Hi all, I'm 21 years old and have been driving for 2 and a half years (no claims) this is the first time I've been involved in any situation like this so really unsure about what to do as I feel like I have been totally screwed over! I'll start by explaining what happened to give you some background information, so please bare with me.
I was reversing into a car park space, as I pulled forward to straighten up in order to get into the space I may have slightly tapped the rear drivers side of a car parked in one of the spaces opposite to where I was parking. I said "may have" because I got out and checked over their car after I parked up and didn't see any damage at all not even the slightest scuff. So I assumed I hadn't touched their car which meant further action would have been unnecessary.
Until i got back from where I'd been to find three very angry people standing around mine and their car kicking off and shouting about how someone had left a note on their windscreen to say that they seen me bump their car and didn't bother to leave a note to let them know, they said they had drove all the way home which would have taken atleast 30 minutes from where we were to then find the note and drove all the way back hoping to catch me. I felt very intimidated by these people as they were very aggressive and wouldn't let me explain that I didn't see any damage when I checked their car. There was now damage to the rear wing of their car which wasn't there before and even if it was there was no way I could have caused that damage from the angle I was at the point in which the cars met. I'm not denying that I hit their car but because I was going less than 5mph so barely felt a thing and did not see any damage to their when I checked I assumed I mustn't have actually caught their car.
Now I have explained all of this to my insurance company but they have said that they have accepted liability on my behalf as their car was stationary, but I have told them I'm disputing the claim because why should I have to pay for damage that I did not cause?
To add to this I have just received an email from them stating that they have just got the engineers report back from them (before either cars have been assessed) to say that they need a hire car until their car is back on the road and their bumper needs to be completely replaced. My excess is also £500, can I refuse to pay this? I feel like this has been handled very poorly and my side of the story has been totally disregarded. My insurance company gave the other party permission to get their car fixed before any of the cars have been damage assessed yet how is that allowed? I just feel totally powerless but so annoyed as I know I didn't cause any damage to the other party's car so just confused as to why I'm being made to pay for it?
I was reversing into a car park space, as I pulled forward to straighten up in order to get into the space I may have slightly tapped the rear drivers side of a car parked in one of the spaces opposite to where I was parking. I said "may have" because I got out and checked over their car after I parked up and didn't see any damage at all not even the slightest scuff. So I assumed I hadn't touched their car which meant further action would have been unnecessary.
Until i got back from where I'd been to find three very angry people standing around mine and their car kicking off and shouting about how someone had left a note on their windscreen to say that they seen me bump their car and didn't bother to leave a note to let them know, they said they had drove all the way home which would have taken atleast 30 minutes from where we were to then find the note and drove all the way back hoping to catch me. I felt very intimidated by these people as they were very aggressive and wouldn't let me explain that I didn't see any damage when I checked their car. There was now damage to the rear wing of their car which wasn't there before and even if it was there was no way I could have caused that damage from the angle I was at the point in which the cars met. I'm not denying that I hit their car but because I was going less than 5mph so barely felt a thing and did not see any damage to their when I checked I assumed I mustn't have actually caught their car.
Now I have explained all of this to my insurance company but they have said that they have accepted liability on my behalf as their car was stationary, but I have told them I'm disputing the claim because why should I have to pay for damage that I did not cause?
To add to this I have just received an email from them stating that they have just got the engineers report back from them (before either cars have been assessed) to say that they need a hire car until their car is back on the road and their bumper needs to be completely replaced. My excess is also £500, can I refuse to pay this? I feel like this has been handled very poorly and my side of the story has been totally disregarded. My insurance company gave the other party permission to get their car fixed before any of the cars have been damage assessed yet how is that allowed? I just feel totally powerless but so annoyed as I know I didn't cause any damage to the other party's car so just confused as to why I'm being made to pay for it?