Somebody hit my car in the parking lot at work...

If you find them, they have insurance, have it repaired professionally, of course its all dependent on if they accept responsibility for damaging your vehicle.

 

Man thats the worst!! At work!! Thats awful!!! I would be smokin' hot.

F' the note on the car... find them and make them pay for everything. Lots of photo's. And measure and make notes of how high the gouges are. Full CSI investigation!!!

And done correctly at a body shop.

I think you will find the person who did that is a ahole and has a very bad driving record too.


Just had both my bumpers replaced about 5 days ago.

New bumper cover and probably new styrofoam protector if the gouges are deep, paint and labor out the door about $1000.

BTW, check to see if your business has camera's in the parking lot on a storage dvr. Ask the guards real real nice about that and who owns a car that color car or truck.
Maybe show up with a dozen crispy creme donuts and start asking them very polite questions.

The guards know everything.....

 

Find out who they are, and ask for their inssurance info.
If they refuse, call the police and report it, along with your evidence and insist they are charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage.

 

While that sounds like a good idea, keep in mind that it occurred on private property. For a minor(?) incident the police are not likely to do anything. Now if it had been out on the street that's another thing.

It's possible (just to give the offender the benefit of the doubt...) that the person that hit the OP backed out of a parking space across from them and knocked bumpers without even knowing it happened.

 

This is highly possible and probably even unintentional.

So for the OP, unless you can link physical evidence that a specific car was hitting yours via cc video with its plate clearly identified, or paint matching technique like in CSI? (but maybe too much to ask for CSI?), it'll be just out of luck. This is like if you got door dings, paint nicks in supermarket/Walmart lots/street parking, or windshield cracks/bulleyes on the highway. It's definitely sucks but simply hope for the best you won't get it again....

 

First take some photos and document the damage on both cars. (If you can find the other car) Get photo of other car license plate if you can. Next, if you can find the owner, have a peaceful discussion with them. If that does not work, then file a police report. Just document everything, including who you talk to, when, where, and what other steps you take. Basically; be thorough.

I also agree, you should have it professionally fixed. Yes, it costs more, but I think you will be happier.

 

My recommendation for #2, would be to take it to a few bodyshops and get there ideas and estimates as to what might work or be best. If you get someone elses insurance to pay, then you can afford to do the full monty...whatever it takes to make it look good again.

If YOU have to pay...then you might want options and opinions and multiple estimates in regards to cost of repair and what needs to be done.

As far as #1 goes? Good Luck.

My feeling is if the person was going to be honest and forthright they would of left a note. So to expect them to respond honestly and favorably even if you found the suspect is probably too optimistic.

You can give it a shot. Assuming they haven't washed the paint scratches off...and assuming they "might" be honest enough to admit to a problem.

But I'd predict at best a "You say, They say...prove it situation...which is just a nightmare." Assuming you found the suspect...is this damage bad enough to warrant litigation?

Otherwise...it looks like this might become and unfortunate out of personal pocket expense. That's when you probably want multiple opinions and estimates...

It's a bad situation. Sincerely, Good Luck with resolution.

Accidents do happen but it sucks when people are inmature or not responsible enough to live up to it.

If the damage isn't too bad....I'd say pay for it yourself just to avoid the hassle of dealing with an obvious @ss-Hole and consider that a bonus.

Oh..plus this was at work? So this person is likely a co-worker? That's a great twist....good luck...hope it's NOT your boss...

 

If you can get an idea of who did this - either by matching up scuffs on another car or by security camera you can then turn it over to your insurance company. They have the resources to go after the other party and you can stay clear of it. It will not affect your insurance rates as it was not your fault.

 

I had this happen last year, and it was unintentional and unnoticed by the offending driver. It can happen.

You were on private property, so the police won't do anything, but you should still file a police report to have it on record. If you find the offending car, you can approach the driver, but if they don't want to cooperate there isn't much you can do without an eye witness or video. Are there any security cameras in the parking lot?

Tom

 

Well I'd assume unintentional. I suppose it could be an accident that was unnoticed..

I'm so hyper aware when I drive, or in a parking lot that it's hard to imagine someone causing a 1 inch gouge and paint scraping and a dent...without them noticing...but people are zombies sometimes...I suppose it is possible.

 

Yes, it happens. The lady that got my Prius was older and driving a full sized van. She backed out and across the parking lot, and put the corner of her big metal rear bumper into the nice soft plastic on the corner of my rear bumper cover. My bumper cover folded in without leaving a mark on her bumper. When she found out about the accident, she said: "Oh, I thought I felt a bump." Duh.

Tom

 

Sorry to hear about your loss.

If the parking lot is busy it could have been other passerby or service/delivery vehicles, not necessarily one of your coworkers. Just a thought.

If it would be of any comfort I can tell my dent story: A couple of years ago we went to the dealer to pick up a brand new van. We walked around the van and made sure the exterior was good. We went in to sign some papers. Then we came out and drove home. Only after we got home I discovered a long, shallow dent and scratch along the sliding side door on the passenger side. Apparently some truck/SUV driver made the dent while we were signing papers inside.

 

Workplace, huh? Do you have a means of broadcasting a memo to
everyone? A brief synopsis of what you found and a stern reminder
that whoever's responsible, whether they're identified or not,
is the highest form of *UN*professional for not coming forward
and if this is how the company personnel behave then it doesn't
bode well for its future success. Publicly humiliate them without
naming names, they'll know who they are.
.
_H*

 

It seems, then, that she was fully aware that she had hit something. She just didn't want to know what she did and figured she'd get away with it.

I did the same exact thing when I was in college. I wasn't paying attention and start driving the wrong way down a street. Turned around mid-block in a driveway, but when backing out of the driveway I hit the door of a car parked across the street. Not having the money to pay, not wanting to explain that I was going the wrong way, and already being late, I sped off.

A couple minutes later, the rationalization kicked in. "Ah, it was just a bump. I doubt there's any damage". Then 10 minutes later... "Ah, I bet I didn't even hit them, I just hit the brakes hard." Of course I knew in the back of my mind exactly what happened (though I never did look to see if there was damage on the other vehicle.. out of sight, out of mind, I suppose).

 

This would be a really bad idea, if the OP wishes to be perceived by his management as a professional employee. I doubt that most fellow employees and mgmt would care to hear about the OP's personal problems via a broadcast email.

 

Not in this case. She thought it was a bump in the parking lot. I also assumed all sorts of bad things about this lady, but when she was made aware of what she had done, she called up and apologized profusely, called her insurance company and told them to make it right, and was completely abashed that she had done such a thing. I believe her that it was a genuine mistake.

Tom

 

100% with Patrick. That would get you 30 minutes in HR where I work. The business does not want to be involved with your accident in any way.

 

Yes, it is private property, but the police should still have jurisdiction. If a car is broken into, you would call the police and they would come take a report. If you ran over someone, they would not say it's on private property. Laws regarding operation of motor vehicles extend onto private property. You can get a DWI on private property.

And yes, the police don't want to be bothered with minor things, but they will write you up for a minor traffic infraction!

At one of my former employers.
There was an incident where a broken water main undermined a portion of the parking lot, and an employees car was damaged as it fell partly into the hole. Damage to rocker panel.
He had no collision or comp coverage.
He expected the company to cover the damage.
Employee was told it was a privilege to be allowed to park in their lot. And if he made an issue of it, he would be banned from parking on company property.
So your employer may feel the same way.