[mrs bouquet]

Because it seems it was my fault.   A difficult little road in the Village, where cars always park down one side.
I was coming up, therefore traffic approaching the parked cars should wait.  However young man in Mercedes, demanded I go back, which I did.   he then pulled down to a gap and stopped.  I then had to reverse a little because if I had gone straight forward, I would have hit a wall.   I am in my vehicle which is a land rover.
I then drove round the corner home and parked in my drive. A young man in the Mercedes pulled up and jumped out.  He rushed at me and called me a F.......Pr..... and a dickhead.  He was waving his fist and pointing and said are you going to pay for my car you have just hit.  I looked at him and said, I haven't hit your car.  He then continued to swear and shake his fist in my face, and took a picture of the car bumper which has now two little scratches.   So I guess I must have hit him.  I continued to denign this  as insrance companies telling one not to own up to liability.  I did ask him if he was from the village he said no, and did not offer me his name and address.  I have since found out that he is working nearby and staying in the pub, which is where the accident happened.
Now I am terrified at what will happen next, since his car has a very large dent in it.

It also happened that my insurance is due for renewal on 21st June (my birthday ha ha).  Shelias Wheels have just emailed me a renewal which is £200 more than last year.  Obviously this has no bearing on my prang.
I have looked around and found a comparable quote which is the same price as I paid Shelia's last year.
Now, can I change my Insurance and go with this new company, where do I stand.
Should I go and offer to pay for the Mercedes damage, or wait and see what happens.  and shall I change to a new insurer.    I am so scared.  This is was happens when you lose your dearly beloved husband. 
Thanks for any advice.    Mrs Bouquet

[Goosegirl]

MB, first job is to call the police as you have to report a traffic accident even if you don't think there was one, so do it now! Methinks he was pulling a fast one with him being in the wrong by demanding you reverse, then obviously following you to your home where he harassed you big time, especially as he has a Merc with a big dent (you would have felt the bump if you did that to his car) then knock on a few doors in case there were witnesses.

Go to the pub and tell the landlord about it and how you need his name and address - may not work but worth a try. Strange that he can't provide you with his contact details so he can make a claim against you.

Re- insurance. Obviously you are still insured so let them know the salient details but only when you've done the afore things.

Re- renewing insurance, I used to be with the Coop but how interesting it was when I got their renewal doc (how much?) then went on-line to just get a quote which was much cheaper and had no problems whatsoever getting my car insured.   

On a positive note, you have done all the right things by not claiming liability and also taking pics. Good on you!

Now, just lie back and..... breathe! We're all here for you. GG xxxxx

[jaydig]

I agree with Goosegirl, Mrs B.  If he has a significant dent in his car there is no way you wouldn't have been aware of causing it.  I don't suppose the pub has CCTV?  It would be good to know what his car looked like before he accused you of hitting it.  You definitely need to report it to the police, particularly as he has shown himself to be very aggressive. Something about all of this just doesn't sound right to me.
Big hug from me.  It just seems to be one thing after another for you at the moment, doesn't it, but don't let him browbeat you. 
I know what you mean about feeling frightened.  It's very difficult when you find yourself alone, it makes you feel vulnerable about situations that really wouldn't have bothered you overmuch when your husband was alive.  Good luck and let us know how you get on, but don't, under any circumstances, offer to pay for any damage, put everything through the right channels, the police and your insurance company, and let them sort it out.  Perhaps take photos, or make a sketch of the place where the supposed 'accident' took place, just so that you don't forget any details of the incident.

[Yorkie]

How horrible for you, Mrs B. Hope you're feelng a little better now.

Before you do anything else, I would write down everything you can remember and while it is fresh in your mind. It will help you process it before you contact anyone else.

Yes, as others said, you should contact the police given that he's said he has damage to his car. If there's an accident on a road like yours, the drivers are supposed to swap names, addresses, and vehicle registration details. If this doesn't happen, you have to contact the police as soon as possible and in any event within 24 hours. Give them a ring on 101 as soon as you can.

Don't go round to the pub to find out his details - just let the police do that. The landlord shouldn't give out any details of people renting rooms, and as the driver has already shown himself to be aggressive, don't put yourself back into what could be a volatile position.

As others said, you should also contact your insurance company as there's a possible incident. Unfortunately it may well increase your premiums but you have no way of knowing whether he will simply go to his insurers with your details - and it could be worse if they found out from him rather than you.

Try not to worry about it too much. If you don't think you hit him, then don't admit that you "must have done". If the damage to his vehicle is allegedly huge, and you didn't feel any bump, then say so. If you were unaware of any accident at the scene then you shouldn't get into trouble for not stopping at the scene. You aren't in a position to say whether his vehicle was in fact damaged beforehand.

[Aunt Sally]

What a horrible time you’ve had Mrs B.  But you’ve been given some good advice here.

I’m having a dash-cam fitted on Friday to help to prevent this type of problem.

[mrs bouquet]

Thank you all for your advice.  I have rung the police today and told them exactly what happened and that I was not aware of hitting this car.   The Police were more concerned about his abusive and threatening behaviour to me, and that he wouldnt give me his name or any details.   As the Police said, the damage could have been there beforehand.    They are not taking any action as far as I am concerned, but might take it against him for his behaviour.   So thanks again, I feel better now.   Police have advised me to do nothing further.  So I will do as they have advised.   Thanks and Thanks again.  Mrs B

[Aunt Sally]

Great result Mrs B.  You are now “known to the police” so can contact them about it again if needed. 

[jaydig]

Good to hear Mrs B.  Now the police know about it and have assured you that they have no concerns about you, I hope that you can relax and forget about it.  I told my son what had happened to you and he was of the opinion that the other driver thought he could frighten you into parting with cash.  It will probably take you a few days to calm down from the shock of the experience but I hope you will soon feel calmer.

[mrs bouquet]

Thanks again everybody.  The Police did offer to send somebody round to comfort me, but I thought I didn't really need that.  They have given me a Ref No:   and said to dial 999 and quote if anything further happens.
Cheers,  Mrs B

[Lardman]

Nice to see you get such good service from them, wish our lot were as helpful.

[Goosegirl]

Being on your own can sometimes be very frightening when this sort of thing happens. Also be aware of someone coming to your door and saying your roof needs some repairs - yeah right!

[Cazzb]

Something similar happened to my friend a few years back. We were parked ina car park, returned to the car to find another car owner accusing her of scratching their car. We were 99% sure that we hadn’t hit the car but the other car owner was very aggressive. Luckily there was two of us, it would have been very scary if she’d been alone. In the end my friend gave the other driver her insurance details, the called her insurance company and reported it to the police. Learned two things, firstly they can do analysis on paint chips to tell if your car actually did hit the other car. Secondly it’s a fairly common scam to accuse another driver of hitting you when actually the damage was your own fault. The other driver will act aggressive and angry in the hope that you will offer to pay cash rather than claim on insurance. In the case of my friend the other driver never followed up so it definitely seemed like a scam.