Accidentally scratched a car - help?

[Idkw2d]

Hi Mumsnetters and a Merry Christmas to you all,

I am a new driver and have got myself in a situation.

As I was leaving an Asda car park this morning with my child, I managed to reverse too far back and scraped the side of someone’s very big car. I say big because it didn’t look like a scruffy runaround car, it was a big shiny car.

I am usually incredibly careful and slow, especially as I only passed my test in January this year. I am insured as an additional driver on my husband’s car and it’s just a small scruffy car that is easy to drive.

I have managed perfectly fine in this car park for years but due to a number of factors, I was somewhat caught off guard and managed to reverse too far (a driver was zooming up onto my right while another came right up to my backside). The car I scratched was sticking out of its parking slot by a fair margin, which is why I didn’t expect or realise what I’d done until it was too late :(

The bottom of the back of the car had visible marks where some black paint had come off and there was one very very very tiny scratch on the body. A few bystanders said “it doesn’t look too bad at all” and I took photos.

I waited for the owners to show up, told them what happened and gave my name, number, reg and home address. They said they would get a quote and get back to me, but if I didn’t want to pay then we could go through insurance. They said it could be around £200-300 to “paint over the panel”. said as it was my fault I was more than happy to compensate them. They haven’t gotten in touch yet so I’m still waiting.

Anyway, this is my first experience of anything like this and I have been a mess. I’m embarrassed to say I have cried over this multiple times today. I feel stupid for getting into a situation like this but even more stupid for now having to fork up what could be potentially a few hundred pounds.

Long story short, I had some questions:

1. If they ask me to pay, say, £300 and I agree, can they turn around and claim through insurance as well? I am a ‘new’ driver and worried about how this could affect my status.

2. Should insurance be informed regardless? I’ve heard conflicting info and don’t want to get in trouble.

3. Did I deal with this right? Some people have said I shouldn’t have given my home address.

4. Any advice or words of support? I feel so disappointed in myself today and am worried the owners will take advantage of the situation and charge me extra. I’ve heard and seen so many scams where people are forced to fork out exaggerated amounts for minor damage.

5. I’m also annoyed because they were parked in a Child & Parent spot when they clearly didn’t have any with them! Just makes it sting a little more lol.

Forgot to say, OP it's better you go through the insurance. It could be a costly repair, over the £300 mentioned.
Possibly you premium might go up or not. It wouldn't go up by £300. And you won't have to stress about what ifs.

Yes if you pay privately they can claim again off your insurance. Just report it to your insurance and let them handle it. You only need to pay your excess if you're claiming for damage to your own car.

Also you'll probably move on from it a lot quicker if you just accept it was your fault and not blame them for being parked in a parent and child spot.

Go through insurance, it’s what it’s there for. Too much risk of dealing direct. And the cost of repair will probably be more like £500-£1k, or they’ll tell you it is and just pocket the cash.

Dont worry about having to pay anything OP, if you aren't claiming for your own damage there's no excess to pay, that doesn't apply

From what you've posted it sounds like it would be much better for your nerves to hand it over to insurers and forget about it even though it might be more costly in the long run

You damaged their car and now you are wanting others to feel sorry for you. It doesn't matter if it was a big car or that they are parked in a parents space, the damage was a result of your driving, you've already owned up to your mistake and passed your details on. To now say perhaps the mark was already there, it was such a light touch, etc. sounds like you don't want to pay anymore and pass on the blame to them.

Glad you told them, I have a large scuff above my wheel arch where somebody obviously knew they had hit it but didn't bother to say. Someone did the same as you to DH's car, they told him and he let it go but his car was big but not shiny.

Technically you have to inform your insurer even if you pay for the repair yourself, since you've been involved in an accident. People don't because you'll be classed as a higher risk driver you have to declare this for 5 years and your premiums will be up - you can estimate how much by running a quote with your details plus the accident. People often try to avoid this way as typically paying your excess and then the increased premiums dwarfs the repair cost.

