Grimm74 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 My wife backed into a car in the parking lot of a restaurant. We hit corner to corner. We quickly found the owner of the car as she worked in the restaurant. My wife gave her her drivers lics and phone number, but no police report. In speaking with the other owner she told us that the car had been hit and run a couple times in the same corner of which we hit her, and that she could not determine what damage if any we did. She was going to talk to her parents but she did not think it was going to be an issue. I thought great! I thought I was getting paid back for a time someone hit me from behind and I also could not tell what damage they had done since I backed into a tree a year earlier(long driveway story). Well we just got a call from the father of the driver and he wants to make a claim with our insurance. I am not sure what to do. I do not want to be on the hook for damage that was not our fault. Any advice? Would an insurance company cover expenses if they are not sure their client caused the damage. I do not want to be a jerk but if this guy just wants me to make up for the other accidents, I am not playing that game. Thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 My wife backed into a car in the parking lot of a restaurant. We hit corner to corner. We quickly found the owner of the car as she worked in the restaurant. My wife gave her her drivers lics and phone number, but no police report. In speaking with the other owner she told us that the car had been hit and run a couple times in the same corner of which we hit her, and that she could not determine what damage if any we did. She was going to talk to her parents but she did not think it was going to be an issue. I thought great! I thought I was getting paid back for a time someone hit me from behind and I also could not tell what damage they had done since I backed into a tree a year earlier(long driveway story). Well we just got a call from the father of the driver and he wants to make a claim with our insurance. I am not sure what to do. I do not want to be on the hook for damage that was not our fault. Any advice? Would an insurance company cover expenses if they are not sure their client caused the damage. I do not want to be a jerk but if this guy just wants me to make up for the other accidents, I am not playing that game. Thanks a lot. This is more of a morality than a legal question... Leave the lawyers out of it. Did the incident do any damage to your wife's car? If so, I would say that you probably did damage to the car you hit. That being said, you probably will never be able to ascertain the amount of actual damage you did to her car and the existing damage could bve greater, more costly to repair, than what you would have done by hitting her car. So, there is your problem... how much damage, realistically, did you do? You can give your insurance company the info and let them handle it. In which case they may deny part of it and pay otu less. Or, you can just let the people file a claim and have your insurance company repair it. At the end of the day you are going to be out your deductible regardless of how you play this and you will have a claim against your insurance. Even if you notify the insurance company of the accident and they try and fight the claim, you still will be on record as having an accident. Either way your insurance company will have a history of the claim. In one scenario you make it easy for the girl to get her car fixed, in the other scenario you make it difficult. Either way, the insurance company is going to record the accident... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimm74 Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 This is more of a morality than a legal question... Leave the lawyers out of it. Did the incident do any damage to your wife's car? If so, I would say that you probably did damage to the car you hit. That being said, you probably will never be able to ascertain the amount of actual damage you did to her car and the existing damage could bve greater, more costly to repair, than what you would have done by hitting her car. So, there is your problem... how much damage, realistically, did you do? You can give your insurance company the info and let them handle it. In which case they may deny part of it and pay otu less. Or, you can just let the people file a claim and have your insurance company repair it. At the end of the day you are going to be out your deductible regardless of how you play this and you will have a claim against your insurance. Even if you notify the insurance company of the accident and they try and fight the claim, you still will be on record as having an accident. Either way your insurance company will have a history of the claim. In one scenario you make it easy for the girl to get her car fixed, in the other scenario you make it difficult. Either way, the insurance company is going to record the accident... No one could tell what damage was done especially the owner. We broke our tail light but not completely no scratches or dents. There was no metal on metal action and my wife was going pretty slow. The other car is much higher up being a Land Rover than our sedan and it was her bumper to our tail light. The Land Rover had significant "metal" and non bumper damage which I could not possible see where there was even a scratch from us. I understand the moral arguments but I am not sure who's who. My biggest issue is I want to handle it outside of insurance. There is no police report nor did we give her a copy of our insurance info. Again I do not want to slither my way out of anything I just do not want to be taken to the cleaners for something I had nothing to do with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 No one could tell what damage was done especially the owner. We broke our tail light but not completely no scratches or dents. There was no metal on metal action and my wife was going pretty slow. The other car is much higher up being a Land Rover than our sedan and it was her bumper to our tail light. The Land Rover had significant "metal" and non bumper damage which I could not possible see where there was even a scratch from us. I understand the moral arguments but I am not sure who's who. My biggest issue is I want to handle it outside of insurance. There is no police