Passenger dinged car parked next to me ... advice?

alex177

Just before Christmas my passenger dinged a car parked next to me. How he did this, I have no idea. Especially as there was a good 70+cm between the 2 cars.

Anyway, the damage on the other car is exceedingly minor; the ding is barely noticeable, it actually took me a good 30-40 seconds to see the "damage" with my own eyes because it's so minor. Words cannot describe how insignificant the ding was - you could only vaguely see it from 1 angle. I've got some repair quotes of £50-100, which is OK. I'm not bothered about this. The passenger said that he's happy to pay this anyway.

What I am worried about, is that the guy from the car that was dinged will claim on my insurance. Immediately after the incident, he asked for my insurance details (not sure what "insurance details" are, all I gave him was my address and name; he already had my reg - not sure if this is enough to make a claim. Anyway, I asked him whether I could pay for the damage outright, he said that he didn't care.

The thing is I'm 19 and my insurance right now, I can barely afford. If he claims, the premiums will be astronomical - I've looked and it's not pretty.

I was waiting for the guy to contact me, but he hasn't yet. It's been over 2 weeks and he hasn't contacted me yet. I sent him a message yesterday (which he read - I could tell as it was an iMessage) asking him to update me on the situation. I reiterated that I would pay for the repairs with no problems. No reply. I'm just so concerned that he will claim on my insurance.

I'm going to phone him soon and see what's what ... he seemed to ignore my message, and I have a strange feeling he'll ignore my calls.

Anyway, does any one have any advice?

Thank you.

AdrianC

Yes, a registration is enough to get your insurer's details and your policy number - https://www.askmid.co.uk. If he gets in contact with you directly, just pass it to the passenger who did it. It's their fault, so they pay.

But if it's been a fortnight, I think it's unlikely you'll hear again.

pappa_golf

lack of reply is due to bad phone signal at specialist , whiplash in car parks is horrendous

alex177

Ok thank you, he hasn't contacted me once, so that's why I'm worrying. If he doesn't go through insurance my passenger will be paying, so that's OK.

If he does go through insurance, I won't be driving next year, just can't afford it. It really sucks, especially for something so minor that wasn't really my fault

neilmcl

alex177 wrote: »

Immediately after the incident, he asked for my insurance details (not sure what "insurance details" are,

Well the name of your insurance company would've been a good start.

EdGasket

alex177 wrote: »

Immediately after the incident, he asked for my insurance details (not sure what "insurance details" are,

Name of insurer and policy number; you are required by law to pass this information to the third party if you have an accident however what you told him is enough with the reg. number of your car.

agrinnall

Although it's no longer required by law I still always carry my insurance certificate in the car so that if it's needed I can refer to it easily.

Billy_Bullocks

agrinnall wrote: »

Although it's no longer required by law I still always carry my insurance certificate in the car so that if it's needed I can refer to it easily.

When was requirement to produce insurance removed?

Sooler

He may be just not bothered and can't be arsed with the hastle.

Lorian

Sooler wrote: »

He may be just not bothered and can't be arsed with the hastle.

I agree. On going home an realising its so minor - dings like this are part of life where I park, I have a few :-(

Car_54

Billy_Bullocks wrote: »

When was requirement to produce insurance removed?

If there is no personal injury, there is no requirement to provide insurance details at the scene. Details (insurer, policy number) must be given when a claim is made, but there is no need to produce a certificate.

In the case of injury, the certificate must be produced at the scene or at a police station within 7 days.

The current law has been in place since 1988.