What to Do Immediately After Someone Scratches Your Car

You’ve just walked back to your car, and there’s a fresh scratch that definitely wasn’t there this morning. Someone hit you, either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and left a note. What you do in the next ten minutes actually matters.

Most people either do nothing and regret it later or do the wrong things that make the situation harder. Here’s exactly what to do, in order, and why each step matters.

Step One: Don’t Move Your Car Yet

If you’ve just discovered the damage and you’re still in the car park, don’t drive off immediately. Stay put for a few minutes.

Look around for the other car. Sometimes they’re still there. If you spot fresh matching damage on another vehicle nearby, that’s your culprit.

Check for witnesses. Someone might have seen it happen. People in their cars, shop workers, security guards. Ask quickly before they leave. Get names and numbers.

Look for CCTV cameras. Most car parks have them. Note which cameras cover where you’re parked. You’ll need this later.

Take photos right now of your car’s position, the damage, and the surrounding area. Don’t wait. Capture everything while it’s fresh.

If there’s a note on your windscreen, photograph it before touching it. Then photograph it again after reading it.

This takes maybe ten minutes, but it’s your only chance to gather this information. Once you drive away, it’s gone.

Step Two: Document Everything Properly

Pull out your phone and take comprehensive photos. Not just one quick snap. Proper documentation.

Photograph the damage from multiple angles. Close-ups showing detail. Wide shots showing the entire panel with the damage. Photos showing the whole car for context.

If there’s paint transfer from the other car, photograph that clearly. Different colour paint proves contact with another vehicle.

Photograph your number plate in the same set. This proves these photos are your car.

Take photos of the surroundings. Your parking spot, nearby cars, and the area. This establishes where and potentially how it happened.

If you found the other car, photograph its damage and number plate. Don’t confront them yet, just document.

Your phone automatically includes the date and time in your photos. This proves when damage occurred, which matters for insurance and CCTV requests.

Write down everything you remember while it’s fresh. What time you parked, what time you returned, exactly where, what you noticed. Details fade fast.

Step Three: Check for Witnesses and CCTV

If anyone’s around, ask if they saw it. Be polite and quick. Get contact details if they witnessed anything.

Find out who manages the car park. Shopping centre office, council for street parking, and building management for private car parks.

Note specific camera locations that would have caught your spot. When requesting footage later, you can direct them to exact cameras and times.

If it’s a shopping centre, go to customer service and report it now. Get an incident number. This creates a formal record and starts CCTV preservation.

The sooner you request CCTV, the better. Most systems overwrite footage after a week to a month.

Step Four: The Insurance Decision

Before claiming insurance, do the math on whether it’s worth it.

Check your excess. If it’s $800 and the repair costs $400, you’re paying everything anyway. Insurance contributes nothing, but it still goes on your record.

Even if the repair costs more than the excess, factor in the premium increases. Your premium will likely jump $150 to $250 per year for three to five years. That’s $450 to $1,250 in total extra cost.

Get a repair quote first. Ring a mobile repairer, send photos, get a price. Now you can calculate if claiming makes sense. Keeping in mind, insurance serves you best in the event of a write-off or serious accident.

If the other driver is known and has insurance talk to them about what options are available and weigh up the pros and cons of going down the insurance route.

Only consider insurance if the damage exceeds $2,500 or if you have evidence it was someone else’s fault and their insurance will cover it.

Minor Scratch Removal

Step Five: Getting Repair Quotes

Whether claiming insurance or paying yourself, you need to know repair costs.

Send clear photos to two or three different repairers for quotes. Mobile operators can quote from photos for most minor damage.

Compare what each includes. Cheapest isn’t always best. You want proper repair, not a patch job that fails.

Ask about the timeline, warranty, and process. Get everything documented.

If going through insurance, check if they have preferred repairers and whether using them is mandatory.

Step Six: If You Found the Other Driver

If you’ve got their details from a note or you identified their car, contact them calmly. Aggression doesn’t help.

Explain what happened, show evidence, and ask for their insurance details. Most people will cooperate if caught.

Contact their insurer directly with your evidence. Photos, their details, incident description.

The other person’s insurance will assess and either accept liability or dispute it. If accepted, they arrange and pay for repairs.

If they dispute, you’ll need your evidence. Photos, witnesses, CCTV. Strong evidence usually gets them to accept.

If the other driver refuses to cooperate, report it to the police. Getting their number plate is often enough to track them and take them to court in the worst-case scenario.

Step Seven: Repair Timeline

Paying out of your pocket with mobile repair: one to two weeks from quote to completion.

Insurance claim through your own policy at your own expense: two to four weeks typically.

Claim against someone else’s insurance: four to six weeks. Their insurer needs to accept liability first.

Major damage requiring panel shop: add extra time for booking and parts.

Don’t expect instant repairs unless you’re paying yourself and the damage is minor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Confronting the other driver aggressively. Stay calm, document, and exchange details properly.

Driving off immediately without documenting. You lose the opportunity to present a witness and CCTV identification.

Claiming insurance without checking if it’s worth it financially. Paying $800 excess plus premium increases for a $400 repair is expensive.

Not taking enough photos. One quick snap isn’t documentation. You need comprehensive photos from multiple angles.

Not reporting to the car park management when it happens.

Waiting days to get quotes or make decisions.

What If It Keeps Happening

Park differently. End spots, away from trolley bays, away from tight spaces.

Consider a dashcam with parking mode. Inexpensive and captures impacts while you’re away.

Different shopping centres if one particular place is consistently problematic.

Accept that car park damage occasionally happens. You can minimise risk but can’t eliminate it completely.

The Bottom Line

Don’t let emotion drive poor decisions. Stay put and look around, document thoroughly, check for witnesses and CCTV, decide whether to claim insurance based on actual numbers, get repair quotes, and handle it appropriately.

Most minor damage is paid for privately because the maths doesn’t support insurance claims, and tracking down culprits is difficult.

Quick documentation in the first ten minutes is your only chance to gather evidence. After that, options narrow considerably. Take the time to do it properly.

Your car’s fixable. The scratch is annoying, but handle it sensibly, and you’ll be back to normal within a few weeks.

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