another crap day

[candygirl]

I accidentally tapped the car next to me today when i was getting out of my car with my car door, which has a rubber thing on it so there wasn't any mark on the other car.The woman whos car it was saw it as she was putting her trolley back and came running over.I said it was ok and apologised but pointed out there was no damage to her car.she then said there was a dent in it and it would cost a lot to mend as it's a "top of the range mini."
She then asked me for my details so i told her my name and phone number so that she could ring for my insurance details.She was annoyed that i didn't know my policy number off by heart, i asked her for her details and she refused to give them me saying she'd done nothing wrong.I repeated that there was no visible damage to her car but she could ring me by all means.I then went into the shop and bought a few things and came out and she was sitting in her car with her door open so i couldn't get in my car, talking on her mobile.There was also a trolley pusher stood in front of my car with his arms folded.He didn't say anything but just stood there as if he was acting as a kind of witness.:mad:
I wrote down the details of the so called incident, and she asked what i was writing ,so i told her.The bloke moved and i drove off.
I came home and rang my insurance company legal helpline and told them what had happened, and they said if she rings to just give her my insurance policy number and name of ins company.Now i am worried about how this will affect my no claims bonus, i tried to reason with her saying i couldn't see any damage, and would have been willling to pay upfront rather than lose by no claims bonus but she was so angry i couldn't speak to her.I know cars are important to people but i seriously looked and looked and couldn't see any damage.my neighbour who is a mechanic checked my door on the rim etc and said he couldn't see how it could have dented anything as there was no damage to it.I am insured fully comp and am more than willing to let her claim but i can't see what for.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[ailuro2]

Tell the truth and perhaps she will back down!

Some folk who don't have a camera phone choose to keep a cheap disposable camera in their glove compartment so they can record evidence (or lack of it)

The law is strange regarding car parks- if you deny any damage she may have a tough time proving anything.

[candygirl]

Tell the truth and perhaps she will back down!

Some folk who don't have a camera phone choose to keep a cheap disposable camera in their glove compartment so they can record evidence (or lack of it)

The law is strange regarding car parks- if you deny any damage she may have a tough time proving anything.

That's why i think she had the trolley man as a witness, but to what i don't know.if it was a visible dent i'd admit it and apologise.Her attitude was way over the top so i couldn't say anything at all.I will be annoyed if the trolley bloke witnesses it against me though :mad: :mad:

[saintjanet]

As a person obsessed with cars i could understand how annoyed she would be if you had dented her car.However there is either a dent in it, or there is not!!looking down the panel the light would show if there was.

If she tries to claim against you i doubt she will put a dent in it herself just to prove you were in the wrong,so how can she have a none existant dent repaired?unless it was there before of course.

If her car is not marked i would certainly not offer to pay simply because you "banged "her car by accident.There are loads of mobile dent removal firms now ,who will come to your house and do a paintless job for very little money,it would not be in anyones interest to claim through the insurance,if it was really damaged.I would keep them informed though.

[C_Ronaldo]

who remembers theyre insurance policy number off by heart, certainly not me, ive got more important things to remember,

[b33r]

It wouldn't surprise me if she attempted to put a whiplash claim in as well, she sounds like the sort. Don't you have a camera phone? you should have used it if so, also if she was attempting to use the trolley boy as a witness you could have done the same by showing him that there wasn't any damage. Hindsight is a great thing though.

[candygirl]

She'd have a job putting a whiplash claim in as she wasn't even in the car at the time, nor was i in mine.I do honestly feel she totally overreacted and i could not see any damage at all.She rang before asking for my address.Due to her aggression i refused to give it to her but gave her my ins policy number and phone number . She then put her hubby on gthe phone and he said i was being evasive, i said we'll let the insurance compnies sort it when you claim, and he wasn't happy with this.The ins legal helpline said i'd fulfilled all my legal obligations to her by serving her with my name, car reg, phone number and ins details.I on the other hand have none of hers.I was initially thinking we might have sorted it without a claim but not now.:mad:

[Stephen Leak]

Unfortunately, there are people like this - they don't suffer from stress themselves, but are carriers! The advice about the disposable camera in the glovebox is good - I've got one in mine, and the last time I had a similar incident to this, the other guy leapt back into his car and drove off in a cloud of verbal abuse before I could even get it out of the box!

