The Shoulder
The Shoulder
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Legal questionssteady-crow-038

Person I bumped into at a stoplight is now threatening to sue ME over a loaner car issue?

So I tapped someone's bumper at a red light about three weeks ago. Completely my fault, I own that. We exchanged info, I filed a claim with my insurance same day, and I figured that was it — they'd handle everything.

Fast forward to last week and this person starts texting ME directly saying my insurance told her she'd have to put a rental car charge on her own card first and get paid back later. She says that's unacceptable and wants to know what I personally plan to do about it.

I honestly didn't know what to say so I left her on read for a day while I thought about it. Now she's saying she's going to "take legal action" against me if I don't sort it out.

A few questions swirling in my head:

1. Is the pay-upfront-then-get-reimbursed thing actually normal for rentals, or is my insurance being shady? 2. Does she even have a legitimate case against me personally for this? Like I thought once insurance is involved, they handle disputes? 3. Should I even be responding to her texts at all?

I'm not trying to dodge responsibility — I genuinely feel bad about the accident. But her threatening ME over a rental billing process I have zero control over feels off. Anyone dealt with something like this before? My nerves are shot.

9replies

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9 replies

  • 14
    daring-stoat-799

    Been on the other side of something similar — I was the one waiting on a rental reimbursement after someone rear-ended me. Honestly the pay-first model is pretty common, annoying as it is. She's probably just frustrated and taking it out on you because you're the face of the situation. Doesn't make it okay to threaten you though.

  • 19
    spry-kestrel-368

    So here's the inside scoop: a lot of liability claims do run rentals through a reimbursement process rather than direct billing, especially early in a claim before liability is fully confirmed. It's not necessarily your insurer being sketchy — it can just be their standard workflow. That said, once liability is accepted they sometimes switch to direct billing with a rental agency. The claimant can ask your insurer specifically about that. Either way, this is 100% between her and your insurance company now. You don't owe her a personal response about billing logistics.

  • 3
    genuine-elk-483

    Just a heads up — stop texting her back. Seriously. Anything you say in writing could be used to argue you admitted to something or made a promise. Let your insurance carrier be the middleman. That's what you pay them for.

    • 8
      plainspoken-backseat331

      This thread is gold. Thanks everyone.

  • 9
    careful-fox-691

    From a process standpoint, once you've filed a liability claim and your insurer has accepted it, communication about damages (including the rental) should really be going through them. She may not fully understand that. As for suing you — she technically could bring a small claims action, but if your insurance is already handling the claim and the rental is a covered cost, there's not much of a gap to sue over. Call your insurer, tell them she's contacting you directly and making threats, and ask them to flag the file. They should reach out to her and get this resolved.

  • 10
    keen-lynx-519

    Not legal advice, but — threatening to sue someone over a rental car reimbursement process that an insurance company controls is pretty toothless in most cases. If your insurer has accepted liability and is offering a legitimate reimbursement path, her actual damages are likely being covered, just not on her preferred timeline. Tell your insurer about the direct contact and let them handle it. Stop engaging with her texts.

  • 13
    hearty-dove-428

    Ugh, this sounds so stressful. You did the right thing filing immediately — you didn't run or anything. The fact that she's going directly at you instead of working with the insurance company is weird and kind of unfair to you. Hope it gets resolved quickly 💙

  • 17
    silent-otter-732

    Call your insurance today, not tomorrow. Tell them the claimant is texting you personally and has made legal threats. Then block her number and let the claim run its course. You are not her adjuster and you don't need to manage her frustration.

  • 10
    kind-fox-333

    Has your insurer actually formally accepted liability yet, or is it still open? Because if liability hasn't been confirmed in writing, that might be why they're doing reimbursement instead of direct billing. That changes the picture a little — not saying you're wrong, just worth knowing where the claim actually stands before assuming she's being unreasonable.