Accident damage - other driver being difficult.

fatpiggy

On May Day Bank Holiday a car was driven out of a side road into my right wing - the impact speed was negligable and the damage to my car was a crinkled wheel arch due to the weight of the other car. The other driver basically admitted liability (couldn't really say it wasn't his fault under the circumstances as he pulled out without looking to his left) and there were no witnesses. The other driver said he didn't want to notify his insurance, nor could he remember who he was insured with anyway (mind you, I couldn't have told you who was my insurer last year as it was a smaller company) and that he would pay me direct. I took his details, including the car number and we went on our way. I took my car to a body shop and was quoted £667. I sent this to the other driver and followed it up with a phone call. He said he had been away and hadn't opened his post, so how much was it? When I told him he went very quiet then commented that it seemed alot for such a small bump. Yes, true, but that isn't my problem, and it would have been more if I'd taken it to a main dealer. I gave him the choice of continuing or going through his insurance, but since then haven't heard from him and his mobile is turned off, so I suspect that he is going to be difficult. I shall write (recorded delivery) and give him a deadline, but then I'm afraid I shall stop being patient. As far as I can see, I have the choice of contacting my insurance and letting them contact his via his number plate, or going to the small claims court. I would prefer the latter as to be honest, I want to charge him for loss of earnings while I drag the car to and from the body-shop several times, plus cost of my phone calls to his mobile and postage. Anyone have any experience/advice please? I should add that the other driver lives in London and me in the NW, so he thinks I am sufficiently far away for him to be safe - wrong!

Premier_2

If you want your insurance to help you (and you have fully comprehensive insurance) you really should have reported the matter to them at the time of the accident ... but I guess better late than never.

If you decide to handle the claim yourself, remember it's the other driver you are suing not his insurance company (details of which you don't have yet it appears)

Hopefully at the time of the accident you obtained the other driver's name & address - that's all they legally have to provide you with. If you didn't get that (coupled with the fact he didn't want toget his insurance company involved - perhaps he hasn't got one!), I would have reported the matter immediately to the police.

To be honest, bitter experience has taught me to call the police in all accidents especially where there are no other witnesses involved - although admittedly they do sometimes need some encouragement to attend.

Anyway back to the other driver. It's him you sue. If he wants to involve his insurance company, that's up to him. He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to.

But remember, it's only worth suing someone if they have the means to repay you should you win. Also be aware that the defendant will probably ask for the matter to be heard in his local county court if that is the way you intend to proceed - so be prepared to attend possibly a pre-trail and hearing in London.
(You can ask for those reasonable travelling expenses as costs if you eventually win the case)

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Tbh Yes you should get the insurance involved.

However charging to take the car to the garage once, mobile calls, stamps etc. you do sound like you are equally awwquard.

Also how many quotes did you get? if you got one high sounding one I would also be concerned.

Maybe the guy just has a life beyond counting mobile phone charges.

Anyway all this exempt he crashed into you get the insurers involved. just beware his acceptance of liability means nothing and he could claim completely different facts to the insurers.

fatpiggy

Hi Premier,

Yes, I have all the details, plus I googled his address in London to check it actually exists. (As to the police, forget it - someone I know who is black cab driver was hit by a woman trying to overtake a line of cars standing at the traffic lights, who smelled of alcohol and was on her mobile at the time but the police refused to attend as an ambulance wasn't required. It took them 3 days to attend when someone shot out my front windows and those of my neighbours-but-one (pensioners).) Yes, I have fully comp insurance (15 years no claims and a protected policy). There was potentially a witness but he didn't stop around. Basically, I was driving down the main road, and the other driver was waiting on my right to turn out. The would-be witness wanted to turn in to the same side road (I think) and stopped to let the other driver out, who then failed to look the other way and drove straight out into me. The "witness" just disappeared. There was no car behind me or behind him. It was fully daylight but had just started raining so I had my lights on - I couldn't make myself much more visible if I tried, plus I was driving well below the 30 speed limit as there is a bend just before the site of the accident where the road surface is slippy in wet conditions.

