This afternoon, as my driver was backing out my car, he accidentally hit another car. The owner of this car was wild with rage. He started arguing my driver and insisted on me being called. I was inside my office working. My driver came to call me and I went out.
The owner was probably in his late thirties. He insisted that I was responsible because it was my car that hit his car. Fine, I said. So? So, he insisted that I pay the damages. I told him that our insurance companies would figure it out. He said he did not think they would pay the full thing and he would have to go through the hassle of taking his car to the mechanic and all the trouble that this entailed.
I told him that I understood and I was sorry for that. He asked me for my card. I gave it to him. He asked me for more details like my house address and an alternate telephone number. I was ready to give that information to him but added categorically that I wasn't going to pay for anything out of pocket. He protested angrily. I told him that he could go to the police and let them take whatever action they thought was appropriate. He said he would do that.
He spent the next half hour in arguing with my driver that he should bear the expenses of the repairs to the car. I couldn't help thinking that the time he was spending arguing with my driver was worth much more than the cost of repairs of the car (given that he had a house worth at least a couple of crores in the colony in which we were at that time!). My poor driver couldn't even dream of bearing the repair cost with his meagre salary.
When you have a vehicle, there are bound to be accidents. Sometimes due to your fault and sometimes due to the fault of others. That is the very reason why third party insurance exists. You have to be practical, exchange insurance papers and move on. Not waste your time and the time of others. Well, there is the added hassle of taking your car to the mechanic. Well, I will have to do that as well. My car suffered some damage too. Poetic justice, if you will!
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