At fault claim
Discussion
Hi all, my brother in laws wife was In a bump yesterday.
A scratch is on the other car's rear bumper. No damage. I have seen the picture that was taken.
The owner has gone to a garage yesterday afternoon and got a quote of ~£2000 for a new bumper, light and labour.
Can this be contested? Would her insurer be interested in the picture to say why they would be paying £2000 + a probably £3000 whiplash claim?
A scratch is on the other car's rear bumper. No damage. I have seen the picture that was taken.
The owner has gone to a garage yesterday afternoon and got a quote of ~£2000 for a new bumper, light and labour.
Can this be contested? Would her insurer be interested in the picture to say why they would be paying £2000 + a probably £3000 whiplash claim?
It really shouldn't make much difference to you - it's what insurance is for and it's their liability to contest if they want.
If I'd been hit and my bumped had "just a scratch" which turned out to have gone deeper and wasn't just in need of a quick spray then yes I would want a new bumper rather than something bodged with filler.
The value of the claim won't have much impact on insurance premiums, the fact that there has been a claim is what makes all the difference.
If I'd been hit and my bumped had "just a scratch" which turned out to have gone deeper and wasn't just in need of a quick spray then yes I would want a new bumper rather than something bodged with filler.
The value of the claim won't have much impact on insurance premiums, the fact that there has been a claim is what makes all the difference.
kestral said:
You can only contest it if you are going to pay for the damage.
If you pass the calim to your insurer it is up to them to contest the amount.
You can send them any evidence you have regarding the damage.
I think they would be glad of it.
My brother in law mentioned a high excess that she would have to pay, so it was in his intentions to pay if it was lower than the excess.If you pass the calim to your insurer it is up to them to contest the amount.
You can send them any evidence you have regarding the damage.
I think they would be glad of it.
The guy has then went and got the quote of the sum mentioned above. Obviously if my brother in law paid for the damage (that there isn't) from his own pocket that would mean the guy wouldn't be able to get a whiplash claim which he is probably happy at the thought of.
BMWBen said:
It really shouldn't make much difference to you - it's what insurance is for and it's their liability to contest if they want.
If I'd been hit and my bumped had "just a scratch" which turned out to have gone deeper and wasn't just in need of a quick spray then yes I would want a new bumper rather than something bodged with filler.
The value of the claim won't have much impact on insurance premiums, the fact that there has been a claim is what makes all the difference.
My thoughts too. Let insurance sort it, no headache or stress then. Afterall, that is why we pay £500-£1000 a year for car insurance.If I'd been hit and my bumped had "just a scratch" which turned out to have gone deeper and wasn't just in need of a quick spray then yes I would want a new bumper rather than something bodged with filler.
The value of the claim won't have much impact on insurance premiums, the fact that there has been a claim is what makes all the difference.
An unleashed dog ran out in front of my mate whilst he was driving his Jag XK. On initial inspection it looked like the only damage was crazed paintwork (very minor crazing too). When Jag inspected the damage they determined a new bumper was required. Luckily he managed to claim from the owner's dog insurance.
You only have to pay excess if you are having damage fixed. If the other person claims but you don’t bother repairing your car then there’s nothing to pay.
I did the same a few years ago. Reversed into a 1 series and split the bumper but my car just had a couple of paint chips and the rest polished out. Didn’t pay a penny but lost my no claims and had to declare etc.
I did the same a few years ago. Reversed into a 1 series and split the bumper but my car just had a couple of paint chips and the rest polished out. Didn’t pay a penny but lost my no claims and had to declare etc.
CharlieH89 said:
Obviously if my brother in law paid for the damage (that there isn't) from his own pocket that would mean the guy wouldn't be able to get a whiplash claim which he is probably happy at the thought of.
The above isn’t true.Tell him to be very careful if he’s considering paying the 3rd party himself.
PorkInsider said:
CharlieH89 said:
Obviously if my brother in law paid for the damage (that there isn't) from his own pocket that would mean the guy wouldn't be able to get a whiplash claim which he is probably happy at the thought of.
The above isn’t true.Tell him to be very careful if he’s considering paying the 3rd party himself.
kestral said:
You can only contest it if you are going to pay for the damage.
If you pass the calim to your insurer it is up to them to contest the amount.
You can send them any evidence you have regarding the damage.
I think they would be glad of it.
This. If you've claimed, it's your insurers problem. This is why we pay the extortionate premiums. If you pass the calim to your insurer it is up to them to contest the amount.
You can send them any evidence you have regarding the damage.
I think they would be glad of it.
But as an intelectual exercise, a bumper repair and respray should cost in the bounds of a few hundred quid (500 being a bit high) for a dumb bumper. However with the amount of tech being packed into modern bumpers this can easily skyrocket.
However it still sounds like a scam, but it's the insurers problem. That being said, I've been on the receiving end of some bumper damage, they went through their insurer and they just approved the payout over the phone. But my quote was reasonable.
SteBrown91 said:
You only have to pay excess if you are having damage fixed. If the other person claims but you don’t bother repairing your car then there’s nothing to pay.
It's just staggering how many people do not know this. It comes up at least once a week on here. I knew this when I got my first policy back in 1979. Because I read the documents, being 17 and literate / eager to learn!!!I think they should change the name of the whole website from Pistonheads to "Your excess only applies to your own car, not the person you hit"
Offer to assist your insurer if you want but beyond that it's safer to let them deal with it. Since the guy has already given an inflated quote then you don't really have a lot of options.
No sense getting stressed over something that insurance companies deal with day in day out. I don't know how hot they are nowadays on fraudulent claims but I presume with the assistance of a photo they would dispute a quote in the thousands, but who knows. Maybe it's still cheaper for them to roll over.
As an aside I have no idea why people take out policies with silly high voluntary excesses, it seems like a false economy to me.
No sense getting stressed over something that insurance companies deal with day in day out. I don't know how hot they are nowadays on fraudulent claims but I presume with the assistance of a photo they would dispute a quote in the thousands, but who knows. Maybe it's still cheaper for them to roll over.
As an aside I have no idea why people take out policies with silly high voluntary excesses, it seems like a false economy to me.
Durzel said:
As an aside I have no idea why people take out policies with silly high voluntary excesses, it seems like a false economy to me.
A lot of people only want third party but find comp is cheaper. Therefore comp with a high excess is even cheaper still. And you have no intention of ever claiming on your car because it's only worth £200 anyway. So whether you have a £50 or a £5000 excess is irrelevant. Also, you can take out a policy with a £1000 excess, and maybe save £150, and buy an excess protection policy for £75.
Losangeles said:
On that basis, I suspect the insurers will declare the Focus a right off...the other driver may then decide that perhaps the repairs can be effected more economically after all.....
Yes, exactly that. No one is going to spend over £2K on a car worth £1K.They will recieve (approx) £1000 courtesy of your brother in laws wife's insurance company and then drive round in the car, in the same condition it is now, for years to come. (Probably collecting a few more £1000 pounds along the line.)
NGee said:
Losangeles said:
On that basis, I suspect the insurers will declare the Focus a right off...the other driver may then decide that perhaps the repairs can be effected more economically after all.....
Yes, exactly that. No one is going to spend over £2K on a car worth £1K.They will recieve (approx) £1000 courtesy of your brother in laws wife's insurance company and then drive round in the car, in the same condition it is now, for years to come. (Probably collecting a few more £1000 pounds along the line.)
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