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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A (potential) car incident

273 replies

hahavzv · 23/09/2024 21:29

Hi mumsnetters,

I'm in a situation and I just don't know what to think about it (not trying to be defensive) and don't know how to handle this situation.

A person has rang up my kids school saying someone has hit their car and if this is not sorted then they will escalate this further.

I was contacted today by the school to say is this your car reg and it was. My car has been caught on cctv (apparently) hitting a car and 'running off'.

Now, I am not aware of hitting a car, well not that I know of. I was given the persons contact details which I was happy to take so I could discuss this further with them. I rang them and they were extremely defensive saying that I am a bad person and who would do such a thing etc. I asked have you personally seen this cctv footage and also if you could send me pictures of the damage done to your car. They also mentioned that there was an eyewitness who left a note with tier number saying that it was a hit and run.

I am not a hit and run type of person so this person has gotten the wrong end of the stick.

I have asked the person to also send me the cctv footage so I can review it too. They have refused to do so. I don't know why. They have said you can contact the school and obtain this your self.
I will be looking to get this done and check out the whole footage.

But what do you think I should do? A part of me is like maybe I did hit a car but unaware. The photos of the damage are scratched as if bumper to bumper scrape kind of thing.

Any advice please.

By the way, I am the only driver of the car and it was at the time that I would've been around at the school.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Angran1 · 24/09/2024 18:01

check the cctv, if youve done it then simply exchance insurance details then leave it to the insurance to argue out....thats whst you pay a lot of moneu for, and legaly obliged to do...so are they !

dont get into words with them leave to the insurance companies to argue out

OhcantthInkofaname · 24/09/2024 18:15

Did you hit their car or did they hit your car? I really would contact your insurance. That's why you have insurance.

wasdarknowblond · 24/09/2024 18:24

It’s definitely some sort of scam. Just tell them you’ve given all the details to your insurance company, who will deal with it.

SarahsHoneydew · 24/09/2024 18:24

hahavzv · 23/09/2024 21:41

By the way, it was a parked car. Unless I was parking in one of the bays next to them and may have clipped it. I don't know. I need to see the cctv footage for sure. They've obviously got the right reg number.

They've said they won't go through insurance because I may not have insurance or a drivers license and the can't afford that???

They have also said specifically that they will go to a professional garage and not a recommended one. I just was thinking are they trying the rip me off???

Is it a newish car that they are claiming you hit? If so they would have to go to a professional garage because new cars have paint warranties that are invalidated if they are not done at accredited garages

Scarfitwere · 24/09/2024 18:29

I'm not sure why you aren't taking the very good advice given here and notifying your insurer and ceasing contact with this person after providing insurance details. This is exactly the purpose of insurance. They will weed out scams and if it turns out not to be a scam then they'll sort it. Seems like a total scam though. Also you wont pay the excess for a third party claim. Only if you're claiming for damage to your own car, which I assume you're not.

Leedsfan247 · 24/09/2024 18:35

If they won’t give you the footage tell them to go through their insurance who will ask your insurer to examine the footage - if any exists!
have you carefully checked your car for ANY damage??

IIlolamay · 24/09/2024 18:35

I had someone do this to me during covid. What colour paint is on your car and the other car? I immediately contacted my insurer and let them know. Nothing came of it as I burst into tears when the guy was talking to me (I'd just been told my son was seriously ill with covid) and nothing came of it eventually. However, DH checked the colour of the scrape on my car and the the colour I said the other car was and they didn't match. The red car has white paint on it and your car is blue. Just showed DH as well. You are being scammed. Report it to your insurance company and insist it goes according to the insurance company requirements. I think and DH agrees you are being scammed. A blue car can't leave white paint.

IIlolamay · 24/09/2024 18:44

PS Should have said the white 'paint' on my car was washed off with soap and water. DH said car paint cannot be washed off with soap and water.

JudgeJenny · 24/09/2024 18:55

And I believe the school may have breached GDPR in sharing it already. I’d ask the school that question.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 24/09/2024 18:56

JudgeJenny · 24/09/2024 18:55

And I believe the school may have breached GDPR in sharing it already. I’d ask the school that question.

I doubt that they've shared it at all.

TwistedWonder · 24/09/2024 18:58

JudgeJenny · 24/09/2024 18:55

And I believe the school may have breached GDPR in sharing it already. I’d ask the school that question.

I doubt very much that’s true that it’s been shared but it would depend on whether other people could be identified as to if they’ve breached GDPR

Anyone who can be seen on camera has to be blurred out so they’re unidentifiable before it can be shared.

NewFriendlyLadybird · 24/09/2024 19:06

Why the hell don’t you contact your insurers? This is literally what they are FOR.

Stop faffing about playing girl detective and wondering about who might have seen you do something you’re convinced you didn’t do.

