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got into a tiny accident

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hi
yesterday I was trying to get out of a parking space, my car was parked between 2 cars and both these cars were extremely close to me.
I was backing up slowly to maneuver out of the parking spot and my car bumper kind of hit the car behind me. there was someone sitting in the car behind me and he got out and we looked at his car and agreed that there was no damage and I left.
he is a neighbor that lives in the same building as me. 24 hours later he sees me downstairs and he says "I need to talk to you, there is damage to my car."
I asked him to show me and he said "my car is at the shop now, I will show you when I get it back"
then today he emailed me some pictures and I can see a little damage. it's so hard to see in pictures and it may or may not have been caused by me. He says he wants to settle this "amicably" either through me or through my insurance.
I just don't know what to do at this point. I disagree that I have caused this damage. On the other hand, I dont want to get my car keyed or make myself an enemy. this guy is one of those "tough" guy wannabes with tattoos...when I see him in person I even feel threatened by him. Can I tell him that I feel threatened and ask him to contact me by email only?
so what do I do about the damage?
 
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sandyclaus

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hi
yesterday I was trying to get out of a parking space, my car was parked between 2 cars and both these cars were extremely close to me.
I was backing up slowly to maneuver out of the parking spot and my car bumper kind of hit the car behind me. there was someone sitting in the car behind me and he got out and we looked at his car and agreed that there was no damage and I left.
he is a neighbor that lives in the same building as me. 24 hours later he sees me downstairs and he says "I need to talk to you, there is damage to my car."
I asked him to show me and he said "my car is at the shop now, I will show you when I get it back"
then today he emailed me some pictures and I can see a little damage. it's so hard to see in pictures and it may or may not have been caused by me. He says he wants to settle this "amicably" either through me or through my insurance.
I just don't know what to do at this point. I disagree that I have caused this damage. On the other hand, I dont want to get my car keyed or make myself an enemy. this guy is one of those "tough" guy wannabes with tattoos...when I see him in person I even feel threatened by him. Can I tell him that I feel threatened and ask him to contact me by email only?
so what do I do about the damage?
First of all, if you caused the damages, you should pay for them. However, the other driver will have to PROVE what damages you did and didn't cause.

Which brings me to the 2nd part. If there was damage, it would have been visible at the time of the accident. I question the fact that this other driver would come to you and tell you that there was now damage, and say he wanted you to pay for it, but NOT give you a chance to even look at the alleged damage before running it over to the body shop for repairs. (I don't know too many people that would take their car immediately to the shop, especially within 24 hours of the accident.)

I would wait to even offer payment of any sort until you have seen the bill and work order from the body shop. It really does sound to me a bit suspicious that this guy was so fast to take the car to the shop without letting you look at the damage he claims you caused.
 
First of all, if you caused the damages, you should pay for them. However, the other driver will have to PROVE what damages you did and didn't cause.

Which brings me to the 2nd part. If there was damage, it would have been visible at the time of the accident. I question the fact that this other driver would come to you and tell you that there was now damage, and say he wanted you to pay for it, but NOT give you a chance to even look at the alleged damage before running it over to the body shop for repairs. (I don't know too many people that would take their car immediately to the shop, especially within 24 hours of the accident.)

I would wait to even offer payment of any sort until you have seen the bill and work order from the body shop. It really does sound to me a bit suspicious that this guy was so fast to take the car to the shop without letting you look at the damage he claims you caused.
Hi. Thanks for your response. I should have mentioned this. The car is at the shop for other reasons. He says he will show me the damage when he gets it back.
 
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las365

Senior Member
Notify your insurance company and them argue over whether the damage was caused by you "kind of" hitting your neighbor's car with yours. That's why you have insurance.

You do have insurance, right?
 
Notify your insurance company and them argue over whether the damage was caused by you "kind of" hitting your neighbor's car with yours. That's why you have insurance.

You do have insurance, right?
but doesn't notifying my insurance automatically mean that I am admitting fault?
when I notify insurance, I am effectively saying "I caused damages, please pay for it"
How do I make sure that my insurance is aware that I am not admitting fault and that they should investigate?
do they actually investigate and argue with the guy? If they do, that would be great but I have a feeling they will just pay for it and increase my rates.
 

las365

Senior Member
Notifying your carrier is required by your contract of insurance. You are telling your insurer that someone has a claim against you. Your insurer then investigates both liability and the extent of the damages.

You were at fault, you know. You backed your car into his car.
 

davidmcbeth3

Senior Member
Take pictures/videos of any alleged damage - inspect for rust, etc. (evidence of previous damage).

Post back after your inspection. And inspect ASAP.
 
Hi guys
so today I looked at the damage and there is no way that I would have caused this damage.
The bumper of the car that I backed into has 2 black things on the front that protect the bumper. look at this picture:
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/1985/921/29960460004_large.jpg
See those black things on the bumper? This car has those.
Now the owner is blaming me for scratches and dents ON the bumper and he says the body shop wants $600 ("but I am willing to settle for $450").
anyway, I do not believe that I caused this damage. how could my bumper have damaged his bumper when my bumper didn't even touch his bumper?
I dont want to make an enemy because this guy is my neighbor and like I said, I feel threatened by him.
so how do deal with this?
Do I have the right to take it to a cheaper body shop? of course he would go to the most expensive body shop because he is not the one paying. I can probably find a body shop that would fix his stupid car for $50.

If your answer is "contact your insurance": Does insurance really investigate these things and waste their time disputing that I did or did not cause this? I would think it would cost a lot more to hire someone to investigate...wouldnt they just pay him and raise my rates?
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
given the circumstances, it is likely your insurance company would simply pay the claim. You admit to hitting his car. It will cost more to defend the claim than to just pay it.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
It's very easy to damage the actual bumper on a car that has bumper guards...
 

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