Taking responsibility and the case of the parked car

Imagine my surprise yesterday around 10 a.m. when I received an email from my car insurance company.

The email asked that I fill out the details of the crash I was supposedly involved in last Friday.

Initially I suspected it could be a spam email and therefore did the usual security checks. Once confident that it was not spam I called up the lady dealing with the case immediately.

I calmly and politely informed her that I was very confused as I had not been involved in an accident last Friday.

She informed me that it had been reported that I had crashed into a parked car.

My mind went into overdrive and I was trying to recall each and every pickup or drop off where I might have been able to bump another car without realising. It’s simply was not possible, I had definitely not come in contact with any other vehicle.

The lady who clearly half-believed my story (i am also sure that a lot of people try to get out of these situations) informed me she would ask for more information from the other insurance company and send it over as soon as possible.

For the next 1 hour my mind was slightly preoccupied by this strange case.

To put this story into context about three years ago I accidentally left a tiny scratch on a car which was parked up when picking up a dog. No one saw it happen, the owner was nowhere nearby, it would have been the perfect one to get away with.

But that is not what I do. If you make a mistake or even forget something then just put up your hands and accept responsibility for your actions.

I had contacted the owner after searching his number plate. We had met by his car a couple of hours later to look over the scratch together. A few days later he came back to me and said that his friend who owned a car garage could fix the scratch for no more than 500 kroner, and was I happy to cover the cost.

I realised that this man had taken time away from whatever he preferred to do due to my actions. And therefore I gave him 1500 kroner and a nice bottle of red wine.

But now back to the story of last Friday. Well, have you guessed the ending yet?

This morning I get an email from my insurance company which informs me that the other insurance company had mis-read the number plate on the form which had been sent to them.

2 points to make with this story:

1. Always take responsibility for your mistakes and actions. Most people are very willing to accept that accidents can happen and will appreciate your honesty in owning up.

2. Go beyond what is accepted and expected in your actions. Even awkward interactions can turn out in a positive way.

That man, whose car i scraped that day many years ago, he still waves at me when he sees me picking up the same dog, whilst often shouting “god tur!”

Doggies: Tiki, Haraka, Pippi and Sid