What Would You Do? Car Insurance Dispute

Gaz83

This morning whilst clearing out my garage I was approached by our elderly neighbour, who stays in the house opposite us. He claimed that whilst reversing out or drive, we had reversed into his passenger side door and drove away. Naturally, I assumed he meant recently, and refuted this allegation in a firm but polite manner. I asked when this alleged incident happened, and he said on the 27th December.

I immediately told him that I cannot recall such an incident happening, and that if it had, I would have been quick to visit his door, apologise and offer to make good any repair. He said he had seen me reverse, hit his car, and drive away. Given that he can't see the passenger's side door from his house, I don't see how he could have seen this. I asked him why it had taken him seven weeks to report this to me, and he gave several reasons:

• His wife had urged caution to avoid confrontation (it later transpired that his wife has admitted to him she's not sure if it did happen)
• He had been waiting on the right moment to come and see me (it should be noted that I'm a teacher, and was on holiday for a further 10 days after the alleged incident)
• He had been hoping that my conscience meant I'd come and see him upon realising what I'd done

My neighbour made it clear that he expects I pay for the repair. At one point in the conversation he conceded that we 'go half' on any repair as surely I wouldn't want it going through the insurance (he is correct on this point, as my excess is more than the damage would cost, but he does not know this). But I refused this as, as far as I am concerned, I have not touched his car at all. I asked him which car it had been, and he pointed to our blue Citroen Xsara Picasso. I showed him a new keeper's supplement showing that I had bought said car on the 11th January, at which point he said "it must have been the old one, then" (we had an older, silver, Citroen Xsara Picasso that we've recently upgraded from).

I informed him that I would let my insurance know, which I did. They advised that as far as they were concerned, until said gentleman reports this to his insurance company, there is no claim, and that if he did report it, it would immediately be flagged as a dispute. I explained to my insurance company that if the balance of probability determined that it was likely I'd caused such damage, then I'd pay for the repair without going through the insurance, but on explaining the circumstances my insurance company agreed that balance of probability would mean I had no case to answer. I told my neighbour this (I am trying to stay on civil, good terms with him) and that he would need to let his insurance company know and then it would be investigated.

What would MSE folk do in this situation? I feel sorry for the old bloke. I don't think he's 'at it', I think he genuinely thinks this has happened, which of course it hasn't. But we've only just moved in in December and it seems a shame to sully a relationship with a neighbour already (and possibly more if he talks to our other neighbours).

Any advice? Cheers.

cootuk

I would check his vehicle for damage to see if the bumper line of the old car matches the damage. That might easily tell that you didn't hit his car.

If you believe you didn't damage his vehicle, then stick to that.
I find it especially strange that he didn't write down a reg and vehicle colour for his potential insurance claim at the time.

Or maybe his car got damaged somewhere else, he didn't notice at the time - easily done if you only use one door - then deduced you must have done it when he finally noticed?
People's brains make up things to fit the facts they want to believe.

Gaz83

cootuk wrote: »

I would check his vehicle for damage to see if the bumper line of the old car matches the damage. That might easily tell that you didn't hit his car.

If you believe you didn't damage his vehicle, then stick to that.
I find it especially strange that he didn't write down a reg and vehicle colour for his potential insurance claim at the time.

Or maybe his car got damaged somewhere else, he didn't notice at the time - easily done if you only use one door - then deduced you must have done it when he finally noticed?
People's brains make up things to fit the facts they want to believe.

I reversed my 'current' Xsara Picasso up to his passenger side door and the towbar does indeed more or less line up with where the towbar was on the 'old' Xsara Picasso. But that doesn't really prove anything (I dare say most cars and towbars will line up with a couple of cm tolerance either way). There's no damage on either car (the old one is now kept at my in-laws' house), but if it had been a towbar then that would have been expected.

I too find it strange that it's taken seven weeks to report this. I don't think any insurance company will take his claims seriously. My wife and I both think your last suggestion is the most likely one. My wife thinks he is lying but I'm more likely to believe he's just mistaken.

jimjames

One point that seems unclear from the details: did the neighbour see what happened or did the wife?

There is mention that she isn't sure what she saw but also that he claimed to see it but wouldn't be able to with visibility.

scaredofdebt

How bad is the damage?

Is it at all possible you did hit his car very gently and didn't notice?

Does anyone else drive the car?

Gaz83

jimjames wrote: »

One point that seems unclear from the details: did the neighbour see what happened or did the wife?

There is mention that she isn't sure what she saw but also that he claimed to see it but wouldn't be able to with visibility.

The neighbour at first said it was his wife who saw it. But it's literally impossible for him to see it from the position his car was in.

Gaz83

scaredofdebt wrote: »

How bad is the damage?

Is it at all possible you did hit his car very gently and didn't notice?

Does anyone else drive the car?

There's about a foot-long dent in the passenger's side door. It's possible in that the chap parks opposite our drive, but for it to have happened, I would have had to drive out in a perfectly straight line, without turning to get out our street. And again, why wait seven weeks?

My wife does drive the car, but over the Christmas holidays she was suffering from particularly bad morning sickness (we're expecting our second child) so I was doing all the driving over that period.

Gaz83

The boy's came to the house tonight, but my wife and I were at the cinema (my auntie was in the house babysitting). Wonder what it was for.

force_ten

sound bizarre

I wonder why he left it for so long before coming to your door and confronting you, the whole situation seems very odd

if it had been me and i had seen you damage my car i would have camped out at the window and the minute you pulled back into the street i would have been out like a shot to ask you what you were going to do about it

lets hope you have a good outcome to this very strange situation

Iceweasel

Just so you are aware - tow balls are pretty much a standard height - no matter what make of car.

This is nonsense - 7 weeks on from the alleged event - no way.

Gaz83

force_ten wrote: »

sound bizarre

I wonder why he left it for so long before coming to your door and confronting you, the whole situation seems very odd

if it had been me and i had seen you damage my car i would have camped out at the window and the minute you pulled back into the street i would have been out like a shot to ask you what you were going to do about it

lets hope you have a good outcome to this very strange situation

Thing is, I like to think I'm a reasonable guy. Few years ago at my old house my handbrake cable snapped, car rolled out of the drive and damaged my neighbour's fence. As soon as my neighbour arrived home from work I went over to apologise and offer to pay for repairs.

If I had hit his car, I would have went over straight away to apologise and make it right.