I was in a fender bender thursday, no apparent damage to her car, now wants $4k!!!?

I was driving down a slightly busy road in town Thursday. We were at a stop light, light turns green, everyone drives forward, was about 20 feet behind the car in front of me. I look down for a split second, look up and the car in front of me had slammed on their brakes. I was driving an SUV, she a sedan. I slammed on the brakes, but tapped her rear-bumper at around 5 mph. We both pulled to the side of the road, and got out of our cars. Surveying the damage, her car appeared to have none, and mine had a dent on the front bumper. We decided the police did not need to be involved, and just exchanged phone numbers. On Saturday, she called me and said her trunk did not close properly, it was my fault. I told her to go get an estimate and we could probably work something out. She did on Monday and said $4000. She says that the passenger door doesn't open properly and there is all sorts of other damages. What should I do? Any experience out there in these matters? Thanks
Additional Details
When I say I looked down, i meant I looked at my speedometer to see how fast we were going, I was not like reading a magazine or anything like that. I am getting her to fax the report to me and getting the insurance company involved, is there anything else I can do?

Mr. Taco

If there were no cops involved, then there may not be anything the lady can do. Truth is that you can deny it was your fault, and there is nothing she can do about it now. So refuse to pay it. It was her own fault for not getting the cops involved. In the future, however, ALWAYS call the cops when there is an accident. People actually will stop in front of you on purpose to try to scam money out of you. The person behind is NOT always at fault. She may well be a scammer. Unless an attorney calls you next, you don't have to do a thing. If one DOES call, then you just call yours.

oklatom

As you know now, there should have been police called and a report filled out. At this point it's your word against hers. Contact your insurance, make a report with them, if she calls again refer her to your insurance carrier who will settle with her.

Unfortunately, it's clearly your fault for not paying attention to your driving.

Your insurance will work with hers, and send someone out to look at damages, and take care of it.

born west coast

turn it over to your insurance company, its your fault.

live and learn.

the car behind is always at fault.

Kej

Fill out a police report and call your insurance company A.S.A.P. Let them figure out whose at fault and the estimate. It's better than getting scammed.

Carma72

I work for an insurance company and we always tell our policy holders to report any accidents no matter how minor, because of instances such as yours. Just report it because they have people that will survey the damage to be sure that you don't pay more than you are actually liable for. This person should also provide more than one estimate. Please be careful when you're driving because it only takes that one second for something to happen. Be thankful that no one was hurt.

07_ShelbyGT500

They are trying to scam you. I could see the trunk not closing argument, because of the height of your SUV vs. the car, but the passenger door not opening properly and the "all sorts of other damage" are bs.

Definitely get your insurance company involved. But, you already may be screwed because its your word vs. theirs. The only good thing about getting an insurance inspector involved is that they can look at the damage this person is alleging to the door and may be able to determine it was much older (say, due to rust/corrosion/dirt).

Sorry you have had to learn a potentially expensive lesson.

Mako

Either tell your insurance and have them send someone to look at it, or call her and ask to see the damages yourself before paying anything.

randall flag

the other car probably is damaged more than you noticed.
no mater what it was your fault, and you are liable.
just be glad she is not claiming to be hurt..
call your insurance asap

Ghost

thats stupid

'tisJustMe

OH UGH! That EXACT thing happened to me 15 years ago. Fortunately for me, we were about to just exchange numbers and go on our merry way since there was no visible damage when a police car happened to pass by. He stopped and filled out a police report. It was my fault since I rear-ended her, even if it was because of her own stupidity (accelerating to merge into traffic and then slamming on her breaks in the middle of the merge lane for no reason!). Next day the lady decides she has $10,000 worth of back and neck injuries. I was happy to let my insurance company deal with that idiot! She got a minor repair done on her car and no money for her "injuries". Call your insurance co ASAP!

S17V

The best thing you should do is let your insurance company handle it. They will only pay the damages you are responsible for - they will photograph your vehicle and hers, and take measurements. If she has old damage, they would not pay for it. It's the best option for you to pursue, do not correspond with the other party any longer - as it may be detrimental to your claim int he long run.

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