(Bear with me, please, I may get some terminology wrong.)
So my neighbours think I damaged their car. (I didn’t.) Being a peaceable sort, I gave them my insurance details and told them to make a claim if they insisted. Well, they insisted. I heard from Geico today that they’ve made a claim.
I have photos of the damage to their car, as well as the tiny scrape of red paint on the front bumper that they think is proof. Also, my car was parked in front of theirs, and the damage is on their back right bumper. The red paint is on my front left! I don’t know what kind of maneouvre they think I pulled to cause it…!
They have no witnesses. I think the teen daughter probably did it, and then lied to her father and said she found it like that, and then they walked up and down the street to find a car they could pin it on :mad:
Any tips on dealing with this? How much info should I submit? Should I wait til the adjuster contacts me?
Why would you give someone your insurance details if you didn’t do it? Were they threatening you?
I’m not sure what you expect to happen now? Do you plan to continue to proceed on the basis that you did it? Or do you now plan to deny it? Witnesses or not, do you expect any reasonable person to believe that you didn’t do it, unless you gave your insurance details under duress?
An insurance company is obligated to defend you against valid and invalid claims. There is nothing wrong with giving out insurance details in this circumstance, that’s what the insurance is for.
What circumstance? If I understand correctly, this is not an acknowledged incident with a subsequent dispute over fault. OP seems to be saying the there was no incident at all that OP’s vehicle was involved in. If somebody walks up to me in the street and demands my insurance details for no reason, you think I should provide them?
It sounds more like red car damaged your car. I’m guessing it turned in front of you too tightly and the back right fender scraped your front left bumper. Then they moved the red car so that it was parked behind you.
From your description, it sounds impossible for you to have damaged their car as you said. You should not have given them your insurance information if you didn’t understand the situation, but it’s too late for that now. Explain to your insurance agent that you were confused. Explain the position of the damage and how it would have been impossible for you to damage their car. You might also be able to explain to your neighbors, but I wouldn’t count on that. They sounds like they don’t understand the situation either.
Are there any paint flakes or debris on the ground to help identify where the damage happened?
Eh, giving the insurance information isn’t the worst thing that you can do. If you refused they’ll just get your license plate and get it via that way.
OP, this is why you pay all that money to your insurance. Tell them you didn’t do it and that you refuse to accept liability for the loss. Most likely your adjuster will look at the damages and see that they don’t line up and then deny liability on your behalf.
If the other insurance company calls you give them your adjuster’s information and that they can talk to them only. I wouldn’t answer the adverse company’s questions at all.
You pay your insurance premiums to protect you from exactly this type of claim (and when you’re in an accident, too, of course). They are not just there to pay claims, but also to defend you when claims are made. This person is *claiming *the OP damaged his car. This isn’t a random stranger on the street, but a person in the neighborhood who knows where you live and the license number of your car. You might not have an *obligation *to supply your insurance info in this senario, but it seems like a reasonable thing to do. Assuming, of course, you tell your insurer you have no liability for the damage. They can pay the claim if they want, even if you don’t want them to, but it’s their money at that point.
I agree that giving them your insurance information wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I had someone try to make a false claim against me once. I had an easily documented alibi and I am sure my insurance company denied the claim. It only took one 5 minute conversation and then I never heard about it again. Like others said, that is part of what insurance companies are for.
Having re-read the OP, I’ll withdraw this comment. I guess they do claim to have evidence of a collision, even if (as you say) it’s weak. Under those circumstances I don’t think what you did is unreasonable, and you’ve gathered your own evidence to rebut them.
Did you take any photos of the 2 cars to show how they were parked? Is your insurance sending anyone out to see the cars ? This sucks b/c you could end having to pay more on your insurance for something you didn’t do.
Not necessarily. It depends on the insurance company and/or the state. Not all claims result in positive premium adjustments. The false claim that someone made on me did nothing and I never heard anything about it again even on my list of incidents that include things like windshield replacement claims (those also do not affect your rates at least in Massachusetts). For the one at-fault accident I ever had in my life (a low speed rear-end collision), the claim was legitimate but my premiums actually went DOWN the next year and have stayed that way. Go figure. YMMV.
Right off the bat, I probably would have denied any wrong doing to the neighbors, explaining to them that I haven’t driven my car all day (and maybe tossing in that I’m not even sure how that part of my car could touch that part of their car)…or whatever the it is that you feel exonerates you in this case. When they push for your insurance information that’s when I’d request they file a police report first*. I’ve always had good luck with the line ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, if you think I did, call the cops’**. Let them know that if they want to file a report, you’ll be happy to provide a statement as well as your insurance information there, but you’re not going to just hand it out because someone is accusing you, with no proof, of damaging their car. Also, keep in mind, they’re also accusing you of a hit and run.
Anyway, that all doesn’t matter at this point. Now, I would suggest you explain your side to the adjuster. Show them the pictures and explain that there’s simply no way you could have made the driver’s side of your car hit the part of her car that was up against the curb. Even if you could pull that off, you’d have left skid marks on the curb or done damage to the grass. You might even go and measure the height of the marks and see if there’s enough of a difference that it wouldn’t make sense. Also, if the report says what time it happened at and you weren’t driving at that time (even if you don’t have proof), I’d bring that up as well. There’s not a whole lot you can do, but if you explain that you didn’t do this…well, it’s not like it’s the first time someone lied about an accident and Geico may gently remind them that if they pursue this and it proves to be false (say, someone reports a hit and run that comes back to her), it’s insurance fraud, they may back off.
Long story short…they’re lying, make them lie on paper with a signature at the bottom. At this point, all you can do is plead your case and hope the adjuster has enough experience to know a BS claim when he/she sees one.
*I know, I know, the cops won’t come out for something like this. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. It’s going to depend on the jurisdiction, the dispatcher’s mood, how busy they are etc. They might even make you come in and fill out a non-reportable accident form. But I suggest it because if the neighbor is knowingly lying about this to get their car repaired on your dime, they may back off when they realize that you’re calling their bluff and/or forcing their hand into filing a false police report.
**I’ve use the ‘then call the cops’ at times when people tell me I can’t park (in the street) in front of their house or my dog walks a little bit onto their grass. That kind of stuff. Tends to shut people up real quick.
I took photos of the damage and sent them in. Unfortunately they only approached me about 5 hours after they allege the damage happened, so I couldn’t take photos of their relative positions. I drew a sketch of the layout, though.
I assume they would take the number down to the police and report the incident to the police and try to get them involved.
As an aside-for the police persons here, can a private individual “file a police report”? What does the phrase actually mean? It doesn’t seem likely I can come on down to the station and fill out a report as if I was a police officer. I can report an incident. Is it ever accurate to say a private individual “filed a police report”?