Allegations of accident

[2Btoo]

Hi,

I'm sure this isn't the first time such a situation has occurred but I need some advice. The facts are as follows;

- In March (just before lockdown), I touched a neighbours car while parking my car. When I say 'touched' I mean the contact was so minor I wasn't aware it had happened but when I got out I saw that the two cars were indeed in contact with each other. I was parking alongside a road and the contact was from the rear of my car to the rear of his.

- The car in question is owned by a neighbour whom I have had contact with previously and is known for being forthright in his opinions

- The neighbour in question came out of his flat immediately and was both abusive and accusatory towards me. He alleged that I had 'smashed into his car three times'. My wife (who was with me in the car at the time) said we hadn't touched his car at all (the touch was so light we were not aware of it) although this wasn't true. We didn't engage with him and went into our house

- 20 minutes later I came out of the house to photograph both cars, pushed mine forward and took clear photos of both cars. I have those photos.

- When photographing the cars the neighbour came out again and was again abusive. Again, I didn't engage with him but went back into my house.

- Given the nature of the abuse from the neighbour I called the police who attended, looked at the cars (they hadn't been moved) and took a statement from me. They didn't contact the neighbour.

- Given that there was no damage I was aware of then I thought that the matter would go no further and left it at that. I have not contacted my insurance company nor my broker.

- I have received an eMail today from a motor claims department of my insurer saying that "We have been advised that your car <RegNo>, was involved in an incident on Strahan Road. The circumstances we have been provided with is that the driver of the vehicle at the time has collided with a third party parked vehicle. Can you please confirm if you are aware of the incident?"

- I have contacted my broker (who didn't answer, it sounded like their 'phone was diverted to a mobile so I left a message). I have not contacted the claims department (the people who eMailed me) yet.

What am I best advised to do?

All advice welcome, thanks.

[anonymous-user]

For all the grief you are going to get you should have bashed it properly then he would really have something to bh about.

[Krikkit]

Send an honest account of what happened - no opinions, just facts, as succinctly as possible - and send the photos of both cars.

Would've been better if you'd spoken to the neighbour in the first place.

[2Btoo]

Krikkit said:

Would've been better if you'd spoken to the neighbour in the first place.

You are quite probably right, but this guy has been involved with the police before and the advice from them then (as it was on this occasion) was to not speak to him.

Given that I could see no damage to either vehicle then I didn't see any reason not to follow the same advice. I put it down as bluster and assumed nothing would come of it.

ETA: Am I better off talking to my broker or directly to the claims department?

[Baldchap]

Krikkit said:

Would've been better if you'd spoken to the neighbour in the first place.

Agreed.

You both need to grow up and be civil, regardless of whether you'll never be best friends or not.

If you touched my car then ignored me when I voiced my dissatisfaction, I'd be going through insurance too.

[2Btoo]

Baldchap said:

Agreed.

You both need to grow up and be civil, regardless of whether you'll never be best friends or not.

If you touched my car then ignored me when I voiced my dissatisfaction, I'd be going through insurance too.

That's a good point, thank you.

[so called]

Baldchap said:

Krikkit said:

Would've been better if you'd spoken to the neighbour in the first place.

Agreed.

You both need to grow up and be civil, regardless of whether you'll never be best friends or not.

If you touched my car then ignored me when I voiced my dissatisfaction, I'd be going through insurance too.

And what would you expect, a total respray? backlash compensation for your armchair injury?
If you read his post again, you will see that there was dialog but the neighbour was abusive.
I don't think that the OP needs to grow up.

OP, as someone has previously advised, contact your insurer, explain the situation, the Police contact, forward the photo's and let them deal with it.

Edited by so called on Friday 29th May 13:43

[2Btoo]

In fairness to BaldChap, I didn't speak with the neighbour but my wife did, to (incorrectly) say that we hadn't touched his car. He became abusive so we went into the house. This is exactly as was reported to the police.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Brooksay]

What damage is he claiming occurred??

[2Btoo]

Thank you to everyone for your assistance.

I have now spoken with my broker and the claims department of the insurance company. The allegation is that I collided with his vehicle (I touched it) and that there is 'damage to the rear'. No more details.

Brooksay said:

What damage is he claiming occurred??

'Damage to the rear'. Not very helpful.

Thanks again for your help.

[Geffg]

If there’s no damage, it’s his pride and joy and I’ll get stung by an insurance claim then I’d be inclined to go out and make sure it was properly damaged. May aswell make the most of his claim. It’s a claim either way. Can’t stand people like that. A slight nudge is not gonna do any damage to either. If it happened to me and a neighbour nudged mine, as long as it wasn’t damaged I’d just leave it and not be bothered even if there was a slight scratch or something; and I’m quite fussy over my car but sh*t happens and is it worth the grief.

