Insurance Claim - Help

escollay

First off, sorry if this is in the wrong section

A few weeks back I had a bit of a bumper to bumper bump. Once it happened I maintained that it wasn't my fault. Basically as myself and the other car were moving off from a junction, she hesitated and stopped suddenly, causing her toe-bar to go through the front grill of my car. We inspected the cars at the road side and seeing as my car had most of the damage (& we couldnt come to an agreement over who's fault it was), we just exchanged numbers and went our separate ways.

A few days later I got a call from her husband insisting I pay for scratch marks on his bumper to get repainted. As first I point blank refused, as I still maintained that it wasnt my fault and my car had the greater damage. He told me to go and speak to a few people as the general consensus is that if you crash into the back of someone you are responsible for the damage, regardless of the situation. I had a look online and this seems to be correct (is it?). I then agreed to pay for the paintwork on the car.

So a few week pass and now he has phoned me, telling me that he took it to his dealership to get a quote for the repairs, and they informed him that he requires a new bumper and the cost is £877. I can't afford this so if I go ahead I will have to make a claim on my insurance, which I don't want to do.

So from a legal standpoint what will happen if I refuse to pay this? There has been no police report filled out or anything reported to the insurance companies.

Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

gordikin

You are at fault, so one way or another you will have to pay. Personally I'd contact the insurance co. and let them deal with it.

Quentin

escollay wrote: »

So from a legal standpoint what will happen if I refuse to pay this? There has been no police report filled out or anything reported to the insurance companies.

Legally you can be chased (through the county court if necessary) for the money.

Practically you now need to quickly inform your insurer of the incident - you have already breached the policy conditions by agreeing your liability and making an offer to the third party, and you make matters worse (for you) by not complying with the policy and informing your insurer of what has happened.

Hopefully your insurer will ignore the breaches and deal with the claim. Tell the third party you cannot pay as previously agreed and want to leave it to the insurers to deal with.

This leaves the ball in his court to progress his claim - either direct with you/your insurer or via his own insurance company.

Pass on any correspondence you get from the third party unanswered to your insurer to deal with.

escollay

Thank you for your prompt replies.

Is there anyway the other driver can force me to put it through my insurance company? I really dont want to do this as it will affect my insurance for years, already looked at prices.. Scary some with a £3000 excess...

I would much rather get the money together and pay him

ILW

If you can get the money together then fine. But you will have to declare the incident to your insurance company anyway.

escollay

ILW wrote: »

If you can get the money together then fine. But you will have to declare the incident to your insurance company anyway.

Why is this?
Even though it will be a private agreement?

Quentin

escollay wrote: »

Why is this?
Even though it will be a private agreement?

Because you have a legal agreement with your insurer which includes you notifying them of incidents like this!