Marky-San

Hello folks,

I was standing having tyres fitted to my car when a guy in a Volvo reversed into my car - cracking the rear bumper and damaged the paintwork and the bumper fixtures. It not life threatening, but is bloody annoying.

Question is, if I put a claim in to my insurance is there a chance I'll lose my no claims (not protected as the % wasnt high enough before you ask) even though my car was parked up?

Will I need to pay out my excess as well?

How would the responsibility part go? I know insurance companies are known for their warped view points on occasion. You know the 'shouldnt have been parked there' scenario, even though its a tyre fitment place so 'distributing blame' even though the guy has put his hands up (and so he should considering I wasnt even in the bloody car!!). I also know that his insurance company are likely not to take responsibility even though he fessed up.

Phoned Police and they arent interested cause no one is hurt, and no property damaged outwith the two cars. Fair enough.

The repair can be done with a plastic weld and respray for £150 - is it worth just doing it myself and keep the insurance out of it? Other guy doesnt want to settle as he hasnt got enough money.

Just pi$$ed off that this happened.

Any help appreciated,
Marky-San

RON

Pretty sure you'd loose your no claims, and anyway, whats your excess, surely must be more than it's gonna cost to fix, if the other guy won't pay, get it fixed yourself, and then try to forget about it, it's less stressfull than getting the insurers involved.
Damn annoying though!
Ron.

Marky-San

Thanks for the reply Ron. My excess is 250, which as you say is more than the repair itself - even if it is not pukka new bumper.

Just in the 'what should I do?' dilemma. Aint right that I would lose no claims when I aint in the car - but insurance companies are a bit of a dark art to work out.

RON

Two years ago my car was hit TWICE in one day when I was n't in the either time, I would have been stuffed if I hadn't had protected no claims.
Never had a claim until then, or thankfully since, what are the chances of twice in one day!!!

stevem2k

There is a chance .. but you were stationary ( parked ) so it is unlikely that your insurance's claim against his insurance would fail (assuming you have a collection of witnesses, photo's etc).. and you'll then get the excess back and your NCD restored too.

I suppose the decision is whether you want to take the 1% risk ...

Whether he wants to pay is irrelevant tbh.

Steve

H7

Hold on! This is what you pay insurance for. This is clearly the other guy's fault AND he's admitted it. As long as he's insured, you should be OK. If he's not insured, you're screwed, but then the police SHOULD be interested in him.

The deal with insurance is: you have to claim from your own insurance company, so automatically lose your no claims discount - stands to reason. However, if the other guy is deemed to be at fault (and he has to be because your car was stationary), then your insurance company claims off his insurance company and, when your insurance company receives confirmation of liability from his, you get your no claims discount back. If the other company denies liability, you need your witnesses.

Or, you let him get away with it and cough up yourself ....

boxst

Hello

Have you tried asking him for the money? Most people would rather not have the hassle of insurance companies if it's a small claim.

Steve.

skyenet

Sometimes things can work out fine. A guy ran into me while I was stationary at traffic lights. He admitted it was his fault. Swaped inruance details (He had only taken his insurance out an hour before) and within a day his insurance company contacted me and agreed to repair my vehicle. I still had to of course advise my insurance company and had to complete and insurance claim form "For Information Only". The other guys insurance took care of everything and at the end of it issued confirmation that their driver had been to blame. I used this when renewing any of my insurances (Car and motorbike)and the accident didn't affect my insurance renewals, quite rightly so.

Another problem of claiming insurance is that it can affect other policies. I was hit recently by a white van with no witnesses and not only has my car insurance gone up but so has my motorcycle inusrance.

RB170

If the guy who has hit your car is accepting full responsibilty and you have that in writing then you can make a claim without it affecting your no claims and you won't have to pay your excess.

I know this because I had the same thing happen to me, someone reversed into my car whilst it was parked.

alter_ego

There's no point in claiming your own insurance unless the cost of a 'proper' job is considerably above the excess. Your own insurance company will only give you the amount above the excess.

A_E

MR2 Rob

Thats unbelieveable - he doesnt want to pay as he hasnt got enough money.