[Alias_Omega]

Dont worry about it, this is why we all pay insurance premiums, unfortunately its a cut & shut case. You were seen too & admitted hitting the car door with your door. Therefore you have admitted liabilty and pretty much screwed on this.

Give it a few days and agree to meet up with her too see what she wants to do. If the car is a metalic colour, which it probably is then the car would require painting i guess to remove the dent post repair. This therefore would require the front wing, and rear quarter panel to be painted to match the door.

You could suggest to her to try a dent devil company to try remove the damage

http://www.dentdevils.co.uk/

Earlier in the year i had a repair on my bonnet, the AA damaged the bonnet and put a dent in the front that could not be taken out.

The garage repaired the dent, painted the bonnet, painted the wings to match, and put the stripes back onto the car. This cost the AA £746 ishy. That was excluding hire car costs too.

[Alias_Omega]

PS ---

She was probably watching the car, noticed you paying attention to the door and run over to see you poking your finger, or something at the door and had a moan.

Meanwhile, if you just got out of the car, closed the door and walked away you prob would of been ok. You drawn the attention to yourself.

You should of got out, had a look at the car and said nice car, shame about the dent in the door though..;)

[mcfisco]

If never fails to amaze me that some people buy cars, polish & care for them like some treasured piece of family silverware only to take them out in the very hostile environment of the road system.

There’s road dirt, stones, animals etc. not to mention other road users & they get all worked up if they get so much as a scratch on it. They need go ret real & accept that the road in no place to keep shiny trinkets.

[Alias_Omega]

When you car is £200 you dont care about it, When your car is £20,000 you sure do care about it.

[mcfisco]

Its not a mater of not caring for it - its just a case of being realistic about the environment you want to operate it in.
I care for my car [a new Toyota Avensis T4 BTW] I just don't get too worked up about how shiny it is, I never polish cars, I just jet wash & hoover them out when they're dirty which is about every 3 weeks at the moment.

[Markyt]

If it needs repairing, get a quote from an independant garage, not a Mini dealer. If you are paying, you say where it goes for repair.

We had a 3" scratch on our Mini last year, for which the dealer wanted £340 to fix. We got it done by asking a friend at a local garage to have a look, he took 5 minutes with a cloth and polish and sorted it for nothing.

[Alias_Omega]

Its all about taking care of other peoples property. With car spaces getting narrower by the year, things like this will happen more and more, and its becoming fashionable on cars now not to have bump strips on car doors.

I suspect the OP has learnt her lesson, and from now on will take care when opening the car door.

This is why i dont try to park next to cars with car seats.

[lexi]

candygirl, i am sorry about what happened to you. To be honest if there wasnt any damage i cant understand why the other driver wants the hassle of reporting it, have the car go to the garage (loss of the car). It may also be that she may have the whole door replaced, as some garages will do this. However you do seem to have been unlucky. Supermarket car parks are notorious for accidents. I saw one recently where a disabled driver got out & thumped the car next door to him. He didnt do owt, just carried on. I took a note of the car reg just incase i heard anything, but nothing came of it. Years ago a very posh mercedes rolled back into my escort & hit the bumper, very liughtly. he got out so did i & there was no damage so we carried on. Of course its your word against hers , but i do think that there are signs where cars are parked at customers own risk, so maybe you could again have a word & try to get the work down without going thru insurers. If not check you ins premium. We have one where we have a no claims protection. Good luck.

[waster]

Dont worry about it, this is why we all pay insurance premiums, unfortunately its a cut & shut case. You were seen too & admitted hitting the car door with your door. Therefore you have admitted liabilty and pretty much screwed on this.

