Roundabout Crash - Damage limitation! (Part two)

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Mobb

Active Member
Joined
May 1, 2010
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451
Location
London
Car
CLK55 AMG - E92 M3
So as some of you may remember, I was involved in a crash at a roundabout..
Long story short,

- my car came off worst
- £1250 in repairs to the car
- other parties car only had a scuffed front plate and small crack in the front bumper... £350 MAX in damage.
- other party Is now claiming for the car which is apparently a write off due to the crash and also wiplash!

Backed with the fact that the other party has a witness which seems to be on their side, I think it's time for damage limitation...

I don't want to lose my no claims and I'm happy to repair my own car.. So can I also simply pay the other party out and be done with it?

I have their address so the plan is to visit next week sometime unannounced and offer to settle outside of the insurers as I don't want to lose my no claims.

I want to do this because it seems like the odds are heavily stacked against me.

Questions are - am I aloud to do this? Can I just take things into my own hands?
How can I come away with the relevant proof to stop a future claim should the other party accept my offer? Is a receipt good enough? Should I have people present?

Any advice is appreciated.

Note - the other parties car is a relatively cheap £1500-£2000 car, so the write off value is going to be somewhere in that region..
Plus the wiplash claim @ -£????

That's what I'd be looking to offer the other party.
 
Thought I'd add that I'm not claiming for my car at all, neither am I claiming for any injuries.

I just want to pay the other party out and leave it in the past.
 
If they are claiming an injury, I would leave it with your insurers.
 
If they are claiming an injury, I would leave it with your insurers.

Only the driver was present in the vehicle.. It was a crash at around 5MPH.

I'd rather not leave it with the insurers as I want it dealt with now.

I'm just wondering whether I'm within my rights to offer a settlement outside of the insurers.. Face to face?
 
I'm absolutely no expert, but this sounds a very dangerous move to me. By going round there and offering to pay, you are admitting liability. Sounds like they're trying it on so will go to any extent to get as much as possible from you. The whiplash claim could easily be massive: tens of thousands.

I understand why you trying to do this yourself instead of going through your insurance, but in this instance I think you should bite the bullet and let them and their legal department deal with it. The possible loss of your NCD and/or insurance increase could be minor in comparison to what you could be letting yourself in for.
 
You can accept the liability, but are possibly opening yourself up for a World of financial pain and problems.

The claim sounds fraudulent and might expand tremendously.
 
I'm just wondering whether I'm within my rights to offer a settlement outside of the insurers.. Face to face?
You're perfectly within your rights to do this. But without good legal advice you risk losing everything you own. Don't do it.
 
I won't be admitting liability in any form.. Just verbally offering a settlement to "make it go away" as its not worth losing my no claims over.

However, I plan to ring the insurance company prior to any visit and find out exactly how much the other party is claiming for.

@Dieselman & knighterrant - I do agree that the wiplash claim at such a low speed seems fraudulent, but how can this be proven? How likely isit that my insurers will throw it out/refuse to pay that?

FYI - Neck and Back pain are apparently what the other party suffered.
 
My worry would be how to make any such agreement enforceable or final without the legal know how of the insurers. If you were indeed not at fault the outcome by the formal channels could be favourable to you anyway.
 
The act of offering money will be seen as admitting liability. If you inform your insurance company then they'll note the fact that you've had an accident and, even if you pay out yourself and don't get them involved, load your next premium anyway. You will only save NCD taking this course of action and like others have said risk losing the shirt off your back.

Chancers like this idiot are one of the reasons you pay a premium, get the insurers to fight it out amongst themselves.
 
I won't be admitting liability in any form.. Just verbally offering a settlement to "make it go away" as its not worth losing my no claims over.

Turning up on his doorstep unannounced with a baseball bat might make it all go away, but what you propose will only make it worse.

Let the insurers deal with it.

Russ
 
Do this through your insurer ---let them handle it---- forward any correspondence to them- NO QUESTION!!!
 
Whatever you do do not make the other side an offer ...... This will be construed as an admission of liability even if you think it isnt. If they are as dishonest as you say they will misrepresent anything you say and will tangle you up in litigation with potentially massive costs that could bankrupt you.
We pay for insurance to protect us from this sort of thing and any loss of NCD will nothing compared to the cost of the DIY route.
 
What you are proposing is extremely risky.

As others have said, you are leaving yourself open to further litigation, costs etc. If you have legal cover with your car or house insurance try that for proper legal advice or use a local solicitor.

This is not a case for handling things yourself, you will save nothing of note but will in all probability incur far higher costs to yourself. If it went to court then you are looking a over £1000 a day for a solicitor, you have paid for all of this via you insurance policy so let them deal with it.
 
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Very little to gain [increase in insurance premium] versus very much to lose. Stay within the legal framework that your insurance policy provides, because as soon as you take matters in you own hands, and it gets beyond your control you won't be able to revert back to the insurer.

Leave it in their hands and manage them..

[sorry I seem to be repeating what others say - should have read all posts]
 
This is tricky as by law your supposed to inform the police if there are personal injuries involved. As others have said some legal advice, not necessarily from you insurance company, is in order.
 
As others have said , best to leave this in the hands of your insurers : your contract with your insurer almost certainly subrogates the right to settle with them and takes the matter out of your hands .

If you were to go it alone in any way , you would be better ( rather than offering a payment which would be taken as an admission of liability ) standing fast and denying all and any liability , telling them you see no reason to pay them anything and will see them in court - effectively call their bluff : it is one thing trying to fleece an insurer and quite another perjuring yourself in court .

You mentioned damage to the front of the other car - where was yours damaged ? Did they rear end you ; or did you pull out in front of them ? Was it the typical roundabout scenario where you moved forward then stopped and was rear ended ( typically their fault ) ?
 
Ok , I looked up your previous thread describing the incident .

From what you described you failed to give way to a vehicle approaching from your right on the roundabout and the other vehicle collided with your offside . This is quite unequivocally your liability as the other vehicle had priority and you should have waited until he had passed before proceeding onto the roundabout .

That you did not see any signals from the other vehicle mean that you ought to have waited until you were certain of where he was going ; the lack of a breakaway signal cannot be taken as inference of anything and the only safe course of action is for you to wait .

Sorry , but if the other driver does have an independent witness then this is not going to be resolved in your favour .

Best let your insurer indemnify you against this claim as per your contract with them and take the increased premium on the chin .

Count yourself lucky you weren't charged with DWDCA .
 

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