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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

124 replies

Longsleepneeded · 02/08/2017 13:19

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?

OP posts:
LittleBooInABox · 02/08/2017 15:07

If you damage it, you pay for it to be put right in my opinion.

Let your insurance company deal with it.

TestTubeTeen · 02/08/2017 15:19

Yes, tell her to claim on her insurance and give her your insurance details.

When your insurance contact you for your report, tell them what happened.

Once you swapped numbers you should have taken a photo as it was clear she could be planning to take it further.

Don't phone the garage, or agree to pay, just tell her to do it through her insurance.

LovingLola · 02/08/2017 15:34

Why do people think the injured party should claim on her insurance??
It's the op's insurance that she should claim on.

Seenoevil · 02/08/2017 15:46

The title of the thread ..

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

Of course it doesn't sound like you have an attitude at allHmm the fact you have wrote 'if she's so bothered' YOU marked her car of course she's bothered by it so why would you tell her to claim on her own insurance when it was your fault.

Just because some people don't give a crap what they drive and how many times it's marked doesn't mean everyone is like that.

Fairenuff · 02/08/2017 16:17

I think you're minimising OP. There must have been some damage. People don't take their cars to the garage for no reason.

TheNoseyProject · 02/08/2017 16:22

Well she's gone about it all wrong. When there's damage you get the person who damaged your car to give you their name, number and license plate. You then sort it through your insurance and your insurance claims back through their insurance. She wanting you to pay makes it sound like either she's uninsured or knows there's nothing wrong.

I have been through this recently and it was all very smooth with the insurers.

TotallyConkers · 02/08/2017 16:31

I am always shocked on here how people think they can damage other people's property and they should just suck it up just because they don't care about their own car.

OP she has every right to make a claim against your insurance even if the damage is a small dent.

MaisyPops · 02/08/2017 16:32

You then sort it through your insurance and your insurance claims back through their insurance. She wanting you to pay makes it sound like either she's uninsured or knows there's nothing wrong.
I wondered this.
I wonder if she taking it to a garage and then hoping to get a bit more done on the OP's insurance.

I'd inform your insurers that a small mark was left and where and that you rubbed it off. They'll be able to get cctv probably too if it needs verifying. I find insurers are keen to get out of paying when it's obvious they should so I can't see them paying out on this.

Tell the woman you won't be discussing with her or the garage. She can sort it all through insurance.

accidentalgrownup · 02/08/2017 16:35

I wouldn't ring your insurance company, even if you don't claim it will stay on the system & your premium will go up. I know this because I've just renewed... I made an inquiry when someone did similar to me & it's been logged, £70 a year increase 😳

Milliemoo37 · 02/08/2017 16:35

I had an experience similar to this last year. I was too shocked to take any photos and it was a massive ballache to manage. Other party won even though it was not my fault.

She could have driven away, caused more damage to her car and claimed it was you who had done it.

If it was a scratch she has every right to claim for the damage to be repaired.

JustAnotherPoster00 · 02/08/2017 16:38

She wanting you to pay makes it sound like either she's uninsured or knows there's nothing wrong

^^This

Londonyardwork · 02/08/2017 16:42

If you had done this to my car i would have required any damage is covered by insurance. You may not think its left a mark however under light it may be very obviously marked. Some people take a lot of pride in their vehicles myself included. Mine is detailed to near perfection a process that takes many days work by a professional and cost over £2000.

Anecdoche · 02/08/2017 16:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

glitterlips1 · 02/08/2017 16:43

You're in the wrong.

Maddy70 · 02/08/2017 16:46

I have leased cars , if there is the tiniest mark on I am charged. You are liable, even if it's small. If it's small the cost won't be much but of course you must pay for the damage

problembottom · 02/08/2017 16:46

She does have a right to claim for any damage no matter how small but not to make you pay for it privately - tell her to go through insurance and not to contact you again directly.

simon50 · 02/08/2017 16:58

This is the down side of the rise in PCP (personal contract plans) in the past most of us would accept little dings picked up in supermarket car parks as something that just happens. But now when you return the car at the end of the lease the dealer will knock £100s of the residual value of the car for the slightest mark, so I can quite see why she would want to claim.

Somerford · 02/08/2017 17:15

@SummerMummy88 - I used to work in a car insurance company

How long ago?! Your advice on this thread is wrong.

@TheNoseyProject - She wanting you to pay makes it sound like either she's uninsured or knows there's nothing wrong

I wouldn't jump to conclusions. If her excess is £100 or £250 or whatever, she's unlikely to be overjoyed by the prospect of paying that out of her own pocket and waiting potentially months for it to be recovered when somebody else has damaged her car (IF somebody has damaged her car I should say - no way of knowing the level of damage other than the OP's description which I'm sensing isn't unbiased)

catsbeensickagain · 02/08/2017 17:22

But now when you return the car at the end of the lease the dealer will knock £100s of the residual value of the car for the slightest mark

For me that would make driving a lease car unbearably stressful! I'm not clumsy but cars do get dints in the course of their lives.

Amazed at the array of views on how to "do" insurance! If someone hits you then you definitely contact your insurers, they find the other person's insurance details from their licence plate as long as the are not a foreign driver, two years sorting out a claim for someone who drove straight into us! and deal direct with their insurers for you. Sadly you might still lose some no claims, as they always say it's a no claims bonus not a no fault bonus, but if the other party is completely at fault then this can, in my experience, usually be sorted too.

In the OPs position I would tell my insurers now rather than waiting. If nothing comes of it and they try to bump next year's premium up on the strength of logging the call you can always move or at least threaten to.

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 02/08/2017 17:30

supermoon100 I lease my car, like many others, and would have to pay over the odds if I returned it with a dent. Why should I, if someone lets their car door slam into mine like the OP did? It's not about being precious about a car but not wanting to be out of pocket for someone else's actions.

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 02/08/2017 17:32

Should have read the latest posts and saw I'm repeating a point already made repeatedly. Blush

MyheartbelongstoG · 02/08/2017 17:37

I tapped a woman from behind and she claimed she had whiplash. Bullshit.

She got 9k!

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 02/08/2017 17:38

MyheartbelongstoG What are your medical qualifications and how do you know how much she got?

swingofthings · 02/08/2017 17:39

I have leased cars , if there is the tiniest mark on I am charged.
Exactly that. Some hit my car a couple of weeks ago. Minor damage, you have to have your eye on it to see the chips and scratches but.... the lease company will have me for any such mark.

Initially, the lady (lovely) wanted to pay me directly rather than go through our insurance. I said I would need cash and took the car to a renowned (used myself in the past) local repair. Total cost: £650. Unfortunately, that's how it is nowadays because however small the chip is, they justify that the whole area needs repainting and that's what costs. In the end, understandably, she said that we would need to go through our insurances but it's been a real pain in the bum so far, with them trying to get me to sign credit agreements etc...

If I'd told her not to bother but I could hardly see the damage, I would have been the one having to pay the lease company probably over £800 (even more inflated of course).

You are being unreasonable, accept you've caused damage, end of.

MaisyPops · 02/08/2017 17:41

From the OP, the woman isn't claiming through insurance. She is trying to get the OP to pay the garage directly (and will then probably kick off and be obnoxious when the OP doesn't turn up and pay).

if there is damage, then of course it should be put right. But it can be put right by the woman contacting her insurers and doing it properly, not taking her car to a garage for a day and then call the OP to inform her what she must pay.

I smell a rat. Why does this woman not want to do things properly?