Why You Shouldn’t Accept Cash at the Scene of an Accident

As strange as it might sound, after a car accident, some drivers will try to get the other driver to accept cash from them. They usually do it to avoid the headaches of a car accident claim. What they might not realize is that they are probably making much worse problems for everyone. No matter what sort of car accident you’ve been in, do not accept cash from the other driver at the scene of the crash.

Three main reasons why you shouldn’t accept cash at a car accident scene are:

1. Unknown damages: Immediately after a car accident, you cannot possibly know the extent of your damages, including vehicle damage and bodily injuries. Your car needs to be seen by a mechanic and you need to be seen by a doctor to begin understanding just how bad the crash was and how much it will cost to recover from it. Whatever the other driver tries to offer you in cash or with a check, there’s almost no way it is going to be enough to take care of all your damages.
2. Split liability: If there are multiple parties involved in the car accident and one of them wants to give you cash instead of filing a claim, then you won’t know if you are even accepting money from the right person. The parties at fault for a car accident are liable, and liability can be divided in surprising ways once an investigation into the crash is completed.
3. Unspoken settlement: Possibly the worst thing that can happen if you accept cash from the other driver is that they could argue that you came to an unspoken settlement agreement with them by accepting that money. Rather than pursuing a claim, you decided that you would take their money instead, or so they say. While this argument is not solid, it could feasibly succeed if they dragged you to court over it and had evidence that you took the money from them. To make sure this argument doesn’t interfere with your potential recovery, simply don’t accept any form of compensation from another driver after a crash.

Were you in a crash that got complicated because the other driver practically forced you into accepting money from them? You should explore your legal options and potential next steps with a professional attorney.