# Is this fraud? Bumped into parked car doing <€100 damage, they are now claiming >€700



## supermac (18 Jan 2009)

Hello all, this is my first post. 

I was parked in my local station and while reversing I bumped into a parked car. It was a very gentle bump and there was no visible damage done to the other car other that a mark/ not dent on the bumper of his car. I took a photo of the mark and we exchanged details. 

I received a phone call to tell me that there was serious damage done and that it would cost €250-€350 to repair. The photo makes it clear that nothing was cracked or dented, only a mark where my bumper made contact with his bumper. I fully accept that I was in the wrong. 

I have now received a phone call to say that the damage done will cost €700 to repair. I feel that the price has been vastly inflated and I am wondering if there is an attempt here to commits insurance fraud.

What to do?


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## LeoD (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Similar thing happened to me a few years back - in a petrol station, guy reverses into my front bumper. Didn't look like much damage, a couple of hundred quid perhaps. He agreed to pay the bill to fix it. Took it to garage who looked under the bonnet for further damage. I never did this at the time of the incident as I thought the only damage was to the bumper and a cracked headlight. Turned out the headlight housing was broken which needed to be replaced which would have doubled the cost of repair. I fixed the bumper and was able to carry on with the broken light housing. Fortunately, somebody else reversed in to me a few months later so got the housing fixed then.


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## supermac (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Thanks Leo for your reply. I understand that the situation is my fault. However, there was nothing dented or broken, it was really a bump. The photo should make it clear that there was no structural damage. I just feel that there was no real damage done and that someone is trying to get away with fraud. The simplist thing to do is to pay it. But surely the moral position is to stand up and act correctly. Our country is going to see a lot of pain in 2009 because people brought low standards to high places and we as a society allowed them to get away with it. I have no problem paying what I owe, however I feel that I should not pay for something that I did not do.


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## gipimann (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Just for a cost comparison -

Someone reversed into me and pushed my front bumper out of alignment.   The only thing that was broken was a small grille underneath the bumper (I guess a towbar hit it).  No paint scratch or damage to bumper itself.

Took it to a garage, and was told that the brackets holding the bumper in place had been damaged (not visible from the outside) and I had 2 options - replace the brackets and keep the bumper (with its broken grille) at a cost of €375 or replace the brackets and bumper (and the grille) at a cost of €680.

As it would have been obvious when trading in that the car had been bumped had I left the broken grille in place, I took the dearer option.    
And as I had no idea who had hit the car (happened while parked in Dublin), I had to foot the bill myself.   Ouch!


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## allthedoyles (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

I tipped a car from behind last year . no visible damage ( a Nissan Micra brand new )

Garage estimated damage at 1600 euro . Insurance company confirmed damage was done just under the boot .Insurance co. told me that the labour cost was 900 euro and actual materials 700 euro . 

Just had to  pay .......Its sounds silly money , but what can one do ?


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## truthseeker (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Just to be clear - have you notified your insurance company or were you planning to pay privately?
If you feel its overinflated then tell your insurance company - they will send an assessor out to look at the other car and make a call on it.
If its private then tell the other party you want to get a quote from a garage of your own choosing before agreeing to pay up - or tell him that you want it to go through insurance.


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## supermac (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Many Thanks for the above. I did contact my insurance company and explained to them what happened. Their initial response to the €250-€350 cost was that they would pay no questions asked. However, if it jumped up to €700 mark they MIGHT send out someone to check it out. I will ask for a full quote and see what happens.

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer.


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## truthseeker (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

I reversed into someone before and smashed my own back light but there was only a mark on their bumper.

She contacted me to say that mechanic had said there was damage behind bumper that was not visible.

As far as I remember it came to 330 euro - I paid it myself because I didnt want to go through insurance for such low amount.

Is there any reason you chose to go through insurance for such a small sum? (the initial 250 sum)?
I wonder if the other party got a sniff of insurance being involved and thought they could get more money out of an insurance company than a private individual?


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## paddi22 (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

Someone bumped into my front bumper gently by accident (i was parked and they reversed back to far). We both got out and looked and as no damage was done I said to forget about it. A week later the car was in the garage about another matter and the mechanic spotted damage under the bumper where the plastic casing had been cracked. Seems like more damage is done underneath than can be seen visibly a lot of times.


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## z101 (18 Jan 2009)

*Re: Is this fraud?*

My belief is that once there is a possiblity of a claim that garages find things that are not there. It one of the last of the legal scams left.


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