**WARNING!!! Rant inside...open if u dare!**

[SuperDot69]

About 3 or 4 months ago, I posted on here about a small run-in I had between my car & my neighbor's pickup(which he absotively babys the hell out of). The general idea being that I was pulling into my parking space at my apt building and met his bumper with my front reflector. The effect of which was to scratch his bumper and totally break the reflector on my car. My husband and I looked at the bumper...there was only a scratch where the paint came off the bumper. Hubby showed this to the guy & told him we'd pay to have the spot re-painted...but just the spot b/c he's got other places that have been there as long as we've lived here. Now THREE OR FOUR months later(today), my neighbor has given us 3 estimates of no less than $835(us dollars) each, the most being almost a fu**ing $1000. He claims that I did more damage than just to the bumper and is wanting all kinds of shit on his f***ing truck replaced...not just repaired...REPLACED!!!!! AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH! He went to the 3 of the most expensive repair shops around here too....my hubby has suggested to him a lil' "mom & pop" type body shop that does excellent work for cheap...I bet he won't even go to get an estimate. This place we've asked him to check out, did some repair work on our Camaro when a family member of mine backed over our parked car...a former $900 repair only cost us $485....anyone have any advice?

Sorry for being so long winded. But, I feel better now that I got it off my chest.

~Dot~

 

[MechaBlade]

Shit, I don't know. But this will bump.

 

[Soblue]

Hmm. Nice neighbor huh. I think you can have your insurance company fight it for you though. It's worth a call to your agent anyway.

 

[Weird Harold]

Hubby showed this to the guy & told him we'd pay to have the spot re-painted...but just the spot b/c he's got other places that have been there as long as we've lived here. ... He claims that I did more damage than just to the bumper and is wanting all kinds of shit on his f***ing truck replaced...not just repaired...REPLACED!!!!!

Either he is being scammed by the repairs hops, or he is trying to scam you.

Look up your local law about insurance fraud and give him a copy, then ask if he'd like to reconsider his demands. I'm pretty sure that his demands will fit most reasonable definitions of insurance fraud.

Turning it over to your insurance company will work, too.

 

[Bindii]

A similiar thing happened to me once - I hit a car ( a Jaguar of all things!) and did some minimal damage to the tow bar, but they tried to get me to repair some existing damage to the car in their claim.

I ended up going to a lawyer who informed me that it was basically my word against theirs......my word won. The first thing that I would do is to put something in writing saying that you accept responsibility for the damage you did (and outline it) but that you are not accepting responsibility for the previous damage. Then send it to him. The second thing that I'd do would be to call a lawyer and get some legal advice as to where you stand.

 

[Ishmael]

If it was not reported to the authorities, or the insurance company, it didn't happen.

Write nothing down and admit to nothing. (This is also the advice your insurance company gives you.) There are more than a few out there that will try to run a scam on you mainly because they believe that it isn't money out of your pocket. "So what if the insurance Co. gets screwed?"

The fact of the matter is, if your insurance Co. pays off in your name, your rates are going up. It is money out of your pocket.

It is reasonable that you pay for any damage you cause. It is unreasonable to expect you to pay for damages that the owner caused or was caused by others. That's why there is accident investigations.

Ishmael