Expert: Bennie719 - 10/22/2007

Question
In picking up my son after school, I was backing up quite slowly (and yes, I Looked first)...managed to bump bumpers w/one of the school staff. I was ready to give her insurance data then and there; she claimed to be in too much of a hurry to exchange information...she quickly looked at the bumper, didn't see anything beyond Scuffs to rubber part...
she TOLD me to come in to the school 'tomorrow' and we'd talk about it.

well, I already had a cold, and it turned to laryngitis. With talk being unsatisfactory I emailed her.   When I got no answer, I wondered Why, but she is not the only Busy mom...

17 days later she responds that she 'almost never has time' to check that office email...that the paint is scratched so 'it' will need to be repainted. I suppose my concern is the extent of 'it'.
My husband said to ask her to get an estimate, and ask that the company providing it call us w/understandable explanation of what's what.

There is a witness; someone who works with her, in same office, but the witness went back to putting kids on special ed. bus across the street, and didn't witness her coworker being 'too busy' to exchange data, etc.
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I suspect you'd advise belatedly contacting the insurance co., which by the way has been Super in the past.
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in an unrelated incident months ago, my son and I arrived at his orthodontist's parking lot, exited our vehicle, and our automatic seat belt made its usual gosh-awful Scrrreeeetch as it pulled upward. I made a joke about the sound and my son laughed.

when we got back to the car, there was a note written in Crayon (not kidding!) saying 'your kid scratched my car with his door and if you don't take care of this, I can take you to court.' I thought this had to have been written by a teenager, as the high school's across the street, w/limited parking.  We also figured an Adult would come inside the office and Discuss it. The tone of the note was strident.

My son's been carefully nagged about such matters, and to our knowledge he did not swing the door wide.

this being a Friday, the incident colored the entire weekend. I couldn't contact the orthodontist office until Tuesday. I was not eager to telephone a Nut Job who would push a Cranky crayoned note thru the barely cracked-open window of my car, then leave the scene.

The nice ladies at the orthodontic office desk, who love virtually everyone, took one look at the phone number on the crayoned notebook page, exchange a certain Look and whispered, "you don't want to mess wither her!! Just Pay It!! She's 'certifiable'.

I dialed the number written in crayon; I get a cranky adult woman insisting she herself wrote the note...she was taking an Nap, and was awakened "by the sound of Your Kid scratching the car," then she rants "I am So Tired of people bumping their doors against my car on the ferry! (???relevance???)
"after years of driving a Lousy car, I get a Nice one, and people bash it...etc."
( ie, I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too)

so, I go to the insurance office, tell my story, and tell them "pay it." The wheels are in motion.

I talk to The Woman one more time on the phone; I don't recall who phoned who:
Like a Whole Different Person, she says, in a syrupy Smug sort of way, as if her Meds were workin' reeeeeally well :

"ALL I wanted was to hear you say Your Kid Did It, and your apology. I don't need any money" etc.           say what?

I called my insurance office and tell them this (after they have spent time on it).  Having seen and made a Copy of the weird Crayon note, they are certainly perplexed. They were poised to pay a claim.

The insurance people called Crayon Lady, and got the same odd Sweetness and Light...so we didn't pay anything, and haven't heard Boo about the matter since.  

Innocent groveling sucks, I must say...even if it's comparatively cheap.
My stomach knots up as a near-allergic response when I have to use that parking lot. I keep thinking 'that Nutjob could be asleep next to my car AGAIN...or sitting in the office loooooking over her magazine...

Thank Goodness the braces are off and my son's switched to a Retainer.  ;-)

As for my noisy seat belt, that was part of the 'Fixit' laundry  list when it went to the shop for what amounts to investment in Good Maintenance for a 13 year old Nissan Quest...I
If anything, the noise is Worse, and they claim there's no way to eliminate the noise.
It's truly Nails Across a Chalkboard loud and annoying.

thanks for your time; apologies for the Length of this
Both aforementioned incidents are less than a mile from my home, which is probably a Common type o' thing.  

Answer
Hi Dorothy,
Yes, I am going to recommend that you make a report to your insurance company.
If she is too busy with the process of daily life, then she may be too busy to report the next 3 or 4 times that someone 'bumps' her and then place the blame for all the 'bumps' on you.  In most states she is allowed up to 3 years to file a property damage claim.
Were both of you backing, or was she in line behind you?
If you both were backing, then this is a 50/50 situation because there was negligence by each party.
It's important that your insurance company see her car and determine the damage before more 'bumps' happen.  Please phone in a report today.
I enjoyed your story about the 'crayon lady'.  We all have more than a fair share of nuts.
Good luck,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
10-22-07 4:09 AM PST