Someone bumped into the back of the other half yesterday. She had pulled out of a turning and then had to stop for oncoming traffic. The guy behind was to busy looking right to see that she had stopped.
The bumper of our vehicle is badly scratched down to the plastic of the bumper. There are no personal injuries.
I was thinking of getting a quote from the local body shop and asking the man responsible if he would rather pay me to have it repaired. This would make it quicker for us to get it fixed and could save him money in the long run. The body shop is the same place as my insurers use for repairs.
Is this a good idea? Is there anything I should be aware of before following this course of action.
Jon
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It will also save you money in the long run as even if it went through as a no fault claim you still have to declare it and you still get your premium loaded, no matter what they say.
If the guy accepts the quote get him to pay you in cash then you can get it fixed where ever you want (or not if the cash in your pocket is more acceptable) But also be prepared accept if he gets the body shop to bill him directly. I would be concerend if his plan was for you to pay the body shop then he pays you.
Much more acceptable all round than insurance claims!!
Good luck
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Jon
Assuming the chap responsible has accepted responsibility. for the damage and agrees the extent of it, and you have at least one independent witness just in case he doesn't.
On the injuries side, Make sure your other half does not develope a stiff neck over the next few days. I'm not suggesting inventing injuries, but if there are latent symptoms that you missed, you'd kick yourself if it meant more costs for you.
Get a couple of quotes for the repair and put them to him. You have his insurance details anyway. Make sure that it is an insurance standard repair though. Don't let the repairer automatically assume that an insurer will be paying for it. Include any costs for hire car if the repair shop does not provide a curtesy car.
Request that he responds within 7 days with his decision as to whether to pay himself or have his insurance deal with it. If he wishes to pay himself them have him make a cheque out to you, which you should clear before instructing the repair shop. At least you won't be out of pocket if the cheque is not honoured. He may undersandbly wish you to accept is as "Full and final settlement in respect of accident occurred on......"
He my wish to have a receipt for the cheque, there is nothing wrong with sending him a copy of the receipted invoice from the repair shop. Remember, if he's VAT registered he will almost certainly ask for this. At least he then knows that all the money that he's given you has paid for the repair.
A similar situation happened to me a decade ago. It all went very smoothly. Handled exactly as above. I got my car fixed, he kept his NCD.
H
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Don't forget to inform your insurer about the accident and tell them that you are currently pursuing a settlement with the other party. If you don't they could refuse insurance for non disclosure and may be unwilling to help if this other person decides not to play ball.
Jonathan
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A young girl ran into the back of my Merc a couple of years ago. She was braking, so it was very low speed, and the only damage to my car was to split the plastic valance under the bumper - quite superficial. Being kind, I offered her the option to pay directly, rather than going through her insurers and making her premium even higher. Her dad insisted that she process the claim, which was good, 'cos when I saw the bill it was for over a grand. I got my excess back, and I'm not aware of having been penalised for being the victim of a no-fault claim.
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>> Someone bumped into the back of the other half yesterday. She had pulled out of a turning and then had to stop for oncoming traffic. The guy behind was to busy looking right to see that she had stopped.
Assuming she cannot be apportioned blame for stopping after having pulled out, it is GENERALLY the rear-ender who is held to be 100% to blame. In that case, you have nothing to lose by going via the Insurers.
Is this a good idea?
Not really.
Is there anything I should be aware of before following this course of action.
There are many dangers - unless you are a very organised and thorough person. To get a flavour of it from the other party's perspective, search the site for threads using the keywords "accident questions steveH42" and "accident questions revisited steveH42". The two threads that will come up are a mine of information.
Best to leave it to your Insurers.
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You can never be apportioned any blame if someone goes into the back of you - its automatically viewed as the person who went into the back of you's fault.
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Not true at all - friend of mine had someone pull out of a junction directly in front of him. Didn't have a hope in hell of stopping and smacked the offending vehicle about 20 yards down the road. Insurers agreed it 100% not his fault - he even got compensation I believe.
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You can never be apportioned any blame >>
never say never.
signed: the ever, never, Mr over-cautious, paranoid, arrogant, eMBe
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Of course you can say Never.
I have never heard of a rear shunt going against the car in front (unless they rolled back or reversed into the car behind).
It is ALWAYS the duty of the car behind to leave ample distance.
I'd like to ask where you base your knowledge of this?
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I have to agree with Dan here. My son had a young girl pull out into his lane with no warning and then slam her brakes on. His Mini was dented smack in the middle of the grill which also took the bonnet out. The impact was on her offside rear.
After a little wrangling her insurance company sent an assesor to look at the damage to the Mini, who immediately pronounced it her fault and he was paid out 100%.
So there you go Phoeniks. That's 2 instances where rear end collisions have been down to the driver in front. Now you've heard it twice.
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Sorry, I should have been more specific.
If a car takes a course of action that means you will collide due to their manouvere then agreed it will be split that way.
My point refers to a straightforward going into the back of a car when following.
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Sorry, I should have been more specific.>>
QED . eMBe proved right - again!.
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It is ALWAYS the duty of the car behind to leave ample distance.
Not always possible with some of the lunatics who shoot down the outside lane of a motorway, then decide they want to take the next exit.
Some of these nutcases think it's ok to cut in within inches of the vehicle in the nearside lane, then brake.
It would be interesting to see who would be held liable if the person who cut in was shunted. I would imagine that that both parties would be held partly liable.
Anyone any experience of this ?
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I think it took me 10 mins too long to key the above!
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I don't want to make you paranoid, and this is by no means advice, but...
eMBe is right - never say never. Tonight a mate told me about a JCB driver who rear ended his father, but who disputed liability and, in court, the case somehow went 50:50. Apparently the JCB driver claimed that his father reversed into him at a junction (!)
I'm sure there's plenty I don't know about and it doesn't ring at all true, but you can never say never. On the other hand, unless your wife was doing something manifestly stupid, you have nothing to lose by claiming other than the opportunity to feel altrustic by letting the other driver keep his (?) NCB.
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I too have had a situation where I was rear ended into another car but ended up being responsible for the car in front.
However, if the driver concerned is prepared to accept blame for all the damange concerned and the accident and would like the opportunity to pay himself, then there is no harm in giving him the opportunity. It may be a good idea to inform your insurence in case you get into difficulties.
If, you start down this route and it turns out to be complicated, simply put the matter into the hands of your insurance.
H
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I was rear ended some years ago, in my Morgan.
The lady who did it paid (although ther ewas about 3 hours of my labour she got for free).
But tell your insurance company you are doing this. Mine said this kept the door open if things started to go wrong. I think I submitted a claim form and wrote on in it Not a Claim - For Information or similar.
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