fasttommyv

sorry this is not E55 related what-so-ever, but I frequently read these forums (the E55 is my dream car, well second to the S65) and I have seen lots of great, intelligent legal advice given here.

Last week I was in my truck and there must have been an accident on I5, as traffic was bumper to bumper at 10:30 at night on a Sunday. The "accident" was 90% my fault, as I will explain below. As I was stopped, I pulled out my phone and was looking at google maps to try and plot my course around the traffic mess. In my peripheral vision, I noticed that the traffic in front of me started to pull forward, so I eased up on the brake pressure until i started rolling forward. The car in front of me was clearly distracted as well and didn't notice that traffic was moving in front of her, because she remained completely stopped even though a 20-30 ft gap developed. So I guess I technically rear ended her (it was more of a knick & could barely be felt). I couldn't have been going more then 1 or 2 mph as my truck was idling forward with my foot still applying some break pressure. So thats why I say its 90% my fault. I should have been looking more carefully as to what was going on in front of me, even at 1 mph. But then if she wasn't distracted herself she wouldn't have been impeding the flow of traffic and we wouldn't have been in this situation.

So we fight our way through traffic over to the shoulder to see if there is any damage. Well there kind of is. There is a small, 1" scratch on her bumper. No dents/cracks/deformations, but just a 1" scratch/slight gouge in the plastic bumper. There isn't even a mark on my truck. She claims that the scratch was caused by me. I decided to be the bigger person, not argue, and take her word for it. Although I was thinking BS because something that small could have easily been there before the accident especially given the age and condition of her car. So we exchange names and insurance info, she says that she will get some estimates tomorrow & give me a call, then we are on our way. The cops were not called and no police reports were filed. I call her the next morning, and leave a message saying don't contact my insurance, this is small enough just to deal by ourselves, and I do not want the claim on my record.

So a week goes by and I don't hear anything from her, which is what i semi-expected (she would look at the damage again in the morning and realize it isn't even worth her time and effort to get an estimate and get it fixed). Fast forward to today. I get a voicemail from her saying she got an estimate and wants $1500 to fix it. I almost fell off my chair when I heard that! Her car is a black 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, not a Rolls Royce Phantom! So, based on my impression of her, and the condition of her car, she spent almost an entire week driving around trying to get the most expensive & comprehensive estimate possible (the $1500 estimate probably involves replacing and painting an the bumper at that price), to get the most money out of me, so she can buy that new plasma TV at walmart. i was expecting a reasonable price of $200, and a high & bloated price of $500, which is my deductible anyways. But $1500 for a 1" scratch on a 99 Eclipse! Come on!

So my question to the legal guru's here, how do I go about resolving this situation? Do I tell her to screw off since there were no police involved, and deny everything? I have no moral problem doing that, as I was going to be the bigger person by being more then willing to work with her and compensate her to a reasonable extent. But now she is pulling this BS to extort $1500 out of me, which i can 99% guarantee you wont go to "fixing" her car. This has got me so upset that I really want to say that if legally possible.

Thanks for the advice

CWW

Couple things stick out at me.

You admit that you hit her and that it is reasonably likely for the damage she complains of to have been caused by that. Given that situation, (no offense) it's really not your business what she spends the money on.

You're going to owe her something for rear-ending her, that's only logical. In this day and age, you're lucky she doesn't start screaming "oh, my neck!". It could have been much worse.

Personally, I say pay the $1500 in exchange for a FULL and COMPLETE release of liability to be drafted by your attorney, and then move on and worry about being more careful next time. $1500 for rear ending someone is chump change, you got off pretty lucky.

As to the estimate, I don't know when the last time is that you had anything done at a body shop, but you can't get out of there for under a grand anymore even if it IS something minor. She probably is inflating the estimate, which is the same thing everybody does in that situation, but you'll eat that $1500 up in no time if you wait until she sues you, and you'll probably lose since in most states a rear-end collision is presumed to be the fault of the driver of the striking vehicle.

I say pay it and move on.

mason531

contact her back and tell her that you agree on paying the damages.
Then ask her for the body shops name. if she ask you why tell her because you're going to write the body shop a check and you're going to need a copy of the reciept for business expense records and IRS (company deductable) this should kinda put fear on her mind on not getting her car fixed..and not using the money on something else....i agree you dont have business knowing what she's going to do with the money but atleast try to avoid her scamming you... i hope she dont call you back.. Good luck bud

NEXT TIME PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOU

fasttommyv

I know, it was a dumb mistake to trust my peripheral vision when in traffic. But I am not one to get scammed and hand over $1500 for a 1" scratch. I know its not my business as too what she spends the money on, but when she tries get me to pay for the most expensive and outrageous repair, that to me is a scam. If she would have given me a reasonable estimate for the damages (< $500) I would have paid up and not cared what she did with the money. I just view her little game as trying to extort $1000 from me, rather then to get compensated for her damages.

With that being said, let me reiterate that i barely touched her car. I hit her at probably 1 mph! Cars withstand harder bumps then that from a careless parallel parking job, and thats why the occasional scratch and ding is considered normal on a 5-10 year old car. Its not like I slammed into her at 20 mph. I spent literally 5 minutes the next morning and couldn't even the slightest scratch or ding on my truck.

I think I will try and go with her to a body shop or 2 of my choice and get an estimate, and pay them directly for the job. I would imagine that I would at least have that right since I am paying for the damages.

What kind of legal back does she have on me, keeping in mind that no police or reports were involved?

Addicted2Speed

I don't understand why you are even involved in this, your insurance is supposed to handle these matters

fasttommyv

I dont have any claims on my insurance and I would like to keep it that way. In my view, I also think that the damage is at worse equal to my deductible ($500)

Fantasm

Yup... she can really only ask you for the damage to be fixed. So tell her you will go with her to a body shop and you will pay them directly for the repair.
If she doesn't agree to this then talk away, tell her you offered to pay for the repair and she refused.

