Car Accident- Unable to See Damage

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  Settero on 14/01/2015 - 22:42

  +7

  this is kinda what you pay your insurance for isnt it ? even if you cant tell there is damage if the bar is bent or misshaped because of the accident , the person has every right to get it fixed at your expense.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 14/01/2015 - 22:59

    -8

    Yeah. And OP should also get a time machine too.

    Cos that's equally helpful advice as your post. (p.s. I didn't neg you) :P

    • 

      Settero on 14/01/2015 - 23:11

      +2

      time machine for what ? he has the insurance , he should be talking to them explaining it to them, without us actually seeing the car its hard to tell , even if the pictures look like there is no damage , if the bar has been bent/ pushed in , she has the right to have it repaired…

• 

  scrimshaw on 14/01/2015 - 23:05

  +3

  If there's no damage, then there are no damages to pay, as there is nothing for them to fix! Simple as that.

  Get them to email you good photographic proof that you damaged their car. Ask them politely what the damage was, because in your humble opinion and with all due respects, your observations are that their car didn't have a dent in it and the hit was only a light tap which didn't cause any damage.

• 

  trex on 14/01/2015 - 23:06

  +3

  Nothing much you can do but to provide your details and ask her to get her car checked out by a qualified party. What is the extent of damage to your car's rear? If it is badly damaged then the other car may have suffered some damage since the impact force applies both ways.

  • 

    Davo1111 on 14/01/2015 - 23:12

    +2

    Nothing much you can do but to provide your details and ask her to get her car checked out by a qualified party.

    This.

    Although it might be worth contacting your insurer

• 

  [Deactivated] on 14/01/2015 - 23:25

  +2

  Something has to give, just because your car doesnt have any visible damage does not mean that their cant doesnt have any damage.

  It was clearly your fault, so if there is any damage to their car it is fair that they claim it from you.

• 

  Cheeper on 15/01/2015 - 00:19

  +2

  Smart move taking photos. Always the first thing to do in such situations.

  Nothing you can do right now. Just wait and see if they proceed.

• 

  Ughhh on 15/01/2015 - 00:21

  +3

  Some damages are hard to see unless you're an expert and know where/how to look and/or take it apart.

  I got a call from her and she wanted to know my car rego and insurance details. She also said that she has not shown her car to anyone yet. I have a feeling that she is lying and trying to get some financial benefit out of all this.

  Getting your car rego and insurance details is normal, this shouldve been done on the spot of the incident actually! If she's asking for you insurance details, I think it would be hard to get 'financial benefit' (if you mean them trying to scam you) cause your insurance would want to examine the damages first before paying. Get to her give you 3 quotes from 3 diff repairers first.

• 

  tomleonhart on 15/01/2015 - 08:30

  I had the kind of same situation except I was the one who got rammed into.

  As a result there was a dent on my bonnet, not something too big but it's a big dent and there are a few scratches. I estimated that it would be around $800 - 900 job so I said to the lady who rammed my car maybe she won't need to claim insurance.

  To our amazement, 5 quotes from 5 different smash repairs ranges from $2000 - 3500 for the job. The bonnet was dented and as the result of the ram, many other things have gone wrong as well.

  You will never know unless he/she gets it check out by a qualified trades person.

• 

  Annoying Source on 15/01/2015 - 09:19

  I am the only one who thinks of taking as many pictures themselves no matter how bad the damage could be.

  I've only been in one small accident but I took about 30 photos of his and my bumpers at the time of the accident. It's not like its cost anything to take the photos and to have a proof of the damage you might have done is priceless because it means you have your own proof of the damage and you can summit them to your insurance and let them do the rest.

  Also means you can tell if she is lying about the damage or telling the truth because you have the photos to check (not that photos will reveal all possible damage).

• 

  jpv on 15/01/2015 - 10:14

  A similar incident happened to one of my friends. She was rear ended by a motorcycle but there were no damages that were seen. A few weeks later, she heard a rattling at the back of her car. The muffler was bent and when she went to the mechanic, the first thing he said was "did you get hit by a bike?". Luckily she had the details of the biker.

  I agree with @trex, I believe that OP should provide details and getting the other parties car checked out.

• 

  cytotoxic on 15/01/2015 - 12:51

  Damage can be done to structures not visible. Eg got rear ended, no visible damage to bumper, but impact caused the boot space to deform thus making boot lid difficult to close and wedging in the spare tyre.

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  BaryGusey on 15/01/2015 - 14:02

  I had a somewhat similar incident occur at a set of traffic lights over 10 years ago. While stopped at a red light the guy in front reversed into me. He jumped out and started screaming at me so I told him to pull over and we would check it out. Was a very busy main road so we both pulled into a side street and inspected the damage. Nothing visible on either my car or his and he spent a very very long time in the pouring rain trying to find something while I sat in my car waiting. Eventually he gave up but still wanted to exchange details which I happily gave him.

  Almost a year later I got a phone call from his insurer telling me over $2000 damage had been caused by me and I needed to pay up. I calmly explained what had happened and asked for proof of this invisible damage and was told it wasn't required as their official inspector had determined this from their inspection and as I was in the car behind it was my fault. I told them I wouldn't be paying anything then and forgot about it. A month later I got another letter and this time I replied in writing explaining what their client had done, again requesting evidence of damage and proof that it had been caused by his reversing into me at the lights and not by him running into a pole or hitting it with a sledge hammer himself 12 months later.

  I never heard from his insurance company again. I'm sure they paid him out and took his excess but must have decided it wasn't worth pursuing me.

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  [Deactivated] on 16/01/2015 - 18:45

  She's possibly doing no more than covering herself in the event that you did cause damage she can't see (if you hit the bullbar hard it's possible). Simply wait and see what transpires.