Urgent Help Required Please

MC24

Hi Everyone

On Friday 19th of June i bumped a car in rush hour traffic

It was literally a little bump with no major damage - a slight dent if i could say that, and a few scratches (if they were not there from before)

The car i hit was a Nissan Micra, Y reg 2001

I talked with the driver for about 15 mins (asian chap) and we decided to try to settle it without insurance claim. He was supposedly in a rush so i took his details - name, insuranc company, reference number and telephone number (including a few pictures)

Today (22nd June) he called me up saying it would cost £700 for repairing the "damage" split into 2 £350 for labour and £350 for parts

Right now i am lost and dont know what to do, and would very much appreciate if anyone can direct me on what i can do

I am 21 and am the second driver on the car, with insurance with Quinn Direct (1st year of driving) insured since Aug 2008 and first ever problem

If anyone can help i appreciate it very much and respect it

Thank You

Quote

You can pay him the £700 and hope that is the end of it. Or you can inform your insurers of the claim, which you should have done in the first place, and let them deal with it.

Those are the two main options.

HTH

dwsjarcmcd

Tell him before you pay anything, you want a garage of your choice to look at the car. Don't just take his word for it.

MC24

Thanks for the replies "Quote" and "dwsjarcmcd"

I am considering going through the insurance route currently as the quote he has given me seems very over exaggerated (he checked it out at a garage near his side of town) and im not generalising (im a indian myself) asian people can be very crafty and greedy and he seemed the type

Also i have considered getting my own garage of choice to look at it, just trying to round up every option i have before i take it ahead, thanks for the suggestions so far i appreciate your time

If any one else has experience the same problem i would love to here from you, any ideas of prices, how you settled your claim etc it would be very helpfull

I do have pictures as stated in the first post, so if anyone want to see them i could try and post them up

dieselhead

People always seem surprised at how much it costs to repair 'a few scratches' A proper repair especially if it involves any re-spray work can be very costly as it is very labour intensive and a skilled job.

That's not to say that he isn't exaggerating the claim. Also I would be very wary of handing over large amounts of money to strangers as the potential for them to come back and ask for more of for things to go wrong is hard to ignore.

Have you spoken to the holder of the policy as presumably they pay the premiums, so it is their premium this will affect.

Just to double check given my above comments, this is not your car or your insurance policy is it? I have made the assumption that it belongs to either a partner or your parents. Its just that if it is your car and you are the main user if you have been put as a named driver on the policy you could be in hot water when it comes to claiming.

MC24

Honestly, the scratches are hardly visible, only if light was shining on it then you can see about 3 odd scratches (which could have been there before) so nothing heavy at all so i wouldnt say it needs re-spraying

Yeah the policy is on my dads name and also the car is officialy registered on my dads name

I will post the pictures up to clear up all confusion with the damage, is their a problem if i post a picture with the registration plate number on it? dont want to be causing any problems

Atermis

dont be surprised that after you pay him for the repairs and you think its the end of it that a solicitors letter will appear on your doormat claiming PI.

£700 for rear end damage whist seems alot is usually about right especially when you factor in labour, paint, parts and VAT.

Also you cant force him to go to a garage of your choice, if someone went into the back of me, id want the garage i always go to, to do the work, but id never settle pirvatly, id send the estimate straight to your insurers asking them to pay within 14 days.

Takes all of 2 seconds to get insurance details off MID.

However in your case i would tread very lightly, if you pay for repairs and he then claims PI, obviously you'll have to pass it onto your insurers, this negating any reason to settle privatly, and personally i never would!

dacouch

The one thing Quinn do not like is fault accidents being notified to them late as it stops them doing their damage limitation

Marty_jar

God - Quinn Direct...I've had the worst customer services from them I've ever experienced just today...

But that's another story...

MC24

Yeah, thanks for everyones responses so far, i decided to go directly through Quinn Direct (as many of you have pointed out) and so far they seem to be handling the case pretty well - its being handled by the regional manager who seemed very friendly so fingers crossed

I guess they handle different cases in different ways 'Marty_jar', ive read negative and positive reviews for quinn direct although most are negative

I will let everyone know what happens could come in use for someone anytime