Urgent: Advice Needed Please!!!

[rajinder_1]

Hi Guys,

My wife was involved in a little bump, she was driving the w202 96 c class and hit the back of a 94 k reg BMW 320 coupe.

It was at relatively low speed at traffic lights on a fairly busy road, no injuries or anything like that thank god.

I called the guy who works at a bodyshop here in Coventry when my wife returned home after looking at my car the only thing was the number plate holder had broken causing the number plate to fall off, lookiing at the pictures on my wifes phone of his car there was 1.5" of small verticle scratches where the number plate had hit his rear bumper.

So i call the guy and explain that it looks very minor and that instead of going via insurance i will pay him to have that part of the bumper resprayed as a spot repair. He said that he would see what the material costs were at his bodyshop and let me know.

He has then call my mrs the next day stating that he removed the bumper and taht the chassis leg was bent the bumper shocks had gone and that it was going to cost £1400....... and that £700 parts and £700 labour!!!

So i called the guy back who had totally changed his tone and started to make up stuff my wife had said to back up this expense.....

Now i know a bit and know that he wants to pull a insurance scam, his car isnt worth £1400 so he wants to write the car off get the money of insurance and then buy the car back and repair it.... and pocket roughly £1k.

This happened a couple of nights ago what should i do? should i call my insurance with whom we are fully comp and protected, but have a £300 excess, but like mentioned before nothing has happened to my car besides the number plate.....

Would i have to pay anything if i dont make a claim towards my car?

and would direct line send out a independent assesor to evaluate his claim as i would really like this to be done so that they can see my car as well as his.. cause if thats the case them im pretty sure more damage would show on both cars.....

thanks

Raj

 

[Alps]

just go through insurance - easiest option if the guy is messing around

 

[219]

You've offered to do the decent thing and pay a 'reasonable' amount for what happened .

If he starts getting awkward , I wonder what proof he has that the accident even happened in the first place ? Witnesses , CCTV ?

You could offer to source a bumper/shocks from a breaker ( I was quoted £30 for a W126 bumper last week , complete with good chrome ) and to pay for it being painted .

You might want to go see this 'damage' for yourself before agreeing to anything .

 

[rajinder_1]

just go through insurance - easiest option if the guy is messing around

if i go via insurance would this mean i have to pay towards the cost?

although i will not be getting my car repaired as nothing is wrong with it.

Raj

 

[x332race]

Go through insurance......
Was this a scam...did the driver in front deliberately make your wife drive into him?

 

[grober]

Insurance matter

In circumstances like this you need to assess the nature of the person you are dealing with. Unfortunately it would appear they would not be easy to come to any agreement with. Technically from what you have said your wife is at fault here. Personally I would inform your insurance company immediately and let them sort it out. Take the £300 excess hit. There are so many pitfalls here e.g.-being sued for whiplash injuries in 6 months time? You might find they not even insured? Its what your insurance policy is for

 

[davidjpowell]

I guess it's ultimately down to the third party (who did not ask to be hit). All you can do is tell your insurance company your suspicions.

I would imagine that they would send out their own assessor before agreeing to pay for repairs / write off.

If someone offered to repair my car (or I suspect yours) with second hand parts I know what my thoughts would be.

Just be grateful that it was low speed bump and that nobody was hurt.

 

[rajinder_1]

You've offered to do the decent thing and pay a 'reasonable' amount for what happened .

If he starts getting awkward , I wonder what proof he has that the accident even happened in the first place ? Witnesses , CCTV ?

You could offer to source a bumper/shocks from a breaker ( I was quoted £30 for a W126 bumper last week , complete with good chrome ) and to pay for it being painted .

You might want to go see this 'damage' for yourself before agreeing to anything .

Hi
Yes i offered to do this but he was against using a second hand bumper

he has said in a voice message he is looking to get the car written off due to the cost of the damage, i thinks his work place have over inflated the costs i asked him to use my bodyshop and he refused to put the bumper on the car to drive to there??

 

[JAYGURNEY]

generally with claims like this you can always get a second damage report, find another bodyshop nearby that could have a look at his motor and see what they would charge to fix, they will maybe charge a fee for this but in my past experience its 20-30 quid max depending on where they have to travel in relation to the car damaged. other than this you can look your local directory for an independant claim assesor and they will asses both motors and fill out a report for you although these are generally more expensive.

