should I pay for accident?

mlfworkman

In mid December I was reversing out of my parking space into a small lane. My view of oncoming cars is blocked by a building, and I have to maneuver the car to get it out, so when reversing I have to look forwards as well as backwards some of the time. As I was looking forwards I hit a car that was coming down the lane. There was no damage to my car and some slight bodywork damage to his side door.

At the time he didn't have full insurance papers with him, and we agreed that it had been both of our fault, and that rather than involve insurers we would sort it out between ourselves. Exchanged phone numbers. He then called me to say he wanted me to go with him to a bodywork garage to find out the cost of repairing his car. He is I think Eastern European so I assumed he wanted me with him as he finds it hard to navigate around. However a friend advised me not to go, and also that since it was joint responsibility I shouldn't pay anything towards his repairs. He called today but seemed very unhappy with me saying that if my car had been damaged, I would have had to fix it myself, and he also will have to get his fixed himself.

It is too late to involve the insurers (and I have since changed insurers) but I do want to be fair in this situation. Should I offer him 20 pounds as a gesture of good faith and leave it at that? Or would that be admitting liability and open me up to possibly more claims from him? If anyone can advise me I'd be really grateful.

bigjl

You where reversing onto a main road and where in collision with a car on the road, I think most insurers would say you are guilty. In much the same way that when you are rear ended you are usually considered at fault. (a small typing error, anybody with half a brain will see that I meant to say when you rear end somebody)

It is good practice to reverse into your parking space so that you can drive out will full vision, I know most don't do this, but it was one of the first things we were trained to do when I did my driving course for the Ambulance Service.

By saying you will sort it out between yourselves means you will pay for his car damage surely.

Put it through Insurance, as you should have advised your Insurers anyway even if not claiming, if he starts a claim with his insurers then they will just claim from the company that the car was insured with at the time.

It is entirely possible that his driving documents aren't completely in order, if he is wrongly licensed or has any paperwork issues then the accident would be considered his fault usually, as he shouldn't have been on the road, a common ploy when involved in an RTC with the Police.

But inform your Insurers now, even if you have changed Insurers, as if you have been credited with a years extra NCB from that policy year then your new policy may well be found "invalid" if you have a claim this year.

mikey72

If you want to be fair, it was your fault. You backed into him. If you involve the insurer, it will lose your ncd with your new policy, and they will hike your premium. You will be better just paying for the repair.

Gordon_Hose

That's why you should reverse onto your driveway.

mikey72

bigjl wrote: »

It is entirely possible that his driving documents aren't completely in order, if he is wrongly licensed or has any paperwork issues then the accident would be considered his fault usually, as he shouldn't have been on the road, a common ploy when involved in an RTC with the Police.

This won't make any difference at all to liability.

mlfworkman

bigjl wrote: »

You where reversing onto a main road and where in collision with a car on the road, I think most insurers would say you are guilty. I.

Just to clarify - it isn't a main road. It is a small lane with barely enough room for one vehicle, that leads down to a river. A few cars park down on the river bank but other than that there is usually no traffic on it. Does this change anything? (Probably not but I need to ask.)

Gene_Hunt_2

bigjl wrote: »

You where reversing onto a main road and where in collision with a car on the road, I think most insurers would say you are guilty. In much the same way that when you are rear ended you are usually considered at fault.

It is good practice to reverse into your parking space so that you can drive out will full vision, I know most don't do this, but it was one of the first things we were trained to do when I did my driving course for the Ambulance Service.

By saying you will sort it out between yourselves means you will pay for his car damage surely.

Put it through Insurance, as you should have advised your Insurers anyway even if not claiming, if he starts a claim with his insurers then they will just claim from the company that the car was insured with at the time.

It is entirely possible that his driving documents aren't completely in order, if he is wrongly licensed or has any paperwork issues then the accident would be considered his fault usually, as he shouldn't have been on the road, a common ploy when involved in an RTC with the Police.

But inform your Insurers now, even if you have changed Insurers, as if you have been credited with a years extra NCB from that policy year then your new policy may well be found "invalid" if you have a claim this year.

No it won''t, stick to first aid advice.;)

mikey72

mlfworkman wrote: »

Just to clarify - it isn't a main road. It is a small lane with barely enough room for one vehicle, that leads down to a river. A few cars park down on the river bank but other than that there is usually no traffic on it. Does this change anything? (Probably not but I need to ask.)

Sorry.
Won't change liability.
If you were reversing from a parking space, and hit him, it would usually be your fault.

spiro

mlfworkman wrote: »

Just to clarify - it isn't a main road. It is a small lane with barely enough room for one vehicle, that leads down to a river. A few cars park down on the river bank but other than that there is usually no traffic on it. Does this change anything? (Probably not but I need to ask.)

If your 'parking space' is you own drive or hardstand that is at 90 degrees to the lane then if you have issues of restricted vision you should always reverse into your 'parking space' thereby giving you clear visibility when driving out.

Inactive

mlfworkman wrote: »

Just to clarify - it isn't a main road. It is a small lane with barely enough room for one vehicle, that leads down to a river. A few cars park down on the river bank but other than that there is usually no traffic on it. Does this change anything? (Probably not but I need to ask.)

Sorry, it was your fault, you reversed in to him.

Quentin

mlfworkman wrote: »

Should I offer him 20 pounds as a gesture of good faith and leave it at that? Or would that be admitting liability and open me up to possibly more claims from him? If anyone can advise me I'd be really grateful.

Offering £20 would be ridiculous.

Just report the incident to your insurer as advised and if you hear anymore directly from the third party tell him to contact his insurer over this.

If you get any correspondence pass it on unanswered to your insurer.

You say this is too late to report to your insurer - not so, and as has been advised if you don't all this can rear up in the future and have big implications for you (because of your non disclosure of this incident which from what you tell us is 100% your fault)