Insurance

[500E]

I need some advice here...

Say I accidently nudged another cars bumper at a junction...no damage to my car but he claims "damage" to his car where the bumper is out of alignment...and wants £250 for damages.

Shall I inform my insurance company and take it through the insurance?

Thanks.

 

[wemorgan]

Offer him £150 cash with no insurance companies involved.

I think £150 is realistic for a body shop to repair/repaint a bumper.

What's his make/age of car?

If all else fails, I'd pay him the £250 cash direct. Even with protected no claims it's likely your insurance policy will increase next year and the year after.........gutting I know........just put it down to experience.

 

[PXW]

I need some advice here...

Say I accidently nudged another cars bumper at a junction...no damage to my car but he claims "damage" to his car where the bumper is out of alignment...and wants £250 for damages.

Shall I inform my insurance company and take it through the insurance?

Thanks.

In this 'hypothetical' situation, it clearly isn't worth your while to sacrifice your NCB, so it may be worth looking at paying him direct - but normally that request comes from the pranger not the pranged - so I am instantly wary that the guy has an angle here. Bumper out of alignment could be a pre-existing condition, or it could be genuine damage (bumper irons/cans bent). If the bumper itself is OK, then it doesn't sound like £250 to me, and in theory you could go through your insurers and ask them to contest it. But for an amount that's probably within the insurance excess I can't see anyone getting too forensic about it.

Even if you do (hypothetically!) come to an amicable arrangement, the incident will still have to be declared on your next insurance renewal -most ask whether you are 'accident/claim free'. You would unfortunately not be 'accident' free even if you are claim free.

 

[500E]

Thanks. Well lets say, the actual bumper has no damage, just the bumper is out of align. Hypothetically, the incident occured at less than 5mph (maybe 2-3mph).

If I had asked where the quote had come from and what needed doing, the other party became very aggressive and threatening, gave ultimatum and put the phone down.

Other party can be a taxi.

 

[wemorgan]

Sounds like a nasty situation. It's difficult as ultimately you're going to be the one to lose out. So somehow you need to appeal to him and offer him an incentive for doing it the easy none insurance company way.

Offer to call around for the best quality quote.
Pay for him to hire car that day.
Bottle of Champagne for his troubles.

I hate dealing with such people and fail to understand why people just can't be cutious to one another.

Best of luck.

 

[500E]

Thanks again. Lets just say the guy has already been very unreasonable by shouting etc over the phone, and I will wait for his insurance to contact me.

Do I need to inform my insurance ASAP?

 

[Baron_Samedi]

If you know he is contacting his insurance you should contact yours.

The chap seems a bounder and even if you compensated him I think I would have trouble trusting his word.

 

[verytalldave]

Now this made me smile.

I had EXACTLY the same happen to me several years ago. EXACTLY.

To cut along story short. There were no witnesses.
He claimed off my insurance company and I was at fault.
I protested most strongly that I cause NO damage (it didnt mark my car one bit).
However, it was all to no avail, he claimed and had existing damage to his car repaired.
I was so mad, and it still winds me up.
I now leave several metres between me and the vehicle in front. Always. Lesson learnt.

 

[PXW]

Depends a bit on how abusive/threatening he has been. If the answer is 'very', and epecially if the threats include threats of violence it is worth a quiet call to the local constabulary, explaining that the incident was v minor, that you want to do the right thing, but are not even sure you caused any damage and can't verify that because of his abuse/threats and you are concerned for your/your family's safety...if he is that volatile he may well be known to them...

Otherise I would at this stage simply hand it over to the insurers; it's going to be more expensive that way but better that than a remodelled face courtesy of Mr Angry.

As background, I've had 'other parties' in traffic incidents get agitated before now. One blamed me (it was my fault) and started threatening me, and he did call the police, about a minute bfore I was going to - I was very grateful when they arrived as they read the situation very well and quickly. On another occasion I was properly parked and got driven into, and the driver became lairy..I then threatened to call the police. He lairied on, declaring they wouldn't be iunterested in a little traffic incident. I told them that they would be when I told them I was being threatened...he then calmed down.