Linas - the other driver has had 6 weeks to contact his insurance or send me a cheque and now is trying to make himself impossible to contact. How is that making me awkward? I got one quote, from the same bodyshop who replaced the other wing on my car 3 years ago when an almost identical incident occurred a few miles away. On this occasion I obtained a quote from the main dealer (convenient for me) but it was way higher than the final bill from this bodyshop who I had to use according to the other driver's insurance company. They only asked for one quote before they suggested their recommended place. They did an excellent job and their customer service was brilliant. Yes, I could use a tin-pot backstreet body shop, but then I'd have to hire a car as they wouldn't have a courtesy car and I have to drive 60 miles per day. I've been told it is a 3-4 day job. Car repairs are a licence to print money which is why we all pay a fortune for insurance. A work colleague has a scrape on her rear door which has been quoted at £700. There is no deforming of the metal unlike mine. It is VERY difficult for me to take time off from work right now and why should I use up my holiday quota for "nothing"? I would probably have to make up the lost work in my own time - my employer doesn't pay overtime. Yes, he may have a life, but right now I'm bearing the cost of his stupidity, and I have to use this site because my money is exceptionally tight - he can afford to live in Islington. He didn't give a nice cheap landline to contact him on, just a mobile which he has now switched off. Anyway, thank you, I'll contact my insurers.

Hintza

I think if I had hit you and done a small ding on your car and you quoted me £667 then I would be putting straight to my insurer. I'm npt sure how old you car is but if it is an older car it might have been better just asking for a settlement and not bothering with repairs.

Anyway all you can really do now is to contact your insurer but I would forget about trying to claim other expenses. Ypou should of course be able to get a courtesy car as the accident wasn't your fault.

fatpiggy

Hi Hintza,

My car is a 51 plate and WAS immaculate but with high mileage. To be honest, I would happily go for a settlement and not bother to get it repaired, but how much do I ask? I have no experience of this sort of thing, and while I'm not greedy, I'm not prepared to be fobbed off with £20. I always save up and buy my cars with cash which means going without other things, so I look after my second biggest asset very carefully. Equally, I don't see why the other driver should just waltz away basically scot-free. If I now inform his insurance, his premiums will likely go up for the next 5 years as a result, so paying out the £667 is probably cheaper. Accidents will happen but this wasn't an accident, it was driving carelessly. What if he had been going faster and I had a car full of children? I was the only car on the road and he still managed to hit me amidships. To give you an idea of repair costs, the previous wing replacement, infill of the back passenger door and respray cost £2000 a couple of years ago. The greatest expense is the labour at about £80 per hour, then the VAT of course. I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the labour rate is pretty much the same everywhere, and the part has to come from the manufacturer and is fixed price.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Sorry but £700 quid to repair an 8 yearr old car. What make was it?

He clearly thinks you are at it and is ignoring you. Can't say I blame him as I would find a £700 demand based on one quote frivolous.

jonathon

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Sorry but £700 quid to repair an 8 yearr old car. What make was it?

He clearly thinks you are at it and is ignoring you. Can't say I blame him as I would find a £700 demand based on one quote frivolous.

if you think £700 is too expensive then go through the insurance, its simple this wasnt the ops fault why should he be out of pocket, im sure it will cost the insurance company more than £700

mikey72

We had the same, my wife backed into a parked car, and clipped the bumper, just scuff marks, so we said we would pay ourselves. The quote came in at about £700, so we just passed it to our insurance, and they sorted it out. Mind you, we were helpful, and passed all the details over.

asbokid

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Sorry but £700 quid to repair an 8 yearr old car. What make was it?

He clearly thinks you are at it and is ignoring you. Can't say I blame him as I would find a £700 demand based on one quote frivolous.

