Settling Privately - Wise Idea?

zx_31

A friend (a relatively new driver) was involved in a minor car incident recently, in which the two cars connected at low speed in a car park resulting in minor scratching and dents. In retrospect, she believes the neither party was clearly at fault for the incident. However at the scene of the incident the other party was insistent that the collision was my friend’s fault, and that his passengers would act as witnesses who would back him up. My friend was alone at the time, which combined with her distress and inexperience resulted in her implicitly taking the blame. The usual details were exchanged – with the intent of resolving the situation privately.

Since then, emails have been exchanged between both parties and quotes have been received for the damages, and both parties have been relatively amicable in express their desires to resolve the situation. The other party is expecting full reimbursement for repairs, but my friend has began to doubt whether she should really be blamed 100% for the incident and isn’t sure how to proceed.

What would be the best course of action here? My friend has not notified her insurance company (which is 3rd party cover) and to her knowledge, the other party has not reported it either. Would it be advisable for her to notify her insurance company now and pursue that route? Or, given the effect this would have on premiums etc, and the current situation with the other party, would this be a bad idea? Her other concern is the legal implications – is there anything to stop the other party from pursuing this further after privately settling? (It would seem unlikely, but I guess you can never be too sure about people). The cost of repairs on each cars is in the region of £250-£400.

Appreciate any advice.

Quentin

Your friend is bound by her policy conditions to inform her insurer. They will decide on the liability issue, and only pay up to the third party if neccessary.

This is to your friend's advantage, as although she cannot claim for her own damage off her own insurance, she will be able to claim off the third party if they are found liable in any way.

eg. If the matter is resolved as 50/50, she will be able to get 50% of her costs back off the third party insurer.

There is nothing to stop the third party coming back to her with injuries/car hire costs etc if she meekly pays up privately!

McKneff

And any witness/passengers in the car/s evidence would be discarded anyway,but as Quentin
has pointed out, she must inform her insurance company, whether she goes through them or not.

zx_31

McKneff wrote: »

And any witness/passengers in the car/s evidence would be discarded anyway,but as Quentin
has pointed out, she must inform her insurance company, whether she goes through them or not.

Appreciate the replies.

Any advice on how to present the situation to the insurance company? How are the likely to ascertain fault in an unclear incident such as this?

Apologies for my lack of knowledge, but I'm just trying to understand the exact process here, i.e. who makes the claims and with whom, and how it's then dealt with.

If she reports the incident to he insurer, she should then expect the other party to makes a claim against her via his insurer? What happens he only has 3rd party cover as well?

If my friend was deemed 100% at fault, what impact would that have upon insurance premiums? Would there still be an impact if she was deemed not liable at all?

Thanks

Quentin

She should tell her insurer what happened. If liability isn't clear cut (ie both sides contributed to the collision, then liability will be split)

If the third party only has third party cover he may pursue your friend. But if he does, all she will have to do is pass his correspondence over to her insurer and they will deal with the claim. (He may do this in any case if he has comp. cover, but she should do the same with any correspondence she gets)

If she is deemed liable (or partly liable) she can expect her premium to increase plus the loss of some NCD if she has any.

But if the incident is deemed split liability, then each side will be able to claim their portion off the other.

If your friend thinks the other driver is liable or partly liable, then she should put in a claim to the third party insurance company.