............

What liability has she actually admitted to? Touching the bodywork of the Mini, not denting or damaging it. Indeed, she has actually denied doing any damage. So I do not follow what you are saying. How is she screwed?

[plane_boy2000]

Markyt - I dont think the Op is in a position to state where the car is repaired. I was the victim of an accident in my car a few months back and insisted thet it went to the supplyin dealer to be fixed as it was only a few months old. My insurer told me that as I was the victim I was entitled to decide where I wanted it repaired, and to avoid any future issues over things like the corrosion warranty of the car etc it was best to let the dealer or their approved garage repair it.

I do wonder if you may have been stiched up slightly - perhaps there was damage already there or on the other side of the car and she is going to claim you did it?

Or maybe it wasnt her car and that was why she was so worried by it and keen to get your details. Not quite sure on the legal position, but supermarket carparks are a minefield, although I thought that there was some law about you having to provide your details when asked so she may have infringed some law by refusing to provide details.

[candygirl]

An update since i last posted:Her insurance company are claiming through my insuarance (i don't undrstand this as i've only been driving since nov] but her ins compnay rang me today again asking for my address, and for me to ring them back.i rang my own insurance company who have rung them and told them not to ring me again as i have furnished them with more than enough details and they wont be geting my address.what a bl**dy pallaver.She has also said the dent was in her door, which is strange as my car didn't hit her door but the area behind it .I have pointed this out to my ins company who have noted it and will invetsigate when they have a look:mad:
The comment about the car being £200 or £20,000 isn't relevant as we all buy what we can afford, so theoretically my ka is worth as much to me as her "Top of the range mini":rotfl: :rotfl:

[anewman]

who remembers theyre insurance policy number off by heart, certainly not me, ive got more important things to remember,
Insurance scamsters probably do
http://www.safefromscams.co.uk/StagedAccidentScam.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_ne...00/6248515.stm

As already said dents rarely cost much to repair, they certainly won't cost anymore because it's a "top of the range mini", in fact they'd probably cost less.

The way I see it is if you can afford an expensive car you can afford to lose the car or pay for repairs for any damage to it and the extra insurance costs. Anyone who moans about their car being "top of the range" is a complete loser. What's the point in affording an expensive car if you can't afford to lose it?! It's like putting a platinum diamond ring on your doorstep when you could barely afford to buy it.

[candygirl]

Insurance scamsters probably do
http://www.safefromscams.co.uk/StagedAccidentScam.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_ne...00/6248515.stm

As already said dents rarely cost much to repair, they certainly won't cost anymore because it's a "top of the range mini", in fact they'd probably cost less.

The way I see it is if you can afford an expensive car you can afford to lose the car or pay for repairs for any damage to it and the extra insurance costs. Anyone who moans about their car being "top of the range" is a complete loser. What's the point in affording an expensive car if you can't afford to lose it?! It's like putting a platinum diamond ring on your doorstep when you could barely afford to buy it.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
well said!!I also think if anyone has to point out that something is top of the range, designer or expensive it shows a lack in them anyway.
As I am totally new to this driving lark I am not sure what will happen next.will i have to pay the excess if they are claiming off my insurance?To be honest with all the other crap that is going on in my life at the moment (see some of my other posts for clarification) I shouldn't give a toss about this, but i think it was her bolshy attiude that got to me more than anything. I know my insurance premium will go up next year and i will lose my no claims bonus but im not sure about the excess.I always thought i understood insurance, but car ins is a minefield:confused:

[Ms Chocaholic]

Another avenue that no-one seems to have picked up on is that, if you had dented her car, would this have left a speck of paint from your car on hers.

[anewman]

Another avenue that no-one seems to have picked up on is that, if you had dented her car, would this have left a speck of paint from your car on hers.
Or indeed left some kind of mark on the door that marked it. AFAIK the rubber rubbing strip hit the door (which is what they are designed to do to stop damage). If it did it with any force enough to damage the other car surely it should have marked that car too.

