Car accident question

bikebarbie

Hello
I have been hit from behind (a woman driving in front of me stopped with no warning or indication and I managed to stop safely but the other woman behind me didnt and hit me )

This happened about 3 weeks ago and have not made my mind up about making a claim through my insurance or not as I dont have £250 available if they ask me to pay for my excess.

Do you know if someone makes a claim through non fault if they still have to pay the excess? Can this be claimed by the other person insurance??

Many thanks

shjo558

If the other insurance company admit liability then your insurance company would seek payment from them.

Please be careful as rear end shunts may not show up much damage but there can be unseen damage to the chassis etc.

Unless it's just a tiny bit of damamge I would go through your insurance company as your car would be checked over by folks who really know what their doing.

alliballi

Hi, I was hit from behind and I called my insurance to inform them of the accident luckily (or not) the person who hit me was with same insurance company, I did not pay any excess and had my car repaired under the other drivers insurance and I did not lose any no claims, as when your hit from behind no matter what the circumstances the person who hit you is at blame, you have to keep a reasonable and safe distance from the car in front. I am not sure if its still ok to claim after 3 weeks, maybe someone else will know this, hope you got other drivers insurance details to, hope this helps.

alliballi

Oh see someone posted too slow at typing lol, I agree with the damage part I drove my car away and it looked ok just a dent at the back, but when it went to be repaired and they looked under the boot the whole back end was pushed in, and it took 2 weeks to repair, so as previous poster says be careful of the damage done.

bikebarbie

hi thanks for your replies.

The other car had quite a bit of damage (which I think indicates that they were going at speed), their front light broke and bonnet bent + scratches on bumper.... My car 'under-bumper' came loose which I managed to mostly clip in place apart from the last clip on the left, but there are a few scratches and 3 small dents. The repair shop I took it to have a look said, as you mentioned that they would want to take to bumper out to make sure that there was no damage behind. I took it to the shop, the same day of the accident and the car was quite dirty so it was all very hypothetical and I said I would wash it before deciding what to do to see what was the aesthetic damage.

They quoted me £100 just to remove the few scratches, not for the dents (because at the time we couldn't see any - wasn't aware of any due to the car being dirty). And I took it to a local garage as I didn't fancy the rip off BMW prices.

The other party agreed if I got a quote they would send me a cheque for £100 but now I am starting to wonder whether to get the job done properly and get the car to the same condition as it was before the accident instead of patching it up. It's just that I dont fancy paying the £250 excess.
Basically I only want to claim if I am sure that I dont have to pay the excess.

bikebarbie

oh and also if I make a claim then when I renew do i have to state that i made a claim even though it was not my fault??

lawrie28

Yes you will do.

How old is your car?

Why would you not want to get a proper repair done? Get it checked over by a decent bodyshop (BMW dealer is unlikey to have a bodyshop, so go elsewhere) and keep in touch with the other person.. find out if they have claimed to fix their car.

bikebarbie

my car is a 57 reg. The reason for not getting a proper job is money. If I have to fork out £250 for a pefrect bumper I' d rather have a bumper with a few small dents. To be honest barely visible but they are there.
My BMW dealer (it's a Mini) do have a workshop by the way...

Good reminder about keeping in touch I will call them tomorrow
Also if I call the insurance for advice will they keep any records even if I dont make a claim? Will they be able to advice me ?

lowbrim

The best way is to go to the 3rd party's insurance company direct don't go through your own insurance. Just write to them telling them the circumstances being hit from behind is a open and shut case.

It has become almost the norm to claim for whiplash but I had a similar accident to you about a year ago and when the 3rd parties insurance realised I was genuine not claiming for anything dodgy ( fabricated whiplash) they could not have been more helpful. The car was actually declared a Cat D write off (it was a banger) and they paid out for the value of the car and then gave it me back. It only needed a bumper, exhaust and a backlight.

So my advise is to go direct do not use an ambulance chaser and be honest. You will have to declare a no fault accident on your insurance but this does not count against you.

bikebarbie

I am being honest otherwise I could have easily made a claim for whiplash as i suffer from back issues already. These are not my intentions I just want this to be sorted hassle free. Hence was considering resolving without the insurance and not to go to a BMW dealer to keep costs down.

When I asked who they are insured with they said Elephant but they are a broker, if they dont tell me who they are insured with how can I find out? I have all their details and took pics of both of our cars at the time of accident with my mobile phone.

thanks again

iamana1ias

lowbrim wrote: »

You will have to declare a no fault accident on your insurance but this does not count against you.

It can increase your premium though