Many car owners find that their car is damaged because someone has hit it, and getting insurance for repairs is difficult, the problems faced are discussed below.
From reddit u/Algaav_wadi
socially distant…kab se
today, on a busy road this guy bangs into my car real bad and damaged the trunk – the guy said will only give me insurance filing charges. And when I was being assertive, he called a lot of guys at the scene. Hyundai bodyshop says it’s at least a cost of Rs 30-40K, if I claim insurance my cost will be Rs 3-5,000 + filing charges. What should I do/have done? He offered to pay Rs 1,900, the insurance filing charges and Police backed him up. I didn’t take 1900.
Here’s the story…. sorry, most of this will be a rant as I am super pissed at this point.
On a very busy street in Gurgaon, I am driving at the speed of max 20 kmph I am there with my wife and we just dropped our two year old son at his play school. There is decent traffic on the road and suddenly this guy (lets call him L) in a Fortuner car, banged into my vehicle, he must have been driving at least at the speed of 60+. Shaken and in shock me and wife come out and see this ~20 year old kid driving and his friend of similar age with him, I shouted at L which visibly made them angry. The other guy came out and told me to shut up unless I wanted a thrashing. This really shocked me as I was expecting an apology, they seemed to be from rich families (judging from clothing, car they were driving).
After the initial shock, the reality hit me (remember I just dropped my son – what if he was there in the car seat behind), that impact would have hit him hard) looking at the initial reaction, my first thinking was to avoid the conflict + I was also in a hurry to be at my work. I told L to pay for my damages and I’ll be on my way. But then suddenly this third guy, who was not in the car came and started yelling at me & asked me not to bother them. His statement “road pe gaadi chalegi toh lagegi hi – T: when you bring the car on road, it will get hit”… just then I noticed a series of cars stop near us- more young and healthy guys emerging out of them. This was at 12pm in the day I wasn’t scared but all of them circling around me made me uncomfortable. Looking at this, I called the police helpline.
While all this going on, I spoke to L that the Hyundai guys are sharing their estimate of the spend, it will be Rs 25-30,000 based on the video/pics I shared. By now, I was overwhelmed by the number of people surrounding us and arguing on behalf of the guy. L told me that they will give me only Rs 1,900 – filing charges for the insurance. I said I need him to give all the expenditure that I bear (why should I forego my no claim bonus for his mistake) + the filing charges. They were super aggressive and said no arguments, it’s 1,900 or I get a thrashing. Now here the Police enters & I feel relaxed, whatever their numbers, whoever they are – I am on the right side of the law right?…. right?
One of the police guy (lets call him A) joins the huddle & is immediately super harsh on me, I told him to take care of the crowd first as everyone was shouting at me. He didn’t bother to do anything about that. Then he started with the statement that I bothered them for such minor incident when the other party is till there to resolve amicably. I told him that their offer isn’t good enough. To that he said “ab kya aapko nayi gaadi dila dein” T”should they buy you a new car?”. He didn’t say a single word to the L.
I was so shocked, I tried to explain to him that I’ll be at a loss & he retorts “toh kya hua, road pe gaadi leke chalte ho, ye sab toh hoga na”. By now I was getting really late for work too… I said fine, just help me to get my damages if I make the insurance claim – 5-10k whatever it is (amount I have to pay as motor insurance doesn’t cover everything right). and the Police guy just started shouting at me for being greedy. He said that the other party has been gracious to offer Rs 1900.
And then, a couple of Mercedes stopped and some more guys came there, they seemed older & calmer than the young ones. Told me that the boy will apologize to us (the 1st sensible thing that came from the other party) but when I tried to ask them for damages, they declined and said whatever Police says, the police guy started shouting & gave me number of some thana/station guy if I was not satisfied. I declined the offer of Rs 1900. and called the station master – he said the same thing.
Now here’s my question 1: what’s the guideline here, I always thought the hitter should pay the whole amount, why should I waste my insurance/no claim bonus for someone else’s mistake?
Was the police right, just the filing charges are enough?
Question 2: What can I do next? Can I even do anything when the Police even won’t listen? I have name, picture, videos of the police guy for proof + pic/number of the car that hit me. The real shocker for me was: you wouldn’t believe how nicely he was talking to the other guys, and what all he said to me. When I tried to record him, he shouted at me, for creating a scene there.
Question 3: what could be the reason was it that the the police guy behaved the way he did? I can imagine that the other party was influential/local (they all spoke in Haryanvi accent and seemed quite rich).
Question 4: the other party was all driving super fancy cars, but weren’t willing to give me any money, the best they could offer was Rs 1900, what could be the reason for that? Is that some principal thing or just showing off the clout? If I hit someone like this… I’d pay them for damages without much thought and I drive a Verna, they were all in Mercs and BMWs.