Quick accident/insurance question

[WhisperingWasp]

Hi all. I’ll try and keep this brief as it is pretty straightforward (and not very interesting!).

Tradesman came to my house earlier and reversed his van into my parked car. Very apologetic, said his parking sensors don’t work. Anyway… Missus heard and saw it and said it knocked the car forward quite a bit so I think he hit it quite hard.

It popped out the rear diffuser thingy which I’ve pushed back in but this is scuffed. Bumper has been deformed a bit too (not massively so but can see it in the reflections and feel it) and it has crazed the paint.

So my question: guy wants me to tell him the cost and he’ll pay for it. Gut feel is it is one of them repairs that you think will be cheap but actually turns out not to be. The company will obviously have insurance and he did fill out an accident form.

Not the end of the world but just frustrating. Guy called out to deal with a problem at the house and causes me another issue to deal with! Just could do without it.

Anyway what should I do? Get quotes and share? Or speak to my insurance company? I don’t want to get quotes and share with him only to then find I need to go down the insurance route and potentially fall foul of them for not going to them at the outset…

Cheers.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Get a quote, let him know the cost. If he agrees to pay, happy days. If not, contact your insurers. Your insurers won't care that the report was delayed a week or two because the tp offered to pay but changed their mind.

[WhisperingWasp]

Thanks Twig. I'll seek a quote first thing and gauge it from there.

[Mr Tidy]

If he doesn't want to pay maybe you could get his insurance details and claim directly from his insurer?

It would avoid you having an outstanding claim on your own policy.

[WhisperingWasp]

Mr Tidy said:

If he doesn't want to pay maybe you could get his insurance details and claim directly from his insurer?

It would avoid you having an outstanding claim on your own policy.

Oh agreed I wouldn’t expect to rely on my own insurance. I’ve enquired with a local company about the cost and will go from there.

If I do go down the pursuing of the company’s insurance route do I just get in touch with my insurer and give them as much info as I can? Do I need to “warn” (don’t mean that in a combative way) his company? Not sure who the company are insured with and he didn’t leave a copy of the accident report with us (no idea if he should have). They seem like a legit, established company so not concerned at this stage…

…although saying that they were meant to come back today to fix the leak and didn’t even call me! Doing well with them aren’t I!!

[Mr Tidy]

I think you can request details of the other insurer from the MIB database as he hit your car.

[Bobton125]

I’ve used an accident management company 3 times now with incidents like this which weren’t my fault..

Avoids going through your insurance as The accident management company will chase the other persons insurance, and if they accept liability, will put you in a rental car, repair the vehicle and send the bill to the other persons insurance.. much cleaner than having a non fault claim with your insurance possibly shifting up your premium

[havoc]

Mr Tidy said:

If he doesn't want to pay maybe you could get his insurance details and claim directly from his insurer?

It would avoid you having an outstanding claim on your own policy.

Don't.

The TP's insurer has no duty of care to the claimant, only to their insured...so if there are any problems with the repair, they can legally tell you to jog on, and you then have to try and chase the bodyshop.

Use your insurer, use an accident management company, but don't go straight to the TP insurer...it won't save you any money and it may cause you more hassle...

[Ste372]

Just been through very similar (van rolled down hill into car) probably 10ft

Initial damage looked minimal but on further inspection bumper is knackered, pushed headlight into wing and bonnet is not aligned anymore. Current bill stands at £5k+

Definitely get quote from a bodyshop as they spotted things I simply couldn't see untill pointed out to me

[Carlososos]

havoc said:

Mr Tidy said:

If he doesn't want to pay maybe you could get his insurance details and claim directly from his insurer?

It would avoid you having an outstanding claim on your own policy.

Don't.

The TP's insurer has no duty of care to the claimant, only to their insured...so if there are any problems with the repair, they can legally tell you to jog on, and you then have to try and chase the bodyshop.

Use your insurer, use an accident management company, but don't go straight to the TP insurer...it won't save you any money and it may cause you more hassle...

This but what a crock of st that they can get away with it.

[Mr Tidy]

havoc said:

Mr Tidy said:

If he doesn't want to pay maybe you could get his insurance details and claim directly from his insurer?

It would avoid you having an outstanding claim on your own policy.

Don't.

The TP's insurer has no duty of care to the claimant, only to their insured...so if there are any problems with the repair, they can legally tell you to jog on, and you then have to try and chase the bodyshop.

Use your insurer, use an accident management company, but don't go straight to the TP insurer...it won't save you any money and it may cause you more hassle...

I did it many years ago using an Accident Management Company and it was completely painless.

