BEARING on your I-751 or any immigration status.