Hi everyone,
Need some advice please, what would yo do? I'll try and keep it as short as possible with relevant facts.
Situation:
In October 2017, there was a power outage in my neighborhood. My neighbor and I, left our cars in front of the garage door, back to back, approximately 3 - 5 meters apart. See this image with car units and car position. I'm the red, my neighbor is green.
Due to the fact that we never keep the cars there, I got inside my car, muscle memory kicked in and backed up into the parked car. I was paying attention not to hit a big rock that was on the passenger side. My speed was probably 2 - 3 km/h and moved no more than 5 meters. (Need to mention that my kids were with my wife and none of the neighbors have kids)
Neighbor saw the whole thing. I parked the car where it was before.
Damage to my car, nothing. not even a scratch.
Damage to her car, the driver side bumper was out by 2 - 3cm. I pushed the bumper back, gave her my insurance details in case she wanted to claim and that was it.
We are both insured with the same company.
2 months ago, neighbor comes, said that she's going to court because they couldn't agree on repair costs and that I will be getting some paperwork and to send it to my insurer. I said OK, no worries, and that was it. Neighbor confirmed this (didn't say the sum) and said that he repaired the car with a friend.
Insurer sent me an email explained that my neighbor decided to opt for an 3rd party repairer and not go with them and that they are claiming $9,200 damages.
1 month ago, I got the paperwork and got gobsmacked by the repair claims.
I feel that my neighbor is trying to milk the insurance company as much as they can but doing so they are putting me in a bad light. In the documents, they claimed I was negligent because (8 points in total), including driving at excessive sped, creating emergency situation, etc.
My car: Kia Cerato 2005
Neighbour car: Honda Civic 2010
TLDR:
- I rear ended my neighbor in our driveway
- I didn't damage my car and her car's damage was extremely minor
- Both insured with the same company, she decided to go to a friend and have the car assessed
- She is asking for $9.200
My dilema
I feel like speaking with insurance again and providing them with a statement or similar and explain the circumstances again. I don't feel that this is right, although the insurer is one of the biggest in Australia.
Questions
What would you do?
What is the right thing to do?
It puts me in a bad light and I don't feel right about it.
The reason for not feeling good about it, is because, in court their lawyer is arguing that I created emergency situations, excessive speed, failed to steer clear of the plaintiff(she wasn't even there), etc.
P.S.
I don't care about my relationship with the neighbor, we've always been at the "hi" stage and nothing more really. Longest conversation: 10 minutes continuously, in 4 years.
Not your money once you handover to insurance.
If they want to try it on that is their lookout. The insurance people will be even more sceptical than you.