Driver admitting liability wants to go through insurance?
Discussion
Hi,
Bottom Line: A driver reversed into my unattended parked car earlier this week and drove off without realising. Two witnesses gave me the registration. I've tracked her down and she's admitted fault and willingness to pay, but after hearing a few repairs quotes from garages I know, she wishes to pay for my repair through her insurance company. What do I do?
I'm a 23 year old male with 4 years no claims on a 55 reg Kia Picanto, and my insurance renewal premiums are only just hitting "acceptable" levels. I've been told by my insurance company previously that even with a 'no fault' claim, my premium could still rise due to a "risk factor". To clarify: My insurance company is unaware of this incident at the moment.
---
Here's the situation:
I went to my local supermarket at midday on Tuesday and parked up in a bay beside the traffic lane. I was only inside for 20 minutes, and when I came back outside I noticed that my driver door was dented, scratched, and had some paint ripped off it. Some lad parked across the traffic lane from me told me he'd seen the woman who'd done it and got her registration; another driver and his wife appeared and also told me they'd seen her do it. They both told me she'd reversed a 'large car' out of her space only ever looking in her driver-side mirror, straight into the side of my car without apparently realising, and only turned her wheel when she set off driving forward.
I took both witness details and the offending vehicle reg, and borrowed a camera from the supermarket to take photos of the scene and the damage.
I passed the reg onto the police so they could PNC it and track down the owner, with the intention of informing this apparently oblivious woman what had happened and see if she was agreeable to paying for the damage that she had caused. The police did this (T-reg Honda Accord), and told me she's a nice woman who hadn't realised she'd done it, very apologetic and is willing to pay for the damage. The police gave me her contact details to make this happen.
Today, I set off to some garages to get rough estimates for repair.
GARAGE 1: The mechanic told me that the guy I need to speak with wasn't in yet, and he didn't want to give me a ballpark figure because it's not his remit, but said "There's too much damage to repair. That would need a new door and because it's metallic silver, it'll need blending with the rear door and the front off-side panel. Come back in 30 minutes when the guy's around."
GARAGE 2: The mechanic told me pretty much the same thing about requiring a new door and quoted me into space. £342 labour, £200 parts, £171 for the door, and £13.33 for a car rental. The grand total he's put down is £855.99 - I'm pretty sure my car isn't worth much more than that now anyway. I told him she'd probably be unwilling to pay that much; I know I would! He gave me the contact details of a 'non-fault claim company' who would recoup the cost from their insurance on my behalf if they wanted to go through insurance instead, and my insurance company would never need to know. I thought this seemed very odd, and so I rang my dad (WackyRacer) who tells me this is a well-known scam highlighted on here; that a mechanic will quote astronomical prices so you go through a firm that he will get a referral commission from.
GARAGE 3: A regular customer in my dad's shop, I went round and introduced myself - he knew who I was. I told him about garage 1 and 2 and he was in disbelief. He said a new door was excessive, and he could pop and paint it up good as new, with blending to the passenger door and off-side panel. He quoted me around £375 right on the spot and gave me his card to give to the woman so that she could verify over the phone that I wasn't pulling her leg.
I rang the woman and arranged to go and meet her at her house so we could discuss what to do over a brew, and look at the damage she caused. Immediately she was very apologetic on the phone and said she thought the bump she felt was her shopping tipping over. She agrees for me to come over but says her husband is out at the moment, and he deals with the finances in the house.
I go round and show her the damage, and she agrees that it's quite unsightly and apologises again. We go inside and I tell her about Garages 1 and 2, and that I'd not expect her to agree with their estimations. I thought with the old "door in the face" psychology, she'd be agreeable to Garage #3, but much like me she doesn't know anything about cars and thinks anything above £200 for the damage done is quite pricey.
At this point her husband rings and she explains that I'm there, and about the quotes given. She comes off the phone and explains that her husband used to be an insurance broker, and due to the amounts quoted, he'd like to get it fixed through the insurance company, and that he will call me tomorrow noon to discuss.
I tell her that if possible I'd like to keep insurance companies out of it, and if her husband has a preferred garage he'd like me to get an estimate at to show I'm not pulling their leg, I'm more than agreeable to doing that.
At this moment in time, I'm waiting for that phone call, and have a copy of their insurance certificate on my desk. Things have been left very friendly, with a handshake on the way out.
---
If they want to pay for the damage through their insurance company, does my company need to know - and if not, how do I claim on their insurance? I think it's absurd that my premium would go up when someone has admitted to and apologised for reversing into my car whilst it was unoccupied.
My car is by no means 'cool' but it is mechanically sound, well looked after and there are clear financial reasons for why I wish to keep it (and in good condition) for as long as it still serves me well. I would like to get it back to its pre-accident condition without expense to me, and rightly so.
I have a physically demanding and tiring job that requires I work all hours, and it's not feasible for me to spend weeks running around insurance companies and garages to get something sorted that I'm not to blame for. I want to get this sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible.
What do you recommend?
Damage:
Damage:
Vehicle has reversed from the space next to the white micra, RIGHT across the lane into my picanto (the one next to the black audi):
A Honda Accord is not that long:
She must have felt that she was reversing a bus:
Reversed from where the '58' picanto is, right across the lane into me:
My door from the side:
Side-on view of damage:
Bottom Line: A driver reversed into my unattended parked car earlier this week and drove off without realising. Two witnesses gave me the registration. I've tracked her down and she's admitted fault and willingness to pay, but after hearing a few repairs quotes from garages I know, she wishes to pay for my repair through her insurance company. What do I do?
I'm a 23 year old male with 4 years no claims on a 55 reg Kia Picanto, and my insurance renewal premiums are only just hitting "acceptable" levels. I've been told by my insurance company previously that even with a 'no fault' claim, my premium could still rise due to a "risk factor". To clarify: My insurance company is unaware of this incident at the moment.
---
Here's the situation:
I went to my local supermarket at midday on Tuesday and parked up in a bay beside the traffic lane. I was only inside for 20 minutes, and when I came back outside I noticed that my driver door was dented, scratched, and had some paint ripped off it. Some lad parked across the traffic lane from me told me he'd seen the woman who'd done it and got her registration; another driver and his wife appeared and also told me they'd seen her do it. They both told me she'd reversed a 'large car' out of her space only ever looking in her driver-side mirror, straight into the side of my car without apparently realising, and only turned her wheel when she set off driving forward.
I took both witness details and the offending vehicle reg, and borrowed a camera from the supermarket to take photos of the scene and the damage.
I passed the reg onto the police so they could PNC it and track down the owner, with the intention of informing this apparently oblivious woman what had happened and see if she was agreeable to paying for the damage that she had caused. The police did this (T-reg Honda Accord), and told me she's a nice woman who hadn't realised she'd done it, very apologetic and is willing to pay for the damage. The police gave me her contact details to make this happen.
Today, I set off to some garages to get rough estimates for repair.
GARAGE 1: The mechanic told me that the guy I need to speak with wasn't in yet, and he didn't want to give me a ballpark figure because it's not his remit, but said "There's too much damage to repair. That would need a new door and because it's metallic silver, it'll need blending with the rear door and the front off-side panel. Come back in 30 minutes when the guy's around."
GARAGE 2: The mechanic told me pretty much the same thing about requiring a new door and quoted me into space. £342 labour, £200 parts, £171 for the door, and £13.33 for a car rental. The grand total he's put down is £855.99 - I'm pretty sure my car isn't worth much more than that now anyway. I told him she'd probably be unwilling to pay that much; I know I would! He gave me the contact details of a 'non-fault claim company' who would recoup the cost from their insurance on my behalf if they wanted to go through insurance instead, and my insurance company would never need to know. I thought this seemed very odd, and so I rang my dad (WackyRacer) who tells me this is a well-known scam highlighted on here; that a mechanic will quote astronomical prices so you go through a firm that he will get a referral commission from.
GARAGE 3: A regular customer in my dad's shop, I went round and introduced myself - he knew who I was. I told him about garage 1 and 2 and he was in disbelief. He said a new door was excessive, and he could pop and paint it up good as new, with blending to the passenger door and off-side panel. He quoted me around £375 right on the spot and gave me his card to give to the woman so that she could verify over the phone that I wasn't pulling her leg.
I rang the woman and arranged to go and meet her at her house so we could discuss what to do over a brew, and look at the damage she caused. Immediately she was very apologetic on the phone and said she thought the bump she felt was her shopping tipping over. She agrees for me to come over but says her husband is out at the moment, and he deals with the finances in the house.
I go round and show her the damage, and she agrees that it's quite unsightly and apologises again. We go inside and I tell her about Garages 1 and 2, and that I'd not expect her to agree with their estimations. I thought with the old "door in the face" psychology, she'd be agreeable to Garage #3, but much like me she doesn't know anything about cars and thinks anything above £200 for the damage done is quite pricey.
At this point her husband rings and she explains that I'm there, and about the quotes given. She comes off the phone and explains that her husband used to be an insurance broker, and due to the amounts quoted, he'd like to get it fixed through the insurance company, and that he will call me tomorrow noon to discuss.
I tell her that if possible I'd like to keep insurance companies out of it, and if her husband has a preferred garage he'd like me to get an estimate at to show I'm not pulling their leg, I'm more than agreeable to doing that.
At this moment in time, I'm waiting for that phone call, and have a copy of their insurance certificate on my desk. Things have been left very friendly, with a handshake on the way out.
---
If they want to pay for the damage through their insurance company, does my company need to know - and if not, how do I claim on their insurance? I think it's absurd that my premium would go up when someone has admitted to and apologised for reversing into my car whilst it was unoccupied.
My car is by no means 'cool' but it is mechanically sound, well looked after and there are clear financial reasons for why I wish to keep it (and in good condition) for as long as it still serves me well. I would like to get it back to its pre-accident condition without expense to me, and rightly so.
I have a physically demanding and tiring job that requires I work all hours, and it's not feasible for me to spend weeks running around insurance companies and garages to get something sorted that I'm not to blame for. I want to get this sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible.
What do you recommend?
Damage:
Damage:
Vehicle has reversed from the space next to the white micra, RIGHT across the lane into my picanto (the one next to the black audi):
A Honda Accord is not that long:
She must have felt that she was reversing a bus:
Reversed from where the '58' picanto is, right across the lane into me:
My door from the side:
Side-on view of damage:
Edited by Heskey on Friday 9th November 17:00
Edited by Heskey on Friday 9th November 17:06
If she want to go through her insurance there is nothing you can do about that. It's her right.
Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
If it goes through his insurance company, your insurance and future companies WILL know, as they share a database.
regardless you should disclose this.
Yes it is unfair that your premium may rise - although probably not much. As friend of mine in a wheel chair once said 'Life is unfair - get over it. I did".
regardless you should disclose this.
Yes it is unfair that your premium may rise - although probably not much. As friend of mine in a wheel chair once said 'Life is unfair - get over it. I did".
Edited by balls-out on Friday 9th November 17:19
Blown2CV said:
they might be playing on the fact that you don't want to go through insurance...
I'm more willing to tell my insurance than pay for the repair myself!I can't imagine £375 is much more than the voluntary excess on their insurance. Surely they'd be mad to want to up their premium for a couple of years instead of paying their voluntary excess + £100 (give or take) on top in a one-off incident?
Roo said:
Why don't you want it to go through her insurance company?
I'm fine if her insurance will say "our client's fault, we'll pay" and it won't affect my premiums, but I've been told that it would? Which I think is ridiculous given I wasn't even there, and she's fully admitting fault?I'd rather she gave me something towards it and I had to unfairly foot the rest of the bill myself if it'll save my premium from going any higher.
As I said, my car is a '55' reg and I think it's currently worth (in repaired condition) around £1000-1500.
Edited by Heskey on Friday 9th November 17:12
Why would it affect your insurance?
It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
Devil2575 said:
If she want to go through her insurance there is nothing you can do about that. It's her right.
Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
10000% this. Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
Surely you know that this is what car insurance is for?
You have a bump, you claim, they pay. She/they probably can't or are not willing to shell out the cash to avoid the insurance co getting involved.
You certainly can't force them to leave insurance out of it.
Yes she did wrong by not leaving details, etc but, frankly, if you'd turned up at my house I'd have just given you my insurance company's details and asked you to leave.
If you'd turned up to my house when I wasn't there and started producing quotes to my wife asking for money, not matter what the circumstances, I'd be a bit miffed with you tbh...
R8Steve said:
Why would it affect your insurance?
It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
It will affect his insurance. Mine went up when some idiot woman drove into me. My wife's did too because I was a named driver on her insurance.It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
As the OP said, you're considered more of a risk. Madness.
Muzzer79 said:
Devil2575 said:
If she want to go through her insurance there is nothing you can do about that. It's her right.
Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
10000% this. Not telling your insurance company about the accident could be considered withholding information and could risk ivalidating your insurance.
Hopefully it won't put your insurance up by too much.
Surely you know that this is what car insurance is for?
You have a bump, you claim, they pay. She/they probably can't or are not willing to shell out the cash to avoid the insurance co getting involved.
You certainly can't force them to leave insurance out of it.
Yes she did wrong by not leaving details, etc but, frankly, if you'd turned up at my house I'd have just given you my insurance company's details and asked you to leave.
If you'd turned up to my house when I wasn't there and started producing quotes to my wife asking for money, not matter what the circumstances, I'd be a bit miffed with you tbh...
Of course I can't force them to leave insurance out of it; I was asking if going through their insurance would result in 0 cost implications for me.
She didn't do wrong by not leaving details because she's apologised for being oblivious to it having even happened at the time.
And as for turning up at her house, the police contacted me to tell me she was happy to pay for the damage and for me to have her details so I could arrange it with her. I'm trying to sort out repairs for accidental damage with an apologetic party - not have an affair with her.
R8Steve said:
Why would it affect your insurance?
It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
Because statiscally, If you have been involved in an (no fault) accident once, you are more likely to again. Its a fact.It's a no fault accident, her insurance pays, your insurance doesn't, the car gets fixed and you keep any no claims discount you have. You need to tell future insurance companies that you have had a no fault accident but that should not affect your premium
Somebody drove into the side of me. There was no dammage to my bike, but my foot rest made a mess of his door
. I didn't even claim, but He did fore his car, so I was 'in' an accident on the insurer's database. When I renewed, I did price comparisons with and without the accident. Cost me about £30 extra as I recall. I even tried my uninsured loss cover, but no joy.Muzzer79 said:
It will affect his insurance. Mine went up when some idiot woman drove into me. My wife's did too because I was a named driver on her insurance.
As the OP said, you're considered more of a risk. Madness.
Never heard of that, i've had two no fault claims, one on a bike (a very expensive claim....40k plus!) and one in a car - i still have 8 years bike no claims, 12 years car - both accidents were approx 3/4 years ago and my insurance has went downAs the OP said, you're considered more of a risk. Madness.
OP - put it through the insurance i would suggest, it's what it's there for
Use an asset management company like helphire, they sort it all out and give you a car while yours is off the road.
Best bit is they deal direct with her insurance and dont touch yours, so your not having to pay an excess or loose a NCB until the insurance companies sort it out between them, which can take months.
Best bit is they deal direct with her insurance and dont touch yours, so your not having to pay an excess or loose a NCB until the insurance companies sort it out between them, which can take months.
I find it bizarre that premiums can rise on non-fault claims when you weren't even present - I could possibly understand this being the case if you were present and 'owing to the presence of your vehicle, the accident for which you are not to blame occurred'.
I also find it bizarre that a few people here are ignoring the fact that I've spoken to my insurers who say this is the case, and still want me to dive head-first into a claim as that's "what insurance companies are for".
To my mind, insurance companies are an evil necessity who will have you by the balls whichever way you cut a situation, whether it's your fault or not.
I also find it bizarre that a few people here are ignoring the fact that I've spoken to my insurers who say this is the case, and still want me to dive head-first into a claim as that's "what insurance companies are for".
To my mind, insurance companies are an evil necessity who will have you by the balls whichever way you cut a situation, whether it's your fault or not.
Your premium will go up, a little bit.
Get fictionalised quotes, i.e., similar car, neighbourhood address, similar age and drivers to yourself, but with and without a no-fault claim, but with the same level of no claims discount.
It'll probably be something like £20 a year.
Really, the amount of effort you're putting in is disproportionate to a small saving over a long time. Your premium won't go from being £600 to £2k or anything like that for a small non-fault, especially as you'll still have another year's no claims next year (if nothing else goes wrong, of course). Even a fault claim against me only added ~£100 to my premium a few years ago, when I was 31.
Get fictionalised quotes, i.e., similar car, neighbourhood address, similar age and drivers to yourself, but with and without a no-fault claim, but with the same level of no claims discount.
It'll probably be something like £20 a year.
Really, the amount of effort you're putting in is disproportionate to a small saving over a long time. Your premium won't go from being £600 to £2k or anything like that for a small non-fault, especially as you'll still have another year's no claims next year (if nothing else goes wrong, of course). Even a fault claim against me only added ~£100 to my premium a few years ago, when I was 31.
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