AIBU to tell this woman to claim on HER insurance if shes so bothered!!!

[Longsleepneeded]

Basically I opened the car door to put baby in, wind caught door and i went to grab it before it hit the car next to me, thought it was ok. Next thing i know woman jumps out of the car and peers at it then says'' you hit my car what are you going to do about it?''
I answered ''no I think its ok''
She pointed to a tiny mark size of a babys little finger nail and says ''there, what are you going to do about that?''
I rubbed it off with my finger, nothing left to see, she still wasn't happy.
Long silly conversation later we swopped numbers, me trying to stay calm. I have just had a text saying shes taken it to a garage for assessment and they will keep it all day next monday and she will let me know how much I owe them!!
I am not into aggro for the sake of it but this is a bit much I dont really know how to respond! Should i just tell her to claim herself if shes that upset about it?

You caused minor damage to her car so you should pay to sort it. However, I would be insisting on going through your insurance company in these circumstances. If she's happy to do that at least you'll only be out of pocket to whatever the excess is and won't be charged a fortune for minor damage. If she doesn't want to do that, well that's her problem (that's what insurance is for).
FWIW I had exactly the same problem when I accidentally damaged a colleagues car in high winds in our work car park. Of course I fessed up. He got a quote from the main dealer to fix the minor damage to his lovely, brand new car. Had it been a lot we would have gone through our insurance companies, but it only amounted to £150 so I just paid for the work. Had I not known the person I would have gone through my insurance to ensure everything was sorted properly and there were no further issues.

People who keep saying 'your' insurance has to pay that isn't how insurance works, you insure YOUR car not somebody else's car, depending on this ladies excess she will pay for the damage out of that if there is any more to pay which by the sounds of the tiny dent if any dent there won't be but if there was the insurance company MAY decide to claim the rest from the other parties insurance, even then the OP won't have to pay a penny.

Tell her you won't be paying for anything and to contact her insurance company so they can make contact with yours then block her number

supermoon that's always my reaction too when reading threads like this.

SummerMummy88

No idea where you got that info. Not heard of third party liability? Which is the MINIMUM requirement in the UK.

You only claim on your own insurance if YOU accidentally damage your OWN car. That's what comprehensive cover is. You damage someone ELSE'S car (with your car) they claim on YOUR insurance.

I'm not being an arse or anything, maybe you wrote it wrong but as it's written you are completely misinformed/incorrect.

I used to work in a car insurance company

I honestly could not see any damage after I rubbed at the mark. Technically I suppose I did mark it but it rubbed off!!
Seenoevil I don't have an 'attitude' and I did say sorry, then I rubbed at the mark and it came off! Couldn't see a reason why she was so stroppy with me. She refused to exchange insurance details!
No camera on phone unfortunately
What if she gets the garage to fix other marks and tries to get me to pay? I'm really worried.
.

I can see why you "used to" work for an insurance company.

You are incorrect.

She can claim through her insurance and they will get the costs back from your insurance if it's deemed needed.

I don't see the harm in her going through her own insurance, it won't cost her a penny and she will have to declare it regardless of what insurers she uses, yours or hers.

You need to declare to yours though just in case it goes that far.

If she refused to swap insurance details she can't claim on your insurance. You don't have to pay her direct - she can claim though.

I'd text her back that your insurance details are X and that you've already informed your insurance company and she can deal through them.

OP tell the woman you're not paying out any cash, you're not ringing the garage and you want it all done through the insurance. Then give her (by text if she won't/can't write it down) the details of your ins. company. Tell her to make her claim.

Then tell your ins. co. about the door opening in the wind situation and that you've passed on your details. Tell them you didn't see much/any damage, but if there is any then it will be in x place on y door. If she tries to claim for new bumpers a mark on the boot or god knows what then they'll know it's a load of tosh and dispute it.

I used to work in a car insurance company

Doing what exactly? You really don't seem to understand how car insurance works.

I used to work in a car insurance company
But you haven't heard of third party cover?

Today 14:08 supermoon100

Car lovers, If you don't want to get a scratch on your precious cars, park far away from other cars or get a life!

What a terrible attitude. Fwiw I do park my lovely new car away from other cars in the supermarket or multi storey but you can bet that some twat will come and park next to me once I've left.

I think I need to calm down! Good advice from some of you, thanks. I will ask her nicely to go through our insurance companies when the garage has assessed it.

If the woman claims on her insurance they will recover the costs back from you/your insurance as you were negligent.

It won't be in the woman's interest to have all the hassle of taking her car to the garage, trying to get the money back etc if there was no damage.
Or do you mean there was already damage there that you didn't cause, but if that was the case, surely you would have seen it?

It sounds more likely that it was dented when your door hit it otherwise the garage won't fix an invisible dent!

Scams do happen but usually not over tiny dents on doors, if someone is going to scam it normally involves claims for injury etc running into thousands.

Ignore her. I wouldn't even acknowledge the 'dent' happened. It's her job to provide the evidence etc.

Thanks Laiste. Insurance is there for a reason after all.

Car park dings happen, for me there are bigger fish to fry

I agree, although I had not realised the lease point that someone made above and that the lease company will get all uppity about the smallest dings. But I think in that case I'd park as far away from other cars/trees/walls/gates/doors/fences - anything at all - as I could!

I also think if you have a 10 year old car you let it go, if it's 3 weeks since you took it out the showroom all gleeming and new, you might have a point moaning about a small scratch.

But on the whole, I think cars are to be driven and used, not left shiny and perfect.

And if you lived in Devon with tiny country lanes, your car would be scratched within minutes!

A few weeks ago I was waiting at our local railway station for my husband and someone turned into the space next to me. There were two ladies in the back and one of them opened the door straight into my car. I gave them a hard stare but they were completely oblivous.

Gleaming not gleeming

BewareOfDragons "Cameras have phones"

Sorry, but .
No.

Yes she can claim on your insurance.
You won't have to pay anything even an excess for that .It's only if you claim for YOUR car that you would have to pay that.

However you may lose some years no claims.

For arguments sake if she won't claim on insurance you have to weigh up whether it's worth the hassle or if the "dent" is going to cost a small nominal amount then just pay it to save the hassle.

If she says it will cost a lot then fight it all the way.