Driver runs into back of our little Skoda at traffic lights with next to no damage

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pmcgsmurf

MB Enthusiast
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Feb 22, 2010
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Location
Stirling, Scotland
Car
E55 AMG W211, E250 Sport W212, (and some Imps)
Sitting at the traffic lights today and I see a car in the mirror getting closer and closer with the driver looking down at his lap.

I take my foot of the brake and bang he goes into the back of me then foot back on brake as I move forward.

We stop round the corner and get out of cars to have a look, he assures me "no damage mate, I worked at garage for 20 years".

I explain you can not say for sure as we have no idea if there is any damage to bumper or behind this so I will take it to a garage for them to have a look, they do, find a ripple in the bumper and estimate to repair is £250 + VAT.

Pass this onto the driver and get the "no damage mate", I can fix it or paint it, meet me at the garage so I can talk to the estimator".

Explain again I have done all I'm doing and it is going to the garage and at this time I have not involved a claims management company but just may if the driver does not pass on his insurance details!

What is it with some people when they have an accident that is their fault?

20200529_134850a.jpg
 
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Typical reply from a driver who doesn't want to pay. Damn shame Pat and hope you don't have to go through your insurance for something that wasn't your fault.
I assume you have his Reg#?
 
Typical reply from a driver who doesn't want to pay. Damn shame Pat and hope you don't have to go through your insurance for something that wasn't your fault.
I assume you have his Reg#?

Got his details yes, I told the guy he was more then welcome to come have a look for himself so I let him look just now.

Does not dispute hitting back of car, disputes that he caused the damage. :wallbash:
He says that him hitting car could not have caused this type of damage.

Explain he is now trying to do forensic analysis on the damage and I am not prepared to go any further with this.

I also explained I am not taking the pee, if he offered me £300 cash I would decline, I do not want his money, simply want the car without the ripple that was not there before he hit it.
Also explain I am not looking to get a claims management company involved or claim "I have a sore neck".

Got his insurance details so will contact them first and give them the offer of dealing with it before I go to mine.
 
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How does he think the damage got there? A previous accident in exactly the same place. :doh:
He is trying to worm his way out of responsibility for the damage.
Take him to the cleaners.
 
Let the insurers deal with it; you held out a hand of decency and he slapped it away so bollocks to him!

How does he think the damage got there? A previous accident in exactly the same place. :doh:
He is trying to worm his way out of responsibility for the damage.
Take him to the cleaners.

Yes, did my best, will now let the insurer do their thing and depending on the answer from his insurer on Monday I may just end up getting the local Audi guys that did the quote to get their company involved and handle the lot.
They send a guy out, collect your car and drop you off another, of course all done free of charge. ;)

When I said to the guy I seen him looking down as he approached me he said "I was looking for something".
I said can't say for sure what you were doing but you were looking down and not ahead.

Good thing was I said to the wife to brace just before he hit as I seen him coming and he even said himself "you have a witness in the car"!
 
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My advice:

- Contact the other party's insurer, and submit a claim directly with them.

- Make sure you have all the evidence needed (presumably you took photos at the scene). The important thing is to make sure that the other driver won't be able to claim that the accident never happened. Make sure you can back up your claim with evidence, and assume that he will deny anything he has said to you verbally.

- The question of whether the damage was caused by the accident is relevant, because that's not something you can influence. Once the insurer accepts that the accident did occur, it's in the hands of the loss adjusters and they'll decide. Concentrate on getting his insurer to accept liability in principle, regardless of the damage estimate.

- The other party's insurer will either accept liability because their insured person accepted liability, or if he disputes liability, they will decide for him. Given the circumstances, it is unlikely the liability will be disputed by the insurer, as long as the facts are not denied by the other party.

- Notify you own insurer. Tell them very clearly that you do not wish to make a claim on your own policy, and that this is 'notifications only'. Make a note of who you spoke to and when.

- Let the other party's insurer know that you will need an equivalent rental car when your car is being repaired. Do not accept a rental until they accept liability (or you risk being charged for it).

- Do not communicate with anyone other than the third party's insurer. Do not contact an accident management company, and absolutely do not talk to to the other driver at all once you have submitted the claim to his insurer. And do not be persuaded to pull back your claim - once it has been submitted, it has to go all the way. The other driver was given the option to avoid insurers, he made his choice, and there's no way back now.

- Do not agree to have the car repaired at a garage of the insurer's choosing. If they will offer to pick up the car asap and get it sorted for you - refuse. Use only the garage you prefer.

- On a general note, once the other party has accepted liability, you are entitled to have all your costs covered by his insurer. This includes reasonable costs such as taxis, stamps (OK, no one actually sends letters by post anymore...), and even compensation for the time you have to spend writing letters and emails etc. I am not suggesting that you should actually claim, but do keep in mind that you are holding all the cards, if they are being difficult about anything - just mention expenses you have incurred.

- If the other party's insurer gives you grief regarding the repair after accepting liability, mention that you are thinking to hand this over to an accident management company... it will work miracles. But only after they accepted liability.

Good Luck!
 
When I said to the guy I seen him looking down as he approached me he said "I was looking for something".
I said can't say for sure what you were doing but you were looking down and not ahead.

If you have an exact time for impact, it could be worth asking (if they can be bothered) the police or insurers to check his mobile phone records for calls and texts etc.

I think possibly an accident management claim may hike the price up quite a bit, so the claim could go over a certain threshold and affect future premiums if the other guy somehow escapes blame.

Good luck with all of it.
 
Make sure you advise your insurers, especially if you have legal cover as part of your policy. Went through something like this back in 2000 when a woman reversed into my 968 coupe in a multi-story car park, broke the driving lights and indicator in the bumper. I replaced the broken items for £214 and offered to settle for that without involving insurers, she procrastinated then attempted to counter claim, took a year to get to court (I have legal cover) and her insurers did not show, we got a cheque for over £600!!
 
My advice:

- Contact the other party's insurer, and submit a claim directly with them.

- Make sure you have all the evidence needed (presumably you took photos at the scene). The important thing is to make sure that the other driver won't be able to claim that the accident never happened. Make sure you can back up your claim with evidence, and assume that he will deny anything he has said to you verbally.

- The question of whether the damage was caused by the accident is relevant, because that's not something you can influence. Once the insurer accepts that the accident did occur, it's in the hands of the loss adjusters and they'll decide. Concentrate on getting his insurer to accept liability in principle, regardless of the damage estimate.

- The other party's insurer will either accept liability because their insured person accepted liability, or if he disputes liability, they will decide for him. Given the circumstances, it is unlikely the liability will be disputed by the insurer, as long as the facts are not denied by the other party.

- Notify you own insurer. Tell them very clearly that you do not wish to make a claim on your own policy, and that this is 'notifications only'. Make a note of who you spoke to and when.

- Let the other party's insurer know that you will need an equivalent rental car when your car is being repaired. Do not accept a rental until they accept liability (or you risk being charged for it).

- Do not communicate with anyone other than the third party's insurer. Do not contact an accident management company, and absolutely do not talk to to the other driver at all once you have submitted the claim to his insurer. And do not be persuaded to pull back your claim - once it has been submitted, it has to go all the way. The other driver was given the option to avoid insurers, he made his choice, and there's no way back now.

- Do not agree to have the car repaired at a garage of the insurer's choosing. If they will offer to pick up the car asap and get it sorted for you - refuse. Use only the garage you prefer.

- On a general note, once the other party has accepted liability, you are entitled to have all your costs covered by his insurer. This includes reasonable costs such as taxis, stamps (OK, no one actually sends letters by post anymore...), and even compensation for the time you have to spend writing letters and emails etc. I am not suggesting that you should actually claim, but do keep in mind that you are holding all the cards, if they are being difficult about anything - just mention expenses you have incurred.

- If the other party's insurer gives you grief regarding the repair after accepting liability, mention that you are thinking to hand this over to an accident management company... it will work miracles. But only after they accepted liability.

Good Luck!
In addition, since the incident occurred at traffic lights , pop back and see if there is any cctv . Such recordings are generally kept for up to 6 weeks . If there is dispute , your insurer can access this recording .

