Hi, I was parked behind my neighbours car and put my automatic car in drive rather than reverse and my car moved forward and nudged my neighbours car before breaking. I looked at my neighbours car and my car but there was no damage. However, I decided to tell my neighbour out of consideration for them. My neighbour told me not to worry as it’s only a car and she would get her husband to have a look later. She wouldn’t look at the car with me at the time. A few days went by and I texted my neighbour to see if there had been an update on the car. But my neighbour said her husband hasn’t had a chance to look yet. Anyway, 8 days later my neighbour has informed me that there is damage to the car and they can either get a price for the work for me to pay or they can go through insurance. I went over to my neighbour to discuss it further with her husband. The damage he is referring I did not see when I nudged the car. My car has no damage on it what so ever. How do I know if the damage was done by somebody else in the 8 days my neighbour has made me wait. How do I proceed with this. I literally nudge the car. I was literally manoeuvring from a stationary position. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Neighbour saying I have damaged their car
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30-09-24 19:54Alarm bells should be ringing loud. This sounds like your neighbour is setting up a crash for cash scam.
Did you take any pictures at the time? Always good for evidential value, but the bottom line is you reported it to your neighbour and gave them the opportunity to check the vehicle over in your presence, or at the very least when the husband returned home he could have checked it then with you watching over.
What damage is being alleged? Is it consistent with a very slow speed impact given the nature of the collision, and is there any damage to your vehicle?
To allege 8 days later that damage has been done when there was no apparent damage at the time stinks of a set up.
So you are entitled to make it clear that you are refuting his allegation, that you intend to notify your insurance company and ask then to investigate your neighbour for making a false claim/allegation on the grounds that if the damage had been that bad from the outset, he would not have left it 8 days before making the allegation.
If he persists, then obtain photographs of the damaged area of the vehicle and notify your insurance with your FULL account of what happened, highlighting that you now believe that this is a fake claim, and submit the photographs you have taken to emphasise your point, especially if the damage is inconsistent with your account or is even in a different area to where you believe you made contact.
From a legal point of view, you have not committed any traffic offences therefore you are not required to report it to the Police, because in your view no damage was caused and therefore no crash in law occurred. -
30-09-24 21:43@TC1474 hi thanks for you response and very helpful. At the time I nudge the car it was 10.30pm at night so I couldn’t see if there was any damage. So I waited until the next morning to check my car and the neighbours. There is no damage what so ever on my car. I checked the neighbours car and could not see any damage on that car either. So I didn’t take any pictures at the time because I honestly could not see any damage.. I wish I had taken pictures.
I have taken pictures today of the damage my neighbour has pointed out but I did not see this damage 8 days ago.
If I contact my insurance will that interfere with my no claims? Thanks again -
30-09-24 22:11
That is something you would need to discuss with your insurers, simply because if it is one of those anomalies in that no crash has occurred but a potential claim might be pending, but the red flag is out in that it might be a malicious claim by the third party.
So I cannot sit here and guarantee you that it will not affect your NCB, only your insurers can do that, but unless you want to cough up for fake damage for a non existent claim for damage, or you give it to your insurance company to fight on your behalf, only you can make that decision. -
30-09-24 23:26Okay, thanks for the advice. I have to say the damage looks old to me and I really cannot see how I caused that damage. Thanks again
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01-10-24 09:13OP, since your neighbour has made a claim you are obliged by your contract to tell your insurer. Follow TC's advice and give them as much information as you can. Be aware that there may indeed be hidden damage behind the bumper.
Letting the respective insurers deal with it also means that matters don't get (more?) acrimonious with your neighbours. -
01-10-24 09:39
That is the whole point. The third party has not yet made or submitted a claim, he has only made a verbal allegation to the OP, therefore no requireme3nt to notify the insurers until that point, unless the OP chooses to pre-empt a claim coming in given that it is a potentially fraudulent claim.
You are only obliged to report it to your insurers when a crash has occurred and a claim WILL be submitted.
Given the OP's original post, no crash has occurred as there was no damage. -
01-10-24 10:39
The OP said "my neighbour has informed me that there is damage to the car and they can either get a price for the work for me to pay or they can go through insurance. "
So, the neighbours have told the OP they want either him or his insurer to pay. Sounds like a claim to me, and most likely to his insurer. -
01-10-24 13:31
"He can pay or go through insurance" That is not a formal claim that requires notifying to his insurers at this time, it is simply a statement of option!
The OP has the option of notifying his insurers prior to any formal claim being made, but at the moment it is not an obligatory requirement! -
02-10-24 15:41My reading of the terms and conditions for car insurance is any, 'crash' should be reported.
I can see why they would want the insured to do this, it adds to the data in assessing their risk as insurers. I know this is more often than not ignored.
In this situation I would refer it to my insurers, giving as much detail as I had but in writing, not verbally.
