Car Accident Advice

goldiefloss

5 months ago my son slightly bumped another car, lady he bumped claims he caused a small scratch to bumber. The lady who he 'hit' did not want to involve insurance company for such a minor thing. She took my son's number and car registration. He didn't hear anything for 3 months, then she phoned and said she had had a quote for over £600! This seemed a lot and he said so, she agreed and said she would get anoher quote. My son asked for her car details and a photo of damage (as he wasn't well on day and stupid enough not to get info or take any pics - he now knows this!). Another 2 months went past and he heard nothing.. We assumed she was either trying to scam him for some money but now thought better of it. Anyway, she has now phoned four times in one day saying she has another quote for £475 and threatening to go to police or contact insurance if he doesn't respond in one day!. firstly he has waited 5 months to hear from her and, secondly, she has never sent photo of damage to her car. At her suggestion they didn't go through insurance so obviously he doesn't want to pay more than his £200 excess. Where do we stand as there are no witnesess and he doesn't have a picture of damage or her car details?

Can I add he no longer has the car and, hence, no insurance on it. We are wondering now if she didn't have insurance and that is why she didn't want to go through insurance at the time?

What is the time that has to lapse before it becomes null and void?

vax2002

If its a quote then she has not had the damage repaired, pay a visit and ask to inspect this damage, obtain your own quotes and offer to pay for the repair only "receipted work" , not for a quote for work that may never get done.
If she refuses and threatens with insurance and police again, just say thats a very good idea, give me your insurance details, I trust you did inform your insurance company of the collision, provide the details and I will contact them directly and get them to deal with my insurance.

Azari

Quite honestly, after all this time she doesn't really have a case. If she (or her insurance company) tried to take it to court how could they prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the damage happend five months ago and not some time between then and when the first quote?

And if she goes to the police then she is just as guilty of failing to report an accident as your son - not that they are likely to take an action over something so minor.

Foxy-Stoat_3

I would say the fact that the Third Party has your Son's registration and phone phone then an "incident" took place. As your son didnt inform his insurers at the time and neither did the third party then its unlikely that either insurer will pay out for the damage whatever the end cost will be.

The only thing the TP did wrong was wait for 3 months to tell you the cost of the repairs, which you have say is "a lot" then came back with a cheaper quote 8 weeks later.

If she goes to a no win no fee credit repair/credit rip off car hire places they may take the case on as an incident did happen, it caused damage (although minor) to her car, it is 100% the fault of your son and he WAS insured at the time, although your son broke the terms of the insurance by not reporting it. A small bump in the rear can cost anywhere from £250 to repaint a bumper upto £700 to allow for a new bumper, your son may not of realised that he damaged the bumper or if the bumper was damaged in the first place in any case the garage can easily claim for a new one which will increase the costs.

Maybe explain to the TP that as its taken this long to come to a revised repair figure which you still dont consider reasonable, no incident was reported and the insurance was cancelled and its unlikey they will pay out after 6 months and you dont have £475 for the repairs to pay her.

She will either have to go through the small claims court or contact a no win no fee company or drop the repair bill.

The police wont do anything, her insurers also wont do anything but a no win no fee MAY get involved, then the costs will over double very quickly.

Moglex

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

I would say the fact that the Third Party has your Son's registration and phone phone then an "incident" took place. As your son didnt inform his insurers at the time and neither did the third party then its unlikely that either insurer will pay out for the damage whatever the end cost will be.

The only thing the TP did wrong was wait for 3 months to tell you the cost of the repairs, which you have say is "a lot" then came back with a cheaper quote 8 weeks later.

If she goes to a no win no fee credit repair/credit rip off car hire places they may take the case on as an incident did happen, it caused damage (although minor) to her car, it is 100% the fault of your son and he WAS insured at the time, although your son broke the terms of the insurance by not reporting it. A small bump in the rear can cost anywhere from £250 to repaint a bumper upto £700 to allow for a new bumper, your son may not of realised that he damaged the bumper or if the bumper was damaged in the first place in any case the garage can easily claim for a new one which will increase the costs.

Maybe explain to the TP that as its taken this long to come to a revised repair figure which you still dont consider reasonable, no incident was reported and the insurance was cancelled and its unlikey they will pay out after 6 months and you dont have £475 for the repairs to pay her.

She will either have to go through the small claims court or contact a no win no fee company or drop the repair bill.

The police wont do anything, her insurers also wont do anything but a no win no fee MAY get involved, then the costs will over double very quickly.

