sky_driver

My wife just called me, and said while she was backing out of a parking spot she and another lady, who was also backing out bumped each other. She said there was very little damage to both cars, just the plastic bumpers got scraped. Since they both did not see each other, and since not much damage to each car, they just said each would take care of their own car. Should we have traded phone numbers or just don't worry.

herostar

if the damage was about the same then I just wouldn't worry about it...

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Cynthetiq

Because I have learned from my past....

you ALWAYS trade phone numbers and information... better safe than sorry especially if you find that there was more damage that you didn't see or some injury you didn't know of until too late.

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Moonduck

In many states/locales, the police will not do anything in parking lot hits. If you live in a states with Contributory Negligence laws, you will both need to go back to your own carrier anyway. If you live in a state with Comparative Negligence laws, and both admit equal fault, you will see both insurance companies pay 50/50 (ie 50% of each person's damage costs).

In general, in a case where neither party is clearly at fault, neither party is injured, and both are amicable, your insurance companies will go nowhere with it. That said, it does not hurt to exchange info simply because that way you will have it if your company asks for it. In general though, unless your deductible is particularly low, you will probably wind up paying for it yourself anyway.

sky_driver

I just got home and checked the bumpers. You could barely tell where the cars hit. Just a slight rubbing on the plastic. I am sure with a cleaning and buffing you will not even be able to tell she bumped anyone.

MSD

Just hope that the other woman didn't take down your plate number, go home, and bash up her bumper or claim she suffered an injury. You'd get badly screwed over.

Always take pictures at an accident site.

Moonduck

Pictures at the accident site rarely help, sorry. In most cases where someone tries to exaggerate their claim, the damage on the other vehicle will show comparatively that there is no way the damage claimed can be related. I've been handling claims for years now and have never once looked at a picture taken by anyone involved in a loss. There is just no need, and, if I remember correctly, they are inadmissable as actual evidence in court (at least in my state). There's too much oppurtunity for tampering, and no chain of evidence.

Additionally, you can only get screwed over by someone like this if you have no liability coverage of your own. In pretty much every case, your best bet is to report the hit to your insurance company if you have even the slightest intimation that the other person is not totally straight-up.

sky_driver, if you are concerned with what the other party might do, don't try to buff out those scratches for a while. If the other driver does call your insurance company, you will want to show exactly how minimal the damage is.

sky_driver

Good idea Moonduck. Thanks for the advice.

Moonduck

Anytime, sky_driver, as always, check with your local insurance rep before you take what I say with too much faith. The laws vary greatly state to state, and the perfectly valid and sensible advice I give you coming from Virginia is guaranteed to be wrong at some level in many states.