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The Shoulder
53
wise-crane-737

Hit and run in a parking garage — they admitted fault to cops, now denying everything??

I am genuinely losing my mind right now and need to hear if anyone has been through something like this.

Back in the spring, someone sideswiped my car while it was parked in a covered garage at a mall. I wasn't even there — came back from shopping and found a huge scrape along the entire driver's side. I flagged down a security guard immediately, filed a report with the police who pulled the garage footage, and within a couple hours the other driver was identified and literally admitted to the responding officer that they hit my car. The officer passed their insurance info to me directly.

I hired a claims management company to handle everything on my behalf. Months go by, car gets repaired, I thought this whole nightmare was behind me.

Then out of nowhere I get a call this week. Apparently the other driver's insurance company has sent a formal letter saying they do not accept liability. After an admission. To a police officer. I can't wrap my head around it.

Now I'm scrambling. The garage says their footage is on a rolling overwrite cycle and may already be gone. I'm hoping the police kept a copy when they pulled it originally, but I don't know for sure. My claims rep is requesting the incident report but it's taking time.

Worst case I'm being told this could end up in civil court — over a parking lot scrape where the person told the cops they did it.

Has anyone dealt with an insurance company just… flatly denying something that is this well-documented? How did it turn out? I feel like I'm living in an alternate reality right now.

8replies

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8 replies

  • 15
    genuine-mole-176

    Oh wow, this is almost exactly what happened to me a couple years ago — person hit my car in a lot, got caught on camera, even apologized to me directly, and then their insurer tried to deny it anyway. It's infuriating but apparently super common. Hang in there. The police report ended up being the thing that flipped it for me. Get that document in your hands ASAP and don't let up.

    • 10
      bright-otter-525

      A few practical things: first, request the full incident report in writing and ask specifically whether the officer's notes include the other driver's statement. Admissions to law enforcement can carry real weight in civil proceedings. Second, ask the police department whether they retained any copy of the CCTV footage as part of their investigation file — sometimes they do, especially when they used it to locate someone. Third, keep a timeline of every step you've taken with dates. If this does go to a small claims or civil hearing, that paper trail matters a lot.

  • 6
    cool-marten-866

    This is a classic adjuster move and I hate that it works on people. They deny first, drag it out, and hope you either give up or accept a lowball offer just to end the stress. The fact that there was an admission to a police officer is huge — they know it, they're just betting you won't push through the process. Don't fold. Get everything in writing, document every single communication, and don't talk to their adjuster directly if you can avoid it.

    • 4
      keen-crane-645

      I used to work on the claims side and I'll be honest — a denial at this stage isn't necessarily the end of the world, it's sometimes just a standard opening position, especially if the file got handed off to a new adjuster or a defense vendor who reviewed it cold without the full context. What you need is that original police report with the admission documented in the officer's notes. If that's in there clearly, their denial gets a lot harder to sustain. Push your claims rep to escalate and make sure they're citing that specific documentation in their response letter.

  • 10
    silent-bison-589

    Not legal advice, but generally speaking — an oral admission documented in a police report is meaningful evidence in a civil dispute, even if it can't support criminal charges at this point. The insurance company's denial doesn't mean you've lost anything yet, it just means the dispute isn't resolved. If your claims company isn't equipped to take this to a hearing if necessary, it might be worth a free consultation with a personal injury attorney to understand your options. Many handle property damage situations too.

  • 6
    humble-heron-711

    Get the police report. That's step one, two, and three right now. Everything else is noise until you have that in hand.

  • 4
    spry-wren-783

    I'm so sorry you're going through this — you did everything right and you're still being put through the wringer. That is genuinely unfair and I totally understand why you're frustrated. Please don't let them wear you down. You have receipts, you have a police report, you have the timeline. Keep pushing.

    • 8
      calm-beaver-917

      Just want to make sure I'm understanding — when you say the driver 'admitted' to the officer, do you know if that's written anywhere in the actual report, or is it more like you were told that's what happened? Because there's a difference between 'officer relayed their insurance info to you' and 'admission is documented in official notes.' Not doubting you at all, just asking because that distinction might matter a lot if this escalates.