LetsSeeHowFarWeveCome · 24/09/2024 19:22

hahavzv · 23/09/2024 21:41

By the way, it was a parked car. Unless I was parking in one of the bays next to them and may have clipped it. I don't know. I need to see the cctv footage for sure. They've obviously got the right reg number.

They've said they won't go through insurance because I may not have insurance or a drivers license and the can't afford that???

They have also said specifically that they will go to a professional garage and not a recommended one. I just was thinking are they trying the rip me off???

Don't engage.
Get the CCTV.
If it shows you've hit them, involve your insurer.

Single50something · 24/09/2024 19:24

hahavzv · 23/09/2024 21:44

They have sent me photos of the damage. And I do seem to have some marks on my car on the front. But nowhere as bad as what they've shown me.

It was at the school car park so they've obviously managed. It was at the time when I would pick my kid up so I couldn't have run off. I must've parked up and I'm just thinking why didn't this eyewitness just speak to me ?

If you didn't notice and both cars have marks maybe they hit your car when you weren't in it?

Kjpt140v · 24/09/2024 19:26

Have they got insurance?

joolsella · 24/09/2024 19:54

I smell a rat

Let your insurance company deal with theirs and leave it at that

My mum had someone accuse her of hitting a car. She hadnt. Her insurance firm handled it

joolsella · 24/09/2024 19:55

I also don't think a school would hand over cctv footage like that

Olderbutt · 24/09/2024 20:06

They could have randomly picked your number off the CCTV clip. Once you have viewed the clip and if you can see that you've hit their car, go straight through your insurance. Do not deal with them directly as they could still try to scam you out of more money etc. My gut feeling is that they're 'trying it on'.
Many years ago, I came home to a landline answerphone message saying, I had hit their car on such and such a road and left their phone number. I didn't even go down that road that day! When they eventually picked up their phone after me trying about 25 times, they said sorry wrong car. They had found my number at random from Yellow Pages as a Driving Instructor and thought they would try it on. They had damaged the car on a wall and didn't want to tell their partner. Totally weird!

Vynalbob · 24/09/2024 20:16

Wasn't going to reply but looking at that photo I agree that it's probably a scam....

  1. They won't have CCTV
  2. They don't want to go through insurance
  3. You would definitely have noticed causing that amount of damage.
Ask the school about CCTV to be certain then contact your insurer saying exactly what you know factually.....if you don't I can see this being a massive brain ache nobody would want. Good luck 👍
TheMauveBeaker · 24/09/2024 20:43

For goodness’ sake, would you ever just contact your insurance company! Enough people have advised you to do it, so get on with it - you pay them to deal with stuff like this. How many more people are going to have to say it, before you listen?!

IfYouHaveGhosts · 24/09/2024 22:04

TheMauveBeaker · 24/09/2024 20:43

For goodness’ sake, would you ever just contact your insurance company! Enough people have advised you to do it, so get on with it - you pay them to deal with stuff like this. How many more people are going to have to say it, before you listen?!

What makes you think OP hasn’t listened given they haven’t posted since this afternoon?

KrisAkabusi · 25/09/2024 00:11

Anyone who can be seen on camera has to be blurred out so they’re unidentifiable before it can be shared.

People keep saying things like this, but it's simply not true. There is no legal expectation of privacy in a public place. So anyone driving, walking or parking on the road outside a school can be filmed by anyone.

Balloonhearts · 25/09/2024 00:32

FrazzledMCPremenopausalWoman · 23/09/2024 21:55

I'd hazard a guess that THEY hit YOUR car (if you've got marks that weren't there before) and they're trying to pull a fast one!
Ask school for the footage - if they've given it to one party, they'll give it to the other party. If school say no, you'll know the other party hasn't seen it either.

This. I had a similar mark after scraping another car once and I definitely felt it. You wouldn't do it without noticing!

Footage or they can ring the insurance and have them deal with it. Don't part with any money until you've seen it.

Dollshousedolly · 25/09/2024 00:36

Are you certain that it was the school that phoned you initially? It could all be a scam.

Bobbingtons · 25/09/2024 08:02

KrisAkabusi · 25/09/2024 00:11

Anyone who can be seen on camera has to be blurred out so they’re unidentifiable before it can be shared.

People keep saying things like this, but it's simply not true. There is no legal expectation of privacy in a public place. So anyone driving, walking or parking on the road outside a school can be filmed by anyone.

From the OPs description this was a school carpark and school CCTV which is different as organisations have to comply to GDPR legislation when capturing, storing and sharing information. Sharing any PII is a clear and serious breach and should (if proven to be true) reported to the Data Controller and possibly the ICO.
It would be different if it was an individual recording on a mobile device and that would be permissable as there really isn't much legislation at all concerning individuals