Up The Rear

[dmarley]

Well its been a long long time since i have had any car crashes .... But sat at the lights on the East Lancs Road this tea time....Minding my own business......... Car sat in Drive, foot on the brake, ready to go and bang ( not that big a bang ), wondered what it was, my daughter who was sat in sher car seat with her Care Bear says " What was that daddy ".
Strange my car had stalled in Drive ( is it possible ), but then realised that someone had gone up my rear.... So looked in my mirror and a young guy was Acknowledging, so i can out and so does he and both cars are joined at the rear. Did not look like much, he was full of apolgies so i ask him to pull over onto the slip road...

Both pulled over and he was full of apologies, he must have been in first, as we where at a standstill at the time and moved his foot off the clutch.. Was looking at the damage to my bumper which was a few scratched and some small dints etc and really very slight, as lets be honest he did not hit it hard.. He did say he would pay out of his won pocket - i did say to him it wont be cheap to fix and not to do that. I felt a bit sorry for him ( but my car comes first ), i said lets just have a good luck, did not seem much damage and was nearly on the edge of saying ... just give me a oner and forget it. But i stood back and my bumper was sagging very slightly on the right hand side... He seemed abit peeved but accepted it, he gave me his details etc, he was in a company Vehicle and told my he would get the sack.....

Got home and had chance to have a good luck and the right hand side clip that holds the bumper on has come out and wont go back in, also seems to have sagged a little all along the right hand side of the car and towards the back. Also looks like there is now a crack behind the bumper - but obviously cant tell......

Now i feel a bit guilty as the bang was not hard, however my car is my pride and joy and dont see why i should have to deal with the agro and as such will be ringing my insurance company in the morning... Think my wife thinks i was being a bit over the top, but i just dont want to take the risk that the damage looks tiny and when i get it into Gorners i am hit with a stupid bill that i have to deal with ??

Anyone else agree..... I know it was an accident and i could have really had a go at him, makes it ten times worse when your 3yr old daughter is in the car... But it really was a small accident !!

 

[splang]

I had a similar thing happen to me - although the only damage was a scuff. I accepted £100 cash on the spot but this was because of the very slight contact.

I think you have done exactly the right thing - you have done nothing wrong and are not responsible for the way the employer might treat the employee for being in an accident.

Steve

 

[Mambo]

I had a similar thing happen to me - although the only damage was a scuff. I accepted £100 cash on the spot but this was because of the very slight contact.

I think you have done exactly the right thing - you have done nothing wrong and are not responsible for the way the employer might treat the employee for being in an accident.

Steve

I'm with Splang, you've done nothing wrong, hes the one who hit you. Put it this way, if the tables were turned I am sure he would have gone through his insurance if he cared for his car as much as you do.....

 

[jimti]

sorry about your misfortune, as you say damage looks slight, but wait until your garage has a look and puts a price on it then contact the guy who hit you. then see if he wants to pay out of his own pocket. If his boss is going to sack him it will be because he has had other accidents before hitting you so don't feel bad about that.

 

[glojo]

If his boss is going to sack him it will be because he has had other accidents before hitting you so don't feel bad about that.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with that statement.

If you do not go through the insurance company then you are leaving yourself open to the worry of this gentleman welching on his promise of paying for the repair. If your vehicle is still covered by the mobilo warranty you MUST have the repair carried out by an authorised Mercedes-Benz agent (this will not be cheap). Just remember, the repairing garage will need paying before they release the car.

Good luck with the decision,
Regards,
John

 

[sparkyspost]

Sounds like you've done the right thing.

As you are unsure could you get it into the shop to get it costed up before you actually claim? You could then let the guy know what the cost would be then to give him the option of still paying from it out of his own pocket.

Good luck with getting it sorted.

Sparky.

 

[mark.t]

the sack

if he is given the chance to pay for it out of his own pocket then fine, if on the other hand he has to claim on the firms insurance and face the sack then so be it ...it's no concern of yours how they pay as long as they pay.

 

[LazyBob]

You should have no qualms about doing it the right way. Sure it might give you a warm feeling to save this blokes job but then he should've been more careful and stopped his car ten feet behind yours if he knew a small shunt means P45.

Bad luck?- all his, fixed via insurance and good as new, you'll be happy you didn't accept a hundred quid, that's only a tank and a quarter of global warming fluid.

 

[Steve_Perry]

Sounds very similar to an incident I had last year.

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5288

I had no sympathy for the other party at all, the toe-rag hit me, definitely not my fault, I involved the insurance company. The MB bodyshop dropped the bumper and refitted/realigned it. They also removed the very slight scuff, total bill was about £170 I think. Since it was entirely the other guy's fault my insurance was unaffected and I got my excess refunded.

You've done nothing wrong so don't feel guilty for getting your insurance company involved.

S.

 

[peterchurch]

Hi,
I would agree with you, go the insurance route. When I handed my company car back my boss took it to see what a Honda accord was like compared to his Audi. He was stopped at some lights when a car shunted him. He got out and was greeted by a young girlie in a short skirt and pretty top. She was not very happy as she had just trashed her boyfreinds car tears and sobs etc etc. So he took a look at the car and there was only light scratches on the bumper so he told her to get back in the car and forget about it

He got home and opened the rear door to take his laptop out ....

Three hours later the pickup truck came and loaded my old car on to the truck to go to a major bodyshop for several thousand pounds worth of work It turned out that the rear door was holding the shape of the car in place and when he opened it the car body flexed and he couldn't shut the door the subframe had also folder round the spare wheel so much for a few scratches I loved that car as well

 

[glojo]

These tales of woe are always interesting.

The strangest incident I can recollect is of a family coming to the West Country for there summer holiday, they were in a Ford Sierra that was towing a caravan.

Without warning a car pulled out of a side road directly into the path of the Sierra, miracously the driver braked as hard as they could and somehow avoided a collision.

The offending driver gave a sheepish wave and resumed their journey. The family in the Sierra although shocked were unhurt and carried on to their destination. When they arrived, the driver could not open his door!!!!! After much pulling and pushing the door was eventually opened. BUT!!!!!! There was no way it would shut. The heavy braking had kinked the bodywork and the vehicle was declared a write off!!!!!

Because there had not been a collision no details were exchanged, so the owner had to claim on his own insurance! The law however clearly puts the blame on the driver that pulled out and caused the Sierra to brake.

Evidently this was an early design problem and the Sierra was prone to buckle at the transmission area. (the hole for the gear lever) being the weakest point.

Bye for now,
John