Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Unflip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Unflip

1 2

AIBU?

To think I should just keep my mouth shut next time?

35 replies

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 21:17

I scraped a car when reversing in a retail car park. I felt awful and had a call put out for the driver. They've just got back to me and it's an insurance job. DH is well and truly annoyed with me - the car park was virtually empty and now we've lost the no claims and premium will stay high. I'm annoyed too, but if I'd got us the insurance there is no way I'd have agreed to £250 voluntary excess... It's just one of those things. I'm starting to wish I'd kept quiet - they wouldn't have noticed the scratch for weeks... Please confirm I'm not the only idiot who does things like this...

OP posts:

Report

Liiinoo · 10/01/2017 00:34

You absolutely did the right thing. It would have been much worse if you had driven off and aa concerned bystander or CTV camera had identified you.

I have had some similar incidents in my past (hopefully there will be no more) and one of the reasons I love my DH is that his response (even when I was driving his treasured BMW) has always been 'but are you okay Liiinoo?' He isn't perfect but that attitude makes up for a lot.

squirtymacsquirtface · 10/01/2017 00:24

I get it.
You can do the right thing, know it is the right thing and still feel bitter about the cost.

I knocked a wing mirror off a parked car in a residential street (crap driving I admit, peeing it down with rain, late for an appt, desperately scanning for somewhere to park etc but it was wholly my fault). The car was old and battered and the wing mirror was fixed so didn't 'snap back' like a modern one.

The owner was nowhere to be seen, no answer at nearest houses so I left a note on the windscreen with my contact detail and an offer to pay.

It took 2weeks for her to contact me and, rather than the 40 quid for a new wing mirror from Halfords I thought it would be, it was hundreds of pounds because the car was so ancient that the part couldn't be sourced.
I really doubt the car was even worth that much.

I said if it was that much I'd need to go through insurance but she hassled me and made me feel guilty about her not having a car for longer.

I felt a bit suspicious about the cost and her attitude and asked to see the garage bill and pay them direct but it was indeed true (unless she is a very sophisticated fraudster with a tame garage)

I may indeed have commented privately to DH that honesty is not always the best policy but I knew that bottom line it was my fault so of course I paid up.

TheNaze73 · 09/01/2017 23:50

You did the right thing. Your moral compass is pointing in the right direction

FeralBeryl · 09/01/2017 23:46

Oh OP
I've been driving for over 1000 years but that didn't stop me from reversing my tank straight into DH's car that was parked behind me on our driveway. At speed.
I then sulked for hours as he dared to call me a dickhead for it
Thank you for being a responsible road user and doing the right thing

seven201 · 09/01/2017 22:56

Can't you just offer to pay for the repairs? Not only will you have to pay the excess but also next years premium will be higher. Did you ask if you could do that? Most people would jump at that or tell you not to bother if it was a small scratch

Wdigin2this · 09/01/2017 22:53

I just had to pay out a stupid amount, because someone reversed into my parked car, and drove away....you did the decent thing!

Witchend · 09/01/2017 22:51

It's probably not just a scratch. There's probably denting as well. Can easily come to over £250. Do ask them to get a couple of quotes as they first garage I took ours to after someone had done that to wrote it off (£1500) at a distance of 20 yards.
Second (their garage) said £1000, third one did exactly the same job for £500. Was slightly out of the way for me, but we went for #3.

abbsisspartacus · 09/01/2017 22:28

You did the right thing and got stung for it 💐

Livelovebehappy · 09/01/2017 22:26

Like another poster suggests, if the scratch is so tiny, is it going to cost next to nothing? If so, can't you just pay for it yourselves without claiming on your insurance? That way at least your future insurance premiums shouldn't be affected, and the repairs might be less that your excess too.

user1483945709 · 09/01/2017 22:22

If it's only a tiny scratch, wouldn't you better off just paying out of the £250 excess?

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 22:22

Bravo this is my first car, have 0 experience of these matters. Other party is contacting their insurance policy. Surely we're still liable to pay excess if our insurance needs to pay out because we caused damage? By your reasoning I could write someone's car off and not pay a penny as long as my car was fine.

OP posts:

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 22:18

Stupid question: if they go through their insurance, do we automatically have to go through ours, or can we just pay it ourselves, to the other company?

OP posts:

BravoPanda · 09/01/2017 22:18

Why are you going through the insurance when the scratch repair would cost less than your excess? Why didn't you just offer to pay for a bodyshop? Also why would your excess matter? You only pay that if you make a claim on your own vehicle not someone elses... What a weird way to resolve a simple problem

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 22:16

sci-fi this person seemed very genuine and we both took pics so should be OK.
Grand will see what the damage comes to and might offer that. Other driver has a vv nice car so they might want it done properly, in a good garage etc

OP posts:

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 22:14

apple thanks for the reassurance no parking sensors here but it was still a pretty stupid mistake... Parking sensors saved me when I chose the wrong car to stand behind in a car park to let someone out - the one that was actually moving fortunately she did listen to her sensors - I'd have definitely come out worse...

OP posts:

SciFiFan2015 · 09/01/2017 22:12

I once left a note on a car that I thought I'd bumped into. Only to realise later that the damage at that height could not possibly have been me. Sadly the owner of the other car was not so honest and I ended up having to pay for the repair of the considerable bump that actually wasn't me.

GrandDesespoir · 09/01/2017 22:12

If it was only a tiny scratch can you not come to an arrangement with the other driver? Or is there a reason why it has to go through your insurance?

applepearorangebear · 09/01/2017 22:05

I feel your pain OP - I've owned up before to a tiny bump in a car park leaving an even smaller scrape, which I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have done (as the owner himself said afterwards). Cost us £250 to sort out... And I really had no excuse: my parking sensors were screaming at me but I thought they might be mistaken Worth it for the clear conscience though. Added bonus was that the owner had a mildly amusing name and a little spiel that he went through to make sure I'd spelt it right!

CocktailQueen · 09/01/2017 21:55

RE the £250 excess, insurance goes down if you choose a larger excess. So insurance with an excess of £100, say, might be much more expensive. But that's one of those things you hope not to have to find out!

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 21:44

I know my OP was poorly written. But I think the fact that I had a call put out for the driver and insisted they take all my details does show I'm honest it's just bloody annoying and very stupid!

OP posts:

Christmascheerful · 09/01/2017 21:41

Ok well your op didn't come across like that AT ALL
But everyone has done something. I once bumped into a car parallel parked into a car parked behind my own when leaving the spot. Very silly I was 18 at the time and managed to sort it out with the driver but I was sick over it

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 21:39

sparkle I don't think so, he definitely wouldn't cause damage in a virtually empty car park though he does get a lot more parking fines than I would

OP posts:

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 09/01/2017 21:39

Wow people are Soo sanctimonious

Yanbu I reversed into my
Neighbour , into a pillar , on an elderly lady car , reversing is my Achilles heel

Tardigrade001 · 09/01/2017 21:39

It wasn't a hit, it was a scratch.
A lot of the time people won't bother about a small scratch. Our car has plenty of them and no one has ever owned up.

Ishouldntbeallowedtopark · 09/01/2017 21:37

I'll clarify again: I would never, ever drive off after scraping someone! It was more a "FFS, hadn't realised this would cost so much, I bet loads of people wouldn't even have said anything." But if I'd come on here saying I was such a goody two shoes you'd have all told me I was showing off and being sanctimonious

Just to reiterate: this was meant to be a light-hearted, please tell me I'm not the only crap parker thread!

OP posts:

Unflip

1 2

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.