things to do when being accused of damaging someone's car?

Bosch

Hi folks,
Quick question... hope this is the right place for this type of query...

So I won't go into to many specifics but my wife returned to her car (in a supermarket car-park at the weekend) and was met by someone who claimed that she'd scaped the back-left side of their car... i.e. there was a 9-inch horizontal scrape and a paint mark, which happened to be the same colour as my wife's car...

My wife (a VERY careful driver, particularly when parking) said she was sure she didn't go anywhere near their car and actually parked about 4 feet it... the other person looked at our car's bumper which has a few old scuffs from over the years (it's 7 years old, we've owned it for 2 years), saw the matching paint colour and presumed guilt. However, I gather the damage and scuffs doesn't align when the cars are put together but the other driver is adamant that my wife did it and took her insurance details, etc. regardless. (I had a look at our car and see no visible recent damage.)

Just looking for advice on next steps to take to ensure we don't get hit with having to pay for someone else's accident... we've notified our insurance company and they've said that they'll assign someone (an investigator) to it tomorrow... luckily my wife also took a pic (on her camera-phone) of the damage and I've also taken some photos of our car's front bumper...

Anyone been through any of this kind of hassle before? If there were video cameras in the car-park (there wasn't), I'm sure it'd be shown that someone else did the damage to their car... also no witnesses unfortunately. In any case, if my wife _had_ done it, surely she wouldn't have parked her car as normal and calmly gone in and done some shopping, right??

Thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks,
B.

Our man in Havana

Well it's up to the accuser to prove that she did the deed, not that she didn't. He will have to prove his case. Let him make the next move.

Interceptor

Might be worth checking with the supermarket security people to see if there is cctv footage?

'cptr

mike65

If the marks don't even align then no case, call thier bluff and mention the small claims court as a solution (I belive low value damage claims are okay) its quick and cheap and if they are decent they would agree to using it.

Mike.

Our man in Havana

Small claims court only is for small claims against businesses, not a small claim between 2 members of the public.

Dilbert75

The insurance company won't pay out without having an assessor look at both cars. When he's looking at yours, point out the height difference, sit back and relax. Any assessor worth his salt will need no more.

gerrycollins

tbh it up to him to prove it and to gather eye witnesses etc but to put it through the insurance company unless there is witnesses the guards will have to get involved

BigCon

Just be careful leaving it to the insurance company. I've heard of cases where claims were paid without even contacting the individual who the claim was being made against, cause it was less hassle (even though the claims were BS)...

Skyuser

The writing in your post is putting me off reading it. Why don't you make a bit smaller.

Our man in Havana

BigCon wrote:

Just be careful leaving it to the insurance company. I've heard of cases where claims were paid without even contacting the individual who the claim was being made against, cause it was less hassle (even though the claims were BS)...

If you are with QD I would take that advice seriously.

BigCon

Bond-007 wrote:

If you are with QD I would take that advice seriously.

Aye, it happened my auld fellow - he was driving down a narrow country road when a boy racer came around a bend at speed and over on his side of the road, the boy racer swerved back to his side if the road and over compensated, scraping the side of his car off a wall.
He then made a claim against my father's insurance and got paid handsomely to fix his car. :rolleyes: .
All my father knew was when he got an initial letter saying that another company was making a claim. He waited (foolishly) to hear more - then he got a letter saying that they had paid out the claim, resulting in him loosing his NCB...

Beruthiel

BigCon wrote:

Just be careful leaving it to the insurance company. I've heard of cases where claims were paid without even contacting the individual who the claim was being made against, cause it was less hassle (even though the claims were BS)...

yup
this was done to me 10 years ago, I'm still angry about it! :mad:

AdrianR

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCon
Just be careful leaving it to the insurance company. I've heard of cases where claims were paid without even contacting the individual who the claim was being made against, cause it was less hassle (even though the claims were BS)...


yup
this was done to me 10 years ago, I'm still angry about it!

Yes this happens, be especially careful that you never get anywhere close to a Taxi in Dublin :mad: