Minor car accident
Robert95
Posts: 9
Forumite
Hi guys,
I was behind someone at a roundabout who began to pull away but emergency stopped as she thought she saw a car coming. I hit the back of her car (early 2000 vw polo) and caused no damage at all to the front of my car but there was small marks on the back of her car.
The collision was at less than 5mph and there’s a few scratches and a small bump in the back of her car (it doesn’t look like it matches the height of my car so I don’t think it was from me).
Anyway, she has messaged today with her pictures showing the damage to her bumper and is claiming she woke up with neck pain - it was a 5mph hit so my gut tells me this is put on as a leverage tool.
I don’t feel it’s worth going through insurance as the likely damage to her car is a replacement bumper for a couple of hundred which is less than our premiums. Her car is only worth around 500 pounds too. She seems to be trying to rinse as much from me as she can and threatening to contact her insurance whenever I question her repair quotes/claims. I do genuinely want to get to a fair point between us as I did hit her car, I just don’t want to be screwed over!
Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this and what would be the best way forward for me? I’m a young driver with three years no claims so I’d ideally like to keep that!
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks
I was behind someone at a roundabout who began to pull away but emergency stopped as she thought she saw a car coming. I hit the back of her car (early 2000 vw polo) and caused no damage at all to the front of my car but there was small marks on the back of her car.
The collision was at less than 5mph and there’s a few scratches and a small bump in the back of her car (it doesn’t look like it matches the height of my car so I don’t think it was from me).
Anyway, she has messaged today with her pictures showing the damage to her bumper and is claiming she woke up with neck pain - it was a 5mph hit so my gut tells me this is put on as a leverage tool.
I don’t feel it’s worth going through insurance as the likely damage to her car is a replacement bumper for a couple of hundred which is less than our premiums. Her car is only worth around 500 pounds too. She seems to be trying to rinse as much from me as she can and threatening to contact her insurance whenever I question her repair quotes/claims. I do genuinely want to get to a fair point between us as I did hit her car, I just don’t want to be screwed over!
Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this and what would be the best way forward for me? I’m a young driver with three years no claims so I’d ideally like to keep that!
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks
0
Comments
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Hi guys,
I was behind someone at a roundabout who began to pull away but emergency stopped as she thought she saw a car coming. I hit the back of her car (early 2000 vw polo) and caused no damage at all to the front of my car but there was small marks on the back of her car.
The collision was at less than 5mph and there’s a few scratches and a small bump in the back of her car (it doesn’t look like it matches the height of my car so I don’t think it was from me).
Anyway, she has messaged today with her pictures showing the damage to her bumper and is claiming she woke up with neck pain - it was a 5mph hit so my gut tells me this is put on as a leverage tool.
I don’t feel it’s worth going through insurance as the likely damage to her car is a replacement bumper for a couple of hundred which is less than our premiums. Her car is only worth around 500 pounds too. She seems to be trying to rinse as much from me as she can and threatening to contact her insurance whenever I question her repair quotes/claims. I do genuinely want to get to a fair point between us as I did hit her car, I just don’t want to be screwed over!
Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this and what would be the best way forward for me? I’m a young driver with three years no claims so I’d ideally like to keep that!
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks
On a side note, you are clearly suspicious of the other driver's claim of suffering injury in this accident. Many others would be, and I'm sure many reading this thread will be. And it may be that the claim is spurious, or that the injury is extremely minor. But unfortunately you have neither the knowledge nor experience to properly rebut any claim for personal injury made in these circumstances. Your insurer does, which is all the more reason why you should be reporting this as you know you are obliged to."MIND IF I USE YOUR PHONE? IF WORD GETS OUT THATI'M MISSING FIVE HUNDRED GIRLS WILL KILL THEMSELVES."0 -
Dont even think about not involving your insurance company.
Down the line if they find out you will find you cannot get insurance at all and any claim you make in an accident will be voided because you have broken the terms of your contract wiht your insurance company which include informing them of any accident,make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
Forgetting about the possible injury....if the other party wants a 'proper' repair on their vehicle by a reputable repairer a bumper job ( bumper plus prepare and paint job) could easily exceed £500.....it doesn't matter that the car might only be worth £500 they are entitled to a decent repair.0
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Forgetting about the possible injury....if the other party wants a 'proper' repair on their vehicle by a reputable repairer a bumper job ( bumper plus prepare and paint job) could easily exceed £500.....it doesn't matter that the car might only be worth £500 they are entitled to a decent repair.
If her car is worth only £500 then any repair needed will likely result in a write off being made! The settlement for the car will be £500 if that is the true market value
The OP (or his insurer) won't be paying for uneconomic repairs!0 -
Well that is obvious but the op shouldn't try to trivialise the damage just because the car is only worth £500 .0
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That's true.....it's just that the op wants to avoid using the insurance ( against his terms and conditions) so can't really dictate to the other party.0
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That's true.....it's just that the op wants to avoid using the insurance ( against his terms and conditions) so can't really dictate to the other party.
Yes, I wasn't challenging you, but rather wanted to point out that all of this talk of it only being worth £500 was irrelevant as the OP has just decided on that figure because they don't think it should be worth more.
They need to inform their insurer of the accident, for which they are liable and accept the implications. They should not have moved when they did, so they are at fault. Once they have informed the insurer then they can decide whether or not to pay for the damage based on what the third party asks for, but they do need to protect themselves against the potential claim for injuries.0 -
Just tell her to put it through her insurance and you ring yours. She'll soon regret having her car written off and trying to find another on limited funds.Please do not quote spam as this enables it to 'live on' once the spam post is removed.
If you quote me, don't forget the capital 'M'
Declutterers of the world - unite! :rotfl::rotfl:0 -
ValiantSon wrote: »It is only worth £500 in his inexpert opinion.
If you look on ebay or Autotrader even a low mileage (under 65k) well kept trader seller Polo from 2000 is under £1000. A banged up old one just about running is under £500. It's not really a bad estimate and unlikely that £500 repair would be covered.
Personally I'd call her bluff and tell her you'll go through insurance and let them write it off and she can hunt for a new one or take it as a low Cat write off0
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