 

[PXW]

Bottle of Champagne for his troubles.

He doesn't sound like a champagne drinker. Bottle of Newc'y brown?

 

[MBK]

I would say just hand this over to the insurers, people like this just want a quick buck, i know your trying to save your premium but think of it this way, let the insurance deal with it while you relax with your family, rather than having to run around getting quotes for repairs when in the end you know he will use his own gargae who will charge you double.

Just my two cents,

K

 

[manalishi]

Write the cheque now, and on the back of it write "In full and final settlement for the damage to vehicle <his reg plate> in minor collision <insert date of accident>". Take it and a witness round there and hand it over. Once he's banked it, you're done.

Everything else costs you more in the long run, AFAICS.

 

[Danaf]

I need some advice here...

Say I accidently nudged another cars bumper at a junction...no damage to my car but he claims "damage" to his car where the bumper is out of alignment...and wants £250 for damages.

Shall I inform my insurance company and take it through the insurance?

Thanks.

You could always just 'inform' your Insurance Company but not actually put in a claim. They can just note it on their systems in case the Third Party does end up going through Insurers.
Dan

 

[Frank O' Phile]

I would say just hand this over to the insurers, people like this just want a quick buck, i know your trying to save your premium but think of it this way, let the insurance deal with it while you relax with your family, rather than having to run around getting quotes for repairs when in the end you know he will use his own gargae who will charge you double.

Just my two cents,

K

This sounds like the best advice IMHO. And don't forget the bottle of champagne.....

....for yourself

 

[crockers]

He is obviously a scammed and I wonder how many others he has scammed before you. If he is unwilling or unable to supply a quote then it says to me there is no damage. Makes me wonder if he has hire and reward insurance. Call his bluff and inform him that you will now put it through insurers and you now need his insurance details. Odds are he won't want this as his very high premium may well get further raised even if he is not at fault depending on his claims record. Insurers do swap information so they may be able to check if he has claimed before on this. They may even want to examine the car if they feel he is fraudently padding his claim. But my advice is do now make this official and inform him you will be going the correct route and need his details which by law he has to exchange with you.

Good luck. Hypothetically of course.

 

[nick mercedes]

He is obviously a scammed and I wonder how many others he has scammed before you.

OP did bump into the back of his car though, for the sake of £250 I'd just cough up to save NCB and to draw a line under it.

 

[janner]

Check he has insurance on the Insurance Database. He may be trying to get cash because he doesn't have insurance himself and doesn't want a visit from Plod. If he really is after a quick buck he would be trying to claim whiplash, surely?

 

[MD5]

He is obviously a scammed and I wonder how many others he has scammed before you.

Must be quite lucrative, waiting around for people careless enough to drive into him!

If the car needs a repair (and most Councils inspect licensed vehicles cosmetically), it will need time off the road, which will incur loss of income. £250 isn't unreasonable, and who wouldn't be angry if it was their own pride and joy that was hit (having just had a taxi driver drive into mine!)?

 

[manalishi]

Check he has insurance on the Insurance Database. He may be trying to get cash because he doesn't have insurance himself and doesn't want a visit from Plod. If he really is after a quick buck he would be trying to claim whiplash, surely?

Um... it's an offence to use that database in that way.

I cannot see any way that informing your insurer that you drove into the back of another vehicle does you any good. For the resolution of this (short-term) or for future renewals (long term).

It was a mistake. Pay a little now to make it go away. Thank your lucky stars it was not more serious.

 

[stevieb15]

Something similar happened to my son when driving one of my cars. There was a little visible damage to the others drivers car, he was very irate abd the suggestion to my son was basically give me £250 or £500,I forget the exact number, rather than go through insurance. My son phoned me and I said no tell him we'll do it through insurance.
They exchanged addresses and that was the last we heard of it.
Obviously he was uninsured so the cash payment would have been the best he could have achieved so by "doing it by the book" we gained.
I would always adopt this approach with someone who wanted to do cash and was aggressive with it.