Someone hit my car!

[momtotwoteens]

We got here Friday evening and decided to go to Epcot for a little while. Left there and went to our resort and went to bed. When we got up yesterday morning and went to our car I noticed it had been hit hard in the rear bumper on the side. Whoever did it just went on about their way and didn't leave a note or anything. I'm just sick about it. I can't believe somebody could do that and not even stop. They had to know they hit it judging by the damage. It has kind of put a damper on our trip considering we have a $1000 insurance deductible.

 

[The Hendies]

Boy that is really terrible! I'm guessing there are no surveillance cameras?

 

[Disney Yooper]

In Michigan, you don't have to report it. Many years ago, I tried to file a police report when I accidentally hit a car in a very tight parking lot. They thought I was nuts and didn't take the report. I had left a note on the car I hit but the police told me I didn't even need to do that.

I'm sorry that it happened. Try to forget about it as best you can while you are enjoying your trip.

 

[momtotwoteens]

My DH doesn't think a tag number would show up even if there were cameras, but I think we should report it anyway just to have a record for our insurance company. I think it probably happened at Epcot and not Pop Century.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Several years ago my license plate was stolen. (My personal car, not a rental.) When I tried to file a police report, it was a problem, because I didn't know if it happened at Magic Kingdom, or at All Star Music, where I was staying. Same thing, drove home at night, went to bed, next morning, leaving to go, noticed it gone. All Stars are in a different county, so the police didn't want to take a report because I wasn't sure which county it happened in! And my home state of Missouri wouldn't replace it without my having a police report about it being stolen! That was a real hassle and a lot of long distance calls even after I got home. What a mess!

 

[momtotwoteens]

I'm sorry that it happened. Try to forget about it as best you can while you are enjoying your trip.

That's what my DH said and I'm trying.

 

[fla4fun]

In Michigan, you don't have to report it. Many years ago, I tried to file a police report when I accidentally hit a car in a very tight parking lot. They thought I was nuts and didn't take the report. I had left a note on the car I hit but the police told me I didn't even need to do that.

I'm sorry that it happened. Try to forget about it as best you can while you are enjoying your trip.

We had a similar situation here in Florida. My sister and I had gone out shopping and our car was hit in the lot. The police wouldn't even come out because it was considered private property and there weren't any injured people. We had to pay it ourselves.

One trip I was staying at BW and someone knocked the passenger rear view mirror off the car. I didn't notice until I backed out of the parking space, and saw the mirror on the ground where the car had been. I'm not sure how they did that without damaging the car, since I was pulled into a space with grass and trees in front of me (not a pull through) but they did. We were able to re-attach the mirror, so there wasn't any extra expense involved there.

So sorry this happened to you OP.

 

[AJA]

I'm so sorry, what a damper for a disney trip. It's really crummy the person didn't stop. If you have time, I would ask the resort to do some checking on their cameras. You never know.

As other posters have said, just try to put it out of your mind and enjoy your vacation, car bumps can happen anywhere and are part of life. At least no one was hurt and bumpers are a pretty easy fix. It's just one of those things that happen, don't let it stress you (too much!).

 

[JennyLane1977]

We had a similar situation here in Florida. My sister and I had gone out shopping and our car was hit in the lot. The police wouldn't even come out because it was considered private property and there weren't any injured people. We had to pay it ourselves.

Yeah, I was in an accident last year in a shopping center here (Orlando). It was a 4-way stop, and another driver didn't stop and ran into the side of my car. The police did come, but basically said he couldn't do anything because it had happened on private property. That made no sense to me. The other driver *did* still go through a stop sign!

 

[disney minnie]

About 10 years ago I backed up and hit a car in the HS parking lot. I totally freaked and there was obviously no way to contact the owner of the car. I put a note on the car and since I had my camera I took pictures of all of the damage. (cell phones didn't have cameras at that time)

We never heard from the owner of the car until three years later. One day we received a phone call from the owner of the car. They wanted us to fix he car. My husband asked them to get an estimate and told them that we would like to just pay for it instead of going through insurance. Towards the end of the conversation my husband told them that I had taken pictures of all of the damage. Well, we never heard from the car owner again. We think they had been in another accident and wanted us to fix their car.

If/when you leave a note be sure that you have pictures of the damage. Otherwise you never know what kind of bill you may end up getting.

 

[thebigdisneydaddy]

Out of curiosity, would the disney travel insurance cover anyof the damage?

