Minor shunt, settling privately?
Discussion
Hi,
I was involved in a minor shunt today where the car in front of me rolled back into mine. He rolled back (on an incline) because he was making room for the car in front of his, and claimed he not realize how close behind I was to him. He also suggested that I was too close to him and I should have left a gap of 5 metres.
After looking at the damage, my (BMW E90) front bumper has a dent on the offside side corner. The headlight washer and parking sensor is damaged. The car that hit me was also an E90 with no visible damage.
He told me he does not want to go through insurance and asked me to get quotes. If it's a couple of hundred pounds then he will settle it. If not he said we can go through insurance.
I think it will be more than a couple hundred, but if we go through insurance I suspect he will say I ran into him and it will be my word against his. He gave his name, number and address but not insurance details. The address is down the road from me and I have seen the car parked in the drive before.
I guess I won't know how to proceed until I get some quotes, but I was wondering if I should forget about settling and claim through my insurance?
I intend to notify my insurer in any case.
Thanks in advance
Tom
I was involved in a minor shunt today where the car in front of me rolled back into mine. He rolled back (on an incline) because he was making room for the car in front of his, and claimed he not realize how close behind I was to him. He also suggested that I was too close to him and I should have left a gap of 5 metres.
After looking at the damage, my (BMW E90) front bumper has a dent on the offside side corner. The headlight washer and parking sensor is damaged. The car that hit me was also an E90 with no visible damage.
He told me he does not want to go through insurance and asked me to get quotes. If it's a couple of hundred pounds then he will settle it. If not he said we can go through insurance.
I think it will be more than a couple hundred, but if we go through insurance I suspect he will say I ran into him and it will be my word against his. He gave his name, number and address but not insurance details. The address is down the road from me and I have seen the car parked in the drive before.
I guess I won't know how to proceed until I get some quotes, but I was wondering if I should forget about settling and claim through my insurance?
I intend to notify my insurer in any case.
Thanks in advance
Tom
Firstly tell your insurance company and add that he is offering you money. This caught out one guy that hit my car who wanted to settle with cash but wouldnt pay the £300, but soon changed his mind when the insurance quote was 3 times that. His insurance co was well pissed with him as he had offered payment which basically showed it was his fault.
You can use a 3rd party and not use your insurance company at all, my policy had a £700 excess and wasnt worth the hassle to claim. My broker used a third party and claimed successfully without either paying an excess or additional premiums.
You can use a 3rd party and not use your insurance company at all, my policy had a £700 excess and wasnt worth the hassle to claim. My broker used a third party and claimed successfully without either paying an excess or additional premiums.
unless the repair turns out to be reasonably more than your excess, there is absolutely not point telling your insurer
because, if he pays up, then you don't need to tell your insurer you can both pretend it never happened, if he doesn't pay up you can contact his insurer, if they pay up, you can tell your insurer at renewal that you had a no fault claim, if they don't pay up, you are not going to want to make an at fault claim for damage which is barely above your excess
because, if he pays up, then you don't need to tell your insurer you can both pretend it never happened, if he doesn't pay up you can contact his insurer, if they pay up, you can tell your insurer at renewal that you had a no fault claim, if they don't pay up, you are not going to want to make an at fault claim for damage which is barely above your excess
this happened to me on Christmas eve. pisser as it kind of ruined my Christmas.
the chap said he would pay outside of insurance, I moved quite quickly and so far, after a quote of £100, he has been ok.
you need to move quickly as if he plays the t
t card in a month's time how will you then revert to insurance. if you tell your insurance anyway, you may as well proceed through insurance, particularly if you have witnesses.
once you have notified your ins co it will add to your premium as a no fault accident I think.
the chap said he would pay outside of insurance, I moved quite quickly and so far, after a quote of £100, he has been ok.
you need to move quickly as if he plays the t
t card in a month's time how will you then revert to insurance. if you tell your insurance anyway, you may as well proceed through insurance, particularly if you have witnesses.once you have notified your ins co it will add to your premium as a no fault accident I think.
This also happens to me only in reverse (no pun intended) - someone ran into me at a roundabout believing I should have gone when I didnt. I got a quote from a local place I'd used before which was about £270 from memory, he paid it was all fine. Much quicker and easier then going via insurance in my view.
I do always love some of the 'it was your fault actually" excuses when people collide with stationary vehicles.
You were too close to me
You should have gone
Etc
I had someone reverse into me once at a petrol pump. He said it was my fault as I shouldn't have pulled up behind him!
He too offered to settle without using insurance. I told my insurers who said fine, go ahead. He then never paid, kept making excuses, so I put it through insurance. My insurers could not have been more helpful, recovered the lot and my premium wasn't increased. Whatever you do, always tell them.
You were too close to me
You should have gone
Etc
I had someone reverse into me once at a petrol pump. He said it was my fault as I shouldn't have pulled up behind him!
He too offered to settle without using insurance. I told my insurers who said fine, go ahead. He then never paid, kept making excuses, so I put it through insurance. My insurers could not have been more helpful, recovered the lot and my premium wasn't increased. Whatever you do, always tell them.
Chrisgr31 said:
Informing your insurer will of course increase your premium, irrespective of the outcome, however you may be obliged to inform them anyway.
Personally I'd get the quotes, dont forget to mention its a cash job!
No it won't. It will go up with some, it will stay the same with others and will go down with others. Personally I'd get the quotes, dont forget to mention its a cash job!
Stop posting stuff that's wrong.
Of course the driver offering to pay may well have no insurance so if you followcthe advice of some here and go all vengeful you could end up with a "claim" anyhow.forget fault. If your insurer cant recover from his insurer you fall into the hole.
Your premium will be affected.
The title states "minor damage/crash". Its easy to see most people would rather cough up £200 cash to brush off a claim but it can be easy to just accept an offer without understanding if the repair is more involved than it first appears. This is another pitfall without a bodyshop quote.
and getting your cars repaired through insurance is no mark of quality either....
Your premium will be affected.
The title states "minor damage/crash". Its easy to see most people would rather cough up £200 cash to brush off a claim but it can be easy to just accept an offer without understanding if the repair is more involved than it first appears. This is another pitfall without a bodyshop quote.
and getting your cars repaired through insurance is no mark of quality either....
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