accident in a private car park

HugoRune_2

Advice Please:
A work colleague recently backed into my car in the private car park at work. I presume the best thing to do is reach an amicable agreement between ourselves but if this is not possible, what is the legal position on this e.g. can I insist on his insurance details, and does the fact that it is a private car park affect whether or not I could claim against his insurance.

Thanks

Fiverqueen

Hi Hugo

If you're comprehensively insured and you've guaranteed your no claim discount, you'd be best to let your insurers deal with it. The fact that it was a private car park makes no difference - you are still insured and your colleague is legally obliged to give you his insurance details. However, if you're only third party, or if the damage is minimal and your colleague offers to pay for it privately, you could go down this route. In my experience (as an escaped motor claims correspondent!) the damage always cost far more than you would think! If you go through your own insurers they will sort out the damage and all you will have to pay is any excess - which you can then claim back from your colleague. If your ncd isn't guaranteed it shouldn't be affected as long as the other guys insurers pay up before your renewal.

Hope this helps.

HugoRune_2

Thanks Fiverqueen
I am only 3rd party, and dont have protected NCD, but I presumed if I claim against his insurance and not mine, then it wont affect my NCD. His car is not damaged by the way.
Also, just out of interest, if he refuses to give me his insurance details(this is possible), then what can I do, police?

YorkshireBoy

A few points from personal experience over the years...

1. It may cost your insurers more in admin to persue the other drivers insurance company. They may therefore choose to go "knock-for-knock" and repair your car as a claim on your policy. They don't (or didn't) always tell you they've done this. The downside here is you tell your next insurer you have made a "non-fault" claim when in fact it was an "at-fault" claim according to your last insurer.

2. Even if you are "protected" and your no-claims bonus is unaffected, you will (may?) be "loaded" at your next renewal because you have had an accident - especially if you try to move to a new provider.

3. If you go your own insurer's route, make sure you claim your "uninsured" losses (eg excesses and car-hire etc) from the other driver or his insurance policy.

4. Whichever way you/they deal with it, you will have to answer "YES" when you are asked at your next renewal/quote gathering...

"HAVE YOU HAD AN ACCIDENT IN THE LAST x YEARS?"

...and some insurers will not quote - even when the accident was "non-fault".

Like I said, the above is from personal experience and may not even apply now. However, it's good to be prepared with a few questions before proceeding.

HTH

MissSunshine

Also, just out of interest, if he refuses to give me his insurance details(this is possible), then what can I do, police?

Know it's not work related, but if this happens maybe see if your HR dept will help resolve it first as you're both employees

I hit not 1, but 2 cars on company carpark few years ago :eek: In my defence my car slid on ice!! I wrote down both reg no and went to HR to find out who the owners were. Luckily i wasn't going fast so not much damage. 1 guy let me off, the other asked for £80 to get the black scuff mark off his white bumper, but his manager got him down to £40 as he was going to do it himself and i'd been honest enough to own up

Hope you get it resolved amicably

Fiverqueen

You're right - your ncd won't be affected by claiming on his ins. His might though, which would be why he'd be reluctant to go through them! If his ncd is guaranteed he's got nothing to lose and may as well give you his details.

If I were in your position, I would get one or two quotes for the repairs and show them to your colleague. Most garages only quote for labour, and parts are extra. This can add up, so if you ask them to prepare a 'pro forma invoice' this will give a better idea of the full cost of repairs. It details out the full cost of everything, except any unseen damage. Not all garages like doing this, but it's worth asking.

Then it's up to your colleague. If he's happy to pay the full amount of the repairs you could get the money up front on the basis of the pro forma. If he decides it's too much, then he can go through his insurers. He is still obliged to give you his insurance details, though he doesn't have to claim if he doesn't want to. However, he is obliged to settle your claim one way or the other. As you are legally obliged to exchange ins details, you could go to the police if he gets awkward - hopefully it wont come to that.

If you took out legal cover when you got your insurance they can help you to make the claim - it's worth checking your policy.

Got to go out now, but if you've got any other questions I'll check back later - or I'm sure someone out there can help!

FQ

YorkshireBoy

HugoRune wrote:

Also, just out of interest, if he refuses to give me his insurance details(this is possible), then what can I do, police?

Name and address should suffice, although you will have to be careful of the Data Protection Act, ie don't "officially" ask your company for these details.

These are some of the reasons for taking out legal protection cover - especially at only £12-20 per year.

HugoRune_2

thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I dont like the hassle of it but then i dont want to be mouse either, I'll assess the damage over the weekend, its not great but then why should it cost me when its not my fault.

scheming_gypsy

the easiest way to go about it would be the simple 'what do you want to do about it? insurance or shall i get some prices for repairs'. After that you're leaving the ball in his court without being pushy.
As he's paying he'll probably prefer to get prices rather than you take it round to garages.

Zaphod_Beblebrocks

I remember a few years ago this happening in my works car park,woman reversed into the door of colleages Volvo at speed,she wouldn't bring her car in for weeks and her OH was in the police,she flatly refused to exchange details as it was on private land,he left it to his insurance company,he had several witnesses but to my knowledge his insurance company never contacted anyone and he lost some no-claims bonus.