Last night, I tapped a car in a parking lot and I couldn't find the driver. I left a note under their windshield wiper with my name, phone number and insurance number but I have heard from them. It left a bit of paint from my car on theirs. Should I go ahead and contact my insurance agent in case they get contacted? Or just wait and see if the owner contacts me?
Wait and see, they may not want to bother getting insurance involved which will work out better for both of you.
You would be surprised how many people will miss at note under the wiper. Or on the side window. Or plastered all over the damn car. People can be really clueless for things outside of their own little habit formed world.
A bit of paint? Don't get insurance involved, unless you tapped a Lotus.
What kind of car was it, what kind of condition, and did it look like it would buff out? (Seriously, would it buff out?)
mtn wrote: A bit of paint? Don't get insurance involved, unless you tapped a Lotus. What kind of car was it, what kind of condition, and did it look like it would buff out? (Seriously, would it buff out?)
New '12 Mazda6. Good shape and probably.
Don't do anything until they do. If you bumped one of my cars, I probably wouldn't even bother doing anything about it.
PHeller wrote: You would be surprised how many people will miss at note under the wiper. Or on the side window. Or plastered all over the damn car. People can be really clueless for things outside of their own little habit formed world.
That is my worry. They didn't notice and the note blew away. Then they report it to the cops as a hit and run.
Did you take a picture of it? What if they show up later with smashed fender?
spitfirebill wrote: Did you take a picture of it? What if they show up later with smashed fender?
This, never ever ever leave information without photographic evidence.
Also, if they never contact you, no worries. You tried to do right by them.
spitfirebill wrote: Did you take a picture of it? What if they show up later with smashed fender?
By the time I thought of that and went back, the car was gone. But wouldn't it be fairly obvious from the lack of damage on my car that, that wasn't the case?
As someone working in insurance claims, here's what I'd say. You did the right thing by leaving the note. If you want to call your carrier to advise them, that's fine. The claim adjuster would likely shut the file down quickly anyway as there is no identification on the other car. So it's a record only claim with no payout. If you don't report it, you wouldn't be the first person...or the last...to do that. I'd check your policy terms to make sure there's nothing really odd, but assuming there isn't the claim wouldn't be denied if the owner came forward later. The "hit and run" aspect is more a matter for police. If the owner comes forward two months from now and you tell your insurance "Yes, it bumped into it and left a note but never heard from them", the claim would be paid just as it would have been if the owner had come forward day one.
In reply to 93EXCivic:
Does not stop some people from trying. Hell, I was backed into while driving through a parking lot at my highschool, broke a reflector on the van, and due to the cop being buddy buddy with the whore's family, deemed at fault and threatened to be arrested for taking pictures.
Needless to say, those pictures ended up racking up a classmate on felony fraud charges, cost the cop his jerb, and got my truck fixed for free.
The van that backed into me showed up at a bodyshop to get an estimate with damage consistant with a baseball bat and the rear bumper completely gone. 
In reply to yamaha:
Wow! I am pretty sure they are some one in the Huntsville Ultimate League since I was at a game. Which means more then likely they are very chill and I will run into them at some point.
In a work truck that someone had backed into a pole pulling the drivers side front bumper out about four inches past where it normally is. I pulled into a parking spot and the bumper rubbed the quarter panel of a brand new Accord, leaving a nice mark about three inches long. I went in to the restaurant that had a handful of people in it and asked who owned the car. It belonged to an elderly lady who had only owned it a week. I took her out and showed her the damage and she was pretty heartbroken about it. I gave her my information and the company's insurance information and went on my way. She called me about a week later and said the place she went to for an estimate buffed the mark out and didn't charge her anything.
They probably thought the note was one of those advertisement to consolidate debt and drove off with it letting the wind take it. Next week when they see the damage for the first time, they will be cursing the person who "hit and ran."
I got your note!
nicksta43 wrote: In a work truck that someone had backed into a pole pulling the drivers side front bumper out about four inches past where it normally is. I pulled into a parking spot and the bumper rubbed the quarter panel of a brand new Accord, leaving a nice mark about three inches long. I went in to the restaurant that had a handful of people in it and asked who owned the car. It belonged to an elderly lady who had only owned it a week. I took her out and showed her the damage and she was pretty heartbroken about it. I gave her my information and the company's insurance information and went on my way. She called me about a week later and said the place she went to for an estimate buffed the mark out and didn't charge her anything.
Karma right there. i'm surprised what kind of damage can really be buffed out. I thought my wife's car needed a fender repaint after she went all 'titanic' the neighbor's mailbox. She bumped it and didn't stop until she had continued backing for a foot or 2. After some intense buffing, it's just 1 scratch. A very, very deep scratch, but still just 1 scratch.