This time of year it'll take them a week or so to get a quote so I'm not surprised you've not heard yet so I wouldn't be worried about that.

If you can afford to go through insurance then that's the proper thing to do. Iknow if be tempted to see what they come back with though and if it's a sensible price then you'll have a paper trail that requests an amount of money to settle the incident.

My car was damaged in a car park, to a similar extent.

The other driver wanted to settle without her insurance paying.

I got three quotes to give an average. It was £1350 to have the damage fixed. No pocketing anything.

Is that what you'd do? Why would you automatically assume a stranger is out to cheat you?

People run into cars all the time in supermarket carparks. Someone reversed into me last week and just drove off. I was actually in my car as I had only just parked up. I could hear his reversing sensors beeping away and he just kept coming. Don't be upset OP, it happens all the time and they are just cars right. No harm done. And have a lovely Christmas day.

I don't know the exact situation of course but I wanted to offer my sympathy. These absurd modern cars are ridiculous. I sometimes wonder why people don't just buy tanks or buses and have done with it.
Where I live has narrow streets and bendy lanes, the number of near accidents and problems with drivers who buy these things and can't drive them is infuriating.
Well done for being honest OP but the reduction in everyone else's space and visibility as a result of over large vehicles is just adding to the stress of our already overcrowded roads.

In the real legal world you do because if you don’t and they know about it it can invalidate your insurance and mean they won’t pay up for any other claim.

the other side have your number plate of they do through their insurance or tell their insurance at all (which they should otherwise invalidates) then your number plate would be there

Yes it’s what I do. From a lifetime of experience as to how people behave if you let them. I’d never trust a stranger for anything.

Insurance every time

My thoughts exactly !

Always, always go through your insurance. That's what it's for.

The potential for getting ripped off and scammed in situations like this is huge. Your insurance will deal with all the hassle, and for minor things like this the price really won't get bumped up all that much.

Agree privately to settle if you want but ask for a quote from chips away or whoever is going to do the repair.

I think I wasn't clear, I meant would you rip off a stranger, it's sad that youve been so unlucky in life, my experience has been very different

Are your mirrors in the optimal positions? When I'm reversing out of a bay I can see how close I am to other cars in my wing mirrors as I'm turning.

It's part of the terms and conditions of your policy that you inform your insurers of any accident regardless of whether you wish to make a claim. If you don't inform them and they find out, they will most likely cancel your policy in which case you will end up with a lot of insurers refusing to insure you and much higher premiums.

If you don't report it to your insurer and this person comes back and says, it's going to be £2000 (£300 sounds very low to me) what will you do? You need to look at the terms of your policy to see how quickly they require you to report an accident. It's often within 24-48 hours. If you report outside of the time limit they might not pay out in the event the other driver makes a claim. And if the other driver decides to make a claim down the line then it will come out that you didn't report the accident.

Some people take the risk but personally I would much rather the peace of mind of knowing my insurers are there if I need them. It's what I pay them for.

Don't be too hard on yourself, these things happen. Unless the car park is massive, I pretty much never go forwards into bays these days because it can be difficult to reverse out when sandwiched between SUVs.

Go yourself a favour and go through your insurance. It's why you pay it.

I am 100% certain it'll cost more than £300, and there is the added cost of a hire care whilst theirs is in the body shop.

You've hot good advice already but I was always taught when I passed many moons ago to only ever reverse park into spaces so you are driving out the space forward

I am 100% certain it'll cost more than £300

Me too.

Someone scratched my car a couple of years ago and we agreed to settle it privately (I still informed my insurers though).

I got several quotes in the £1k - £1.5k region, and one from an independent mobile guy for £400. I went with the mobile guy because he had excellent ratings and happily his work ended up being flawless. Not everyone will be as happy to shop around.

Whilst that might be the safest way to do it it doesn't take any account of the practical issues of getting shopping into the boot of your car when you can't open it.