The last thing to focus the mind of the other driver would be reporting him for DWDCA since his in attention resulted in damage , and you do have a witness
 
Thanks folks.

Exactly what I plan to do is offer his insurer the possibility to resolve.
Called them tonight but the department that deals with this is closed.

I have photos, time etc. and have noted time line down already for reference.

Will no longer have any contact with the insured, he had his chance.
Good thing is I have text messages and an email from him asking for the cost to repair so may be useful if needed.

As pointed out, I very much doubt for a £300 repair if this would be disputed if the driver admits liability.

Wife has made a very valid point, "just think of the shit storm if the guy had hit one of your cars". ;)

When I took the Skoda to the Audi garage earlier it was a guy I know, he had a look and said, "didn't we fix this last year?"
Yes, end of August, neighbour hit the rear bumper with a trailer, repair cost £316.80 inc. a car for 2 days,

Poor little car has no luck with folk hitting it with vehicles and pigeons wacking branches off it. :)
 
Similar happened to my wifes Juke, Rear ended and the driver wanted to hand over £500 to repair the damage as it was only superficial. Wife rightly refused and wanted the TP`s insurance details , at which point she got into her car and naffed off obviously uninsured.

Insurance companies / police involved as the superficial damage cost £2500 to repair as the impact had creased the boot floor.

All sorted , driver found and charged car repaired but it took a few months and was a bit of a faff, Direct Line were decent to deal with so we stayed with them which was just as well as her new Juke got rear ended whilst unoccupied in a retail park but this time the TP left a note with their details and again , all sorted.

K
 
...As pointed out, I very much doubt for a £300 repair if this would be disputed if the driver admits liability...

This isn't going to have a good outcome for the other driver... the excess on his own policy will be thereabouts anyway, only now he'll also incur further consequences come renewal time.
 
This isn't going to have a good outcome for the other driver... the excess on his own policy will be thereabouts anyway, only now he'll also incur further consequences come renewal time.

Exactly, I like to be nice to people but sadly some people are just morons.

On a plus note wife has told me to have a few beers then go to bad.
We sleep in separate beds (rooms) so it's not my lucky night.
 
Just spoke to the drivers insurance company and unless they have been notified by the driver (which they have not) there is nothing they can do.

Guess I will just have to make a claim via our own insurer Aviva which is a bummer.
 
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I'm surprised the 3rd party insurer is refusing to engage - they don't need "notice" from their insured to start proceedings

As above.

I was in a similar situation last year (my wife's car).

I logged a claim directly with the other party's insurer. They said they weren't notified about the incident and will need to get hold of their insured person before they can confirm either way. I told them this was fine, but might take them a while, given the the other party left the scene in the back of a police car to sober-up in the cells.

They did get back to me a day later and said they got hold of him on his mobile and he accepted liability. I wasn't concerned that he might not report it though, or that he will deny liability, because his own car was a write-off, and because my wife's car was parked in the street when he collided with it.... and with 3 other cars parked next to it.

But in my experience at least, the other party's insurer actively tried to get hold of their customer and get his version of events, so the response you got does seem very laid-back, if not lazy. Perhaps you should have told them something along the line of "Fine, I'll just leave this to the accident management firm then, shall I?"
 
"Fine, I'll just leave this to the accident management firm then, shall I?"

That seems to have become a big incentive for insurers to interact a bit more expeditiously on a number of fronts.

That said - insurers also place an obligation on their policy holder to inform them of any accident and in particuylar any indident that might lead to a claim.
 
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It’s funny; people slag off accident management companies but once you get one on your side it certainly mushes the insurers on!
 
...That said - insurers also place an obligation on their policy holder to inform them of any accident and in particuylar any indident that might lead to a claim.

Which is why I am surprised that the insurer showed no interest in the fact that their insured person seemed to have had an accident and didn't report it to them.

In the OP's situation, if faced with the choice of going through my own insurer or contacting an accident management firm, I would choose the latter. But I would make sure that their T&C clearly say that under no circumstances will I be liable to pay their fees (as long as I have provided them with full and honest account of events, etc).
 
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