 

[rajinder_1]

Go through insurance......
Was this a scam...did the driver in front deliberately make your wife drive into him?

i dont think it was a scam just an genuine accident

 

[rajinder_1]

I guess it's ultimately down to the third party (who did not ask to be hit). All you can do is tell your insurance company your suspicions.

I would imagine that they would send out their own assessor before agreeing to pay for repairs / write off.

If someone offered to repair my car (or I suspect yours) with second hand parts I know what my thoughts would be.

Just be grateful that it was low speed bump and that nobody was hurt.

his car is just under 17 yrs old what does he expect not like its a porcshe etc .... he is being funny for the sake of scaming the insurance i think

 

[JAYGURNEY]

if it was me in your shoes id phone my insurance, give them the details and the other persons details and let them deal with it, itll cost you just your excess £300 and even if they pay the full £1400 quoted, its costing them £1100 which relates to a very small hike in premiums next time round....no fuss or stress for you and if hes pulling a fast one they generally uncover it and if its the case then his claim is thrown out....good luck, its not as bad as you think, cud have been a lot worse

 

[comports]

I'd steer well clear of this guy. I can understand about not wanting 2nd hand parts on my car but let the insurance deal with it. Tell them your suspicion as mentioned above but it's their problem to deal with.

Worst you will lose is your £300 excess and you have PNCB so don't panic. Yes you will have to pay it even though it's not on your own vehicle. It limits the insurance companies liability no matter who's vehicle it's paid out on.

Don't be drawn into paying over £1000 for the sake of avoiding insurance claims.

 

[davidjpowell]

his car is just under 17 yrs old what does he expect not like its a porcshe etc .... he is being funny for the sake of scaming the insurance i think

Maybe. But if you look at his point of view, why would he accept second hand parts when your insurance company would provide them. That they will write off the car instead is just a sad part of life.

Mush as you would like to control this, if he has said that he wants to go through the insurance I don't think you have any choice. You just need to leave it to the assessor to fight the insurance company corner.

Don't forgot that no doubt the insurance company will also provide a hire car etc. Ultimately he could even use a third party accident management company in the circumstances which would push the claim even higher.

I had a similar argument after someone hit my car a few years ago and wanted to settle for cash to save claiming in the 17 year olds insurance. The car was far more valuable, but ultimately I would have been far worse off had I agreed. The simple, (but only with retrospective vision) is don't have the crash.

 

[219]

Isn't the excess only for the first £xxx of your own damage ?

If not claiming to have your own car repaired , isn't the 3rd party damage paid in full ?

 

[tromppost]

Tell your insurance company. "No damage to your car" you will not have to pay the access. The only pain is that you will have this hanging over you for the next five years when you renew your insurance.

 

[comports]

You have to pay the first XXX of ANY claim. It matters not whether it paid out on your car repair or a 3rd parties. It does deter a lot of folks from claiming for their own car damage if they "hit a post" or some such but it's still an excess on the claim. ( I believe )

 

[219]

Never having had an at-fault accident ( hope I don't have one now having said that ) , I'm not entirely certain of the position .

However , my thoughts were : both cars suffered a certain amount of damage which you could legitimately claim for - by foregoing the repair to your own car you are saving the insurance company £xxx in exchange for not paying the excess .

 

[comports]

I believe I am wrong here - having had a quick look on't interweb..!

It suggests that you only pay the excess on claims you make for repairs to your own vehicle/property and not towards repairs to the 3rd party vehicle.property.

Not definitive but your insurance co will be able to set the record straight.

 

[Shude]

I believe I am wrong here - having had a quick look on't interweb..!

It suggests that you only pay the excess on claims you make for repairs to your own vehicle/property and not towards repairs to the 3rd party vehicle.property.

Not definitive but your insurance co will be able to set the record straight.

You are correct! Having just gone through this very process I can assure you that the excess is only for damage to your own vehicle and there is rarely any excess (check your paperwork obviously) for the 3rd party's claim. If you decline to claim for your own vehicle then there is no excess to pay.