You would have a lot more credibility if you actually understood the correct terminology.

The other party to the accident is NOT a third party. She is one of the principals.

While it may be true that an NWNF outfit might take on an accident case there is VERY little likelihood of them doing so in this case because, as someone stated above, there is no real way to demonstrate, on the balance of probabilities, that the damage was actually caused by the OP's son.

A very credible defence would be that the original damage was so minor that the plaintiff did not consider it worth repairing (if, indeed, there was any original damage) and only started action when further damage occured.

vaio

Under the limitations laws she has up to six years to lodge a claim. Excess only applies to claims that son makes for damage to his car.

If she pursues it through legal channels you son’s insurance company will pay out (they are obliged to under RTA) but…….

under the T&C they might be able to reclaim to their costs from your son because he failed to report it to them at the time.

If son cancelled policy and got refund they will be entitled to get the refund back as refunds generally aren’t given on policies where a claim has taken place.

Pragmatically I suspect the best course is to negotiate with the TP with a view to paying her off as if insurance companies get involved then everybody is going to end up out of pocket.

£400 sounds like bit of filler & paint rather than a new bumper

vaio

Moglex wrote: »

You would have a lot more credibility if you actually understood the correct terminology.

The other party to the accident is NOT a third party. She is one of the principals.......

Really? I thought the policy holder and his insurance company were the first two parties and everyone else involved was third party.

Azari

vaio wrote: »

Under the limitations laws she has up to six years to lodge a claim. Excess only applies to claims that son makes for damage to his car.

If she pursues it through legal channels you son’s insurance company will pay out (they are obliged to under RTA) but…….

under the T&C they might be able to reclaim to their costs from your son because he failed to report it to them at the time.

If son cancelled policy and got refund they will be entitled to get the refund back as refunds generally aren’t given on policies where a claim has taken place.

Pragmatically I suspect the best course is to negotiate with the TP with a view to paying her off as if insurance companies get involved then everybody is going to end up out of pocket.

£400 sounds like bit of filler & paint rather than a new bumper

What a load of old nonsense.

Insurance companies do not automatically pay out for any claim made against them. If she pursues it 'through legal channels' she will have to have a very good case as to why she delayed for so many months and persuade the person hearing the case that the damage was, indeed, caused by the OP's son and not at a later date. I would say she's on incredibly this ice.

Azari

vaio wrote: »

Really? I thought the policy holder and his insurance company were the first two parties and everyone else involved was third party.

No, he's correct.

It's the usual problem of people using terminology they don't properly understand.

If you are discussing something between yourself and your insurance company then, yes, the other driver is the third party.

If, on the other hand, you are discussing something between yourself and the other driver, you and she are the principals and anyone else; police, insurance company, etc, are third parties.

Third party simply means someone other than the protagonists under discussion.


e.g. If I pay you by cheque, you and I are the principals to the transaction and the bank(s) are third parties. If, on the other hand I query the handling of the cheque with the bank then the bank and I are principals and you are the third party.

vaio

Azari wrote: »

What a load of old nonsense.

Insurance companies do not automatically pay out for any claim made against them. If she pursues it 'through legal channels' she will have to have a very good case as to why she delayed for so many months and persuade the person hearing the case that the damage was, indeed, caused by the OP's son and not at a later date. I would say she's on incredibly this ice.

Don’t know about nonsense, obviously I should have said any “valid claim”.

In this case the son caused damage and has engaged in dialogue admitting it and discussing the cost so no question about liability.

For a paint & filler £400 repair the nonsense is the suggestion that any insurance company would even think about arguing anything like subsequent damage. The would just pay and be pleased they weren’t being hit for consequential costs too.

Insurance could be said to be becoming unaffordable but that’s because of PI claims and the parasitic credit hire/claims management industry, neither of which figure in this case.

pendulum

The driver will no doubt explain the delay to her insurance company as "He admitted liability. He said he wanted to pay me cash to settle the claim. I accepted and provided numerous quotes but he has used delaying tactics to avoid paying. I now wish to claim from his insurance."

Son will be in a very bad position considering he's admitted he bumped her, he exchanged details, received quotes and telephone calls from her. It'll be apparent that the incident happened, so even trying to deny it (lie) is unlikely to work.

Pay the money or risk the wrath of the insurance IMO. If he stilll drives then it's going to be cheaper to pay for the damage. If he's given up driving and won't be starting again for 5 years or so, let the insurance pay.