I learned this the hard way last month when I accidentally scraped someone's parked car at the grocery store (ugh, embarrassing). Anyway, turns out if you leave a note and report it to your insurance right away, your liability coverage usually takes care of the damage to their car without you paying out of pocket. Saved me a headache and awkward convo later. Anyone else got tips or stories about handling minor parking lot mishaps?
Had a similar experience a couple years back on a road trip through Colorado. Pulled into a tiny diner parking lot, super cramped, and ended up nudging someone's bumper. Barely a scratch, but still felt awful. Left a note with my number and snapped a quick photo of the damage just in case. Glad I did, because the owner called later and was pretty chill about it, but wanted to get it checked out anyway.
Turns out, my insurance handled it without much fuss, and I didn't have to pay anything extra. One thing I'd add though—always take your own photos of the damage and the surroundings. It helps if there's ever a dispute about how bad the damage actually was or if someone tries to claim more than what happened. Also, if it's really minor, sometimes people prefer to settle without insurance to avoid rate hikes. Just make sure you get everything in writing if you go that route... learned that one from a friend who got burned once.
"always take your own photos of the damage and the surroundings."
Good tip. Had a similar bump with my old Mustang—barely noticeable scratch, but the other guy tried claiming a full repaint. Photos saved me big time... lesson learned the easy way for once.
Definitely smart to have your own photos handy—insurance companies can get pretty picky about details. I once had a minor scrape in a parking lot, and the other driver's pictures conveniently left out some existing dents. Thankfully, mine showed the whole story. Curious though, anyone ever had dashcam footage actually help with insurance claims, or is that mostly hype?
Dashcam footage isn't just hype, but it's not always a slam dunk either. Had a buddy whose dashcam caught someone backing into him at a rest stop—insurance accepted it without hassle. But I've also heard stories where insurers barely glanced at the footage. Seems hit or miss depending on the company and adjuster. Agree 100% on taking your own pics though—saved me once when someone tried to pin old damage on me.