Candygirl AFAIK you will not have to stump up the excess (it's just if you make a claim on the policy yourself). I would do your best to contest that you caused no damage if you have the time and energy. Otherwise it's increased premiums for the next 5 years (I think that's the time frame).

If only Jeremy Beadle style stunts were legal. We could give this woman something to *really* worry about. Lol.

I'm actually feeling guilty now because a few weeks back my door unintentionally tapped someone elses car, rubber strip no damage etc. I got in and looked to my right and the driver was sat in the car :O Glad he didn't notice.

[candygirl]

Or indeed left some kind of mark on the door that marked it. AFAIK the rubber rubbing strip hit the door (which is what they are designed to do to stop damage). If it did it with any force enough to damage the other car surely it should have marked that car too.

Candygirl AFAIK you will not have to stump up the excess (it's just if you make a claim on the policy yourself). I would do your best to contest that you caused no damage if you have the time and energy. Otherwise it's increased premiums for the next 5 years (I think that's the time frame).

If only Jeremy Beadle style stunts were legal. We could give this woman something to *really* worry about. Lol.

lol.i wouldn't wish my current problems on anyone, but she really does need to get a life.incidentally there isnt a mark on my car, and the door rubber is clean too, no paint there.it really is much ado baout nothing, if it was my car i'd accept the apology and go through the insurnace no matter how peed off i was, verbal bause wouldn't come into the equation :p

[Keith]

Don't worry, I had a similar problem with a neighbour, my partner reversed into her car and damaged two panels of her car. I asked her nicely if we could sort it out privately, she refused.

For some reason the insurance company found in our favour and found the neighbour at fault, not sure how :D

The Mini owner will have to pay her excess, and chances are the insurance company will settle 50/50, at which point you can approach them to settle their costs, this will keep your NCB.

[candygirl]

Don't worry, I had a similar problem with a neighbour, my partner reversed into her car and damaged two panels of her car. I asked her nicely if we could sort it out privately, she refused.

For some reason the insurance company found in our favour and found the neighbour at fault, not sure how :D

The Mini owner will have to pay her excess, and chances are the insurance company will settle 50/50, at which point you can approach them to settle their costs, this will keep your NCB.

I thought the same ie that i wouldnt be paying the excess, but someone said cos shes claiming directly from my insurance i will.God knows what'll happen i could prob buy a new bl***dy face for the old hag at the end of all this:mad:

[bladeliker]

people please NOTE that every one in the age has mobile phones or if shoping at a supermarket get a disposible camera for less than a couple of quid or take pics with your phone please make shore that your camra phone is above 2.0 mega pixcell as it wont brobley be good enouth to see any dents slash none scratches or be really poor quarlity

[bladeliker]

people please NOTE for future dents with cars or crashes that every one in the age has mobile phones or if shoping at a supermarket get a disposible camera for less than a couple of quid or take pics with your phone please make shore that your camra phone is above 2.0 mega pixcell as it wont brobley be good enouth to see any dents slash none scratches or be really poor quarlity

[candygirl]

Good news is i wont be paying any excess, plus i've rung the supermarket and talked to the manager and the trolley pusher will be getting a bollocking as we speak.:beer:

[candygirl]

I can't believe it , I saw the hag yesterday at the same supermarket at the same time.I'd forgotten it was the same time till later as i had just finished work.I came out of the shop and saw a black mini, and the hag getting into it.
She then spotted me and stared at me for ages, but i waited for her to drive past me and then made a big show of writing the reg number down for my ins .It was a private reg too, as well as a "top of the range " mini!!!lo how some people bolster their egos up never fails to surprise me :D :D

[tomstickland]

I did wonder if the woman was looking for an excuse to have a dent repaired when reading the original post.

[Stephen Leak]

She's probably had some interesting letters and/or 'phone calls from her insurance company in the last week. Spare me rich customers and give me the poor ones every time!