She has no right to say she wants you to pay her directly. You obligation at this point is only to have the damage repaired, not pay her anything.

W Cole

I was quoted $2500 to repaint my fender, this involved blending the paint into all the surrounding areas.

$1500 for a rear bumper repaint to me sounds reasonable. If you did indeed cause that scratch then I think you ought to pay up. If not what shes doing is fraud.

Addicted2Speed

IMO, its still better to go through insurance in these cases. Next thing you know, she will be claiming $20,000 in medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, etc.

CWW

+1

It might be a little bit high, but $1500 is in the ballpark.

CWW

That's not true.

Legally, the OP owes money as compensation for the damages caused, which in this case is scrapes or puncture on the bumper. Once paid, it is the woman's choice where and how to fix it, and even whether to fix it at all.

Just because she doesn't want it fixed doesn't mean she isn't entitled to compensation for damage that is there now and wasn't before, and nor is it a "scam".

The OP can always try to negotiate, but understand that their position is nowhere near as strong as you think it is. If OP dick's her around long enough and she sues, then they're in for a treat because rear-enders are LOSER cases when you are the driver. Then add the fee for the attorney the OP will need to hire to defend against all of the crap the other driver added in (because now she's pissed) on top of whatever judgment the court eventually awards, and $1500 starts looking REAL cheap.

Plus, as I said before, you can't get out of a body shop for $1000 anymore, that price isn't so out-of-line.

I think OP should get a lawyer to draft up a full release of liability and have the other driver sign it in exchange for the $1500. Then, she can't extort more money later.

LitiGATOR

I gotta agree with the above advice. Just make sure you get a release of all liability for anything related to this "incident".

komp55

Loved the way you parsed your OP. You "technically" ran into her. No, you actually did run into her. She's "10% responsible" because she was stopped. Laughable. You are 100% responsible for the accident; you simply were not paying attention and you rear ended her.

Rather than handing over a check for $1,500, let your insurance company deal with it. This is what they do- they settle claims. They will make sure she has a bonafide estimate and will cut a check. If your deductible is $500, then that's your share, not $1,500. My vote is for you to man up and turn the matter over to your insurance company.

Jakpro1

Above all else, in this lawsuit era......ALWAYS CALL THE COPS!!!

Wife went through a similiar situation in a parking lot when she was a teenager. Pulled into a parking space and tapped a lady in the bumper. Lady was all nice and told her, "Don't worry bouuuuut it." and they didn't even exchange insurance info. Next thing she knows, the cops are at her door questioning her about a reported hit and run accident where the lady is claiming a few personal injuries. Luckily for the wife, she has family in the local Sheriffs headquarters and let's just say things worked out fine, but to someone else, it would have been.

areuv

your $500 deductible is for damages to your vehicle if there was any damage to your own car, if you end up going thru your own insurance company then she would be a claimant and thus there would be no deductible, that's how it is in PA

CWW

Exactly correct. Deductible applied to OP's own vehicle, not to claims from other parties.

I think what OP is concerned about is that it is going to raise the rates, since he was at fault. And that is probably true, if the claim is reported.

FirstMB

I hope you took pictures of her damages. I don't know where these posters are getting outrages estimates like that. Someone bumped my Nissan from behind at around 3mph, and the estimate came out to around $500. This lady's car is worth about the same at best, so why would the repair be 3 times as much?

I'd say if you have photos of the damage, I'd let her deal with your insurance. I don't see how she'll even get more than $500 for it.

Good luck.

NXtremeJeep

First off, you have a great truck. I had a 96 Grand Cherokee and dropped a 6.7L stroker motor in it behind the 5.9L tranny and it was loads of fun. Very few cars could beat it to 70-80.

With regard to your issue, ask her if she is willing to go to another bodyshop with you and get an estimate for the repair. If you want, take that estimate to another body ship and see if its reasonable. $1500 to repair (not replace) a bumper is clearly excessive.

From a legal standpoint, she has the burden of proof and would need to prove her case. She is missing pertinent pieces of information to show the accident in fact occurred. She can attempt to obtain your insurance information and proceed to file a claim against you, but it would be up to you to admit or deny the incident. If you deny that the accident occurred, your insurance company will probably deny her claim and not pay her anything. She can then file a claim against her own insurance company for the damage and pay her the amount to get it fixed. Her insurance company will most likely pursue an action against you (subrogation action) for the amount they paid her. In a nut shell, you can deny everything and probably get away.

From a moral standpoint, I suggest paying her only a reasonable amount for the damage. Reason with her and see if it gets you anywhere.

tscales

This happened to me years ago and the cops were called. The car was an old piece of junk, but since I rear ended her I had no defense. The cop pulled me to the side and told me to require three estimates and once the low one was established to let her know that I would be paying that repair shop directly and she could take her car in.

Never heard from her again.

fasttommyv

Thanks for the compliment NXJeep, I remember reading some of your posts on JeepsUnlimited a few years back. You had a monster Jeep! I love the 5.9 and its a blast to drive.

Just an update, I informally contacted my local agent today. And like several of you suspected, I have 0 deductible for this type of collision. When my agent asked how fast I was going he laughed when I said 1 mph... He also thought it was funny that she wanted $1500 for a scratch. lol. I learned that by putting the claim through I will loose my "good driver discount" for 3 years. This will cost me $450 over the next 3 years. I am shocked as I thought that they would really try and stick it to me by claiming this. So this is the route I am going to go. I started the claim today, and I will let Allstate deal with her, her $1500 and her "2.7 million dollars worth neck & back pains 2.5 years later.

Everyone, thanks alot for your help! Lesson learned!