Not quite a hit and run....

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Hello all,

I'm feeling rather silly and looking for some advice.
It was the week before my wedding so I'm sure you can imagine how busy/distracted I was. Anyway I was driving home from work and stopped at a junction and someone ran into the back of me. They hit me pretty hard so we moved on and stopped in a bus stop. I was in total shock as this was my first accident ever, the guy was really nice and after having a quick look at my bumper said he would pay for any damage rather than go via insurance. We had looked at my bumper and there were some black marks on my white car from his, my rear reg plate was smashed and the plastic part of the bumper had popped out, so not thinking it would take much to sort out i just took his name and number. Needless to say when i got home my husband and dad went nuts telling me all the things i should have taken from him e.g registration number, address etc.. i text the guy and he confirmed it was his number and apologised again and reconfirmed he would pay for any damage (despite my husband telling me to just go through the insurance). I took the car to the garage to have a new plate fitted and asked the guy to have a quick look over the car, he managed to get rid of the black marks with T-cut and identified one of my plate lights was smashed and would need replacing but did say he wanted to get the car back in to put up on a ramp to have a proper look at it as there may be more damage. At this point i was 2 days away from my wedding so said i would take it back when i got back from my honeymoon (which would be 3 weeks later) i text the other driver to let him know i would need to take the car back but gave him the price for the reg plate and replacing the light. He messaged back and said that was fine, he was happy to cover the costs and i said i would get back in touch when i got home from honeymoon. I have since taken the car back to the garage and been advised i need a whole new bumper due to the damage, I left the drivers number with the garage and txt the driver to let him know someone would be in touch... garage has been trying to get hold of the driver since the 13th of Sept to no avail, I have tried getting hold of him too and no joy. I'm now thinking after being told what actually needs done (not just a reg plate and a light) hes decided to ignore it. So... what can i do now? I have his name and number and have managed to find him on facebook (dont want to message him as i guess he might block me) The accident happened on the 9th of August and although i have all his texts admitting fault and saying he will pay i dont know what i can do this far down the line and with hardly any information? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

PS.I now have a list in my car courtesy of my husband telling me what i need to ask for if anything like this ever happens again lol

Comments

  • paddyandstumpy
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    Have you now got his reg number?

    If so, find his insurer via askmid (if you do it via a smartphone it's free) and then approach his insurer direct as a third party and report a claim.
  • kmac87
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    I still don't have his registration only name and mobile number :(
    Have you now got his reg number?

    If so, find his insurer via askmid (if you do it via a smartphone it's free) and then approach his insurer direct as a third party and report a claim.
  • keith1950
    keith1950 Posts: 2,597 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    Unless you have his registration number I doubt even you insurance company could help to sort this as a 'no fault claim' .....
    You should have just informed your insurer and let them deal with it even if it ended up being recorded as an ' at fault ' claim with you paying your excess.
    You may probably just have to write this down to experience.
  • kmac87
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    Obviously I now know what I should have done but at the time I was just a bit shaken and really didn't think much would be needed to put things right so gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. Lessons learned now but still not worth me putting it through the insurance as my excess would outweigh the costs to repair which are only really cosmetic

    keith1950 wrote: »
    Unless you have his registration number I doubt even you insurance company could help to sort this as a 'no fault claim' .....
    You should have just informed your insurer and let them deal with it even if it ended up being recorded as an ' at fault ' claim with you paying your excess.
    You may probably just have to write this down to experience.
  • keith1950
    keith1950 Posts: 2,597 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    Although technically you are breaking the terms and conditions of your insurance by not informing them !
  • kmac87
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    Renewed with another provider on the 15th so doesn't seem worth doing now
    keith1950 wrote: »
    Although technically you are breaking the terms and conditions of your insurance by not informing them !
  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 19,297 Forumite
    First Anniversary I've been Money Tipped! First Post Name Dropper
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    And did you answer yes to the question if you had had an accident in the last ? years?
  • kmac87
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    Thanks for the helpful comment to my original question :money:
    sheramber wrote: »
    And did you answer yes to the question if you had had an accident in the last ? years?
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