Car Insurance Advice?

So, I had an "incident" last week, and the other asshole involved has decided to report it to his insurance, who, in turn, are investigating it. I don't feel it was entirely my fault, and I'm really not sure how to deal with all this. What follows is a modified version of a letter I am considering sending to the insurance company, along with the paper work they sent to me.

The asshole’s car was parked illegally, blocking the driveway to the garage in which I was parked a great deal (about a foot or so, at least, and I have a picture of it). As I was backing out, I saw the asshole’s car, but did not realize how much he was blocking the driveway until my bumper began to scratch his. I did the best I could to minimize the damage as I exited the driveway, but I do know some paint from my bumper got onto the asshole’s bumper, and scratched it a bit.
I left a note on the asshole’s car, explaining the situation, with my name and phone number, but as I was about to head inside, the asshole and a friend (?) of his returned. I tried to calmly explain what happened to them, but both men became immediately irate, and started shouting. My employer (I work as a nanny at the house where the incident took place) and I both tried to discuss the matter calmly with the men, but they continued to shout, and threatened to call the police. I offered to call the police myself, as I was eager to close the matter, but the men ignored my offer. They continued to shout rudely, calling my employer names.
As we were getting nowhere, and my employer and I each had a baby in our arms, we told the men unless they were going to call the police, or we could discuss the matter calmly, we were going inside. The men took down my license plate number, so I removed the note from the windshield of the car, as I did not feel comfortable leaving my phone number with these men, after the way they had acted toward my employer and myself.
I feel that this incident is no more my fault than it is the asshole’s, but should the investigation show otherwise, I would believe prefer to pay for the damages out of pocket, rather than reporting this to my insurance, if that is an option.

My husband thinks that that's an admission of guilt, and I shouldn't send it, and just let my insurance deal with it, but I would far rather pay for it all myself, if it comes down to it. I'd hate for my insurance to go up.

So, what do you think? Is it legally my fault? How can I best deal with an insurance company? How much could this all end up costing me?



[Edited on Oct 24, 2003 by AntiPrincess]

My advice? let the insurance sort it out.. that's what you pay them for.


but as you and your employer witnessed captain asshat being just oh so charming in front of you and said babies. report him to the police for harrasment.

don't just let assholes like that get away with it.

cause "real" men need to shout at women to prove how manley they are, don't they?

edited to say, um yeah it is your fault you hit his car does not matter if it was parked like shit or not, you still hit it. instead of scratching the hell outta it you could have just stopped as soon as you noticed you were touching his car thus causing a minimum of damage.

[Edited on Oct 24, 2003 by MisterJesus]

don't send the letter you're gonna end up getting screwed anyway. As i just learned insurance companies suck. i believe your husband is right you don't want to give those "assholes" any more to prove their case.

Let the insurance agents handle it for sure. Did either of you report it to the police? I'm not sure, but I'd think that without an official police report fault would be difficult to legally establish, even if it is fairly obvious. As for rates my insurance company requires a total loss before my rates increase, and then it's only ten percent I believe. A minor paint scrape should cause no problem I believe unless you've had past problems. Good luck either way.


Oh yeah, shitty parkers need to be fire-bombed then sodomized with large pineapples soaked in paint thinner. Same goes for dickheads that park in the handicapped spaces...

Since you didn't call the cops, I'd say: Definitely let the insurance people handle it. Your insurance rate may go up, but maybe not, since the car was parked illegally. I doubt it will end up costing you much.

The guys were assholes, as you say. Our world is so full of assholes that it's a veritable canyon of them. These guys had no interest in resolving the problem; they just wanted to fuck with you, and the police probably would have had little patience with that.

Also, if you pay the damages out of pocket, the assholes will probably find the most expensive body shop, and will hassle you further, as much as possible. People like that back down when either the police or insurance companies get involved; you were a woman in a vulnerable position and they wanted to make the most of it.