Car accident NOT our fault, we had no damage, they want us to pay 50% of theirs! HELP

susannam

Hi!

We had a small accident few days ago. this guy came straight to our lane in a turning, no indication or any indication he was coming, jut barged in. (I assume we might've in his 'blind spot' on his mirror?) He had quite a lot of damage to his front door. We were super lucky, small scratches to the wheel, but not much more. We called the police who were too busy to come over and it is a very busy junction so we didnt stop to take any photos, just drove to the side.

He now wants us to half 'all the costs' as he puts it. ie WE need to pay for his bad driving!!!

I have never had an accident and have been driving for 14 yrs, so I really dont know what to do.

Please help anyone!!!!!

KatieKins

Just phone your insurance company straight away and tell them. They should be notified of anything he is saying re costs - they will be able to help

Idiophreak

If he wants to be stupid about it, get the insurers involved - get your car checked over thoroughly and all damage to the wheel made good at your local dealership.

If he wants to be greedy, let him live without his no claims for a while.

susannam

Thanks i have phoned the insurance and was put in a queue to just leave my details.. How typical.

Thanks idiophreak, I will certainly do that.

If he wants to do it the hard way, I will take my car to the dealership to be checked over and let him pay. We already agreed that he doesnt have to worry about us, we wont bother doing anything with our damage.

I think he got off lightly anyway, no damage to us and we said ok lets just forget about it.

He knows its his fault, but tries to wiesel his way out of responsibility, by coming up with all this stuff. He doent know that this Finnish girl wont go down without a fight!!! hehe!

Quentin

Whenever you are involved in a bump it is a mistake to look at the paintwork and say "no damage done" and move on. Always get full details at the scene.

A bump can cause hidden damage that is only apparent with a proper inspection. (The shock of the collision has to be absorbed somewhere). And as you have discovered, away from the scene, the other parties involved start to change their story!

You should do as already advised and inform your insurers. Let them deal with the whole matter, and pass on all correspondence to them.

One thing to note if it does end up as a split liability matter. If you don't claim for damage to your car, then although your insurer will have to pay a portion of the third party's damage, and you will lose some NCD (if you don't have it protected), you won't have any excess to pay.

underlay_guru

To be on the safe side, call into your local cop shop and report the accident, including copies of the photos. They will provide you with an incident number, which may stand you in good stead later on if the other driver has not bothered to contact the police.

Quentin

There is no need to inform the police in cases like this when no injury has taken place and no others property has been damaged.

The police have no time to spend on this type of civil argument.