Person parked beside me scratched and hit my car without telling me. What do I do?

[noemon]

Originally Posted by PRINCE THUNDERNIGHT

It happened to me several months ago. Car was five months old at the time. We were in a comedy venue, and when we came back to the car, the rear bumper was pushed out and scratched down to the plastic. Cost me $500 deductible...

REALLY wish the cameras I paid BMW for would actually work while the car is parked.

Sorry to hear that, they do work pretty well.

Increase their sensitivity via the app and they will catch everything.

[Prince Thundernight.]

No, cameras only work in a mobile incident—20 seconds before/after, or via the app for a four-photo stictched 3D image.

No remote video or parking cameras.

[Neusser]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Wow, I'd generally say there is no way that person didn't know they hit your car, but the fact they remained parked next to you has me thinking this person might be completely clueless. That's some pretty big damage for a parking lot incident, I have to imagine if the person who hit you actually knew they would have pulled out of the spot and parked far away. I don't think there's much you can do other than contact your insurance, I doubt the cops will want to get involved since such small beans but I could be wrong.

Sorry!

Could also just be a deadbeat. When I lived in DC, this happened all the time. One dude tried to fit in a space behind me and literally pushed my bumper cladding about 4 cm foward and left his car parked that way.

Cops were called; dude seemed not to care.

[Topshott1]

Just realized I have 1000 dollor deductible. I'm out big money

[Ugly Kar]

I suppose you coulda try SCC, but you'll need to definitive proof if the person just continues to deny it. Some forensic work on paint will probably cost more than the repair.

But even if you win you may not get paid. I won in SCC, but never got a penny because the person was a deadbeat and I was out my court costs.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Ugly Kar

I suppose you coulda try SCC, but you'll need to definitive proof if the person just continues to deny it. Some forensic work on paint will probably cost more than the repair.

But even if you win you may not get paid. I won in SCC, but never got a penny because the person was a deadbeat and I was out my court costs.

Man I don't get this. If they don't pay do they not break some kind of criminal law and police can arrest them and they can face criminal charges? I always hear/read stuff like this but surely there has some kind of recourse?

I wanted to go to SCC for someone throwing something on my car but I'm afraid they wouldn't have paid either and since the PDR repair was less than 300$ I passed on it but yeah I hadn't look much more into it.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Topshott1

Just realized I have 1000 dollor deductible. I'm out big money

Yeah unfortunately if you cannot identify/locate the hit and run driver's insurance policy, your insurance can only do a claim using your section B all collision risks insurance (AKA 2 way insurance). You claim won't be at fault but you still have to pay the deductible of that section B protection. If you didn't have this added policy you couldn't even do a claim with your insurance.

Some insurance have additional deals/options to allow hit and runs claims with no deductible for example my policy has that.

But yeah in your case I'd probably give a shot at small claims court maybe it will end up to something or maybe not. Idk.

EDIT: I realise now I was basing it off my province but I believe it is mostly similar across the country, just probably not called "section B"

[KevinC]

If all else fails - a half pound of sugar and a long red licorice whip in the gas tank will do wonders. By the time the licorice clogs the fuel line, the sugar will have already ruined his/her/its engine. Karma is a bitch. Last resort of course - the perp should be allowed a chance to pay up first.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Soooo....wrong

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Just call the local PD and say someone hit your car on x day in x garage. Then get name and badge number. Give that to your insurance. If you have adequate insurance coverage they'll charge a deductible and fix your car through the local partnered shop. If you have a bad policy your premium will go up some amount.

It's not hard.

The OP is not required to use the shop his insurance company wants to use. 😉

[tracer bullet]

One possibility with SCC is that the threat of it might do something? It actually worked for me a billion years ago when someone else borrowed and totaled my car. Never actually went to court, the threat was enough.

This was pre-internet so they couldn't really spend a few minutes googling to see what would happen. Even SCC kinda felt like a big deal once upon a time.

[BMWbiker]

I wonder if you could use a noninvasive means of taking a sample of paint on the other vehicle, such as with some adhesive tape, then get it analyzed as evidence.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

One possibility with SCC is that the threat of it might do something? It actually worked for me a billion years ago when someone else borrowed and totaled my car. Never actually went to court, the threat was enough.

This was pre-internet so they couldn't really spend a few minutes googling to see what would happen. Even SCC kinda felt like a big deal once upon a time.

Yep just for the threat and serving the paper, it can make someone pay and show you're serious. You don't even have to proceed to court if you don't want to as the plaintiff if they don't pay even and you basically havevn't spent any money, just postage for regisetered letter or hand delivery even. Worth a try if you don't care to divulge your personal address.

[cbpip]

A win in Small Claims Court doesn't guarantee any payment. After you win in Small Claims CT you then have to file in a separate court to garnish wages or attach property. You will need to serve them on both occasions via a Process Server. If you're lucky enough to attach wages if they change jobs you have go back to the courts to track them down again.

[Mosaud1998]

That is why I am afraid to drive my car to Chicago. People can't park for sh!t. Even if it's in a parking garage or on the street.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

The OP is not required to use the shop his insurance company wants to use. 😉

True. Not required to use a shop at all generally.

Trying to keep it simple for OP in case they find it difficult to tie their shoes in the morning.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

True. Not required to use a shop at all generally.

Trying to keep it simple for OP in case they find it difficult to tie their shoes in the morning.

We're in Canada but when I wanted to do that (after having bad experience another claim at their recommended one) and go with one of the BMW recommended body shops on the website, they told me they would only pay for a certain per hour rate and rest would need to be out of my pocket. After doing estimate there it was total loss so I never went through so don't know exactly how that works out. I've seen other people ask this question on Facebook to that their insurance told them that.

[TRACE_on]

Infuriating. I got a (small-ish 1”) scratch from a truck in my work parking lot. Turns out one of the police officers detailed to the facility owned the truck lol. I decided not to pursue it as it would probably cause more trouble than it was worth.

[Topshott1]

I ended up going with insurance, the bill said it cost 9k to fix. Will update next year if my premium goes up