[Every10GivesMeA10]

I was at a stop sign and a woman suddenly braked and I hit her car at a really slow speed of 5-10 KM and there was no damage at all. We chose not to call the cops because it was such a small thing and she took my number. She just called me 5 minutes ago to tell me that the rear bumper is falling off which is not the case at all. I am sure this bitch is trying to set me up.

I was thinking of telling her she should bring the car to the shop and after that I'll pay the guy directly.

[Mentavious]

Did she show you a picture?

[Every10GivesMeA10]

No she just called me

[JohnKreese]

At this point, what can she really do? No cops were called and she could have just as easily have backed into something between when you left her and when she called you (if the whole bumper story is true).

[commiejoe]

You didn't take pictures?

[Clyde]

Everybody has camera phones now. After checking everyone is ok. Taking pictures with your camera phone should be the second thing you do in a car accident.

She maybe trying to set you up.

[Every10GivesMeA10]

No I did not take pictures. She told me her bumper is falling off, she checked this at home.

[scorpion]

No police report? Never happened.

[commiejoe]

What info does she have of you?

Did she leave the scene of the incident first?

edit: Was she taking pics when it happened?

[Every10GivesMeA10]

She has my license plate number, last name and phone number. We were at a stop sign and we both drove off.

I just called her to tell her I took a picture myself when I was in the car and I did not see any damage (lie) and that there was no damage to the car at the scene. She told me she's going to the police tomorrow. I doubt the police gonna do anything since she drove off from the scene.

[Mentavious]

No picture/witness at the scene of the accident? No proof.

No proof to show that there was damage from the day before.

You are good.

[Irish]

Offer to take her out for a nice seafood dinner. Then never call her again...

[RexImperator]

Based on my experience I believe this is what will happen:

Since you were behind her you'll be automatically deemed at fault. Your insurance co. will pay her and she'll get a check for whatever the body shop estimate is of the cost to repair it. She can keep the money or pay to get it fixed. Your premiums will go up.

^^^That is, if you admit to being involved in the accident. But, by giving her your info you've kind of done that already.

[The Beast1]

Next time exchange insurance information.

Just pay it out of pocket and move on. It can get risky if you try to avoid getting out of it.

[scorpion]

If there was no damage, no police report and no pictures, then it's impossible for her to prove there was ever even an incident in the first place.

Just ignore her calls/texts or change your number if it isn't too much of a hassle. The fact that she has your license plate number means nothing. Any random person driving behind you also has your license plate number.

There is absolutely nothing she can prove to the police or to an insurance company.

[travolta]

yeah, she made the mistake of not filing a police report. Ignore her.

Get a Google voice number and start giving that out to people like this. Cancel the Google voice number when you need to, and she'll never be able to contact you again.

[Tigre]

Who knows, it might be legit damage. If that's the case, this story is really about you trying to scam her.

As a first step I would ask her to snap a few photos and send them to you on WhatsApp. Also find out the bottom line - what does she want you to do about it? You might be surprised how little is required from you.

In my system of values, not scamming people is worth the price of admission for my peace of mind alone. And the money is probably chump change to me. If I fucked up, I will fix it.

Also, consider the scenario of her procuring your home address using the details you gave her. You never know if a sympathetic cop might let your details slip if she tells the right (partly fake) story. So you stiff her on the repair and then three months later someone takes a baseball bat to your car or slashes your tires. I would say justice was served.*

You could look at paying for the repair as an insurance policy against that scenario.

*Edited to add: I know that someone will surely quote that paragraph, accusing me of white knighting. But I think that is justice regardless of who is the male and female in the story.

[scorpion]

(01-07-2014 02:01 PM)Tigre Wrote:  

Who knows, it might be legit damage. If that's the case, this story is really about you trying to scam her.

As a first step I would ask her to snap a few photos and send them to you on WhatsApp. Also find out the bottom line - what does she want you to do about it? You might be surprised how little is required from you.

In my system of values, not scamming people is worth the price of admission for my peace of mind alone. And the money is probably chump change to me. If I fucked up, I will fix it.