 

[rock_doctor]

I always have been worried about being hit in the park parking lot. If you are first in line, they make you move so far into the traffic lane. I have a truck and they put my front tire on the line so the first 2.5 feet of the truck is in the traffic lane... I asked and the CM on the segway told me they did not care (seriously he said they did not care), it was a civil issue and Disney was not responsible even though they told me to pull that far forward. Now i just stop where i think it is safe and get out, ignoring the lot monkey. They get mad and i get hostile and they drop it right a way. But i digress....

I hope you took tons of pictures. I also have a grand deductible and there is nothing you can do about it. I still would check with security. They should have cameras on the lots and if so they can identify the car but unless they have a court order they won't. They take a photograph of each car and license plate as well as the the face of the driver every time you go though the hotel parking lot guard station (face only when you stop to talk to the guard, such as when show your ID the first trip though the gate). I do know this to be true. Anyway, your vacation just got a grand more expensive. Get it fixed and move on. Your insurance company should give you no fault since they hit a parked car (your parked car).

 

[Bummbok]

And now we know why Florida requires no fault insurance coverage....

 

[nkereina]

Several years ago my license plate was stolen. (My personal car, not a rental.) When I tried to file a police report, it was a problem, because I didn't know if it happened at Magic Kingdom, or at All Star Music, where I was staying. Same thing, drove home at night, went to bed, next morning, leaving to go, noticed it gone. All Stars are in a different county, so the police didn't want to take a report because I wasn't sure which county it happened in! And my home state of Missouri wouldn't replace it without my having a police report about it being stolen! That was a real hassle and a lot of long distance calls even after I got home. What a mess!

Are you sure it was stolen and didnt fall off? Was it a vanity plate or something? One time my side view mirror was missing - just the glass, not the encasement attached to the car. I noticed it gone while I was in a parking lot and thought for sure someone who had my car took it because they needed one. But when i got home I found it cracked on my driveway Apparently it just fell off!

OP - I would report the damage to security at Epcot or your hotel, wherever you think it happened. My sister was the victim of a hit and run in the mall parking lot and she reported it to mall security and they reviewed tapes and made an effort to help her. I don't think they ever tracked down the person but I would think WDW would have better surveillance than a Buffalo mall

 

[DebbieB]

In Michigan, you don't have to report it. Many years ago, I tried to file a police report when I accidentally hit a car in a very tight parking lot. They thought I was nuts and didn't take the report. I had left a note on the car I hit but the police told me I didn't even need to do that.

I'm sorry that it happened. Try to forget about it as best you can while you are enjoying your trip.

Wouldn't that be hit and run? I can't believe they would advocate just driving away, leaving the person you hit with the bill.

And now we know why Florida requires no fault insurance coverage....

No fault only applies to medical, not damage to the car.

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/content215.aspx

 

[Bummbok]

No fault only applies to medical, not damage to the car.

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/content215.aspx

Ahh, my bad...guess it's a good thing I never needed to use it when I lived there...heh.

 

[Disney Yooper]

Wouldn't that be hit and run? I can't believe they would advocate just driving away, leaving the person you hit with the bill.



No fault only applies to medical, not damage to the car.

http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/content215.aspx

They told me the difference is it was in a private parking lot which is not the same as hit & run. Totally went against everything that I thought I knew.

 

[Feralpeg]

OP, sorry about your car, but that is not that unusual on Disney property. When I moved to this area, I bought a new car. Within a year of living in this area and parking on a regular basis on Disney property, I had more dents and dings on my car than I have ever had on another car. I usually keep my cars about five years. This was by far the worst.

Once, while parked at DTD, I saw a guy open his car door and slam it into my door hard enough that it left a dent in my door. I was on my way back to my car. I confronted him about it. He just laughed and walked away.

I think a lot of it has to do with rentals. People don't really car about rental cars. They aren't careful with them and figure other people are driving them as well. It's really sad, but a reality.

 

[chartle]

Out of curiosity, would the disney travel insurance cover anyof the damage?

I think only if it impacted your trip in some way because they are only insuring the trip elements i.e. flights, hotel, etc.

Also the travel insurance company would say its the auto insurance's responsibly. Now if it was a rental maybe.

 

[POOHsie]

Sorry that happened to you. That happened to me at work. A delivery truck backed into the delivery area badly and struck my mini-van in the first employee parking spot next to that area. It dented the upper part of my tailgate and broke my big tailgate window. Of course, nobody saw anything, and there were multiple delivery trucks that day. So, I was out-of-luck and out the deductible. I did change my insurance deductible after that, though, to $500. I learned that it was a bad bet to have a high insurance deductible, when it came time to make an actual car repair claim and scramble around for those unexpected expense dollars.