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.

His insurance premium won't go up if he's not at fault. I've had 2 non fault accidents and neither has made my premium go up

Your "soft" bumper can still do damage. It's not a sponge.

However if the damage is at the wrong height to where your car hit the van then no you couldn't have caused it. That's your argument if it's the case

I would imagine your insurance will just pay him out without investigating. You've admitted it is your fault, you dont have a leg to stand on.

^no I don’t think they do.

Manchestermanchester - Yeah, so you only pay the excess if you get your car fixed. So if the other driver claims you pay nothing. If you claim you pay your excess.
Yes I put it on the renewal, you have to if it’s fault or non-fault accident. If you don’t and they find out your whole policy would be void, and then you’d get done for not having a valid insurance policy if you get pulled over by the police, plus obviously not covered if you have an accident or even if someone goes into you!

@PrayingandHoping it’s my fault. But I’m disputing what damage was actually done by my car. As I’ve said before his bumper is made from hard plastic. How can my bumper do that much damage at that speed. Also why do damage to my bumper. There is one small area of impact, scuff mark. It wouldn’t have caused that damage. Those bumpers are solid, mine crumple on impact.

Also, I was parked at Tesco once and a women opened her car door onto mine. We checked it and it was a small chip in the paint work, no dent. That cost £1k via her insurance.

@newyearsresolution2010 ok.

This was the damage my husband did. Reversed off a driveway (so super slow) into this car parked on the other side of the road.
Only damage to my car was some of the paint coming off the bumper. No dent.

If your so convinced you are right just tell your insurance and let them investigate . No point coming on here expecting everyone to agree with you we weren't there. You admit you bumped the car so you can't say any damage wasn't you . He may well be trying to get you to pay for any previous damage but that's insurance fraud so like I said leave it with insurance.

@newyearsresolution2010 and what was replaced and you found out how?

His insurance premium will also go up

No it won't.

I'm afraid you lost any moral high ground when you reversed into a stationery car. 'Don't reverse into stuff' is a good lesson to take from this.

Did you take photos? Always take photos after an accident, always.

Of course the Insurers were notified. It's a legal requirement.

Mind you, thinking about it, his car had a hard plastic bumper, whereas hers didn't. Maybe her bumper, along with the snow making hers move, bounced the shock back into his, with the effect of the crumple zones doing exactly what they were designed to do.

I reversed into my father in law's van a few months ago, I was "creeping" and thought nothing of it and drove on. DH rang new an hour later and asked did I hit the van as the whole driver's door was damaged and needed replaced. I was mortified.
Cars are extremely heavy, don't underestimate the damage that can be done even at an extremely slow speed.
Not saying you did any damage as you seem convinced it was already there, but just giving you my experience.

Rang *me, not new 😬

Same thing happened to my wife, other driver had previous damage, we send all the photos the our insurance company. They sided with us, there's no way she could have caused the damage, the contact height was off, and a small amount of rust on in the area. Insurance dealt with it.

OP you sound the woman who rammed me in her mobile office because she forgot to look up from her phone and paperwork.
No damage to her Range Rover but despite her loud protestations that she had done zero damage to mine, had to have an entire new bumper and the crash beam inside it, car off road for a week, cost 1K plus.

Don't underestimate the damage that a small car can do.

I once bumped our garage door with my old Ford Fiesta. No damage whatsoever to my car but I left huge dent in the garage door at bumper height but there was nothing at all visible on my car.

Manchestermanchester - I called my insurance company after it was all done to see what the settled amount was as for my new quotes (at renewal) I had to list all claims (fault and non-fault) and also the amounts. They said it was £500.
She didn’t get the door fixed either, but I know she would have had to (legally) tell her insurance company about it, but whether she did or not I don’t know.

@Manchestermanchester sorry, thread’s moved on a bit since you asked but yes, it went through my insurance. Didn’t cost me anything at the time as I didn’t make a claim so I didn’t have a bill or any excess. Cost me a year later when I came to renew the policy and they wanted a shit load more money. Thankfully it’s over five years ago now, that’s how long it stays on your records and that’s how long they keep charging you over the odds because you’re still a risk in their eyes.

@adaline read the previous posts I’ve made.

@Hingeandbracket you mean a car costing between £30-80k that’s meant to be driven off road, that’s a heavy beast, that the bumper can’t be pushed in..... did a lot of damage. Wow amazing. Who lnew

@Motorbike311 hi thanks. Did your premium go up?

@Silvercatowner you sound like fun. Moral high ground - so it’s ok to ask for money for something that I didn’t do?