Claimed £3500 against £600 worth of damage - help please!

Nicole1709

Hello,

Back in last November 2016 I was in a motor vehicle accident. I was stationary at a roundabout, and one car in front of me pulled onto the roundabout, then slammed on her brakes (despite no other cars being in front of her or coming around the roundabout). I had already started moving again, so I went into the back of her car at no more than 7mph. It was such a minor impact, that the mug full of coffee in my car didn't even spill over. We both pulled over to the side of the road and she took photos of my car and her's (I stupidly did not take any photos). Her car was a Ford KA and the only damage was a small dent below her registration. She said she was not injured and I (again stupidly) admitted full fault.
We drove our separate ways and when I got home I contacted my insurance and they said they would sort the rest. I told them all the details and they said they would handle it. My insurance is with Admiral.
Now, one year on, the case still has not been settled. I called my insurance company today for an update, and they have apparently paid out just over £3500 of damages to her car, for new parts, paint work and repairs. Some of this damage was to the side of her car below the petrol cap, which was no way anything to do with me as I hit her directly from behind.
I told my insurance how ridiculous this was as this this was way more than the damage should have cost, and probably more than the actual car itself costs! I was told by my insurance that since they have already paid out for the claim, there is nothing I can do, and this £3500 will go against my driving record for the next 5 years.
This girl is also claiming whiplash against me - again, no way did it cause whiplash to her at such a low impact - but my insurance has yet to receive any medical information from her regarding this side of the claim.
Please can anyone help me or give me any sort of advice on how to handle this? Is this completely out of my control? It seems really unfair to me that I did not get any say in them accepting that large of a pay out, and this is going to have a huge impact on my insurance. I can barely afford my insurance and other bills as it is, without having this hanging over my head.
If anyone at all can help me I will really appreciate it.

Edit: I have just looked on the DVLA website, and the vehicle has not been taxed since December 2016 (one month after).

Sparx

And this is exactly what drives up everyone's premiums in the UK... Compo culture and it's too easy! Sigh.

OP, buy yourself a dash cam.

Nicole1709

I know, such a shame. She seemed so nice when it happened!

I have since bought a dash cam, but its too little too late unfortunately

Quentin

The claim for whiplash all gets counted in with the damage (to both cars), so just counts as one claim against you, and you can see what impact it will have on your premium by doing dummy quotes online now with this in your history (adjust your NCD if it is not protected)


Your insurer is can deal with claims as it thinks fit (you look to have agreed you were to blame).


The third party car not being taxed subsequently is irrelevant to the claim


(Not all insurers require 5 years history of claims, some ask for just 3 years, so bear that in mind when renewing in 3 years time and look for those)

FutureGirl

If you were at fault, there is nothing you can do. There is nothing for you to 'handle'. Your policy would have been affected no matter how much her vehicle damage was.

I can't see your insurers just rolling over and paying whatever the other driver has asked them to pay. The £3,500 could also include some aspect of car hire, especially if she didn't go through her own insurers for any repairs - it's also likely her vehicle was a write off. Your insurers certainly wouldn't have paid out for £3,500 of repairs if the market value of the vehicle is less than this.

Nicole1709

I don't think you read my comment very well FutureGirl. I hit her at less than 7mph. Do you honestly believe that that is enough to write off a car that was driving and functioning fine?
I also spoke to my insurance, and they did roll over and pay £3500, as I mentioned. They detailed the repairs for me and it was for new car parts, a paint job, and additional repairs. Nothing to do with a courtesy car.
The insurers said they did not contest the claim as I had admitted fault. But admitting fault for a small bump isn't the same thing as me telling them to just pay whatever ridiculous sum the girl claimed her repairs came to.

Quentin

Nevertheless you have no axe to grind as explained - and the amount of money involved won't make any difference to your future premium increases

csgohan4

My parked car was 'lightly' hit by someone reversing slowly, they still got over 1800k bill, so it is not entirely impossible to hit 3k plus depending where the damage, sensors in car bumpers are not cheap to replace for example

When you signed up to the T+Cs did you not read the part where you would let your insurers deal with claims on your behalf?

Your premiums will go up because a fault claim, regardless of how much the insurer forked out. No point in raging about the costs now, what's done is done, move on and drive carefully

OnanTheBarbarian

You made a mistake, caused someone else injury and loss and your insurers are dealing with it as they deem fit.

Nothing to see here, move on, it will just make you bitter and angry and do you no good.

Keep_pedalling

It does not matter how much the damage comes to as far as you are concerned, a fault claim is a fault claim your NCB will be hit that's same for a £500 flame as a £50000 claim. Fake whiplash claims are frustrating, but you really need to forget it and move on.

tempus_fugit

Sparx wrote: »

And this is exactly what drives up everyone's premiums in the UK... Compo culture and it's too easy! Sigh.

OP, buy yourself a dash cam.

And don't drink coffee whilst driving. It doesn't help.