Just had mum on the phone, she was involved in a very light bump at the roundabout, she basically rear ended someone, broken number plate etc, very little damage, the car she bumped was an old S reg banger, anyway she offered to settle without the insurance being involved, he wasnt having it and said this was the 4th time this had happened to him, him, his wife and child in the car, mum now thinking its a scam of some kind due to all the horror stories etc, very little she can do is there? except wait
Andymc

Your mum crashed into someone else and wanted to avoid insurance, and she thinks the other side are scamming her?

Dare we ask the question.....?
And was it her fault? or did the car just stop?

Someone once stopped dead on me after they pulled out from a junction right in front of me and I gesticulated, in their words to "teach me a lesson". There was a minor collision, which made a small scuff on the rear bumper of his 3 Series.

When he got his car to the garage, the car had taken on £2500 of structural damage.

I learned two lessons- don't assumed there isn't damage just because it isn't obvious and don't gesticulate to other drivers.

On the other hand, my wife has done the same, and had 2 vans crash into her car (both leaving dents), both times we told the drivers not to worry about it, and when my wife hit a car, we paid for the scratch to be fixed (£100).. and that was that.. karma I guess .

As with the 3 series, I have a 3 series track car, and taken it to bits quite a lot, god knows how you did 2.5K of chassis damage to that with a small scratch.

Wonder if the third party would change their tune if they were told their car was to be written off.

Your joking right? this is a classic scam... brake test someone who is following too close/not paying attention, they go into the back of you, it is automatically the following driver's fault, rear ended 'victim' claims a fortune in personal injury/expenses etc.
Engage brain before posting.
And yes, some common sense must be applied when considering settling up privately vs insurance. The most minor crashes are often £500+. Last time I read about it, the average repair cost for an insurance repair was about £1,400.

I was once caught out like this, though I don't think it was an actual scam but simple opportunism on the other driver's part.

In 1996, I rear-ended a 10 year old battered Fiesta at a busy roundabout. It was totally my fault - he started to move off, I moved forward while looking right only to find that he'd changed his mind and stopped. It was no more than a gentle nudge. He got out and told me there was no damage but we exchanged numbers anyway. Next thing I know, his mate is calling me to say there's £700 worth of damage to the Fiesta and when am I sending a cheque.

I passed it straight to the insurance company, and both they and the assessor were convinced he was trying to pull a fast one but had no proof. By the time the car was assessed there was a hefty dent in the back but still no corresponding damage on mine. They did pay out but only about £150, IIRC.

Having also been in an accident with a driver who reversed into me then tried to claim I drove into them (and who I suspect was uninsured). They wanted to settle up privately but then started playing silly buggers. I also had problems with a former work colleague who scraped my car in the office car park, tried to pretend he hadn't despite numerous witnesses, then quibbled about the repair cost.

So basically now, I'd always just go straight to the insurance company.

Unfortunately, even if this is a scam. Its still your Mum's fault.

She should have left enough room to stop in time, even if the person in front was to initiate a random emergency stop.

Your Mum can offer to pay the damages through her insurance company, meaning that although there is a "Claim", she wont loose her NCB etc...

That said, if there is a stupid whiplash claim she might just want to let insurance deal with it.

The only way to prove anything is to have a camera continently recording in your car. Something that is seemingly becoming an unnecessary evil in this day and age.

thanks guys, time will tell and I will update as soon as i know, the man stopped in the middle of the roundabout