Do you know anything about car bodywork?

The age of the car is essentially irrelevant for repairs of these sorts. in fact the older the car, the harder and costlier it will be to source a new wing for the vehicle.

The purchase cost of the wing itself is the tip of the iceberg. To be added is the extensive labour cost of preparing and spraying it, removing the old wing, and fitting the new one.

Furthermore, i would be surprised if the collision damage is limited to the outer wing itself. there could be, and probably will be creasing to the inner wing, damage to the front suspension, the track rods, steering rack, column and pump, the wheels may be out of alignment and the wheel and tyre may also be damaged.

in fact, if this vehicle was inspected very thoroughly, there is a strong possibility that it would be found to be structurally unsafe and written off altogether.

So £700 to repair the obvious extent of the accident damage is frankly peanuts.

As for this man's claim for phone call costs. why indeed yes! he should document every call, and he should document them in form suitable for including in a county court claim. he should charge not only the cost of those calls, but also for the time he spent in making those calls (charging at a basic £9 an hour is generally accepted)

why do you imagine that he should shoulder these costs himself? would a solicitor charge for these costs? why of course, yes!

i hope i am never involved in a collision with someone like you, with your unhealthy attitude that everyone else should pay for your negligence but you!

asbokid

fatpiggy wrote: »

On May Day Bank Holiday a car was driven out of a side road into my right wing - the impact speed was negligable and the damage to my car was a crinkled wheel arch due to the weight of the other car. The other driver basically admitted liability (couldn't really say it wasn't his fault under the circumstances as he pulled out without looking to his left) and there were no witnesses. The other driver said he didn't want to notify his insurance, nor could he remember who he was insured with anyway (mind you, I couldn't have told you who was my insurer last year as it was a smaller company) and that he would pay me direct. I took his details, including the car number and we went on our way. I took my car to a body shop and was quoted £667. I sent this to the other driver and followed it up with a phone call. He said he had been away and hadn't opened his post, so how much was it? When I told him he went very quiet then commented that it seemed alot for such a small bump. Yes, true, but that isn't my problem, and it would have been more if I'd taken it to a main dealer. I gave him the choice of continuing or going through his insurance, but since then haven't heard from him and his mobile is turned off, so I suspect that he is going to be difficult. I shall write (recorded delivery) and give him a deadline, but then I'm afraid I shall stop being patient. As far as I can see, I have the choice of contacting my insurance and letting them contact his via his number plate, or going to the small claims court. I would prefer the latter as to be honest, I want to charge him for loss of earnings while I drag the car to and from the body-shop several times, plus cost of my phone calls to his mobile and postage. Anyone have any experience/advice please? I should add that the other driver lives in London and me in the NW, so he thinks I am sufficiently far away for him to be safe - wrong!

this isn't a criticism of you, because there is so much conflicting advice thrown about, it's very hard to know who to believe..

but....so far as i understand, you should have told your insurance company about the accident... not because you were in any way negligent, but simply to meet the conditions of your insurance policy with them..

the general wording to use in these circumstances, where you wish to pursue the 3rd party directly for the claim, is to tell your insurer that you are advising them of the non-fault incident for 'information purposes only".. that covers you in the event that the 3rd party presents an alternative, twisted and distorted account of the incident.

you stated that you could sue him in the county court, or you could recover your losses through your own insurers, but there is a third option which you didn't document..... you could recover your losses from the 3rd party's insurers..

i would personally use your own insurer, or use an accident management company to pursue his insurers directly.

my last choice would be to sue him in the county court.. it will cost you far more in lost time than you could ever recover.. for some inexplicable reason, an LIP is expected to be as competent as a lawyer, and is expected to work just as fast as a lawyer, but......... can charge just a tenth of a lawyer's typical hourly rate for preparation of the case.

don't let him get away with it, nor his insurer. your car is damaged. you are out of pocket. they owe you that money. and they must pay it.