How would you approach it?

[scarleta]

Just wondering what would you do?
So you park your undamaged car in front of your house overnight as usual.In the morning you have a damage on the back of your car( dent with the paint intact) from someone obviously hitting the car trying to move from the parking spot right behind it.
You have not witnessed anything , but it had to be a car parked right behind yours that did it.I am not thinking of the obvious contacting insurance because of deductible...

 

[Maisie]

If it was me I would just pay for the damage... you can''t be sure who damaged it so there isn''t much else you can do unfortunately.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I agree with Maisie. If you had seen who did the damage then that would be different. Otherwise I''d suck it up and just get it fixed myself.

 

[Circe]

Oh, ugh ... tough one. Given that there''s no way to know if it''s the car that''s *still* parked behind yours, or if the car that did the damage has driven away and a new car parked in its place, I''m not sure if an insurance company would accept the claim. Given that the car hit you hard enough to leave visible damage, can you check to see if there are corresponding markings on *their* car to photograph or point out to them?

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/8/2008 4:51:07 PM
Author: Maisie
If it was me I would just pay for the damage... you can''t be sure who damaged it so there isn''t much else you can do unfortunately.

ditto, I am so sorry that happened; it always makes me so mad when people do that. Can you park in the driveway? I try to never park on the side of the street if I can help it since that happened to me too. Sorry sweetie.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Masie, Diva and Circe: No I did not witness anything so I really can''t say who did it..After I posted here
I contacted my mechanic and he suggested I contact insurance ,because its a criminal offense to hit and damage someone''s car and then drive away.

 

[ljmorgan]

This happened to me last year. Was parked in front on my townhouse, the next day I came out and saw a huuuuge white scrape on the rear left side of my car, complete with the tail light cracked/bashed in. It looked like someone had a reallly hard time pulling out of their spot, haha. I called the police and had an officer come out and write up a report, they give you a reference number to give to your insurance company in case you want to claim it. I chose to pay for the damage out of pocket, but it''s always good to file a police report.

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Skippy you know its only a car and I am glad that I was not in it when it happened.What possible dent it could make in my body???
I have no driveway ( garage is an option but sometimes I park on the street like everybody else.I am more upset that no note was left on my car and nobody contacted me..

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 5/8/2008 5:10:19 PM
Author: scarleta
Thanks Masie, Diva and Circe: No I did not witness anything so I really can''t say who did it..After I posted here
I contacted my mechanic and he suggested I contact insurance ,because its a criminal offense to hit and damage someone''s car and then drive away.

Yeah, it''s so criminal they''ll probably send out CSI and do a real in depth investigation....not.

Sorry, but why bother the cops. All you''ll get is a report (and they''ll file theirs in the wastebasket). Your insurance could care less about who hit you. It''s still your claim if you make it.

 

[Ellen]

I feel for you, we''ve had this happen 4 times (different parking spots, different cars).

 

[scarleta]

Lindsey''s quote" It looked like someone had a reallly hard time pulling out of their spot, haha."
Yes Lindsey that is precisely what I think happened to my car.Perhaps someone learning how to drive?

Thanks Purrdectpear you are most likely right on this one..

Sorry Ellen you had to deal with this 4 times.How terrible that is..
A note left on the car would sure be nice..

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Date: 5/8/2008 5:10:19 PM
Author: scarleta
Thanks Masie, Diva and Circe: No I did not witness anything so I really can''t say who did it..After I posted here
I contacted my mechanic and he suggested I contact insurance ,because its a criminal offense to hit and damage someone''s car and then drive away.

It''s so criminal that around here they won''t even let you fill out a police report unless you know for certain who did the damage.

Even then, there''s nothing the police can do unless you pursue it in court = more time and money spent.

My car currently has $$$ in damage (mostly to the paint) from several incidents at an apartment complex we lived in more than 2 years ago and the person responsible for the damage is uncollectible so I''m stuck with it. I''m not about to claim it on my insurance and then have my rates go up for making a claim. Till I can afford to have the entire car repainted and pinstriped I just live with it.

Hope your situation works out better than mine!

Jess

 

[scarleta]

Thanks Jess: after reading all posts I am not really counting on anything much.I know the person who park right behind me did it trying to get out.Maybe learning to drive who knows?
I will go through the procedure and see what happens ..

 

[sumbride]

Actually, in the case of a "hit and run" you usually qualify under "uninsured motorist coverage" if your policy has it, which is a half-deductible. So if it''s $500, you only pay $250. I''m not sure this would qualify for that... really depends on the amount of damage, but you WILL need a police report to pursue it.

I was in a hit and run accident last year but we managed to get the license plate number. It took a while to track him down and fortunately he was insured so we got it paid for in full, but if he hadn''t been, or if we hadn''t found him, I would only have been out half a deductible. My damage was considerable, so this was a big deal for me.

I also live in a "you have to park on the street" situation and I have quite a few dings on my bumpers and sides of my car, and it annoys the heck out me but I haven''t bothered to get them fixed because I know there will be more almost immediately afterwards. If that isn''t common in your area, I would get it fixed, but for me it''s not worth it. We also have evil evil kids that scratch cars for the fun of it. Also not worth dealing with, but since moving here, I see my car as a vehicle and not as anything else. I''m not worried about it''s presentation so long as it runs and is safe.

 

[FireGoddess]

This has happened to me several times. Once it was a big dent on BOTH the front and back doors of my car (so I got that fixed), the last time was a scrape across the entire back bumper. Got really POed but didn''t want to shell out the $$ for the deductible to get it fixed.

Can you post a sign where you parked stating that someone hit your parked car and left no note, that you will be pursuing the matter and if they come forward then you can handle it yourselves, but if you find the person you''ll go after hit and run/leaving the scene of an accident charges? I don''t know if it would work, but it might scare the person into coming forward. If not, at least you''re no worse off than you are now. I agree though, it sucks. I hate people sometimes.

 

[scarleta]

Sorry Sumbride it keeps happening to your car.That is terrible.Its my first time.Yes I shall look into uninsured motorist coverage.Thanks
Firegoddess:
" Can you post a sign where you parked stating that someone hit your parked car and left no note, that you will be pursuing the matter and if they come forward then you can handle it yourselves, but if you find the person you''ll go after hit and run/leaving the scene of an accident charges? I don''t know if it would work, but it might scare the person into coming forward. If not, at least you''re no worse off than you are now. I agree though, it sucks. I hate people sometimes.

I really like your idea (just working on a short and precise note right now).I know from the damage that it had to be the car parked right behind mine ,but of course I''am not sure of that.
Would you put this in the note? or not?Thanks

 

[diamondfan]

I am not sure what to do, as it is not uninsured motorist, it is a hit and run. Since you cannot id the person, it is likely best to just forgo calling the insurance co. and getting some estimates.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

So sorry your car got damaged, that really sucks. If someone did that and didn''t bother to leave their details, I''d feel really bad too. On the other hand, I''ve done that (dented a car when moving out of a parking space) and I swear, I had no idea I did it. I got really really lucky (or really unlucky, depending on how you look at it!) because it was my DH''s car I hit. Point is, I had a Landrover then and it was huge. I did not feel the tiny impact that did really quite a lot of damage to his car.

It''s maybe not likely, but it is at least possible that the person who hit your car wasn''t callous about driving off, but genuinely unaware of what they did.

Jen