report nor did we give her a copy of our insurance info. Again I do not want to slither my way out of anything I just do not want to be taken to the cleaners for something I had nothing to do with. I'd have a looong conversation with her dad, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Had her car been brand new, what would you expect your accident would have caused? broken tail-light? dented fender? scratched bumber? Now, what damage exists on the car as it stands today. Subtract one from the other, and that should be where you start your negotiating. Sad part is, her statement that she had been in an accident prior is not upholdable in a court of law. You have no proof she said it. So if they do go to the insurance companies, she can deny she said anything. If it goes to insurance, I think your carrier will be paying for all their repairs, unless you can get some kind of testimony from an expert that there was underlying damage to her car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimm74 Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Had her car been brand new, what would you expect your accident would have caused? broken tail-light? dented fender? scratched bumber? Now, what damage exists on the car as it stands today. Subtract one from the other, and that should be where you start your negotiating. Sad part is, her statement that she had been in an accident prior is not upholdable in a court of law. You have no proof she said it. So if they do go to the insurance companies, she can deny she said anything. If it goes to insurance, I think your carrier will be paying for all their repairs, unless you can get some kind of testimony from an expert that there was underlying damage to her car. I agree with your first part and will use that theory when I contact the father. I am just not sure what to offer. I am also looking at it legally just in case he decides to be a real ass about it. They have no police report or insurance information so I am not sure how they could contact my insurance company. We have no proof of what she said but we also do not have any proof of a car accident either. I can deny we did damage as she can deny she was ever hit before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I agree with your first part and will use that theory when I contact the father. I am just not sure what to offer. I am also looking at it legally just in case he decides to be a real ass about it. They have no police report or insurance information so I am not sure how they could contact my insurance company. We have no proof of what she said but we also do not have any proof of a car accident either. I can deny we did damage as she can deny she was ever hit before. Man, tough one. Part of me feels like you settled it at the restaurant...she said there was prior damage and you agreed to keep the police and insurance out of it. Instead of coming after you, daddy should use this as a learning opportunity for his naive daughter. And, he will probably find it to be more trouble than it's worth to really come after you if we are talking about minor damage. I think legally you are on solid ground but I can't say for sure. Morally you have to decide if you're okay with that though. You could ask him to get some estimates, then offer to split the cost if it's not a ridiculous amount, again keeping insurance out of it. If it's more than you would be willing to pay, offer a token sum of money as a good faith gesture. The latter might be the route I would go if the guy seems reasonable. If he starts being an ass, and the story changes about the prior damage, then I might tell him to go to hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FWmaker Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Weren't you parked at the end of the street when the employee left the restaurant and rear ended your car? Oh, and didn't you tell me that the employee was drunk at the time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 father prob heard the story and berated the daughter for letting you off easy. maybe call the dad and feel it out. could be he'd be happy if you threw him a little cash towards repairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby's Hubby Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I thought that on private property (parking lot) you paid for hers and she paid for yours or something like that. If both are backing up then I thought this was true as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clubfoothead Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Give them your insurance information. That's what it is for and you may be required to provide it to them under state law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 If the dad is insistent on having insurance pay for it, call the restaurant NOW and see if they have video cameras over the parking lot. Especially if they tape over the old tapes after a couple of days. You may be able to pick up prior damage to her car if you're lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furd Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Give them your insurance information. That's what it is for and you may be required to provide it to them under state law. This. I'm not altogether sure why the guy would be making a claim with your insurance company, but you probably have a duty to report all accidents to your insurer. They can deny your claim if you do not follow the policy requirements. I wouldn't dick around. Dicking around includes any attempt to become a super sleuth to try to figure out what really happened. Your insurance company will handle it. Edited August 2, 2011 by Furd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flemingd Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 This. I'm not alltogether sure why the guy would be making a claim with your insurance company, but you probably have a duty to report all accidents to your insurer. They can deny your claim if you do not follow the policy requirements. I wouldn't dick around. Dicking around includes any attempt to become a super sleuth to try to figure out what really happened. Your insurance company will handle it. This. And make sure to tell them what the other driver said - that she cannot determine if you even did any damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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