Advice following RTA please

[C60three]

This morning on the way to work someone ran into the back of me at around 20-30 mph. There had been a RTA on the road ahead of me and I had stopped to avoid running into the stationary cars in front. The young girl that crashed into me alleges that her brakes (that had recently been fixed) had failed to work.

The poor girl's airbag went off in her face! Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. We swapped details and went our separate ways.

I have been checked out by MIU at lunch time (having worked the morning). I have lower back & shoulder pain and neck discomfort, other than that I'm OK. They advised anti-inflammatories and rest (not ideal when you are self employed).

I work as a dentist and I am little concerned I may suffer some pain/discomfort at work for the next couple of weeks.... If there is no improvement on Monday I will seek advice from a physio'.

The rear bumper and boot of my car are damaged.

I have reported the incident to my insurance.

I have since been contacted by the legal team associated with my own insurance company and also by the girl's insurance company who are keen to repair my car without getting my own insurance company involved (presumably to reduce their costs?). The girl who ran into the back of me has admitted liability.

The team acting on behalf of the girl who crashed into me advised me not to go through my own insurance as the claim will 'count against me'.

Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated. I am keen to have my car repaired at a body shop of my choice and would ideally not have to drive around in a Citroen C1 whilst my car is being repaired!
Many thanks

 

[StuartK]

By going direct to them you should get:

Like for like hire car
Faster turnaround
Injury compensation

You will still have to declare a non fault claim to your insurer but the other side will lower their costs.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I had a similar situation where I was involved in an accident and the other driver admitted liability. Her insurers contacted me immediately, I told my insurers that it had happened and they let me get on with it. I chose the bodyshop, they had to approve the quote as it wasn't insurer approved, but you don't have to accept their choice. I didn't take a hire car and behaved reasonably throughout, and it all went smoothly with no effect on my no claims.

I did get called by my insurers trawling to see if I had been injured, and I told them to poke off.

 

[AMGeed]

As post 2 & 3, let the girls insurance take care of it.
Had a similar scenario 3 years ago and the other drivers insurance dealt with everything including a courtesy car whilst mine was being repaired. I also chose my own repairer which you are entitled to do.
I did not lose any NCB or a hike in premium due to it being a non fault incident.

Hope you feel a bit better after a decent nights sleep.

 

[C60three]

Thanks guys, I will just let 'the other side' sort it then

 

[markjay]

By going direct to them you should get:

Like for like hire car
Faster turnaround
Injury compensation

You will still have to declare a non fault claim to your insurer but the other side will lower their costs.

^^^^^^^^ this.

Let the other party's insurance sort everything out regarding your car. You will find them both responsive and accommodating... and you can even insist on having your car repaired at the delear if you want to.

With regards the personal injury claim, see first if the other party insurer is being reasonable, though you may need a solicitor for that in the event that they are not.

 

[wongl]

Best to file the incident with your insurance company just in case you need to rely on them for some unforeseen circumstances in the future. Here is my story....

My W210 was in the Mercedes body workshop for some warranty rust repair. The body workshop gave me a loan car. While driving the loan car I was rear ended and the insurance from the other party contacted me wanting to take care of every thing.

Loan car had to be written off and the insurance was slow to settle - in the end it took them over 3 months to settle the payment with the body workshop. Meanwhile body workshop had rented a replacement car pending settlement. The rental bill chocked up to over £20,000 during the 3 months period and insurance company did not want to pay this.

So i told them that I will get my insurance company to pay this and re-claim from them since I am technically covered for this incident via my own insurance as I had filed the incident with my own insurance company.

Result, the other insurance company paid in full to avoid an cross charging.

 

[grober]

By far the greatest concern for you would be any potential long term whip lash damage to your back and neck. As a dentist you're no doubt aware that back and neck problems are up there with failing vision as one of the principle causes of dentist early retirement. Lots of "bending over" the patient in the job. If you continue to have problems I would advise an MRI of the thoracic and cervical spine as the surest way to rule out any long term damage. You would likely have to get this done privately at some £500-700. I would bear this in mind when deciding which insurance path to tread.

 

[C60three]

Thank you. It's really frustrating that I am going to be out of pocket paying for a scan when the incident wasn't my fault. Obviously it may be a worthwhile investment if I have issues going forward. Annoyingly prior to the accident I had planned to top up my life insurance and 'own occupation' cover..... I suspect they may now exclude back and neck problems.