Accident

Android07

Afternoon!

I hit a car on Monday on the motorway which was on the next lane. We both scraped our doors.

I gave my details but the other driver only gave me her number.

I offered to pay for the repairs. She got a quote a day later. It is more than what I am willing to pay as it would seriously dent my pocket. She refused to go to my preferred garage either as she thinks her garage 'very professional'.

I have told my insurance provider.

What else should I do at this point?

DullGreyGuy

Nothing, let your insurers deal with it. If she makes contact again just say its with your insurers now and give her the details, if you haven't already. 

CliveOfIndia

The simplest thing is to just let your insurance deal with it - especially since you've already told them (which actually is the correct thing to do, strictly speaking, whether or not you claim).

The problem with offering to pay for it yourself is that costs can quickly mount up.  There's the cost of the repair itself, there may be hidden damage that needs to be sorted, the other party may need a courtesy car whilst theirs is being repaired, they could be cheeky and try to claim for whiplash.  Just let your insurance sort it out, that's what you pay them for.

DE_612183

yes, now it's with the insurance company her insurers will either use there approved garage network or they may allow her to use a choice of her own.

At some point her insurance company will ask you to accept liability and your insurance company will foot the bill.

Don't forget if she has an excess this may have to paid as well...

CliveOfIndia

DE_612183 said:

Don't forget if she has an excess this may have to paid as well...

This won't concern the OP.  If the third party claims directly from the OPs insurance, then they won't pay an excess.

If they claim off their own insurance then they'll pay an excess initially - this will usually be refunded if the OP is deemed to be entirely at fault and the TPs insurance reclaim their costs from the OPs insurance.

But either way it won't make a difference to the OP.  They'll have a claim recorded against them, which will increase their premiums, but the value of the claim makes no difference.

It's only if the OP wants to claim off their own insurance for the damage to their own car, then they'll have to pay their own excess.

Android07

After the accident, I admitted that it was my fault. Was I wrong to do this for the sake of legal hassle, etc. ?

I went on quote sites and my insurance would increase to £250 next year. The repair quote was considerbaly higher.So, I decided to go down the insurance route.

My insurance provider has asked me to contact a repairs company but I am going to ignore this and repair the car on my own. My bodyshop has quoted £600 only.

DullGreyGuy

Android07 said:

After the accident, I admitted that it was my fault. Was I wrong to do this for the sake of legal hassle, etc. ?

Your insurers will always say not to because it just creates headaches in the future and not everyone knows all case law so may say "its my fault" when the law doesn't necessarily agree (eg indicating to turn right into a side road, someone tries to overtake you as you turn - turning party says its their fault as they didnt check behind but in most cases thats a split liability situation).

If you know you simply lost concentration and strayed into their lane then there is little to argue it wasn't your fault so makes no difference. For modest claims its about dealing with them quickly as thats the way to make it cheap... if you're dealing with a £10m claim then its worth exploring all avenues in more detail. 

Let your insurers know you aren't claiming for your own damages. As has been said above, you won't have to pay your excess if not claiming for your damages. 

Aretnap

If your excess is less than £600 (or whatever you think you'll spend on repairs) then you might as well claim for your own damage as well. You are going to have a claim to declare anyway next year due to the third party element, and an extra few hundred pounds on the total will make little or no difference to next year's premium (probably no difference - most insurers don't even ask how much the claim cost).

Android07

Aretnap said:

If your excess is less than £600 (or whatever you think you'll spend on repairs) then you might as well claim for your own damage as well. You are going to have a claim to declare anyway next year due to the third party element, and an extra few hundred pounds on the total will make little or no difference to next year's premium (probably no difference - most insurers don't even ask how much the claim cost).

My excess is £350. The car is worth a grand.
There is also a line in my insurance policy which says using a non-approved repairer will cost me £500. I am not entirely sure if it applies to my own car or a 3rd party's car.

Car_54

Android07 said:

What else should I do at this point?

Not at this point, but next time insist on her name and address, which she is obliged by law to give. A phone number may be useless or false.

user1977

Car_54 said:

Android07 said:

What else should I do at this point?

Not at this point, but next time insist on her name and address, which she is obliged by law to give. A phone number may be useless or false.

If they're going to give a false phone number, why wouldn't they give a false name and address?