[so called]

Geffg said:

If there’s no damage, it’s his pride and joy and I’ll get stung by an insurance claim then I’d be inclined to go out and make sure it was properly damaged. May aswell make the most of his claim. It’s a claim either way. Can’t stand people like that. A slight nudge is not gonna do any damage to either. If it happened to me and a neighbour nudged mine, as long as it wasn’t damaged I’d just leave it and not be bothered even if there was a slight scratch or something; and I’m quite fussy over my car but sh*t happens and is it worth the grief.

[Sheepshanks]

2Btoo said:

In fairness to BaldChap, I didn't speak with the neighbour but my wife did, to (incorrectly) say that we hadn't touched his car.

Maybe this annoyed him?

I was pretty miffed when sat in my car in my favourite space where there's only room for one car to park reasonably to pick granddaughter up fro school, and a grandma (in a 335d of all cars!) pulled in front of me and then backed in to the front of my car and left it there, pressed against my number plate.

I got out and said "you've just hit my car" and without looking she said "Oh - it's OK there isn't any damage" and walked off!

[2Btoo]

Geffg said:

If there’s no damage, it’s his pride and joy and I’ll get stung by an insurance claim then I’d be inclined to go out and make sure it was properly damaged. May aswell make the most of his claim. It’s a claim either way. Can’t stand people like that. A slight nudge is not gonna do any damage to either. If it happened to me and a neighbour nudged mine, as long as it wasn’t damaged I’d just leave it and not be bothered even if there was a slight scratch or something; and I’m quite fussy over my car but sh*t happens and is it worth the grief.

I have indeed shrugged off similar nudges many times in the past.

My insurance company have confirmed that if there is no claim then I will not need to declare it on future renewals and there will be no effect on the NCB.

I'm not going to antagonise the guy, tempting as it may be. I'd like my behaviour to be beyond reproach, and hence I take the point from BaldChap above as being a good one.

[2Btoo]

Sheepshanks said:

2Btoo said:

In fairness to BaldChap, I didn't speak with the neighbour but my wife did, to (incorrectly) say that we hadn't touched his car.

Maybe this annoyed him?

I probably would have spoken with him had he not started being verbally abusive. However I thought that walking away was by far the best option at that point.

[Yacht Broker]

2Btoo said:

I have indeed shrugged off similar nudges many times in the past.

My insurance company have confirmed that if there is no claim then I will not need to declare it on future renewals and there will be no effect on the NCB.

I'm not going to antagonise the guy, tempting as it may be. I'd like my behaviour to be beyond reproach, and hence I take the point from BaldChap above as being a good one.

be wary about that from your insurer... I once made the mistake of calling my insurer to discuss some (very minor) damage caused by an unknown third party and to decide whether to bother making a claim. BIG mistake... although I decided not to make a claim, it was noted on my insurance and for the next five years, I had to disclose it (I wasn't aware of this at all, until an insurer told me that it was on my insurance record). My insurer refused to remove the record even though I hadn't made the claim as apparently it is relevant to my risk profile.

I would ask for that reassurance in writing.

[2Btoo]

Yacht Broker,

Thanks for the warning. I have this in a telephone conversation from the insurance company and have written a synopsis of that conversation (including that fact) and eMailed it back to them for confirmation.

Thanks for your help.

[MethylatedSpirit]

Aggressively ask for a detailed account from their end. Ask for photos of alleged damage. Compare to your photos. Ask for them to advise why a claim / notification has taken so long. -The car could have had new damage since then-. Ask them to prove that the damage was caused by that particular incident.

The other side of the argument is that a small impact could cause the tiniest bit of damage. Could you talk to him and offer a small cash gesture and have them remove the claim from their end? Explaining that both would have to declare for 5 years and regardless of fault it usually increases premiums.

[8Speed]

Behaving in the same way as the aggressive neighbour is not the right way to go about anything!!
The OP seems to have behaved in a very acceptable way and should only pay attention to the reasoned comments here.
It's unfortunate that his wife didn't realise that there had been some contact and denied it but having the photo evidence of no superficial damage on both cars should help with insurance.
Best of luck OP!

[T5R+]

2Btoo said:

......My insurance company have confirmed that if there is no claim then I will not need to declare it on future renewals and there will be no effect on the NCB.

Really. Listen very carfeully to most insurance statements with phrases/words along the lines of have you or anyone being insured, ever been involved in any accident or incident, (irrespective of) whether an insurance claim was submitted or not?

Funnily enough, most have extremely good records from the insurance company shared databases, some even have the answer on their screen and are simply checking for honesty.