Posted On: April 29, 2008, 4:08 pm CDT

Posted By: Matt N.

It's a big difference to the insurer who has to rate this person according to his claim history. Claiming it as a theft would make the loss a Comprehensive exposure, and thus a non-fault loss and likely subject to a lesser deductible.
An at-fault Collision loss is what actually took place, and his claim history will need to be documented accordingly. Further his character will need to be evaluated when deciding whether to continue insuring him and his vehicle.

A greater issue here is that by trying to dodge the fault bullet, the guy would be disallowing his carrier from paying out any liability he may owe. The victim party certainly has auto damage and may have suffered injury.

This guy thinks he's saving a few bucks on deductible and premium, but was opening himself to a personal lawsuit and now of course these fines/prison time.