Bang-up job?

February 18, 2006 4:09 PM

I was visiting my relatives out of town a few weeks ago. When I got back home, my uncle said that his neighbor thought that I bumped into the front of her parked car, and he said that it was my car that was parked in front of her.

He could have left it at that, but this woman has my phone number now. I don't live in the area, but she's been calling me every week. I told her yesterday that she can call her insurance and deal with them, that I did not hit her car and she should stop calling me. She wants to meet up and compare the damage of her bumper to the back of my car, but I smell a shakedown. She could get my license plate and say that I committed a hit-and-run. What right does she have in pursuing this, and what can I do to have her stop calling me? Thanks!

posted by i8ny3x to law & government (6 comments total)

Why don't you suggest to her that, if she's seeing any damage, it's entirely possible that she rear-ended you? Maybe that'll calm her down.
posted by aberrant at 4:10 PM on February 18, 2006

IANAL, but it sounds like her rights extend to a small claims court, or perhaps an insurance claim, both of which will fail because she has no evidence.

If she continues to call, tell her that you consider the matter to be settled, and that she should not contact you further, and that anything beyond that you will consider harrassment. If that continues, call the police.

If she calls the police, just explain it to them clearly. Again, there are no witnesses or corroborating evidence. Take pictures of your car showing there is no damage to police. The cops aren't going to press forward with hit-and-run because there's no injuries, little damage and no evidence. They'll just take a statement and move on.

If you get a small claims summons, you just deal with that the same way -- "Wasn't me, no damage, no witnesses, no corroborating evidence. Here's the photos of my car. Here's a statement from my uncle saying I didn't hit her. Tell this lady to back off."
posted by frogan at 4:17 PM on February 18, 2006

Okay I'm a little confused. she claims that

1) my uncle said that [the woman] thought that I bumped into the front of her parked car.

2) and he said that it was my car that was parked in front of her.

Now, parsing that it sounds like your uncle, who is reliable, said that your car was parked in front of hers. Is it possible that she rammed into your car? Is there any damage on your car?

Why does the woman think that you backed into her? Just because your car was nearby?

When I first read your question, I was thinking the accident happened when you were out of town, and maybe your car was hit while parked out side, now I'm thinking the alleged incident happened where your family lives, which makes a little more sense.

Anyway, if you're certain that you didn't do anything to her car, you should be fine. You have no obligation to go out of your way to sate this woman's curiosity.
posted by delmoi at 4:26 PM on February 18, 2006

Now that others have pointed out that it's possible that she hit you, I'm reminded that this very same scenario happened to a woman at my office. She went 'round and 'round, loudly claiming that someone in the office had hit her car, and then someone told me that she was quite drunk at the time, and probably hit a post all by herself and just doesn't remember it.
posted by frogan at 4:32 PM on February 18, 2006

Thanks a lot for your input.
posted by i8ny3x at 5:08 PM on February 18, 2006

Call up your insurance company and let them know everything that's going on. If someone's pursuing a false claim, they would like to hear it from you as soon as possible.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:58 PM on February 19, 2006