To not pay this person?

[OfficiallyUnofficial]

Terribly outing but here goes.

About a month ago I was pulled up by the owner at nursery and told another client had had their car reversed into in the private car-park a month earlier (I hadn't been in a while). They had said the make, colour and a number plate that was similar but NOT identical to mine. They hadn't witnessed it a relative had and when they looked there was a small amount of damage to the bumper. I'm assuming they don't regularly look in detail at their bumper so I'm assuming can't even be sure it was done then.

I checked the date and while I could have been there on that date it equally could have been my parents (different car) as I travel a lot.

I have reversing sensors on my car, have ZERO memory of EVER getting close to a car in that carpark and would have had to have ignored the sensors, not felt the car bumping into something hard enough to damage it AND not damaged my own car at all, there's not a scratch on it.

So I told them it must have been one of the many many other cars fitting the description that drop off and forgot about it (it's a really "standard" car I've seen 2 or more here since same colour, over 100 children in the nursery!).

Another month goes by and I have never seen the car I am meant to have hit, clearly not on the same drop off/pick up schedule. Yesterday I dropped off early for once and when I got back to my car just about to close my door and a woman stood in the way accusing me of hitting her car and expecting me to "pay the damage as a point of principle", I stated nothing to do with me and she went on basically making me out as a liar. I genuinely didn't to the very best of my knowledge do anything, how to hell am I just going to hand over cash to a random stranger?

Anyway I just repeated I was a good person who wouldn't hit and run, it had nothing to do with me, they hadn't even got my number plate right and I needed to leave. She left saying she was "going through the insurance".

Am I wrong not to pay? Can she now try to get to my insurance, she doesn't know me from Adam, I would bloody hope nursery won't give out my details but she COULD have written my number plate off my car now and accuse me?

I'm going through an über shitty time at the moment and really don't need the additional stress

agree with Maursh. Do not contact insurance. It will be recorded on your file (have worked in this field for 15 years plus) and may increase premiums, as an 'incident', even though no claim has been made.

Yes we were chased over the Severn Bridge by police helicopter. Turns out a car of same make/model/colour with 1 letter different

Presumably there is a sign in/sign out sheet at the nursery. Can you ask to check the times ?

Check your "sent" emails to see what you were doing at that time on that day.

If they have a full license plate you can check make/model/colour
[[https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/]]

link fail!
[[https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/]]

and again
here

I would do absolutely nothing. Just ignore the loon. She is basically a chancer.

That's an excellent idea about the sign out sheet at nursery mellicauli it might even show that the grandparents did pick up that day.

Alternatively, how do you communicate with your parents about pick-up OP? If you have an email or text where you discuss it then it might show that you weren't there that day. If they do two out of every three days it's a low probability that you were even there at the time.

Your statement to the best of my knowledge is a little strange. Surely you'd know if you hit something?

Exactly what I was going to say - and on a more 'legal' point, the wording you used there could be construed as "I may have done this but I can't remember". You know you didn't hit her car, so simply state that you didn't do it.

As others have said, do not contact your insurance company - you have no issue to answer for so don't behave as if you have.

You will probably hear no more about this, but if your insurance company do contact you, just tell them you didn't do it!

Depending which bit of the licence plate they gave, one part of a standard plate is a regional identifier (and obviously there's the year too), so that part will be very common in your area if your car is a local one. So if that's the part they captured, it's pretty meaningless without the rest (and of course the year part is also common too!).

Checking the nursery sign-ins is a good idea.

I'd do nothing.

However, I think it's quite possible to hit another car without noticing. Even if you have parking sensors.

Another thought... if after 2 months she still hadn't gone through insurance (the obvious thing to do) perhaps she doesn't actually have any. That's why she's looking for a mug to pay to fix her car.
She chose the wrong person, OP, laugh it off.