Rufledt wrote:nicksta43 wrote: In a work truck that someone had backed into a pole pulling the drivers side front bumper out about four inches past where it normally is. I pulled into a parking spot and the bumper rubbed the quarter panel of a brand new Accord, leaving a nice mark about three inches long. I went in to the restaurant that had a handful of people in it and asked who owned the car. It belonged to an elderly lady who had only owned it a week. I took her out and showed her the damage and she was pretty heartbroken about it. I gave her my information and the company's insurance information and went on my way. She called me about a week later and said the place she went to for an estimate buffed the mark out and didn't charge her anything.Karma right there.
Yeah, I caught a hell of an ass chewing from the boss over it. "Why the berkeley would you give her the insurance information? Why the berkeley didn't you just drive away?" I replied because I'm not a piece of E36 M3 shiny happy person...Some people...
You might want to think twice about calling insurance. I did the same thing a few years back - the car had a real estate agent's sign on it, so it was pretty easy to find the owner. Stupid me, although the car's owner called me later and we agreed to settle without insurance (he had a cheap body shop guy), I had done what I thought was "the right thing" and notified insurance. Even though it didn't cost them a penny, it went on my record. Fortunately, my rates didn't go up, but I no longer had a perfect record with them.
You may still hear from them. I left a note after a similar scuff a few years back. Put the note in a sandwich sized ziplock bag (it was raining and you always have ziplocks in the car when you have kids) and put it under the wiper. About three days later, I finally got a call. Apparently, he had driven around with the note on the windshield for a couple days before seeing it. I hadn't seen any damage, but the owner claimed some light body work (about $300 IIRC). I paid the bill and never reported anything to insurance. He was happy I didn't ditch out on him. I can't say I was happy about the bill, but I'd still feel like crap about it if I hadn't left a note. You did right. If they don't contact you, I'd say you're golden Karma-wise.
Long ago and far away I used to push carts at Sam's Club. I was amazed at how many people just bumped into other cars and walked off like it was no thing. Occasionally I'd leave a note on the car that got hit with the offending d-bags info.
So. You tapped it last night?
kazoospec wrote: You may still hear from them. I left a note after a similar scuff a few years back. Put the note in a sandwich sized ziplock bag (it was raining and you always have ziplocks in the car when you have kids) and put it under the wiper. About three days later, I finally got a call. Apparently, he had driven around with the note on the windshield for a couple days before seeing it. I hadn't seen any damage, but the owner claimed some light body work (about $300 IIRC). I paid the bill and never reported anything to insurance. He was happy I didn't ditch out on him. I can't say I was happy about the bill, but I'd still feel like crap about it if I hadn't left a note. You did right. If they don't contact you, I'd say you're golden Karma-wise.
how the heck did he drive around with a baggie under his wiper … in the rain ?
wbjones wrote:kazoospec wrote: You may still hear from them. I left a note after a similar scuff a few years back. Put the note in a sandwich sized ziplock bag (it was raining and you always have ziplocks in the car when you have kids) and put it under the wiper. About three days later, I finally got a call. Apparently, he had driven around with the note on the windshield for a couple days before seeing it. I hadn't seen any damage, but the owner claimed some light body work (about $300 IIRC). I paid the bill and never reported anything to insurance. He was happy I didn't ditch out on him. I can't say I was happy about the bill, but I'd still feel like crap about it if I hadn't left a note. You did right. If they don't contact you, I'd say you're golden Karma-wise.how the heck did he drive around with a baggie under his wiper … in the rain ?
I wondered the same thing. When I didn't hear from him in 24hrs, I figured I was golden. I didn't see any damage, but it was pouring buckets at the time, so I didn't spend a lot of time looking and it was dark. Funny thing (now) is, we had just spent over an hour waiting for family pictures at JC Penney with a one year old and a three year old (yep, that went about as well as you are imagining). When we were finally done, I went to get the car to pick up the wife & kids and stepped in a puddle in the parking lot that looked shallow, but was shin deep. Then I found some moron had parked so close to our driver's side that I had to climb through the passenger's side to get into the car. Since I was trying not to scrape the driver's side on said moron's car, I had to back straight out and the spare on the back of our CRV bumped someone behind me in the rear quarter. It was not a stellar evening. A day later, I figured, well, at least we didn't do any damage. The guy I hit was really pretty decent and was also amazed that the note had ridden around on his wiper for that long.
one time my sister drove my truck to the store. she parked next to a red dump truck. when she came out there was a 4 foot long gash down the bed, through the metal, covered in red paint. no note or anything.
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