To not pay for a car accident

[Manchestermanchester]

I was reversing and touched a car at low speed (they were stationary). The guy instantly says he wants my insurance details etc. So I’m thinking agh excess and premium increase.

I then look at my car to find no damage. There is no way I could have caused the damage to his car. I drive a tiny car, it has plastic bumpers.

I’m refusing to pay for the repairs. I haven’t been provided with a cost etc. I would rather I went to my insurance company and asked them to prove the damage. People think I should just pay.

In one of your replies to another poster you said you caused his bumper to crack.

@adaline as the speed I was going was unlikely to do any damage. It tapped his car. It’s pre-existing damage because there is no way my car could do that amount of damage to a van. The van bumper is sold plastic, my bumper is plastic and can be easily pushed into. So how can a soft plastic cause a hard plastic to crack?

You caused the damage, pay it.

@Nicknacky he’s claiming I did that damage. It’s not possible for me to do that.

@abw94 cool thanks, I’m glad someone is on the same wavelength. I didn’t cause the damage so I won’t pay.

You have no idea if it was pre existing, and you can’t prove that.

Stop trying to wiggle out of paying for hitting his car.

If you think he is committing fraud then speak to your insurance company.

I was once reversed into very slowly by another car I couldn’t move as there was a car behind me. It did incredible damage given the speed. I needed a new light, bumper and side panel. His car didn’t have a scratch. These things can happen very oddly. Go through insurance, if he is trying it on he might get scared off.

Even if you didn't cause the damage (unless you have photos of before and after then I don't know how you can prove it), you still hit his van, so it should be reported as an accident. Let your insurance fight it out, it's what you pay your premiums for.

What an idiot. That's all.

You have no proof it was pre existing though? Let insurance deal with it. A woman clipped me a couple of weeks ago at traffic lights. We were both moving off so minimal speed. Her car has some paint scuffs my car needs a new wing.

I once reversed my fiat 500 slowly into another car. Not a mark on the Fiat 500 but you should have seen what it did to the bonnet of the other car, it was all dinted and funny shaped. Little cars are sturdier than they seem.

Regardless of whether you're right, YABU to post on AIBU when you're clearly just looking for validation not actual opinions.

Ds had someone hit him a few years ago. Barely a Mark on his bumper but the damage underneath was just shy of £1k.

Unless you're going to tell us you have x Ray vision or you're a mechanic that's looked under the vehicle YABU.
Modern bumpers push in inside. You can't see the damage but it's there lurking underneath.

If the bloke has any sense he'll just go to the insurers himself and let them claim from yours rather than faff around. You hit him. Regardless what you think you will end up paying one way or another.

Did you take photos? I had an incident where a van smashed his mirror on mine (which folded back) driving onto a narrow bridge I was already 3/4 way over (much more slowly driving off), so it was his fault.
Went through insurance and he then claimed for 2 days hire vehicle and a new doorskin...my insurance wanted to know why there was no damage claim for my car. I pointed out to my insurance that actually photo 3 showed a clear reflection of the verge & houses opposite with no dents whatsoever below the mirror and that his 'damage' was clearly other subsequent damage or it was a scam.

@ThePants999 yes I want validation and wrong area. I didn’t know where to post.

@GetyourFaLaLasRight you know my premium will now go up? As will his.

Of course yours will go up, you are at fault.

And it’s crap that his might go up too but he is left with no alternative.

@Ariela yes thankfully we all have smart phones. I also took a video.

If the bumper of your car was the bit that allegedly hit his van square on, and the bumper is higher or lower than the damage, I don’t see how your car could have done it?

Clearly if his car is damaged where your bumper touched it, then your car must have done something.

Doesn't follow at all. There could have been pre-existing damage.

@AdobeWanKenobi you seem a bit naive, I do mean that in a nice way and I hope someone doesn’t ask you for money for fake damage.

Have a look at a van bumper, the hard bumper where adult walk on and materials are put on everyday. It’s hard plastic. So when hard and soft plastic meet, unless it’s at speed, the soft bumper plastic of my car will bend first. I also didn’t reverse hard into him. It was a tap. There is no damage to my car.

There is damage to his bumper and area around his light, above the light. Sorry I can’t explain with words properly. It’s more constant with him reversing into something than me doing that damage.

I think he’s reversed into something at another point in time and he’s trying to get money from me.

@JudyCoolibar I can’t establish where my car hit his van. It wouldn’t have caused that damage. Had it been a car, yeah perhaps, but not a van and not the back bumper where people walk in.

@Nicknacky I’ve asked the employer to get the van owner to contact me. It’s a works van. The employer can see its pre-existing and probably knows it is.

Either way I’m not doing anything until they contact me.

If they want me to pay for a repair it will cost a lot. So maybe telling insurance companies will be better - the insurance company can decide that it’s not pre existing. So their premium will also go up.

Just give them your insurance details and leave it at that.

Aye. Ok love. You crack on. Meanwhile you will almost certainly lose any claim he raises against you.

Clearly you believe YANBU so not really sure why you posted.