Not convinced I caused the damage claimed to other party's car

poorlittlefish

Recently a car in front of me turned left out of a junction and, as there was nothing coming, I turned left too, only for the driver in front to immediately slam on his breaks for no apparent reason, which led to my bumper hitting his. At the time he was pointing to scratches in the middle of the bumper, which to me looked like abrasion from being rubbed with something coarse and I doubted they were caused by the accident. However, I said that for such minor damage I would rather just pay for the work rather than go through insurance and asked him to get a quote, to which he agreed.

He's now come back and said the bumper needs an entire replacement at a cost of £750 because it is cracked. However, the crack is on the very right side of the bumper and I cannot possibly fathom how the left edge of my bumper could have hit the right side of his when we were both turning left. I am now doubting that I caused this (or maybe any) damage and am wondering whether I should approach my insurance company and say what happened or whether doing so could end up costing me way more than £750 in increased premiums, lost excess etc. Would they bother to investigate whether the damage alleged could have been caused by what happened or would they just automatically say I was at fault and therefore pay out?

Warwick_Hunt

Once they have your insurance details wait for the whiplash claim.

Quentin

If you are worried about fraud etc then you need to put this in the hands of your insurer.


(Bear in mind that you have an upward climb to prove the car in front was negligent when you drove into it)


If you have no damage on your car to claim for then you won't normally have to pay any excess for the third party damage caused

Aylesbury_Duck

poorlittlefish wrote: »

Recently a car in front of me turned left out of a junction and, as there was nothing coming, I turned left too, only for the driver in front to immediately slam on his breaks for no apparent reason, which led to my bumper hitting his. At the time he was pointing to scratches in the middle of the bumper, which to me looked like abrasion from being rubbed with something coarse and I doubted they were caused by the accident. However, I said that for such minor damage I would rather just pay for the work rather than go through insurance and asked him to get a quote, to which he agreed.

He's now come back and said the bumper needs an entire replacement at a cost of £750 because it is cracked. However, the crack is on the very right side of the bumper and I cannot possibly fathom how the left edge of my bumper could have hit the right side of his when we were both turning left. I am now doubting that I caused this (or maybe any) damage and am wondering whether I should approach my insurance company and say what happened or whether doing so could end up costing me way more than £750 in increased premiums, lost excess etc. Would they bother to investigate whether the damage alleged could have been caused by what happened or would they just automatically say I was at fault and therefore pay out?

I'd not be surprised if there is more damage than you would have seen. There are plenty of accounts from innocent parties on here shocked that what looked like superficial scratches or rubs turned out to be more serious structural damage underneath.

Put it through your insurers. Otherwise, at best you're at the mercy of the other party when it comes to costs, at worst, your insurer pays out and increases your premiums. At least with the second option the costs are defined or predictable. With the former, who knows how much you'll end up shelling out?

System

poorlittlefish wrote: »

However, the crack is on the very right side of the bumper and I cannot possibly fathom how the left edge of my bumper could have hit the right side of his when we were both turning left.

Bumper bolted in place, your bumper forces theirs to the right and it cracks the plastic where its bolted onto the car on the right hand side?

Iceweasel

Bad luck poorlittlefish

The other driver may or may not be exaggerating the extent of the damage, but you will have a hard job proving it either way

Get in touch with your own insurance company first thing in the morning and let them deal with it all.

That is what you pay them for.

Good luck with the increases in premiums you will likely suffer in the next few years.

They may not be as bad as you think.

Do come back and tell us how you get on.

debtdebt

It's always the case that when the forum poster runs into the back of someone, they're always astonished at the cost of the damage.

You negligently drove into the back of someone. If you don't want to pay for the repair, pass it onto your insurers to deal with. It's as simple as that.

meyouritabobsue

Check your insurance first, there may be a clause that you have to inform them within xx days of the incident.
If you are out of this time then you may not be covered (so you have to suck up the costs) AND your premiums will still rise because you have 'notified' them of an incident.
Good luck! - next time (hopefully they will not be a next time) take pictures with your phone of the impact zones, and the overall road and positions of the cars to help the insurance company make a considered decision as to whether damaged claimed is reasonable or not.

Strider590

OP it doesn't matter what the damage is, you weren't paying attention, you didn't look both ways and you hit their car, the end result is the same regardless of whether the claimed damage is a lie or not.

As a child I was hit by a driver in similar circumstances, cycling left out of a junction, I pulled out but then my chain came off, the driver behind only looked right and floored it straight into my bike.

angrycrow

modern cars have an impact absorbing bar fitted behind the bumper. This bar is narrower than the rear bumper by 6 to 8 inches on both ends. When a car gets hit in the rear the plastic bumper compresses and gets stretched over the impact bar and often splits vertically at either end of the bar. The bumper then pops back out leaving two vertical splits one at either end and lots of vertical scratches or abrasions along the upper or lower edge of the bumper where your bumper has ridden over or under theirs. This type of damage always requires replacement of the complete bumper. £750 would not be an unreasonable cost.

bigadaj

Strider590 wrote: »

OP it doesn't matter what the damage is, you weren't paying attention, you didn't look both ways and you hit their car, the end result is the same regardless of whether the claimed damage is a lie or not.

As a child I was hit by a driver in similar circumstances, cycling left out of a junction, I pulled out but then my chain came off, the driver behind only looked right and floored it straight into my bike.

That explains a lot.