Anonymous wrote:In my DD’s very first week of driving she got into a small accident. She was in a parking lot and a woman backed into her. My DD was not even moving…but was in her 1st week of driving. She called me crying and the other woman claimed “I don’t know why she didn’t see my reverse lights.” I wasn’t there and wasn’t a witness but asked her to send a picture of the damage which was a tiny dent on her rear bumper probably caused from the license plate. I told her that I didn’t want to go through the insurance (again- 1st week driver), but didn’t conclude who was at fault, I just wanted to end it.

We exchanged IDs and insurance and drove away so there are no witnesses or police reports.

The next day she emailed me a quote for around $350. I said thank you and asked if she was getting another to which she replied yes and sent me one for over $1700. She said this one would be quicker and more thorough when I asked why it was 5x more.

Under $500, I was paying out without question so that it stays off DD’s insurance. But this woman sketches me out. She screamed at my DD and I’m 99% sure she was at fault she just is blaming it on the crying emotional new driver. How bad would it be to go through insurance? Would you pay out $1700 for an accident that wasn’t your child’s fault to protect their record when the first estimate was under $400? I’m a single mom and need advice.

Thx!


I was at my son's soccer game with three teen in the car, killing time before warmups (we had arrived early). I had reversed parked into a far space, with on cars on either side of me. The parking lot was fairly empty. A car came and the lady driving attempted to park next to me and scraped the front and side of my car. She wanted to avoid contacting the insurance company and I provided her the estimate. It was so expensive, close to $5000. My car is a new vehicle with a lot of features. The person at the body shop told me that to fix the front of the car they would need to remove the bumper and the door for a seamless finish. They also mentioned something about my car having tons of sensors that would need to be recalibrated (I don't remember the exact words). The lady became non-compliant, said that there were only a few scratches in the front and the side. We contacted her insurance directly (I had eye witnesses thank goodness and all her texts) and they referred us to the same body shop where I had gone originally to get the estimate LOL. So, yes, I believe the cost. In your case I would research how much your insurance would go up if you disputed the charges. You need to do a cost/benefit analysis and see if paying $1700 now is better in the long run. Sorry OP, the whole situation sucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you the mom or dad?

I hate to say this but get your husband to call and say firmly it’s $350 and to never contact you again and if she chooses to go through insurance it will be clear your daughter wasn’t at fault and she’ll get nothing so if she goes that route good luck.

And next time wait for the police and get a police report.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know there is no damage to your daughters car. Get the other drive to admit that she backed into you in writing and then hand it over to insurance to fix your daughters car. Tell the scum bug that you won't pay for the damages unless she put it in writing that she backed up into you. Then ghost her and send it to insurance.

Try this. You need to play hardball, OP.

Also, this isn't a question of who was in the driver's seat if the vehicle wasn't moving, OP. If you're really afraid that your daughter is not going to be believed, then lie and say it happened to you and you were there, not driving. After all, it's not the fault of either of you. Sometimes you need to be a bit sneaky to avoid hassle.

Really and advice. That’s called fraud. You don’t lie to your insurance company.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know there is no damage to your daughters car. Get the other drive to admit that she backed into you in writing and then hand it over to insurance to fix your daughters car. Tell the scum bug that you won't pay for the damages unless she put it in writing that she backed up into you. Then ghost her and send it to insurance.

Try this. You need to play hardball, OP.

Also, this isn't a question of who was in the driver's seat if the vehicle wasn't moving, OP. If you're really afraid that your daughter is not going to be believed, then lie and say it happened to you and you were there, not driving. After all, it's not the fault of either of you. Sometimes you need to be a bit sneaky to avoid hassle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you pay her even a dime, isn’t that admitting your daughter was at fault? What if the other lady then files for civil damages, citing loss in wages, medical issues, etc? I have no idea if this is possible but seems like you are opening yourself up to liability.

The obvious answer here is that OP doesn't pay without the other woman executing a full release of all claims related to the incident.

+1
That's said, if your daughter's car wasn't moving I don't know why you would pay anything.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP- I am the mom and we are divorced and she is SCARED of dad in the same way I was scared of dad when I got divorced. No physical but the emotional stuff is really heavy. That was part of why I wanted to keep it off insurance and protect her and keep it away from him.

When I asked her if she got another quote it was just to make sure we were ready to finalize the money.

And yes, we have now spoken of needing to get the police report. It all happened so fast and she was crying and screaming not to tell her dad and I was trying to relax her and appease this other woman. Not my finest hour.