Hit from behind, small repair cost, go through insurers?
Discussion
A small conundrum for me.
Mrs PhilboSE was hit from behind at a junction where the person behind assumed she had gone. Impact speed was low but enough to push her car forwards a bit. Visible damage is a scratch on the bumper. Body shop says to get it back to original condition is about £300 all in after the VAT has been added.
Have given the other driver a chance to decide how to handle it - he says it's a company car. Ideally he would just agree to have the repair costs picked up. Unfortunately he's now decided to be a t
t and is declaring shared responsibility for the accident and is saying that there's nothing on his car that would cause that scratch (hmm, the bit of his car that hit her hard enough to push the car forward maybe?), and that the repair costs are excessive and "he's got 15 years experience in the motor trade so I know what I'm talking about".
He's got one last chance to pony up today but if he desists my options seem to be:
1) suck it up and repair the car at my own cost (it was otherwise in perfect condition, not a scratch on it)
2) not repair the car (it's a keeper) and accept a lower valuation when I eventually come to sell it
3) get the car repaired and present the bill to this guy's business sales manager or MD for payment
4) give the guy's details to my insurers and let them deal with it
Because he's being a tt and has used slightly bullying language towards my wife I'm now less inclined to consider (1) and (2) than I might have been before. The downside of (4) is that although this *should* go down as a no-fault claim and I should recover my excess, we will then have to declare this for the next 5 years and our premiums may be affected across all 4 cars we're insured on, possibly costing me more over this period than just sucking it up.
Currently option (3) is looking good (together with a note to his MD about the attitude of his employee), but what does the PH massive advise?
Mrs PhilboSE was hit from behind at a junction where the person behind assumed she had gone. Impact speed was low but enough to push her car forwards a bit. Visible damage is a scratch on the bumper. Body shop says to get it back to original condition is about £300 all in after the VAT has been added.
Have given the other driver a chance to decide how to handle it - he says it's a company car. Ideally he would just agree to have the repair costs picked up. Unfortunately he's now decided to be a t
t and is declaring shared responsibility for the accident and is saying that there's nothing on his car that would cause that scratch (hmm, the bit of his car that hit her hard enough to push the car forward maybe?), and that the repair costs are excessive and "he's got 15 years experience in the motor trade so I know what I'm talking about".He's got one last chance to pony up today but if he desists my options seem to be:
1) suck it up and repair the car at my own cost (it was otherwise in perfect condition, not a scratch on it)
2) not repair the car (it's a keeper) and accept a lower valuation when I eventually come to sell it
3) get the car repaired and present the bill to this guy's business sales manager or MD for payment
4) give the guy's details to my insurers and let them deal with it
Because he's being a t
t and has used slightly bullying language towards my wife I'm now less inclined to consider (1) and (2) than I might have been before. The downside of (4) is that although this *should* go down as a no-fault claim and I should recover my excess, we will then have to declare this for the next 5 years and our premiums may be affected across all 4 cars we're insured on, possibly costing me more over this period than just sucking it up.Currently option (3) is looking good (together with a note to his MD about the attitude of his employee), but what does the PH massive advise?
If someone is being a tt when they're at fault then as far as I'm concerned the gloves are off.
I had some 17 year old kid do a U turn on me back in 2003. Luckily I only ended up with a broken footrest bolt where it hit the side of his car.
Then his dad started being a tt. So I put a claim in to his insurance for £4.37 for a new footrest bolt. Kid went mental and rang me up threatening me, burn house down etc etc if I didn't retract the claim as it would mean such massive premiums. Unfortunately I was recording him. Called police 
I never chased up the four quid, but it'd be down as a claim/incident, I'm sure. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
t when they're at fault then as far as I'm concerned the gloves are off.I had some 17 year old kid do a U turn on me back in 2003. Luckily I only ended up with a broken footrest bolt where it hit the side of his car.
Then his dad started being a t
t. So I put a claim in to his insurance for £4.37 for a new footrest bolt. Kid went mental and rang me up threatening me, burn house down etc etc if I didn't retract the claim as it would mean such massive premiums. Unfortunately I was recording him. Called police I never chased up the four quid, but it'd be down as a claim/incident, I'm sure. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
Not worth putting it through your own isnurers at that value.
You'll likely have to use their 'approved' repairer rather than one you want
and they'll sting your no claims until its sorted
and you'll get paid less your excess, which'll have to be claimed from the third party
Do you want an exercise in beuracracy?
If he wont play ball -have you tried contacting the TPs insurers?
You'll likely have to use their 'approved' repairer rather than one you want
and they'll sting your no claims until its sorted
and you'll get paid less your excess, which'll have to be claimed from the third party
Do you want an exercise in beuracracy?
If he wont play ball -have you tried contacting the TPs insurers?
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