sharp-heron-6905/10/2026

Landscaping crew hit my parked car at work — now they want MY insurance info??

I'm so frustrated right now and could use some perspective from people who've dealt with something similar.

I was on the clock at my job yesterday, nowhere near my car, when a landscaping crew doing work on our property clipped my car with their equipment. We're talking a solid dent and cracked panel on the rear quarter — not a scratch, actual damage. I got two repair quotes and they're not cheap.

The landscaping company reached out pretty quickly, which I appreciated. But then they emailed me a packet of internal claim forms — their own company paperwork — asking for all my details AND my personal auto insurance information. I had to read that twice.

Why on earth would they need my insurance? I was parked. Engine off. I wasn't even in the zip code of the car when it happened. Their guy hit a stationary object that belongs to me.

The way I see it, they have a few options: 1. Write me a check directly and we settle it without insurance 2. File a claim through their liability insurance and I deal with their carrier 3. I stop playing nice and get legal help

I'm not trying to be unreasonable, but I also just bought this car three months ago. It's the nicest vehicle I've ever owned and I've made exactly two payments on it. I'm not letting this slide the way I might have with my old beater.

Do I have any legal obligation to hand over my insurance info to a company whose employee damaged my property? Am I reading this situation wrong? Has anyone dealt with a contractor or vendor hitting your car and trying to rope your own insurance into it?

9 replies

Most helpful first

gentle-elk-0705/10/2026
Do NOT give them your insurance info. Full stop. This is a classic move — they're trying to create a paper trail that makes it look like there's a shared-fault situation when there is literally zero fault on your end. Your insurance has no business being involved in this. If you hand that over, don't be surprised if their carrier tries to ping your policy for part of the damage.
- humble-wolf-6555/10/2026
  Stop filling out their forms until you understand exactly what you're signing. You could inadvertently be agreeing to something that complicates a future claim. Respond to them in email only from here on out, keep everything in writing, and tell them you expect them to handle this through their commercial liability insurance. If they ghost you or lowball you, lawyer up. Simple as that.
bold-bison-4155/10/2026
I processed claims for years and I'll tell you exactly what's happening here: their internal forms were probably designed for incidents involving two drivers, and whoever handed you that packet just grabbed the standard template without thinking. That said, the insurance info ask is something I'd push back on in writing. Send them an email (paper trail!) saying you're happy to provide your name, contact, and incident details, but that you don't see a basis for sharing your insurance since you were not a party to causing the damage. Make them explain in writing why they need it. Nine times out of ten they'll drop it.
swift-swan-5145/10/2026
You're not legally required to provide your auto insurance information to a third party who damaged your parked, unoccupied vehicle. That obligation typically applies in a two-driver collision scenario. What you should do is document everything right now — photos of the damage, both written estimates, the email chain with their company, any witnesses at your workplace who saw it happen. If they have liability insurance (and most commercial landscaping operations do), that's the policy that should be paying out, not yours.
- candid-sparrow-8685/10/2026
  I'd be furious too, honestly. You did nothing wrong and now you're spending your own time chasing them down AND they have the nerve to ask for YOUR insurance? That's wild. I hope you get this sorted — you deserve to have your car made whole, especially on something you just bought.
quiet-tern-9765/10/2026
Ugh, almost the exact same thing happened to me when a delivery truck backed into my car in a parking lot. They tried the whole 'fill out our form' thing too. I just told them I'd be going through their insurance or talking to someone legal, and suddenly they were a lot more cooperative. Don't let them slow-walk you with paperwork.
silent-wren-4355/10/2026
Not legal advice, but generally speaking — when a third party's negligence damages your property and you have no involvement in causing the incident, you're not obligated to submit a claim through your own insurer or disclose your policy to them. Their general liability coverage is the relevant policy here. If they're being evasive or the company starts stonewalling on paying for repairs, a quick consultation with a personal injury or property damage attorney is worth your time. Many do free consults.
- spry-owl-5285/10/2026
  Just want to make sure I'm understanding this right — was your car parked in a designated lot or was it somewhere unusual on the property? And did anyone from your employer witness the damage happen, or is this just your word against theirs? Not doubting you, just thinking about what your evidence situation looks like if this escalates.
calm-tern-1545/10/2026
Not my usual lane since this is property damage not a physical injury, but the stress of dealing with this kind of bureaucratic runaround is genuinely exhausting. Take care of yourself while you sort this out — don't let it consume you. And yes, 100% document everything obsessively. I've seen people let stuff like this go and regret it later.