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Original poster

Accidentally scratched a car - help?

180 replies

Idkw2d · 25/12/2024 00:04

Hi Mumsnetters and a Merry Christmas to you all,

I am a new driver and have got myself in a situation.

As I was leaving an Asda car park this morning with my child, I managed to reverse too far back and scraped the side of someone’s very big car. I say big because it didn’t look like a scruffy runaround car, it was a big shiny car.

I am usually incredibly careful and slow, especially as I only passed my test in January this year. I am insured as an additional driver on my husband’s car and it’s just a small scruffy car that is easy to drive.

I have managed perfectly fine in this car park for years but due to a number of factors, I was somewhat caught off guard and managed to reverse too far (a driver was zooming up onto my right while another came right up to my backside). The car I scratched was sticking out of its parking slot by a fair margin, which is why I didn’t expect or realise what I’d done until it was too late :(

The bottom of the back of the car had visible marks where some black paint had come off and there was one very very very tiny scratch on the body. A few bystanders said “it doesn’t look too bad at all” and I took photos.

I waited for the owners to show up, told them what happened and gave my name, number, reg and home address. They said they would get a quote and get back to me, but if I didn’t want to pay then we could go through insurance. They said it could be around £200-300 to “paint over the panel”. said as it was my fault I was more than happy to compensate them. They haven’t gotten in touch yet so I’m still waiting.

Anyway, this is my first experience of anything like this and I have been a mess. I’m embarrassed to say I have cried over this multiple times today. I feel stupid for getting into a situation like this but even more stupid for now having to fork up what could be potentially a few hundred pounds.

Long story short, I had some questions:

  1. If they ask me to pay, say, £300 and I agree, can they turn around and claim through insurance as well? I am a ‘new’ driver and worried about how this could affect my status.

  2. Should insurance be informed regardless? I’ve heard conflicting info and don’t want to get in trouble.

  3. Did I deal with this right? Some people have said I shouldn’t have given my home address.

  4. Any advice or words of support? I feel so disappointed in myself today and am worried the owners will take advantage of the situation and charge me extra. I’ve heard and seen so many scams where people are forced to fork out exaggerated amounts for minor damage.

  5. I’m also annoyed because they were parked in a Child & Parent spot when they clearly didn’t have any with them! Just makes it sting a little more lol.

OP posts:
FloofPaws · 25/12/2024 00:14

Oh dear - try not to blame yourself too much, these things happen!
Perhaps offer to pay directly to the repair person. Last time this happened to us we got the woman to pay one of those mobile repair people.
It was your fault, but honestly these things happen but you'll get more confident as time rolls on. Just put it down to one of those things and move on, don't let affect your confidence. One big rule, don't let other people rush or fluster you too

Mondy · 25/12/2024 00:13

It would cost about that amount for a decent bumper respray on a large 4x4. If you go via insurance you'll have to pay your excess, and you'll have to declare the accident meaning that your insurance will increase next year and for a few years after that (you have to declare accidents for 5 years). If you pay them the cash, the problem goes away, just get them to sign a bit of paper saying that you've paid them the sum of £x amount for the damage and keep quiet. Likewise, there's no incentive for them to tell their insurance company as their premium will go up even though it's your fault. Don't be too hard on yourself, we all make mistakes when we drive and park, as with anything in life it's how you learn from them that matters. Hope that you get it sorted.

mnaab · 25/12/2024 00:13

Also, try not to dwell on it. It happened, you swapped details and it will get sorted.

mnaab · 25/12/2024 00:12

Personally I would always go through insurance. I've learnt that the hard way.

You did the right thing though by waiting around and giving your details

Original poster
Idkw2d · 25/12/2024 00:07

Slight correction - I didn’t scrape the ‘side’. I scraped the very back sticky-out bit. Like I said it was a big Land Rover and it was sticking out of the parking spot. The very bottom part of the back bumper(?) was marked. It’s black and the paint has been peeled off.

Honestly in my head I was thinking ‘this can’t be too hard to fix?!’ And the “scratch” on the body was like a paper cut.

OP posts: