Small accident. Perp seemed decent but now gone awol
Discussion
So a few weeks back now, I was in a queue of cars at the lights, about 3-4 back from the front. Lights changed and traffic set off. Car in front of me set off very quickly/aggressively, then sharply braked. I was alert at the time and my brakes are decent so I stopped with plenty of gap. Unfortunately as I glanced in the mirror after coming to a stop, it became clear the car behind me was not going to stop in time. BANG
Got out and spoke to the other driver. We agreed to pull up at a petrol garage just down the road. So he followed me down. Small crack and paint damage to my bumper. Nothing on his car. I said I'd prefer not to go via insurance, he admitted it was 100% his fault, and said he'd pay for damage. We swapped details (name, phone and reg but not insurance). I didn't report the knock to police within the 24hrs.
At first, a few texts were exchanged and it all seemed fine, I got a quote, it was a little more than he'd hoped for (£250 which let's be honest is not much). Said I'd get the work done and he'd pay.
Not had the work done yet but have tried to stay in contact as it will be a few weeks before I do and I dan't want it to slide.
He's now not responding at all. In the meantime, I've renewed insurance, and replied "no" to all questions regarding being in accidents etc.
Where do I stand and what should I do? I think most likely it will be....
- Stomach the £250 loss myself
- Always report a knock, no matter how minimal
- Never trust a person in such a situation again solely based on instinct
Got out and spoke to the other driver. We agreed to pull up at a petrol garage just down the road. So he followed me down. Small crack and paint damage to my bumper. Nothing on his car. I said I'd prefer not to go via insurance, he admitted it was 100% his fault, and said he'd pay for damage. We swapped details (name, phone and reg but not insurance). I didn't report the knock to police within the 24hrs.
At first, a few texts were exchanged and it all seemed fine, I got a quote, it was a little more than he'd hoped for (£250 which let's be honest is not much). Said I'd get the work done and he'd pay.
Not had the work done yet but have tried to stay in contact as it will be a few weeks before I do and I dan't want it to slide.
He's now not responding at all. In the meantime, I've renewed insurance, and replied "no" to all questions regarding being in accidents etc.
Where do I stand and what should I do? I think most likely it will be....
- Stomach the £250 loss myself
- Always report a knock, no matter how minimal
- Never trust a person in such a situation again solely based on instinct
Edited by markyb_lcy on Monday 18th November 13:25
I presume it's at or lower than your excess, so no point in claiming from your own ins co. So if the other guy has gone to ground, you either go to his ins co or forget about it.
Not sure why you'd lie to your insurance co, but as you have, you may have limited your options. If you claim direct from the other guy's insurance, then your insurance will probably get to know about it.
Bert
Not sure why you'd lie to your insurance co, but as you have, you may have limited your options. If you claim direct from the other guy's insurance, then your insurance will probably get to know about it.
Bert
BertBert said:
I presume it's at or lower than your excess, so no point in claiming from your own ins co. So if the other guy has gone to ground, you either go to his ins co or forget about it.
Not sure why you'd lie to your insurance co, but as you have, you may have limited your options. If you claim direct from the other guy's insurance, then your insurance will probably get to know about it.
Bert
Yea, my excess is £750.Not sure why you'd lie to your insurance co, but as you have, you may have limited your options. If you claim direct from the other guy's insurance, then your insurance will probably get to know about it.
Bert
Having opted to fix what is a completely cosmetic problem, without involving any insurance companies, is it really so hard to see why I wouldn't mention it on renewal?
You are of course right though, in that I have boxed myself into a corner. We live and learn, I guess.
Your options are pretty much non-existant now that you’ve lied to your insurers. If you or he now reports it (it’s unlikely he will, but it’s a possibility) then there will be a discrepancy in your new insurance policy statement of truth.
Sounds like you’re going to have to suck it up if you aren’t able to get him to follow through.
For what it’s worth you were never in a good position to begin with. £750 excess means you’re relying on the good nature of everyone given a minor knock would make it not worth going through insurance.
Sounds like you’re going to have to suck it up if you aren’t able to get him to follow through.
For what it’s worth you were never in a good position to begin with. £750 excess means you’re relying on the good nature of everyone given a minor knock would make it not worth going through insurance.
t decided not to hang around when clipping and cracking my rear bumper so i am £250 down REALIST123 said:
rsbmw said:
Your option now is bluffing that you'll be going to his insurer, get him to engage.
We don’t know that he has insurance......In any case, now the OP has filled in his application dishonestly he has little option but to forget about it, and hope everyone else does.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/35/sectio...
Whilst your insurers might not go that far, they may revoke or cancel your insurance which could make getting insurance very expensive for you in the future.
Edited by paintman on Monday 18th November 19:27
It sounds like he has been shocked at the 250 quid bill - which you admit you were a little.
In the spirit of trying as you both were to keep costs down, why not try to find a cheaper quote (maybe not use a dealer) and then offer him a discount on that price.
For example, if you can get a quote of around 175 and put that to him BUT say to end it all you will accept 125 quid, there has to be a decent chance he will accept.
Sure, you still lose 50 quid but better than losing 250 or so.
If he still does not accept all you have left is saying you will report it to the insurers but he may well be thinking a simple and cool 'was not me, mistaken identity' will work for him.
In the spirit of trying as you both were to keep costs down, why not try to find a cheaper quote (maybe not use a dealer) and then offer him a discount on that price.
For example, if you can get a quote of around 175 and put that to him BUT say to end it all you will accept 125 quid, there has to be a decent chance he will accept.
Sure, you still lose 50 quid but better than losing 250 or so.
If he still does not accept all you have left is saying you will report it to the insurers but he may well be thinking a simple and cool 'was not me, mistaken identity' will work for him.
NDA said:
kestral said:
You made the mistake nearly all people do nowadays. You did not exchange details as per the RTA 1988 170.
markyb_lcy said:
We swapped details
This will tell you if the car is insured, but you'll need somebody in the industry to find out the actual company:
https://www.ownvehicle.askmid.com/
V8fan said:
From OP: "We swapped details (name, phone and reg but not insurance)". Not getting the insurance details is the problem.
This will tell you if the car is insured, but you'll need somebody in the industry to find out the actual company:
https://www.ownvehicle.askmid.com/
Don't have to provide insurance details for damage only. If there was an injury then yes. This will tell you if the car is insured, but you'll need somebody in the industry to find out the actual company:
https://www.ownvehicle.askmid.com/
If you are not going to pursue the money I'd certainly not tell the insurer. It has sod all to do with them and will only increase your risk to them for a while. No way is the other guy going to report this to his.
Many "dereks" on here will wail about this like insurers are some kind of legal entity to which we must all bow down to.
I'd suck it up and move on. Unless £250 is a lot fo money to you.
Many "dereks" on here will wail about this like insurers are some kind of legal entity to which we must all bow down to.
I'd suck it up and move on. Unless £250 is a lot fo money to you.
paintman said:
REALIST123 said:
rsbmw said:
Your option now is bluffing that you'll be going to his insurer, get him to engage.
We don’t know that he has insurance......In any case, now the OP has filled in his application dishonestly he has little option but to forget about it, and hope everyone else does.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/35/sectio...
Whilst your insurers might not go that far, they may revoke or cancel your insurance which could make getting insurance very expensive for you in the future.
Edited by paintman on Monday 18th November 19:27
Some insurers seem to have lost their credibility a bit by putting things on their vehicle and home insurance forms like have you suffered ANY loss or damages...etc. Etc. I would have thought that questions would need to be more specific to stand up in court.
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