B$llocks to him, he's damaged your car, why should you pay? If hes a crap driver then he should pay up. I bet he's got enough money to keep buying petrol.

I would say "well if you cant pay then let me take a hammer to your bonnet to make me at least feel better!"

wos 69

If he can't pay get it in writing and your insurance company
can sort it out, if not pay youself if it will effect no claim
bonus.

steve_nairn_sti

H7 got it spot on earlier in the thread. This guy will have to pay for it one way or another. I know if it was MY car I would be raging!!! This guy has damaged your pride and joy.

If he's being a **** and won't pay up, the only way forward is through his insurance company.

Sort him out..... He sounds like he deserves it!!!

SiDHEaD

A girl drove into the back of me, causing £190 of damage. Now my excess is nigh-on £700!! so i wasn't impressed. I also knew my renewal was pending so couldn't lose the no claims even temporarily.

I contacted my insurer (Tesco's) who said it was possible to fight the claim and THEN have the work done. This way i would not lose my no claims at any point. They put me in contact with their legal firm and it all worked out fine...

Andy

Marky-San

Nothing smells on my behalf LOL!! Well, except I could get the repair shop to do my boot lid as well if it was cash.

Look 99% certain to go through the insurance route, as at the end of the day I wasnt in the wrong.

The missing 1% is my total lack of trust in insurance companies and the hassle/stress they freely create with people.

Mungo

If you've got legal protection on your policy, this is what you use to recover your excess if the other party is entirely at fault. Not sure who ends up paying it (3rd party or their insurance), but you'll get a lawyer who specialises in this kind of recovery. The other side won' bother contesting it, and you'll get your money in probably 6-8 weeks.

Marky-San

I've got this, so I'm going for it. Dont want a substandard job -only the pro route will do

Dracoro

B**llocks. He's gotta pay HIS excess if you decide to take it further anyway. It's up to the OTHER guy to pay (by insurance or out of his pocket). why should you pay £150 min for someone else's mistake? Think off all the things YOU can buy for £150! In effect by paying for it yourself, you are giving a stranger £150 for nothing!

that's my opinion anyway

JasonO

OK hang up a minute, I've been here, in almost exactly the same situation, and lost.........

I made my claim after being rear ended whilst stationary, with witnesses. I pursued the claim via my legal protection, after offering a non-claim settlement to the ****** who ran into me, he declined saying it was more than his excess (£150) and I should claim him.

The cost of repair at £150 was by the workshop who had fitted the body kit to the car, and they had paint left over which could be used. Hence the low cost.

The ****** informed his insurance company that I had offered him a private settlement of £150, and his insurance refused to pay when I put it through the workshop as an insurance claim (inclusive of VAT + chargeable for paint, labour, consumables etc.) and they tried to have me done for fraud.

You want my opinion, then pay for it yourself, no-one knows you've had an accident that way, and it's less than the cost of your excess.

Or, go via your insurance company and sit back and allow them sort it all out.

Either way, his car needs all it's glass sorted

unclebuck

Is that your problem? Claim off his insurance. You may have to claim initially on yours but you will win the claim and therefore it should not affect your NCB. There must have been witnesses, something smells here?

BTW - forget repairing the broken plastic. You want it all replaced with new parts in a pro body shop recommended by your insurance company.

UB.

[Edited by unclebuck - 6/10/2003 11:05:30 AM]

Leslie

Mark.

You haven't said whether you know the details of the man who did it. If you do, make a claim yourself on his insurance company, difficult for him to deny fault if he reversed into your car. But don't do it via your own company, you might lose your no-claims bonus if they settle with the other bloke's company on a Knock for knock basis. If all that fails,you are better off to say nothing and pay for it yourself.

Just read your post again. If he admitted he was at fault you have no problem at all. But deal direct with his company without telling your own. If you were stopped as you were, it is all his fault for hitting you,no blame should be laid on you at all. Just write a positive letter to them.

Sorry to hear about the damage anyway.

Les

[Edited by Leslie - 6/11/2003 10:46:14 AM]