QuestionQUESTION: About a month ago just before Christmas where I live there was a light dusting of snow covering some ice. I arrived at work and was parking my car as usual on a downhill incline turning in to the right, going a minimal speed (say 5 mph tops, I was parking). My wheel locked and my car slid forward with my anti-lock breaks coming on. I have a 4 door light weight vehicle (2007). I slid into the parked car directly in front of my, a large SUV, striking my front bumper against the rear exterior passenger side bumper of the SUV. The SUV on impact slid about 6 inches sidewise which surprised me due to its size and weight compared to my car and the fact I was barely moving. There was no damage to my car. On the SUV there was very minimal visible damage. The only thing I could see was the the metal strip that folds into the the wheel well had popped out about 1 inch in a very small area. The paint on the bumper had some small crackling but no cracks or breaks.
Being a responsible person, I found out who's vehicle it was (a co-worker) and informed her. She took a look at it and told me not to worry about it. She also noted she has had bad luck with people hitting her in the lot and not telling her. A few days later she told me her husband thought it looked bad and wanted to have it fixed. She said he knew a guy and couldn't image it would be more then a couple hundred bucks.
This morning (a month later) this co-worked came to me and said they finally had their SUV looked at. She reports that the shop stated that the bumper shifted and separated from the vehicle and that this also broke the attachments for the kick step that run to the rear of the car. She is stating that the estimate is that it will be a $700-$800 fix now minimum. She is looking for me to pay for this.
I do not feel I should pay for this at this point. I have no idea if the damaged caused is due to my vehicle hitting hers. There could have been previous damage or damage since that I am unaware of or that she is not aware of as well if someone hit her and did not inform her. I have a difficult time believing that my vehicle did the described damage due to the size in comparison to hers as well as nothing happening to mine. I have thought about having someone give me my own estimate on the vehicle and the damage which would be reasonable to ask. However, I have also thought about telling her that since this has become a problem, she should contact her insurance and I will do the same. Would my insurance find me at fault and agree to pay for this at this point? My hope is no and I would just leave it at that based on my before mentioned reasons. I'm not quite sure how to handle this or what the outcome would be if insurance became involved and am looking for some insight.
Lesson learned: always contact the insurance immediately...you can't trust anyone these days!
Thanks.
ANSWER: Hi Leah,
You are correct. Always call your insurance company. At this point you shoudl call your insurance company to report this. They will take your statement and will contact the other lady to inspect her vehicle. Your insurance company will write their own estimate. This will likely be considered to be your fault. After all it was you that drove on ice and ended up hitting her parked vehicle. It surely was not her fault. So you should not seek to escape blame, but instead seek to minimize damage. Your insurance company should be able to do that if it is possible to do.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks Richard for your help. It's not that I want to escape blame, that's why I told her it happened in the first place. However, my concern is being liable for damages I did not cause. Is this something that during an assessment can be determined? If she has been hit or had damage done by another means, is this easy to tell during an inspection? Would the insurance adjuster be looking for that due to the time lapse between my incident with her and now? The damage she is now describing a month later does not line up with what happened a month ago....
AnswerHi Leah,
When you report this to your insurance company, you should voice your concerns about prior or subsequest damage. They will inform there inspector of this who will try to determine if any exists. It is not always easy to determnine if there is prior or subsequest damage but they will do there best.
For your future protection, it is a good idea to keep an inexpensive digital camera in your glove box. Then if there is an incident you can take photos at the scene of both vehicles damage while things are fresh. This is the best evidence you could have.
I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh
