Liability for damage to the driving school car?

Questioner

Quick question, my husband was driving to the hospital in a hurry. He is standing at the traffic light, in front of him is a driving school car. Light turns green, driving school car slowly drives away, my husband also accelerates slowly. Suddenly the driving school car stops, my husband taps it. They both get out, check if there is anything to see, because it was a minor tap. There is nothing to see. The driving school driver wets his finger and rubs his bumper, after which a minimal scratch appears. My husband immediately says, that is not from this minimal tap. That was already there! The driver does not agree, but my husband does not feel like it, he has to go to the hospital urgently where his father has just been admitted urgently. So my husband writes (out of politeness) on a piece of paper his name, address, telephone number and his signature and then they continue. This was a year ago now. Now today there is a letter on our doormat, that we are being held liable, for the damage and also 8 x 40.- because the driver was unable to give driving lessons 8 times!!! This is completely pointless, isn't it? No police were present and no damage form was filled out, because there was NO damage! Now my question is, how should we approach this? What is the best path to follow? We are definitely not going to pay for this, this really makes no sense at all, and even after 1 year!! I would like to hear your feedback.

Lawyer

Dear questioner, I understand that you were surprised when you received the notice of liability. However, experience shows that not all damage is always visible on the outside. Especially with bumper damage, it can seem like nothing is wrong, while there is indeed damage. I advise you to report this case to your car insurance. Your insurer can then assess the case further and pay out damages if necessary. Of course, you can indicate that you think there was no damage. It is then up to the driving school car to prove the damage. Good luck!