Possibly touched car in front whilst parking but no damage.

HemperorZurg

Yesterday after work I stopped off at a local shop to pick up a few things. I was parallel parking on the public street outside but as I was correcting myself my rear tyre was too close to the kerb, I edge forward ever so slightly and very, very slowly as I knew I was close to the car in front, and I may have ever so slightly touched the car in front of me but can't be sure, I know was definitely very close but didn't feel any apparent bump. I finished parking, got out and had a look for any damage but there was definitely nothing visible on their vehicle or my vehicle from where I would may have touched it. The other car itself was a very old that was already very banged up, it had lots of paint wear all over, had big dents in the sides of it and scratches all over it so fairly looked like it had been well used. I went to the shop, got what I needed and as I returned to my car I just drove away I guess not really thinking about it at this point but noticed as I pulled off and drove away some old guy sitting in his car on the opposite side of the road had decided to whip out his phone to try to either take a photo or video of me and I am now concerned going by some scare stories I've read online that this could be reported and despite no damage being done I could still end up being contacted by Police and charged with a hit and run. This was obviously not my intention. I've never had any points on my license, have no criminal convictions of any kind. I like to think I am a fairly reasonable person and had I actually caused noticeable damage to the vehicle (despite it's poor condition) or my own then I would have left a note with my contact information so we can go through the motions required by going through insurers or paying for repairs for damages I caused etc. as I've done this once before and I paid out for a paint chip and a new rear towbar for someone before.

After I got home I was quite worried about it. I thought about returning and putting a note on the car, but then couldn't be sure I'd definitely touched the car, although I am starting to think I must have or I must have been so close it looked like I did - otherwise this old guy wouldn't have started trying to snap me on his phone. My concern however was that trying to be the "good guy" and leaving my details just in case the owner of the car might decide to see what he/she can get out of it since their car was already in really poor condition, and next thing you know I am paying out hundreds of pounds in insurance excess which would hurt my no-claims or for repairs to his/her car for damage that the car already had for trying to "do the right thing".

I am tempted to contact the Police today to get in front of any possible issue and advise of what happened, but also feel I could wind up shooting myself in the foot here, and after speaking with my family about it the general consensus from them is that I leave it as I've caused no damage and can't even be 100% sure I touched the car, and if it gets chased up someone will likely be in touch I'd imagine at which point I will co-operate as much as I can to resolve the matter.

Sorry for being long-winded and thanks to anybody that's read my post. Any advice on this matter would be appreciated. Thanks!

Tokk

Call the police, put it on record.

If TP isn't bothered and/or doesn't report it then nothing further happens.

If TP reports it, you're not guilty of hit and run - police simply put insurers in contact with each other.

Probably best telling insurance too - no claim, almost certainly no damage but for the sake of !!!-covering you should anyway (they may refuse to record it).

foxy-stoat

1. Calm down - no one was injured and as far as you know nothing was damaged so you don't need to call the Police.

2. You won't pay ANYTHING towards the other vehicle IF you did nudge them and IF there was damage.

If you looked at the other car and you didn't damage it then do nothing, if there is a try on claim or an actual claim in the future then deal with it then, fill out the report to your insurers and they will either pay the TP or not. If the old guy is a witness to you nudging the other car and wants to go on record that you drove into it whist parking and drove off then its up to your insurers will deal with the claim, there is not much else you can do.

alfie1950

Please stop going on about the other car being in poor condition.
It doesn't matter what condition the car was in , if you touched it you may have caused a minor scrape, scratch or dented and as such the car should be repaired . Maybe your worrying too much about this and nothing will come of it. Most people are honest and if the other party should find out they might not be bothered. If they are then they are entitled to a repair however minor it may be.

a.turner

Tokk wrote: »

Call the police, put it on record.

If TP isn't bothered and/or doesn't report it then nothing further happens.

If TP reports it, you're not guilty of hit and run - police simply put insurers in contact with each other.

Probably best telling insurance too - no claim, almost certainly no damage but for the sake of !!!-covering you should anyway (they may refuse to record it).

Why call the police? Can't be guilty of fail to stop and report and accident you're not aware of and from what's been posted there was no accident.

HemperorZurg

Hi thanks for the advice given thus far everyone.

I decided the best thing for me to do was contact the Police non-emergency number and report it. I explained there was zero damage and I was not even sure if I had touched the other vehicle but as someone had obviously decided to try and take a photo/video of me I was concerned that it would be reported as a hit and run which was not the case.

The service advisor was very friendly and helpful on the call. He said he would pass this on to an officer to review and decide if it was worth me coming into the station to formally record it so currently awaiting a callback, however he stated that if nothing further is reported by the owner of the vehicle then nothing will happen regardless of this guys video/photos and his own report to the police.

foxy-stoat

Now you have gone on record you should inform your insurers.

I really don't see the point in calling the police for a non-event but as there will be a record you need to inform your insurers, tell them to mark it for information. You may get some increased premiums for a year or 3.

spira9

Police won't do anything, it's a waste of time. Also now you will have to record it as an incident on your car insurance for the next 3-5 years. So your car insurance has now gone up.

[Deleted User]

If you checked and saw that there wasn't a collision or any sign of damage then you don't need to do anything. There was no accident as far as you are concerned, and you can't be guilty of driving away from an accident if you took steps to confirm that there wasn't one.

EdGasketTheSecond

I can't believe this thread. Where I live parking is so tight everyone is bumping cars all the time. I do it. reverse slowly until you bump the car behind then forwards etc. Its what bumpers are for!

Arklight

I've been blocked in before, front and back, and I touched the car behind's bumper trying to get out. I felt bad about it but it was such low speed, there was no damage, and on reflection it was their fault for deciding to park 6 inches behind my car.

On a slightly different topic, I have heard of people putting it into first, driving forward slowly and shoving the car in front forward until they have room to get out.

Does that count as a collision if there was no actual colliding? An accident if it wasn't accidental?