Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to just pay this

176 replies

Tututuna · 30/01/2019 10:04

We have had the police at the door saying a month ago DH hit a parked car and the person has a couple of witnesses.

Their car is very damaged and they are asking for the money to repair it but do not want to take it to court.

The thing is, DH swears blind he hasn't hit anything nor is there a mark on our car. Whilst the accident did happen near where we live, DH was away with work from around 8am through to the evening.

Annoyingly he hasn't asked who the witnesses were or what time they said it happened so I need to find that out but AIBU to think that firstly, if someone's car is damaged enough to need hundreds of pounds worth of repairs, DH would be aware he'd hit it and two there would be evidence on our car of an accident?

I know most people say this but I genuinely believe him that he isn't aware of any accident.

OP posts:
Mummyoflittledragon · 30/01/2019 17:06

Please let us know how you get on. This is rather disconcerting.

PartyLikeABoss · 30/01/2019 17:36

I'm sure an inspection of DH's car would reveal whether it had been recently repaired

Orchidflower1 · 30/01/2019 18:41

What did the police say op?

Footloose80 · 30/01/2019 19:05

Any update op?

SaturdayNext · 31/01/2019 17:51

Did the police show ID? And did they say anything to your DP about a possible offence, e.g. leaving the scene of an accident?

Mistakes do happen. DSis was contacted about an incident when she allegedly hit another car. The incident happened on her regular route to work, but fortunately for her she could prove she was 200 miles away at the time. She basically dealt with it through her insurers who didn't seem surprised and presumably simply told the claimants that they weren't paying up, and DSis heard no more about it.

Jayfee · 31/01/2019 17:51

Sounds like a scam..please let us know what happens

Rtruth · 31/01/2019 17:55

Surely his insurance would be contacting him not police

user1471590586 · 31/01/2019 17:56

You don't need an iPhone to see location details. You can also do it on an android or Windows phone. He just needs to search for Google dashboard via the browser and he can find his location details.

Missingstreetlife · 31/01/2019 18:02

Contact insurance on a no claim basis

Maryjoyce · 31/01/2019 18:14

Do nothing and wait to see if anything happens

Bringbackthestripes · 31/01/2019 18:15

Spoken to him, they were in uniform but no reference number was given. Would they give it us even though we were not the ones to raise the complaint?

No.
I had police turn up on my door one night saying I had hit a car when parking. I told them I knew nothing about it, he insisted there were witnesses and asked who I was insured with. I insisted that I had not hit a car.

He re visited in the day, took a statement and examined my car. My insurance then contacted me as the police had passed on my insurance details. I told them I had not hit a car, the other people were wanting a crumpled wing repaired! Despite my protestations I was cautioned by the police AND my insurance paid out. I’m still furious. Not a scratch on my car but no CCTV backing me up. I still think the witness and other car owner were in cahoots.

GabsAlot · 31/01/2019 18:15

it isnt true that the police dont get involved a fe wyears ago someone hit my car there was a witness and the police went to their house to ask them why they didnt stop as it was an offence

they fessed up then and phoned their insurers

Pydora · 31/01/2019 18:19

''We have had the police at the door saying a month ago DH hit a parked car and the person has a couple of witnesses''.

A month ago ? Why have they not done something sooner ? Sounds very
suspicious to me. Did they give DH a crime number ? Check it out a s a p and let your insurance company handle it. .

Rosejasmine · 31/01/2019 18:19

Sorry it doesn't ring true. You won't get Police using their precious time for that. You would more likely get a letter from a solicitor or insurance company.

SymphonyofShadows · 31/01/2019 18:28

I had this a few years back. My insurers contacted me to say I’d apparently hit a parked car and drove off. Unfortunately for the scammers it was about 200 miles away from where we live. I was at an after school club with DS, and could have got the school to provide CCTV of my car in the car park at the time, but my insurers were great and realised it was unlikely given the distance and the info I had given.

SuspiciouslyMinded · 31/01/2019 18:42

I also think it’s a scam. Of course they’d say it was a month ago - by now you can’t exactly recall where you were and what you did that day, so it’s easier to convince you did something that you didn’t!

Mary54 · 31/01/2019 18:51

I had a similar strange experience many (30?) years ago which leads me to think that the police sometimes jump to conclusions when they have a partial number plate. We were woken in the middle of the night by two policemen who were aggressively claiming that our car had been involved in a hit and run earlier that evening in London (50 miles away). They said that witnesses had taken our registration number-no video records back then- and therefore we were lying when we said we had not been there.
Fortunately we had been hosting a church group in our house that evening and were able to supply names and addresses for the 10 people who had attended. Police then left without a word of apology

HazelBite · 31/01/2019 18:58

I works the other way DH was hit by a car yesterday, driver said he didn't have his insurance details with him , they exchanged mobile nos (Stupid DH didn;t take the reg no. of the car)
Surprise suprise, blokes phone no is "Invalid", [angry}

Sara107 · 31/01/2019 19:07

I think you could damage another car without damaging your own depending on the relative sizes and the angle of the bump. Hitting the side of a car can do really expensive damage as the shell of the car is not very strong and can get dented with a fairly gentle pressure and beating out dents / repairing paint work is very pricey. If the impact on the other car came on the plastic bumper, that is pretty sturdy and may well not be marked at all. However, this case sounds suspect- it’s unlikely the dh could be genuinely unaware of an impact and if he is adamant he was away at work then it doesn’t add up.

Yumyumbananas · 31/01/2019 19:12

I was once hit in a car park. Car was parked and I was not present. A witness left a note with the car description and partial licence number. There was CCTV of the car park entrance and exit but not the incident. The police identified the car and visited the driver at home. The driver denied the incident and had multiple scratches and bumps on their car. There was no more the police could do. So if your DH just denies it then I don’t think the police can do anything anyway!

delboysskinsandblister · 31/01/2019 19:13

go to your local police station and report this and request the incident number if none is given give a full report of the men coming to your house.

I bet he doesn't want it to go to Court......

RoisinXena · 31/01/2019 19:16

Don’t pay them a penny. That is what insurance cover is for and the insurance company will require proper evidence that your husband was involved. The Police, if they are not taking this any further, should not be acting as an unofficial ‘debt’ collector for these people.

RoisinXena · 31/01/2019 19:16

Did these ‘Police’ officers show their warrant cards?

emmskie03 · 31/01/2019 19:19

This sounds like a scam to me.

Ring up the police and advise that you understand that the police came to your home to discuss a car accident but your husband did not take any contact details for the police officers and that you would like these and the incident number. It should be pretty easy to find out if it was a genuine visit.

If it is then you know you need to start gathering evidence and speak to your insurers. The police will be able to provide you with the details you need such as where and when. You should raise the question about cloned plates if you are confident that the accident never happened.

If not then you need to raise the matter with the police.

The sooner you understand the position the better.

Notgotajarofglue · 31/01/2019 19:19

I'd just forget about it tbh