accident - what to do

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SilverSaloon

MB Enthusiast
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Mar 16, 2004
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1994 W124 E300D Estate, 1985 R107 280SL
hi

wife was reversing out of a car park space.

other guy was also reversing out of another space opposite

they both hit each other as they reversed out, with my wife hitting slightly into the side of the guys car.

who is to blame here? it sounds 50/50 to me and thats what my wife thought.

problem is, there is no damage to her car at all (its a 4x4 built like a tank) but the other car which is a focus has a dent in the side.

guy wants to go through his insurance.

I suspect this will go 50/50, or knock-for-knock or whatever they call it? but am i right in even though she wont be claiming as no damage - she is TPFT anyway, she will loose her no claims bonus????

advice please? she is checking for CCTV.
 
How bad's the dent?

What year is the Focus (how much is it worth)?

Depending on your excess and how many years no claims you will lose, I'd be inclined to pay for the work out of my own pocket.
 
no repairs needed to her car - its TPFT anyway.

other party is an 09 focus and its a big dent in the rear door i think.

also, do you reckon, assuming he will go via his insurance, we should contact ours and explain that we have been in an accident giving details indicating that its probably 50/50. or do you think we just just not contact our insurer at all and wait until we hear something, as if he feels the same and his excess is high he may just fix it himself.

but if we dont contact them now ourselves, will it look like we are to blame?????
 
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Surely if its equal blame it cancels each other out, and any repairs or insurance claim should be from your/their own policies.
 
Surely if its equal blame it cancels each other out, and any repairs or insurance claim should be from your/their own policies.

thats what i'm hoping for. do you reckon we should just write to our insurance company and explain with diagram what happened.... downside with that is that we would then have an accident on record..... and take a hit next year?

guy seemed to suggest it was 50/50 too as he told wife "never mind its no ones fault". but also said he would contact his insurance and also worried about his car warranty, so doubt he would go for any non-insurance repair anyway.
 
I think if the other Party wants to go through insurers you have no choice but to run with it......you are obliged to report all incidents so you cannot risk not reporting the incident if the other side are insisting.
Whether or not your wife loses any ncb will depend upon the Policy into which she is Contracted......nonetheless insurers may take a favourable view.
You have to report the incident so ask.

Mic
 
If the other driver has said its no bodies fault, then he can't possibly make a claim against your wife insurance. He has to claim on his own. Why would your wife then lose her NCB........

To be honest he doesn't even have to mention your wife, simply that he impacted another car reversing as he was and it was an accident.
 
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Been in a 50-50 before and unfortunately it doesnt work the way you think even if it is declared a 50-50 by both insurers. The only time your wife wouldnt lose her NCB is if the other driver goes and claims from his insurers admiting responsibility for the accident. But from what I deduce from your explanation, the other party is not admitting responsibility.

Like I said if he tries to claim of your insurance and it ends up as a 50-50, you will both lose your NCB. I dont know how true this is but I was made to understand by my insurers that whatever the cost of repairs is from both sides will be added and divided into half and thats what it will cost the insurers.

One more thing, get on the phone or send an email and tell your insurers you are notifying them of an accident you were in but do not wish to claim as your car is not damaged. If you dont do this and the other party claim through his insurance and they contact your insurers, you are going to have a hard time convincing them it was a 50-50.
 
One more thing, get on the phone or send an email and tell your insurers you are notifying them of an accident you were in but do not wish to claim as your car is not damaged. If you dont do this and the other party claim through his insurance and they contact your insurers, you are going to have a hard time convincing them it was a 50-50.

thanks - this is what i thought.

i'll write to them tonight, with a diagram explaining that i believe no party is purely to blame. at least then we are being open about it from the outset and it looks better for us. i am sure he will go via his insurance so they will find out that an accident took place so may aswell put ourselves in the best position.
 
I did exactly this in the Subaru both reversed at the same time and I hit a citroen (or she hit me) no damage to my car badly damaged offside quarter on hers, she wanted to go through insurance so you have no option but to do so even though no damage to my Scooby Insurance view 50/50 took legal advice but no point in fighting as fault could not be apportioned.

If fault cannot be attributed to a particular driver then it will always be 50/50. An offer to pay for the damage could well be the cheaper option :dk:
 
An offer to pay for the damage could well be the cheaper option :dk:

not sure if i want to go there.... the car is 09 plate so quite new and i suspect they would want a good repair, so the price is atleast going to be £300 +, probably a lot more.

whereas the hit on the insurance cant be more than a £150 or so can it? she has 7 years NCB currently :doh:
 
You insurance hit is the loss of two years no claims, plus the possibility of an increased base premium, plus your excess, so if your insurance is £500 with 60% discount, and your discount goes to 30% next year then assuming no rise in the 1250 base premium then your first year cost is £375, 45 % next year is a cost of 187.50, plus your excess of £150 is £712.50

However as insurance premiums seem to rise every year anyway, you'll find the cost is actually more than that.
 
not sure if i want to go there.... the car is 09 plate so quite new and i suspect they would want a good repair, so the price is atleast going to be £300 +, probably a lot more.

whereas the hit on the insurance cant be more than a £150 or so can it? she has 7 years NCB currently :doh:

My no claims was protected, without looking I think they loaded the premium for the accident then applied my NCB making it around £80 more expensive at renewal. If you lose all your NCB then I think the hit could be >£300 depending upon the car you are trying to insure
 
insurance was £290. its TPFT and therefore I wont be using any excess as i wont be claiming. you dont pay excess for 3rd party claims AFAIK...?

problem is it will also put the price up on the merc too as she is a named driver :(
so it will effect 2 policies rather than just the one....
 
thats what i'm hoping for. do you reckon we should just write to our insurance company and explain with diagram what happened.... downside with that is that we would then have an accident on record..... and take a hit next year?

guy seemed to suggest it was 50/50 too as he told wife "never mind its no ones fault". but also said he would contact his insurance and also worried about his car warranty, so doubt he would go for any non-insurance repair anyway.

Sounds a plan. You may wish to phone them first as they may wish to send out an accident report form for you to fill in even if you are not claiming. If not , send them a detailed letter as you suggested by recorded delivery. Keep copies of all correspondence. Your policy documents should tell you exactly what to do under these circumstances.
 
Sorry to butt in here, but it is quite clear that neither driver was actually looking where they were going and both were at fault! Both should be very grateful it was just another car they hit, not a child...
 
insurance was £290. its TPFT and therefore I wont be using any excess as i wont be claiming. you dont pay excess for 3rd party claims AFAIK...?

If it's TPFT then you can't claim from your insurer for this - so ..... you might as well claim from the other party if it's going down the 50:50 route.
 
insurance was £290. its TPFT and therefore I wont be using any excess as i wont be claiming. you dont pay excess for 3rd party claims AFAIK...?

problem is it will also put the price up on the merc too as she is a named driver :(
so it will effect 2 policies rather than just the one....


You wont be claiming but the other side are therefore you will loose No CLAIMS Bonus, this is how it works I belive.
 
Rules are you are obliged to report all accidents to your insurer irrespective of who is at fault.
Upon renewal a loading will be applied even if it was a no fault accident because actuarially statistics show the driver is more inclined to have an accident. Madness I know but that's insurance. Doesn't encourage reporting.
 

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