Someone says I scraped their car in a parking lot — I wasn't even there that day??

This happened to something similar to me a couple years back — someone claimed I rear-ended them at an intersection I had literally never driven through. It felt surreal. The saving grace for me was a convenience store camera nearby that showed my car wasn't there. Pull together every piece of evidence you have right now before anything gets overwritten or forgotten. Dashcam footage especially — back that up to a drive or the cloud today.

Yes, unfortunately anyone can open a third-party claim against your policy just by calling the other person's insurance with your plate number. The insurer has to investigate — they don't verify anything upfront. The scary part is if you don't respond or don't have evidence, they may just pay out and come after your rates. Don't sit on this. Call YOUR insurance first, tell them your side, and make clear you're disputing this completely.

I used to handle exactly these kinds of claims. Here's the reality: a plate number and a date is basically all someone needs to open a claim. It doesn't mean it goes anywhere. What kills these fast is solid alibi evidence — and you've got a lot of it. Dashcam, laptop logs, neighbor's camera footage? That's a strong hand. When you call your insurer, don't ramble, just be direct: 'I'm disputing this claim, I was not at that location, and I have documentation to prove it.' Then let them do the legwork.

A couple of practical things — first, write down everything you remember right now while it's fresh: where your car was parked all day, who you spoke to, when you found the note, everything. Second, preserve that dashcam footage immediately and don't let it loop over. Third, ask your neighbor if they'd be willing to share or save that Ring footage — those cameras sometimes only keep a week or two of history. You don't need a lawyer yet, but having this all documented makes any next step way easier.

Not a legal thing at all but — the anxiety this kind of stuff causes is real. I've seen patients put off dealing with stuff like this because the stress is paralyzing. Just take it one step at a time. Make the call to your insurance today. One call. That's it for today. You have good evidence, you just need to get it in front of the right people.

Call your insurance today. Not tomorrow. Tell them you're disputing the claim and that you have dashcam footage and other evidence showing your car wasn't there. Get a claim number. Ask them specifically what the other party has submitted as proof of damage. Then follow up. Don't ghost your own insurer hoping this disappears — that's how people get stuck with payouts they didn't deserve.

Not legal advice, but I'll say this — what you're describing is a disputed third-party claim, and they're more common than people think. Your evidence lineup is actually pretty solid. The key right now is not to give a recorded statement to the other party's insurance without understanding what you're agreeing to. Your own insurer is your ally here; the claimant's insurer is not. If this escalates or your insurer starts pressuring you to settle something you didn't do, that's when a free consult with a PI attorney could be worth your time.

Did the note have any contact info on it, or was it totally anonymous? And do you know which insurance — yours or theirs — actually opened the claim? Those details matter a lot for figuring out who's driving this and what they actually have. A random note with no name attached and a vague date sounds like a very weak claim to me.