Question:I tapped a car... and I do mean tapped...

[Lachesis00]

I went to check the mail and parked along side where our mail is... some gal apparently pulled up behind me. I did not see her car. I put the car in reverse, slowly took my foot off the pedal and barely moved but I tapped her car. I was going to back up into the handicapped spot to turn around... neither of us was in a parking spot persay.

There is *no* damange that I can see... No paint missing, no bumps, no chips, no scratches, nothing. She is saying her grill is pushed out (it's a subaru, plastic, when you push it with some force it moves...barely).
I even tried lining my bumper up against where she said I hit her and I can NOT see how I could have hit where she is saying I hit. My car/bumper is too low.

She did not want to call the cops, but wants to call my insurance. I want to make sure I am not paying for something I did not do.

She called her mom how she loved her car... and she hates any damage. It's the third time it's been hit in the last 3 months.

I am extremely upset as I do not want my premiums to go up. I also do not want to pay some amazing amount. I asked if there WAS damage can I pay out of pocket...

Advice?

 

[Micca]

Just taking a shot here, I think you should call your insurance company. Tell them what happened and that you think if there is any damage to her car that you don't believe you are responsible for it. Surely they would investigate? Sorry I'm not more help.
Good luck with everything.

 

[decker96]

She probably didn't want to call the police because she knew you really didn't do any damage and is trying to get some old problem fixed at your expense! I don't know if you can file a police report now since you've both already left the accident. I would call your local police station and at least ask about it though. Maybe they can contact her and investigate the whole thing.

 

[Lachesis00]

You know, she didn't even give me her name... or where she lived. She took my information but did not give me hers. I just realized it.


That is what I am worried about, me paying for something *I* didn't do. When she was talking to her mom she made it sound like I slammed into her... not tapped.

And she was rude. My 13 yo said "Is everything alright..." (no one was in the car) and she was like "NO everything is NOT alright..." I mean geez, it was an accident...

 

[Dopey Sharon]

The only advice I have, and it's probably too late, is to ALWAYS call the cops and get an accident report. You don't have to get the insurance companies involved when you call the cops, but you will have that accident report, should you need to.

My son was involved with a minor accident. Somebody hit him when he was turning into a driveway. He has bumper damage (cracked and a hole). The other guy didn't want the cops called, he was drinking, so my son took his word for it when he said he would pay for the damage.

You can probably guess where this is going...my son got two estimates, the lower being a little over $800. Called the guy, who moaned and groaned about how he doesn't have any money, just went through a divorce, just started a new job, yadda yadda yadda.

My son did manage to get $100 from him, but that was it.

 

[Lachesis00]

She told her mom that because it was on private property the cops wouldn't be called

 

[WDWHound]

You should always call the police in cases like this, but thats water under the bridge now. At this point, I would contact your insurance company and let them know what happened, Hopfully, she wont file, but if she does, at least the insurance company will have your side of the story.

 

[RitaZ.]

It may be too late, but in the future always call the cops to protect yourself.

What kind of information did you give her? Did you write down her tag number? It may be a good idea to contact your local police, then again I don't think that there is really anything that they can do at this point. Good luck getting this resolved.

 

[Lachesis00]

I called the police and they are coming out to take pictures of my car at least.

I explained to the gal on the phone I do not want to be held responsible for damage that may have been there before...

 

[Serena]

On private property the police won't come, or at least not here in Indiana.

Call the insurance company. Let them know what happened. Let them know what she said and that there was no damage done.

Next time, make sure to get the details. Also, pictures would come in handy too.

Good luck, it may come down to nothing happening at all.

 

[Lachesis00]

Well the police came. He couldn't see any damage to my car... He is going to drive around and look for her car. I wish I knew if it was a subaru or a toyota... ugh. Amazing what you forget when your upset

I told him what she told me, how the plastic grill was sticking out... and how she had to push on it hard to get it to move. How I thought the grill say higher then my bumper... That there was no paint, chips, broken pieces ect... I made sure he knew I didn't want to get dinged for some huge bill if I didn't do any damage. How she had my info but didn't give me hers.

I am glad I called. :::breathing in, breath out:::::

 

[Divamomto3]

Edited to add: Sorry, I didn't read your updates first! Glad you're resolving it.

You should have called the police if you felt there was no damage. They would have done an accident report that clearly stated there was no visible damage to her car at the time of the accident. How do you know she won't go home and smash her bumper? Now you just have her word against yours. Always call the police if insurance information has to be exchanged.

 

[Lachesis00]

Talking to the police on the phone, they normally will not come out if it is on private property. I am not sure why they made an exception.

 

[christineann]

Always call the cops. She may hit something later and claim the damage was caused by you. We are defending a similar accident right now, and the person who got tapped has $6400 in chiropractor bills. Always call the cops!

I would fight it to the end.

 

[momsully]

I work in the insurance industry and would recommend you call your agent ASAP so they can be looking for a fraudulent claim.

 

[ElizK]

She'll probably file a claim that the insurance will just pay because it is less expensive for them to pay then to fight. That's exactly what happened to my husband a couple of years ago. The guy sued because he had "back and neck pain". They were in stop-and-go traffic on the highway, Dh hit him going less than 5 mph. No damage to either car. We tried to get the insurance co to fight, but they said it was cheaper to settle. They paid this twit $1500.00.

 

[krissy3483]

Definitely call your insurance company and give them any information you do have...and I would definitely mention that the police found no visible signs of an accident on your car.

 

[MelessaG]

I had something similar happen to me while on vacation a few years ago. The guy did file a claim and my ins. paid just to shut him up, I don't know how much he got. He was a real jerk though-grabbed my info and drove off without another word. He lived in Keokuk, IA and his license plate said "IMLUCKY." I've always felt he did this on purpose when he saw my out-of-state tags. (I mention his tag only because I want any DISers who might see the idiot to give him my 'best'.)

 

[aprilgail2]

Last time I called the cops for a minor accident they told me on the phone to just get the other person info,..that the cops don't come out for minor accidents where there was no bodily injury to either peron or passengers. I did hit a car with a rental truck one time and it was an older car and I hadn't taken insurance out with the truck, i banged up her fender and ripped the side molding off the truck...I took out 250.00 out of my pocket and told the person to take it and we would call it even and she was fine with that (the car was so old I am sure she wouldn't even get the bumper fixed but I did not want my private insurance going up!) and my friends dad rivited the molding back onto the uhaul truck!

 

[Beth76]

I wonder what kind of recourse this girl will have since she didn't give you her information. That just seems shady to me. Anyone have any thoughts on that?