Using my own insurer would have meant I had an outstanding claim on my policy, they would have insisted I used their approved repairer rather than a BMW approved bodyshop (car was still in warranty), I would have had to fund the excess then recover it and I'd have got an old snotter of a courtesy car rather than a current plate 3 Series ready and waiting when I dropped my car off!

[Road2Ruin]

Bobton125 said:

I’ve used an accident management company 3 times now with incidents like this which weren’t my fault..

Avoids going through your insurance as The accident management company will chase the other persons insurance, and if they accept liability, will put you in a rental car, repair the vehicle and send the bill to the other persons insurance.. much cleaner than having a non fault claim with your insurance possibly shifting up your premium

It still has to be declared on your insurance. These accident management companies just put up everyone's premiums due to the extortionate costs they charge!

[WhisperingWasp]

So chaps, I have had my quote and - as expected - it's a lot more than you would first think. £1,700-odd quid, £1,100 of which is for a new rear bumper.

I feel really torn on it. On one hand it was not my fault and I should be made good. On the other I don't wanna go to this poor fella and tell him that something he probably thought would be a hundred quid is actually £1,700.

I'll share with him the details but I'll position it that I don't expect him to pay from his own pocket but rather go through company insurance. As I've said, he told his boss and filled out an accident report so they are aware of the incident.

I really don't want to be an ahole over it; my car is quite old and high mileage. But it is my pride & joy and I look after it and have spent lots of money to make it just right.

So does my course of action seem reasonable? What would be my first step? Accident management company seems a bit overkill no? I don't need a decent courtesy car or anything like that and don't want some company profiteering off this minor mishap.

Cheers in advance for the advice.

[Road2Ruin]

If it is an old, high mileage car, the insurance company won't pay that. The loss would either be adjusted possibly to reflect the true value or the car written off, depending on the value of the car. So be careful.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Road2Ruin said:

If it is an old, high mileage car, the insurance company won't pay that. The loss would either be adjusted possibly to reflect the true value or the car written off, depending on the value of the car. So be careful.

Not sure what you mean by "The loss would either be adjusted possibly to reflect the true value". Assuming they accept liability, they will either write the car off if it's worth less than £1700 or not much more, or fix it.

[havoc]

Road2Ruin said:

...or the car written off, depending on the value of the car. So be careful.

This bit at least is true.

See if you can find the market value of your car, and then take 60% of it (rule of thumb, not necessarily what the ins. co will use). Compare that to your quote.

So if you car is only worth £3k or less, then chances are this quote will 'write the car off'.

[Franco5]

Bobton125 said:

I’ve used an accident management company 3 times now with incidents like this which weren’t my fault..

Avoids going through your insurance as The accident management company will chase the other persons insurance, and if they accept liability, will put you in a rental car, repair the vehicle and send the bill to the other persons insurance.. much cleaner than having a non fault claim with your insurance possibly shifting up your premium

You may not have made a “claim” but you’ve still had an “accident” for the “any accidents, claims or convictions in the last 5 years.” question.

[Tommie38]

Take it straight to insurance / claims company. You need to be careful that taking money doesn’t prevent you from seeking compensation for any other issues further down the line or that acceptance of money for repairs is treated as a settlement.

If the company that quoted £1700 removes the bumper and says they made a mistake and it is now £3000 where does that leave you?

I would 100% avoid taking money from him directly. Even more so where there are people involved (I appreciate not the case here but not every whiplash claim is false).

[Mr Tidy]

WhisperingWasp said:

So chaps, I have had my quote and - as expected - it's a lot more than you would first think. £1,700-odd quid, £1,100 of which is for a new rear bumper.

I feel really torn on it. On one hand it was not my fault and I should be made good. On the other I don't wanna go to this poor fella and tell him that something he probably thought would be a hundred quid is actually £1,700.

I'll share with him the details but I'll position it that I don't expect him to pay from his own pocket but rather go through company insurance. As I've said, he told his boss and filled out an accident report so they are aware of the incident.

I really don't want to be an ahole over it; my car is quite old and high mileage. But it is my pride & joy and I look after it and have spent lots of money to make it just right.

So does my course of action seem reasonable? What would be my first step? Accident management company seems a bit overkill no? I don't need a decent courtesy car or anything like that and don't want some company profiteering off this minor mishap.

Cheers in advance for the advice.

Your approach seems pretty reasonable to me. Hopefully they will pass it on to their insurer who will hopefully contact you to avoid Accident Management fees and silly car hire charges.

[mattyprice4004]

Your approach seems fine - I expect it’ll be an insurance job.
You could always ask for cash in lieu of repair from the insurance company if you’re particularly fond of the car.