Should i go to the insurance
Discussion
Hello, my car was crashed into last week. Its drivable but a lot of body work damage. The person who hit my car left me a note to call him. I went and got a quote to get the car fixed at the manufacturer garage and its a lot, as expected. They refuse to pay the amount. The person says because they are paying to fix it, it should go to a garage of their choosing. All i have is a first name and a phone number is this enough to go through the insurance ? What happens if they are uninsured ?
Edited by Slipperywang on Monday 19th November 12:26
Unless they pay you the full amount in advance of any repair being started then how can you be sure? What if you get it repaired and they then refuse to pay/try to do a 'deal', surely that would complicate/prevent any claim then?
Going with the insurance is the safe option, that's what it's for after all.
Going with the insurance is the safe option, that's what it's for after all.
As above - it's the world we live in I'm afraid, and you have to assume you're going to get scammed and put yourself in a position where this cannot happen.
Quick story - a number of years ago an older driver reversed his car back, onto my front wing. We both got out, inspected the damage and he said "Look, I'm an older driver, they will hammer me on insurance for this, can we avoid insurance?"
Chap seemed genuine so I agreed. Got a quote from the main dealer and passed it back. The gentleman in question then called the dealership himself and somehow managed to secure himself a discount.
I got the work done, I inspected it and was happy and called the chap up. He paid by credit card over the phone and I drove away with everything returned to how it was.
It CAN all go according to plan. I could however have ended up in a much worse situation.
Quick story - a number of years ago an older driver reversed his car back, onto my front wing. We both got out, inspected the damage and he said "Look, I'm an older driver, they will hammer me on insurance for this, can we avoid insurance?"
Chap seemed genuine so I agreed. Got a quote from the main dealer and passed it back. The gentleman in question then called the dealership himself and somehow managed to secure himself a discount.
I got the work done, I inspected it and was happy and called the chap up. He paid by credit card over the phone and I drove away with everything returned to how it was.
It CAN all go according to plan. I could however have ended up in a much worse situation.
eezeh said:
Slipperywang said:
The person says because they are paying to fix it, it should go to a garage of their choosing.
No, that's not how it works. They crashed into your car and you get to choose the garage it is repaired at as it's your car. He's going to have to suck it up.
At the moment the OP has no idea as to the vehicle involved.
I would have thought it's fairly straightforward. Ring them up with two choices - please let me have your full details with insurance company etc so this can go through proper channels, alternatively say you will take the details you do have to the police to get a "crime number" so you can claim on your own insurance - if the police follow up the details you have with a "failing to stop" "failing to report" charge, that's up to the, - a first name and mobile is hardly enough to satisfy the legal requirements to exchange information.
ralphrj said:
BertBert said:
The minimum you should have got is name, address and reg number. Did you get those?
It sounds like the damage was done when the car was parked and the person that hit it only left a note with their first name and mobile number.Bert
mr rusty said:
I would have thought it's fairly straightforward. Ring them up with two choices - please let me have your full details with insurance company etc so this can go through proper channels, alternatively say you will take the details you do have to the police to get a "crime number" so you can claim on your own insurance - if the police follow up the details you have with a "failing to stop" "failing to report" charge, that's up to the, - a first name and mobile is hardly enough to satisfy the legal requirements to exchange information.
It won't get a crime number (it's not a notifiable/recordable crime), they'll report it as a Fail to Stop collision (names & addresses not exchanged) & it in all likelihood won't get investigated.Edited by vonhosen on Monday 19th November 22:21
I had a minor collision a few months ago, entirely my fault, very minor damage to a parked car, I left my business card under the wiper with a note asking them to contact me & that I would get it sorted. I could have had the damage repaired at my local bodyshop or at the local dealership for a couple of hundred quid tops as it was literally scratches. The first I heard was from my insurance company, I explained what had happened & my offer to settle but by then it had become a registered claim/accident. I have 5 car & motorcycle policies so I can only hazard a guess at how much my premiums are going to increase for the next couple of years!
shovelheadrob said:
I had a minor collision a few months ago, entirely my fault, very minor damage to a parked car, I left my business card under the wiper with a note asking them to contact me & that I would get it sorted. I could have had the damage repaired at my local bodyshop or at the local dealership for a couple of hundred quid tops as it was literally scratches. The first I heard was from my insurance company, I explained what had happened & my offer to settle but by then it had become a registered claim/accident. I have 5 car & motorcycle policies so I can only hazard a guess at how much my premiums are going to increase for the next couple of years!
And this is exactly why there is the temptation not to involve insurance, or even drive off after a collision as the insurance companies (only in the UK by the way) crucify you. In continental Europe, you lose x % no claim on that car only, not on 5 cars nor a hike in premium.EU_Foreigner said:
shovelheadrob said:
I had a minor collision a few months ago, entirely my fault, very minor damage to a parked car, I left my business card under the wiper with a note asking them to contact me & that I would get it sorted. I could have had the damage repaired at my local bodyshop or at the local dealership for a couple of hundred quid tops as it was literally scratches. The first I heard was from my insurance company, I explained what had happened & my offer to settle but by then it had become a registered claim/accident. I have 5 car & motorcycle policies so I can only hazard a guess at how much my premiums are going to increase for the next couple of years!
And this is exactly why there is the temptation not to involve insurance, or even drive off after a collision as the insurance companies (only in the UK by the way) crucify you. In continental Europe, you lose x % no claim on that car only, not on 5 cars nor a hike in premium.EU_Foreigner said:
shovelheadrob said:
I had a minor collision a few months ago, entirely my fault, very minor damage to a parked car, I left my business card under the wiper with a note asking them to contact me & that I would get it sorted. I could have had the damage repaired at my local bodyshop or at the local dealership for a couple of hundred quid tops as it was literally scratches. The first I heard was from my insurance company, I explained what had happened & my offer to settle but by then it had become a registered claim/accident. I have 5 car & motorcycle policies so I can only hazard a guess at how much my premiums are going to increase for the next couple of years!
And this is exactly why there is the temptation not to involve insurance, or even drive off after a collision as the insurance companies (only in the UK by the way) crucify you. In continental Europe, you lose x % no claim on that car only, not on 5 cars nor a hike in premium.I had a similar situation, bloke reversed into my morgan outside the local farm shop, fortunately an Aussie morgan enthusiast (the chances of that!) was supping Coffee outside and witnessed the incident.
I reported to the police who wrote to him, he denied it had happened, at the same time I requested the owners details from dvla, the police were a bit rubbish despite there being a witness, eventually dvla sent me the owners address.
A politely worded letter threatening legal action and I received a cheque for £500 by return.
Happy days, should have got an estimate for £750!
I reported to the police who wrote to him, he denied it had happened, at the same time I requested the owners details from dvla, the police were a bit rubbish despite there being a witness, eventually dvla sent me the owners address.
A politely worded letter threatening legal action and I received a cheque for £500 by return.
Happy days, should have got an estimate for £750!
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