Guy dings my car then threatens to sue me...

[2010SS2SS]

Originally Posted by 2010SS2SS
"Its a DOOR DING for christ sake! Have it airbrushed out and move on..."

"how bout i go find your car, ding it, and then you just go airbrush the chunk of paint missing on your car."

Need my address?

As for my response, I meant "come on its a door ding" thats why you have insuance. Do you really think this guy cares or that the facility manager is going to worry about suppling video to help you fix a 300.00 scratch?
A lady backed into my bumber after having my car 6 months, she was honest enough to wait and meet me when i got back to my car. This guy isn't going to step up, so either get it fixed or let it rust.
Take it for what it is but threatening to sue someone over 300.00 is way our legal system is so ****ED in the first place

[exflirt]

Originally Posted by Tiberious

Unfortunately for that amount of $ your insurance company won't go after him....it's just not enough for them to put their resources into. This guy is an elitist ass and will just look down his nose at your domestic redneck mobile (from his point of view not mine) and dismiss you and your car as beneath him. It's not right nor fair, but he'll almost certainly not have to pay a dime. :(

I HOPE I'm wrong!

Tib

This is the realistic answer. Does anyone really think an insurance company is going to devote the man hours to sue someone over a $350 scrape?!?! C'mon, people, use logic and think rationally! And what are the odds that the OP has less than a $350 deductible? If not, they would be required to pay out-of-pocket for the repair, then their insurance company will exercise a good-faith effort to recover the victim's deductible from the other person's insurance as per the usual insurance standards. But this is AFTER all the investigations, arbitration, mediation, etc. are completed, a lengthy process that conceivably could end in any number of different outcomes! Heck, unless that video shows the lines on the pavement where the vehicles were parked, I would be shocked if the guy didn't claim that the OP parked in HIS parking space!

I've had several accidents where the at-fault party was not held responsible, and this happens fairly frequently IMHO. I had one accident where two guys in a huge delivery van pulled into my lane without looking, forcing me to lay on the horn and move into a curb to avoid getting creamed in my little car. My options were to be involved in a major accident likely involving major bodily injury to myself, or hit the curb. I chose to keep my body intact. Well guess what - the delivery driver's passenger stated that I just randomly swerved into the curb. Seriously? My insurance company found me 50% at fault, and I was responsible for my own deductible with my insurance company paying for my car's damages. This is a major, highly-regarded insurance company with a sterling reputation.

Originally Posted by DroptopZ

If your adjuster won't, you're with the wrong effing insurance company. This is NAILS. You have the damage photos to prove it. As stated, GET MEASUREMENTS. It's useless without them. GET THEM NOW.

These claims are the BIGGEST hot-buttons for my customers. I have serious injuries, total losses, DUIs, road rage, and the ones people seem to yell the most about are the open door claims. Please, do yourself a favor and get measurements. Turn it in to your insurance company. If 'dude' doesn't want to give you his insurance info, there is a lovely tool called ISO search that your insurance company can use. It searches his prior history to find his current insurance carrier. If he has no record and doesn't cooperate, they send him to collections.

If he gets sent to collections, bad news bears.

If his insurance company DOES get a hold of it, they'd be stupid not to pay it. If they don't, if this is over your deductible (I HOPE!) your insurance company can pursue what is called inter-company arbitration. This means they submit their evidence, the third party insurance submits theirs, and an independent adjuster with years of experience who does not work for your company or his will evaluate the case based on the cold, hard facts and the evidence. Having heard lots of these cases myself, the arbitrator would be a moron to side with the other party if the measurements are there.

... and if your insurance WON'T fight for you, take it to small claims court.

Good luck, OP.

Small claims court may be your most likely avenue of receiving compensation for this. Sometimes justice is worth the effort, but many people don't want to bother with the amount of energy and time involved. I'm one of those who would do it to see justice - and to make this guy think twice about acting in this manner in the future. I'd take it all the way to the end as much for me as for the next person this guy walks over. An act of public-service, so to speak

From the insurance company's stand point, it only matters what is provable and realistic legally for them to pursue. Ultimately it doesn't matter what is right or factual. We can go round and round about what a good insurance company would do, but the bottom line is that this is a $350 door ding claim, likely below the deductible, and insurance companies have bigger claims to worry about. They aren't likely to devote $10,000 in man hours to fight this one out. If they do that for you, congratulations! Stay with that agent/insurance company!

Reality, whether anyone likes it or not.

[2010SS2SS]

exflirt...

Thank god someone is a realist...

[exflirt]

Originally Posted by 2010SS2SS

exflirt...

Thank god someone is a realist...

Ah, yes, the "R" word. I've had that muttered at me as if it's a four letter word many a time :emoticon7:

As both a fault and a strength, I'm one of those extremely logical, rational people.

[iMONEY]

See. That asshole mercedes owner was being a douche bag and parked right in the middle making it impossible to park on the left. I had to squeeze my self in just to fit on the right. Now if he was cool, he'd park a little farther to the left to make room for 2 cars.

[Dr Jkel]

Just throw a rock through his window and call it even, LOL

[2010SS2SS]

Looks like he's as far left as he can get without making the spot to the left unusable

[hot_rod]

Originally Posted by 2010SS2SS

exflirt...

Thank god someone is a realist...

+2

[christianmotox]

Originally Posted by iMONEY

See. That asshole mercedes owner was being a douche bag and parked right in the middle making it impossible to park on the left. I had to squeeze my self in just to fit on the right. Now if he was cool, he'd park a little farther to the left to make room for 2 cars.

I dont see what youre saying, but ok....



"EDIT" never mind, i see what youre saying., you wanted to park on the left spot..... "EDIT"

[Russo]

alot of places i go to have reverse parking only.. the idea is if there is ever an emergency the potential for personal injury is greatly reduced because you dont have to hastenly back out of your parking spot.

[pgviper]

Originally Posted by iMONEY

I had this happen to me at a work one day in my brand new 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. My office is real small so I can see my car right there in the parking lot. There is my brokers moving company next door. This guy comes and parks next to my car, swings his door open and hits my car. He even looks at it, I'm looking at him. I get my ass up and go outside and confront him. He denies it the whole way. His mom was even in the car and gets out and is like " How did you see if he hit it. You cant see it from where your sitting" I said " he was looking at what he did to my car". Anyway he goes in applies, I take his plates down. He leaves not giving a shit. I go into my brokers moving companies office, grab his application and tear it to pieces. They laughed we moved on. Cops took a report. Nothing happened. Still see the damn door ding til this day next to my camaro.

4800 miles in my Camaro and no door dings yet! crossing fingers.

I'm sorry for your car, but I started to LMFAO after reading this!!!!!

[rwmiller56]

Sorry to hear about the damage. I hope you can get the issue sorted out with the offender.

I would seriously consider getting a car cover. I'm a firm believer in them, and they do prevent or reduce door dings. Sometimes just the fact that your car is covered makes the other person think and be more careful when opening their doors. If your car was covered, there might have been no ding at all, or it might have been reduced to just a small dent with no paint damage. Just sayin'.

Roger

[Rage]

For the time being slap a Camaro5 sticker on it...

[kiteman]

car cover is weird, don't see how they can prevent a dent unless they are made of a hard shell. besides most of them will scratch your paint and leave swirls.

at this point just move on. i am not sure i would get the door recleared. maybe just use some touch up paint AFTER a paintless dent repair process is done. i guess it depends on the cost.

for that dude i'd probably just ignore him from now on. if he really thinks your car is trash and his is worth more, he could have a point...after all, he can't even afford to man up to $350 worth of damage, so clearly his car is worth every cent he makes.