car door scratch controversy in a parking bay

man.united332

Hi All,

so visited a friend, parked in an available bay, engine is turned off, my kid opened the door at the back, there was another car next to us in a bay, the other car driver claimed that my kid opened the door in a rash way and there is now a scratch on his door he is claiming caused by my kid, now i dont know for sure whether he is lying or actually my kid (6 year) has caused this, what are my options? he is asking for money to fix it. should i pay him or ignore him or ask  him to go through his insurance via claim.

Thanks

TadleyBaggie

Was there a scratch/ding that lined up where the door in question would have hit?

[Deleted User]

Tell him to go through your insurance and let them handle it. They will ask him for some evidence.

man.united332

TadleyBaggie said:

Was there a scratch/ding that lined up where the door in question would have hit?

Possibly but it is very minimal and i am not sure if it has caused by my door or it was there before.

[Deleted User] said:

Tell him to go through your insurance and let them handle it. They will ask him for some evidence.

this is what I told them.

my other question is if the car was parked and switched off, the claim will go against whom, against the registered keeper? 
what if i dont admit it, what will my insurance company do? there is no evidence to it and my kid is 6, he doesnt have any clue to what happened.

KimJongUn88

Stop being an idiot and get the claim settled. It sounds like you know that your child opened the door into someone else’s car.

Your insurer covers the negligence of passengers too (such as your child in this case) so let them deal with it.

It maybe a small mark in the door but it maybe someone’s pride and joy.

man.united332

thanks all for your replies, while I will happily pay for the scratch if i know for sure it has caused by my kid, i know its a common scam and people will use this opportunity to make some extra bucks , they park so close to your car and wait for the right moment to create a scene and in case of kids its really easy for them to put pressure on you, but I am not going to budge and they wont take a penny out of me and can take it to insurance if they like.

while we are at it, I am still waiting for a call from numerous good people who has left marks on my door in various car parks and on my bumper and just ran away.

billy2shots

man.united332 said:

thanks all for your replies, while I will happily pay for the scratch if i know for sure it has caused by my kid, i know its a common scam and people will use this opportunity to make some extra bucks , they park so close to your car and wait for the right moment to create a scene and in case of kids its really easy for them to put pressure on you, but I am not going to budge and they wont take a penny out of me and can take it to insurance if they like.

while we are at it, I am still waiting for a call from numerous good people who has left marks on my door in various car parks and on my bumper and just ran away.

This doesn't make sense, you parked next to that car, he didn't park next to you (by the description in the OP).

Unless you are suggesting they waited in the car for someone to come and park close to them????

Sounds like-
YOU parked too close.
YOU didn't warn your 'kid' to be careful. 
YOU didn't exit the car first to carefully open your 'kids' door. 
YOU are responsible

Regardless of whether I'm in my expensive car or one of my cheaper alternatives I always park carefully. It doesn't matter if I'm parked to a Dacia or Ferrari, I always remind my children to take care or if the space is tight I ask them to wait for me to help them.

It sounds like you don't show others this courtesy and because of that, you are unable to teach your child. 

Herzlos

It'd be a bit of a low yield scam if you park close to an empty space and then wait for someone with a kid to park and then open a door rashly. Would they move every time someone parked normally and then left the car park?

 If the space was too tight, then you should have parked elsewhere.

It sounds like the damage was almost certainly caused by your kid; you'd be better off trying to come to a deal rather than arguing about it.

dogshome

Hmmm

Have you seen this scratch for yourself?

If the trailing edge of a parked cars door hits another vehicle parked alongside, the damage is a small vertical mark on the paintwork, or in other cases such as a strong wind, a dent - What doesn't occur is any horizontal scratching

Ergates

grandadgolfer said:

What's with the "My Kid" .....what's wrong with son or daughter

What's wrong with "My Kid"?

Ergates

billy2shots said:

man.united332 said:

thanks all for your replies, while I will happily pay for the scratch if i know for sure it has caused by my kid, i know its a common scam and people will use this opportunity to make some extra bucks , they park so close to your car and wait for the right moment to create a scene and in case of kids its really easy for them to put pressure on you, but I am not going to budge and they wont take a penny out of me and can take it to insurance if they like.

while we are at it, I am still waiting for a call from numerous good people who has left marks on my door in various car parks and on my bumper and just ran away.

This doesn't make sense, you parked next to that car, he didn't park next to you (by the description in the OP).

Unless you are suggesting they waited in the car for someone to come and park close to them????

Sounds like-
YOU parked too close.
YOU didn't warn your 'kid' to be careful. 
YOU didn't exit the car first to carefully open your 'kids' door. 
YOU are responsible

Regardless of whether I'm in my expensive car or one of my cheaper alternatives I always park carefully. It doesn't matter if I'm parked to a Dacia or Ferrari, I always remind my children to take care or if the space is tight I ask them to wait for me to help them.

It sounds like you don't show others this courtesy and because of that, you are unable to teach your child. 

Except, the OP doesn't know if the scratch was caused by the door from their car at all.  The person claims it was, but hasn't provided any reasoning to support their claim.    Did the see the door hit their car?   Did they not see it, but know with 100% certainty it wasn't there before?