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Rear end shunt

kevrod79
kevrod79 Posts: 128 Forumite
Morning all,

My 10 month old Insignia was hit from the back at lights this morning. The other party has admitted liability. She would like to pay for the damage herself without going through insurance. Thoughts? (damage is light, a new bumper needed prob).

Kevin
«1

Comments

  • the_bandit
    the_bandit Posts: 75 Forumite
    10 Posts
    First thought would be is she insured to begin with? Could be a ploy to admit liability say "I will pay", give you duff info and never see/hear again!

    However giving the benefit of the doubt here, I would have the car inspected by a couple of Vauxhall bodyshops and ask for a written quote. Go with the quote you want remembering you may have to pay extra for a courtesy car should you need one and inform the other party of the costs. Receive payment for the quote and then book your car in.

    I think the other party will be surprised though when the bill comes in a £750 and just decides to put it through insurance.

    I would also inform you insurer immediately in case a delay just now could cause problems later down the line should a problem develop.
  • kevrod79
    kevrod79 Posts: 128 Forumite
    Have heard from the person who did it all morning, no concerns there. The car is booked into Vauxhall tomorrow for an inspection.

    Worth me contacting my insurer?

    Kev
  • kevrod79 wrote: »
    Worth me contacting my insurer?

    Kev

    Yes, you have to and so does she, even if you are not going through insurance for the repairs.
    I hate football and do wish people wouldn't keep talking about it like it's the most important thing in the world
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    kevrod79 wrote: »

    Worth me contacting my insurer?

    You break the conditions of your policy if you don't inform them!

    And always handy to have a fall back should things go wrong (eg the guilty party refuses to cough up when the time comes etc)
  • Premier_2
    Premier_2 Posts: 15,141 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    kevrod79 wrote: »
    Morning all,

    My 10 month old Insignia was hit from the back at lights this morning. The other party has admitted liability. She would like to pay for the damage herself without going through insurance. Thoughts? (damage is light, a new bumper needed prob).

    Kevin

    Nothing wrong with that, it's entirely up to the driver whether they wish a claim to go through their insurance or not. Lets hope you don't develop whiplash and or other ongoing pains from the accident as the errant driver could be paying out a small fortune.

    If you are fully comp, simply let your own insurance handle the matter; it's what you pay them for.

    If not fully comp, simply get a quote and send a copy to the errant driver for a full refund.

    Keep copies of the bill and payment received as you may need this to prove you made a full recovery to your own insurers.
    "Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 2010
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    kevrod79 wrote: »
    The other party has admitted liability. She would like to pay for the damage herself without going through insurance.
    the_bandit wrote: »
    Could be a ploy to admit liability say "I will pay", give you duff info and never see/hear again!
    kevrod79 wrote: »
    Have heard from the person who did it all morning, no concerns there.

    She may be in contact with you now but once you've paid the repair bill and passed it to her things may very swiftly change. There have been quite a few threads on here about that happening to people. Typical result is the owner gets the car repaired, forwards the invoice to the other party who then vanishes and either leaves the owner with the cost of repair or the car being held by the body shop who won't release it until payment is made. In one recent thread here the bodyshop apparently knew the 3rd party who was to pay the bill - didn't stop them vanishing when it came to payment time.

    By all means go along with it if you wish, but get all the costs quoted up first and THEN take the payment before booking it in - make sure you've got the funds before having the work done so that you cannot be screwed over.

    Personally though I think you're opening a can of worms. If she doesn't keep her side of the deal and you have to get the police involved it will get back to your insurer that you didn't inform them of an accident and then you'll suffer there too.
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    ...If she doesn't keep her side of the deal and you have to get the police involved ......

    The police won't be interested, and won't help at all if she doesn't pay up - it's a civil matter.
  • Lum
    Lum Posts: 6,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Although you technically should inform your insurer, all that will happen if you do this is they will increase your premium for the next five years.

    If you settle this privately then there will be no record of the accident on any insurance databases and no way that the insurance will ever find out.

    It's your call, but I know what I'd do.
  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    Quentin wrote: »
    The police won't be interested, and won't help at all if she doesn't pay up - it's a civil matter.

    They will be if she's never provided any insurance details. That'll be their first port of call.

    Of course different forces do things differently and so does each officer so what happens to one person may be different to someone elses experience.

    Some of the bib in my area are plain stupid while others are so sharp you never want to meet them again.
  • Sgt_Pepper_2
    Sgt_Pepper_2 Posts: 3,644 Forumite
    They will be if she's never provided any insurance details. That'll be their first port of call.

    Of course different forces do things differently and so does each officer so what happens to one person may be different to someone elses experience.

    Some of the bib in my area are plain stupid while others are so sharp you never want to meet them again.

    There are no requirements to provide insurance details for a none injury collision.
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