Car accident - third party damage - can they force a claim through my insurance?

motorguy

I've been unfortunate enough today to slide off the road and through a fence and into someones garden.

To keep my insurance costs bearable, i want to pay for the damage myself. The car just needed a front bumper and headlight and i was lucky enough to get a bumper the same colour so the car will be back on the road tomorrow, probably at a cost of no more than £150 all in.

Now the problem lies with the third party damage. Basically, theres about four fence posts out, a couple of edging moved and several shrubs damaged. I've a joiner friend whos going to sort that out and they are happy with that.

Whilst the man of the house is reasonably sympathetic the woman of the house is very much of the opinion that the shrubs must be replace like for like in terms of size. One full grown bush shes talking about will cost £250 to replace and shes expecting a full grown medium sized tree to be replaced that has had just one of its four major branches broken. I'm no tree surgeon but i'd have thought the branch could be sawn off but shes adamant the tree will die, therefore must be replaced.

Whilst i know i have to 'man up' here and sort this out, shes using the veiled threat that if i dont agree to her terms and her 'like for like' on size insistence then she'll simply force it through my insurance anyway.

Have I any rights here in terms of

(a) the like for like on size of shrub / tree - i fear she'll come back saying shes found some company who specialises in full grown trees and that they will personally transport the tree for a mere £5000 or some other random amount.

(b) can she 'force' me to go through my insurance?

Thanks in advance.

TSx

She is entitled to be put back in the position she was originally - I'd expect her to be getting two quotes to fully reinstate the damaged property.

She can't force you to go through your insurance, but she can issue small claims court proceedings for less than £5,000. If you then wanted to pass it to your insurers you'd find they'd be less than impressed you haven't reported the accident (a condition of your policy). You should be notifying them for information only at this stage.

mikey72

You're stuffed really. She can ask anything, you can pay her out of your pocket, and she can then get your details off askmid, and put a claim in again. If the tree has been broken badly, it's not unreasonable to ask for it to be replaced, as it will look unbalanced. Any mates that are gardeners? as really all you can do is replace like for like, then she won't have anything to make a claim on, and you'll know the true cost. Obviously, you should tell your insurer, as if you don't, she may anyway, and if you keep her happy and she doesn't, then they may not find out, and won't get the chance to increase your premium next year.

Quentin

pgilc1 wrote: »

(b) can she 'force' me to go through my insurance?.....

Contrary to the earlier answer from TSx, yes she can.

She is perfectly entitled to pursue a claim direct with your insurer.

You can still end up in the same position as you would be were she to deal with you, though.

After the issue is concluded, you can reimburse your insurer all their outlay over this, thereby getting your NCD reinstated.

All you need to do now is inform your insurer of the incident.

Then await any developments - pass any correspondence you get from the third party on (unanswered) to your insurer to deal with.

thenudeone

TSx wrote: »

She can't force you to go through your insurance

Well, strictly speaking if she takes legal action it will probably be against you personally.
But it will be a condition of your policy that you inform your insurer immediately and don't try to negotiate or agree a settlement with the third party yourself.

If you ignore that condition, and she wins against you in court, she can force your insurer to pay, even if they weren't even aware of it, due to this law http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/151 which is why insurers insist that they deal with claims.

If you haven't complied with your policy conditions by notifying and allowing your insurer to defend the claim, they may come after you to recoup their costs, if they think that your actions have resulted in them having to pay out when they might not have, had you complied with your policy and allowed them to deal with it.

forgotmyname

I would hand her a note with your insurance details and ask for hers.

She might not realise that it will be marked under their name as a claim which they have to declare for the next 5 years also.

With the chance of an increased premium.

She might change her mind. Thinking about it.. Ask her if she informed her insurance within 24 hoursof the incident as her policy probably states.

Quentin

forgotmyname wrote: »

I would hand her a note with your insurance details and ask for hers.....

There is no obligation whatsoever for this innocent third party to pass on her insurance details (and she may not have any to pass on)!

Asking for this will only sour relations further, as would asking her the other insurance questions you suggest!

Rob_192

pgilc1

I suspect the other posters are correct, but isn't it a shame some people can be so blinking misserable. It was clearly an accident, not intentional damage, so why do some people have to take this attitude? It is just typical of everything that's wrong with this sad little coutry of ours. Instead of being a cheap and easy to rectify incident, her actions turn it into a ful blown claim which will ultimately mean the insurance company pay out and up goes the premium for all of us.

Last winter, a lady just around the corner from me reversed out of her drive and accidentally hit my car bumper to bumper. It caused the bumper to deflect and consequently the paint is cracked in that area and has left a star shaped scar which is peeling slightly. Now she was totally in the wrong and I would have been perfectly within my rights to claim for a new bumper and the associated paint job - probably £200-£300 worth. Instead, I just laughed about it and let her off - my car's a 7 year old modeo with 140k on the clock - just an old work horse with a fair number of other minor dents and blemishes, so I figure one more really insn't going to make much difference - Ok I was probably a bit soft, but honestly, life's too short for that sort of s**t.

R

motorguy

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.

Got the quote through last night for 5 shrubs in her garden. £20 short of £2,000. The tree is costing £1,000 the other 4 shrubs come to £700 and £300 of labour.

The fencing looks like its going to come in at around £1,000 on top of that.

So given those figures i've had to put it through the insurance.

Oh well....

thegirlintheattic

Rob_192 wrote: »

pgilc1

I suspect the other posters are correct, but isn't it a shame some people can be so blinking misserable. It was clearly an accident, not intentional damage, so why do some people have to take this attitude? It is just typical of everything that's wrong with this sad little coutry of ours. Instead of being a cheap and easy to rectify incident, her actions turn it into a ful blown claim which will ultimately mean the insurance company pay out and up goes the premium for all of us.

R

So the innocent party should be out of pocket or put up with a damaged garden?

This is what insurance is for. The third party didn't ask for the OP to plow into her garden.

forgotmyname

Quentin wrote: »

There is no obligation whatsoever for this innocent third party to pass on her insurance details (and she may not have any to pass on)!

Asking for this will only sour relations further, as would asking her the other insurance questions you suggest!

Relations were already soured so its was just an idea to put the fact that if she did have insurance, She should have informed them.

Accidents, Incidents etc. Even if no claim has/will be made.

Personally i would still make the remark in passing. That they will need to declare this incident when they renew. And it may put their insurance up as it could happen again.