Car Reversed into Me - Insurance?

Zolabrecht

Hi All

Some advice on this please if anyones been through this.

I was recently parked in the car park at work, when a car has amazingly reversed into the side of the drivers door and caused a bit of a dent. It wa amazing because there were only 3 cars in the center of the car park including mine and the driver.

I wasnt in the car at the time and the driver had the decency to come and tell me.

As my car is 1998 plate, I went and and got a private quote for my door to be repaired at a valuation of £150 + VAT, to save going through the insurance. I thought this was quite fair price considering thats to fix 90% of the damage. Basically a full repair would the include having the scratches filling in and as the dents at an angle a lot more work and hence price. I can live with a small dent......


Ive spoken to the other driver and they would rather go through their insurance as they deem this excessive.

So for me, it means, Ill probably have my car written off, Ill pay 200 voluntary excess and will raise my premiun.

Assuming the above is correct, Im thinking of just suggesting we both pay half the £150 for the repairs and I live with it. It is a car that Ill probably keep until it runs no more......

Anyone been in a similar situation and could perhaps offer some advice?

thanks

Aretnap

Ultimately if he wants to refer you to his insurer you can't force him to settle privately - it's his choice, and it's what he pays his insurers for.

Your excess is not a worry. You would only have to pay it if you were claiming through your own insurance policy - and even then you could reclaim it from his insurers as an uninsured loss as he was at fault. Or you could claim directly from his insurers, which would mean not having to pay it at all, even temporarily.

You would have to tell your own insurers (strictly speaking you should tell them even if you settle it privately) but as it's a no fault accident the effect on your premium is likely to be small - many insurers won't increase your premium at all for a single no fault claim, others will only load by 5-10%.

If your car does get written off you may well be allowed to keep it if you're claiming through his insurance. When I had a shunt from behind a few years ago the other guy's insurer's sent me a cheque for rather more than I thought my car was worth (it would have been fair had the exhaust and cam belt not both been making horrible noises - luckily the assessor never switched the engine on) and I kept driving it with a dent in it until I got round to buying a new one. If your car is worth, say £750, you could pay the £150 to get the dent sort of fixed, set a little aside for any premium increase, and have about £500 left over to blow on a new TV. Sounds like a bargain to me!

AdrianC

Zolabrecht wrote: »

Ive spoken to the other driver and they would rather go through their insurance as they deem this excessive.

They're funny...

So for me, it means, Ill probably have my car written off, Ill pay 200 voluntary excess and will raise my premiun.

Assuming the above is correct, Im thinking of just suggesting we both pay half the £150 for the repairs and I live with it. It is a car that Ill probably keep until it runs no more...

Honestly? If you really get nowhere with a contribution from them, then I'd just quietly swallow the bill myself. All of it. If your insurer hear of it, then your NCB and excess won't get touched - you aren't at fault - but you will have to declare it for five years, and your premium will go up as a result.

EdGasket

hmmm. Take it through his insurance then. They are less likely to write it off than your own. If they do write it off they may well let you keep the car, or buy it back for scrap value. If they don't you can always drop the claim and you are no worse off.

InsideInsurance

If he's admitting liability then claim directly off their insurance and ask for a cash in lieu settlement.

forgotmyname

You call your insurer to notify them of the incident and then claim directly from his insurance.
When they offer a payout or write your car off tell them you wish to retain the vehicle. You will probably get a few hundred £ and get to keep the car.

EdGasket

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If he's admitting liability then claim directly off their insurance and ask for a cash in lieu settlement.

You wont get that. They will repair it through their authorised repairers or write it off.
The only way to get cash is to get two estimates and submit the lowest to the Third Party with a threat of court action if they don't pay up. TP will pass onto insurance who might pay but may still instead offer to repair and if you refuse, it won't look good if it went to court.