Also, consider the scenario of her procuring your home address using the details you gave her. You never know if a sympathetic cop might let your details slip if she tells the right (partly fake) story. So you stiff her on the repair and then three months later someone takes a baseball bat to your car or slashes your tires. I would say justice was served.*

You could look at paying for the repair as an insurance policy against that scenario.

*Edited to add: I know that someone will surely quote that paragraph, accusing me of white knighting. But I think that is justice regardless of who is the male and female in the story.

I would agree with you if there was damage, but he says there was none and the woman apparently agreed at the time. Her going home then hours later deciding there is damage sounds like she's just trying to get a check from him.

The police are not going to do shit about this. I don't think most people realize how little of a shit the police give about property crimes. They basically couldn't care less. They regard expending energy on property crime as a waste of their time, and put almost zero effort into it unless a case/suspect is served up to them on a silver platter.

Imagine you're working the desk at the precinct and this woman calls in. She says a guy hit her car and and there was no damage, but her bumper fell off later. First question you're going to ask, "Ok, did you call an officer to the scene of the accident and file a police report?"
"No," she says.
"Then how are we supposed to know there was even an accident to begin with?"
"I'm telling you he hit me and my bumper fell off! I have his phone number and his license plate!"
"Ok well I'm sorry ma'am but there's nothing we can do, it's just your word against his if there is no evidence and no police report."

*click*

[Parlay44]

Just ignore her and wait until you hear something from the cops or her insurance. Don't talk to or text her. She may be saving the texts or recording the call. Like said above, no police report means it never happened

[Days of Broken Arrows]

She said she was gonna call the police?

That's good news. First, they'll need to check if her bumper really did fall off. If she's lying or if she pulled it off, they'll know.

Second, you didn't do anything wrong except not agree to her after-the-fact demands. Tell them that.

No matter what you do, DON'T give her money because it's an admission of guilt and can lead to god-knows-what-else. She might need $200 for a bumper now; next week it will be $3000 for a chiropractor because suddenly her back hurts from the impact.

The possible cost of your insurance being raised for something this minor should be less of a concern than the above shakedown scenario. Insurance companies have to follow rules; grifters don't.

So if this turns out to be a problem, let the cops write a report and take it to the insurance company. Encourage her to do this, if she calls again. And if she gets a guy to call and threaten you, that's when you go to the police.

[teh_skeeze]

If you hit her hard enough to have her bumper fall off, your car would be totaled.

[PocketAA]

She can still file a police report as long as she does it in the precinct next to where the incident occurred. All she needs is your license plate number and the police will be able to pull your information and provide it to her. Your insurance is going to contact you and tell you that there is a claim against you. Tell your insurance you believe it's fraud and that you both agreed that it there wasn't any damage. Don't give her money or nothing of that sort.

She is more than likely not going to go to the police because she probably is just trying to make a quick buck.

[WanderingSoul]

(01-07-2014 07:02 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  

If you hit her hard enough to have her bumper fall off, your car would be totaled.

That isn't true at all. Cars have cheap plastic bumpers these days. I could imagine hitting a car, even at a low speed, could be enough to break the plastic snap on clips they use to hold bumpers on.

OP, she could very well be telling the truth. The impact could have snapped some clips that hold it on, and after driving around for the rest of the day the remaining ones may not have been strong enough to support it any longer.

[txtraveler]

I would ignore the calls and wait until the police get involved(which I doubt they will.) There's no evidence of damage at the scene.
Tell the cops the truth. You stopped, both agreed there was no damage, exchanged numbers, moved on. Now she's claiming her bumper is falling off when clearly there was no damage. If the bumper is falling off that means there was enough impact to break the plastic clips that hold the bumper on. There would be visible damage on the outside of the bumper if this was true.
IMO she's trying to scam you into getting money.
Like someone else said, if she's trying to get money from you now and you do give her money, she may come back wanting a whole lot more for a doctor.

[Every10GivesMeA10]

Over here, the police doesn't even come to small scenes like this if you call them. There is not even 1 scratch on my car so how the hell can her bumper be falling off now?