Thread: Backing into someones car.

Hey guys,
Today I had the unfortunate experience of backing into another car. I was exiting a plaza parking lot, when I remembered I had forgot something, put it in reverse and backed into a car that was directly behind my truck. I did look in my rearview, but between the incline of the street entrance and the low vehicle I hit, It was not visible. My bad.
My trailer hitch had left a "ball" imprint in the bumper of this 06'ish pontiac vibe.
I got out, made sure everyone was ok (1 km accident lol), and asked the nice woman to head to the body shop of her choice, have it repaired/ replaced at my expense.
She calls me tonight to meet for the estimate, 11:30 am, making sure ill be there. I told her no problem. (I already talked to the owner of the shop after the accident)
After I get off the phone I realize that she wants me to be there to give her the cash for the estimate.....
Im going to pay the colission center and wont under any circumstances be putting cash in her hand, The accident happened on company time, in my company vehicle, while picking up business related supplies. The accident is a business write-off.

Tell me, is this unfair of me?
Should it be her choice to take the $1500 and pocket it?

On a side note, 2 years ago my wife did something very similar. Put a small scratch in a 1995 van, the guy told me he wanted 550$ to have it repaired, I put cash in his hand. Of course he never did repair it.
This makes one "accident" for each of us and im feeling the heat from her aswell lol.

Thanks,
Eric

You are not being unfair. The bill gets sent to you for payment of the damage you did. There should be nothing more for you to do, besides get proof you paid. If you went through an insurance company this would be what would happen.

Just because you feel guilty about hitting her car does not mean you cannot control the situation. Perhaps you could simply say this is a company car and you are not allowed to do anything related to cash.

Good luck.

James.

You're not being unfair at all, why should she get the choice of putting the cash in her pocket? She wouldn't have if it was an insurance case. IMHO if she did it would be very close related to scam.

Do like James said and use the company car aproach.

I don't think it's really a matter of fair. You indicated your fault and therefore your responsibility. Her property, her damage and her choice regarding repair or not in my opinion. I don't think insurance companies look kindly on people when they know a vehicle is not repaired. Make sure you get a full release from this person regardless of how the matter is settled.

I hadnt thought about a release, probably wise.
I wonder if a simple:
" I _____ have recieved XXXX.XX from _____ as full payment for the damage to my vehicle. ________ and companyx is fully released from any further responsibility pertaining to the incident. sign and date"
collision location/time/description
would this be sufficient ? (maybe a lawyer lurking?)

Originally Posted by Lynn

I don't think it's really a matter of fair. You indicated your fault and therefore your responsibility. Her property, her damage and her choice regarding repair or not in my opinion. I don't think insurance companies look kindly on people when they know a vehicle is not repaired. Make sure you get a full release from this person regardless of how the matter is settled.

Totally agreed, I once tapped a car scratching the painted bumper. The person brought me an estimate from their personal mechanic totaling in around 1300 dollars. I did research and found a new stock replacement bumper painted for 1/3 of that, and called multiple shops(including my personal mechanic) who said it would be less than 2 hours work. Printed everything up, told the person I would rather not use insurance because I have the money, but, if they are trying to get me to pay nearly triple I'd rather go through insurance. I don't mind if the person doesn't fix it and pockets the 500 it would cost, but I'm not gullible, and I'm not going to get scammed. I ended up giving her the appropriate amount and getting them to sign a receipt/release, and never heard from them again. First and foremost alway's protect yourself, a few years of being a paramedic taught me that.

Originally Posted by epd

I hadnt thought about a release, probably wise.
I wonder if a simple:
" I _____ have recieved XXXX.XX from _____ as full payment for the damage to my vehicle. ________ and companyx is fully released from any further responsibility pertaining to the incident. sign and date"
collision location/time/description
would this be sufficient ? (maybe a lawyer lurking?)

I would say, over document vs. doing the minimum. When I worked as a paramedic I would have gladly gotten yelled at every day by management for taking too long to document the events of a call, than lose my ability to work forever and possibly get sued for something someone messed up after I was gone.

I would personally include pictures, a copy of an estimate or two, and get it notarized(it doesn't take that long and it could save you a lot)

Not a lawyer, but I would get a release from any and all claims arising out of this incident. Particularly if she was in the vehicle when you struck it....I mean uh, tapped it.......lol.

You hit her and caused the damage so you pay. Whether she pockets the money or not is up to her. I would have her get 3 estimates and pay on the middle and then get an iron clad release from her and pay by check no cash so there is a record. To be technical the proper way is to just let the insurance companies handle it of course. If you don't want to involve them for whatever reason that's your call but you are in no position to dictate to her.

Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by epd

I hadnt thought about a release, probably wise.
I wonder if a simple:
" I _____ have recieved XXXX.XX from _____ as full payment for the damage to my vehicle. ________ and companyx is fully released from any further responsibility pertaining to the incident. sign and date"
collision location/time/description
would this be sufficient ? (maybe a lawyer lurking?)

I had a similar incident back when I was 18, totally my fault, however, the guy was being a complete j-hole about the whole ordeal saying I caused thousands of dollars of damage to his classic POS rustbucket. My dad and I offered him x-amount and had him sign 3 copies of such an agreement and that was the end of the story for my part. A few months later, I saw the same car with none of the "damage" repaired. Guess he decided to just spend the money on whatever, which I suspect this woman would do. I third Jame's suggestion of the company car and let insurance handle it.