turbo wrx

he wants to pay for it himself. He gave me a sob story about him being on his girfriends insurance and doesn't want to claim on it as the premium will sky rocket next year. Now bear in mind he doesn't know how much it will cost yet, as my trusty bodyshop repairer is on holiday.

The damage as far as I can see is :-

Floor in boot has moved in approx a half inch on one side
Bumper is warped were the number plate is, suspect mounting brackets are warped as well.
Paint removed where back box was pushed onto the bumper.

I suspect this will easily be £1k to fix, plus hire car while its in.

How would you play this, as my insurance said that as long as the labour charge was under £400 it would be authorised to be fixed within 48 hours. Otherwise an engineer would be required to look at it.

GaryCat

I was rear-ended, the damage was less than what you describe and the cost was over £800 to give you an idea.

Gary.

yoza

I take it you are getting someone else to type this post, as you are far to unwell to do so yourself.

As for the "dont want to go through the insurance" chestnut, he will change his mind, they always do!

He will be on the phone to Claims R Us as we speak, "yes honestly, he reversed into me"!

Good luck.

Fatman

My car was rear-ended late last year. The damage didn't look severe, but it still cost £1500-ish to put right. The other driver drove off, I didn't get any details at all (the car wasn't even registered).

If I were you I would claim on their insurance. Sorry, but sob stories count for nothing. Treat it as business, it's impersonal - you're not trying to be their friend. No need to do them a favour. Look after No1 and make sure you're not out-of-pocket.

Wuss

I've been in this position twice before and I gave them the opportunity to settle privately. I was shafted both times and I will never accept the 'let's not use insurance companies...' story again. It's up to you, but I would go the insurance route. It's not your fault, he ploughed in to you.

Sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear.

W.

[Edited by Wuss - 6/29/2003 8:51:02 PM]

turbo wrx

Yoza, got that covered fortunately had a work mate travelling home at the same time and they were behind the car that rear ended me. It was the classic scenario, I was the front of the queue at a roundabout and he thought I had already gone and whollop. I also think he may be coming out with this line in case I do go for a whiplash claim.

*Sonic*

My old Sport was parked up, and rear ended in a 5 car pile up, by some geezer who jumped the red lights, failed the breathalyser test, was doing over 80mph through the lights, skidded for over 80 feet, mine was the 5th car he hit

All write offs except mine, similar kind of damage to yours, mine was 3 grand to fix, chassis had to be straightened, his insurance company refused to pay out at first

I would go through the insurance, safest bet

Fatman

Insurance is there to be used - and it's not just to reduce the risk of being sh@fted by the other party. If your insurance firm is halfway decent, they'll assist with the repair process as well.

Claim on their insurance. You'd kick yourself for not doing so, if they do change their tactics and try to screw you over.

SiDHEaD

As said above,, I also gave some1 the oportunity to settle out of insurance and they really messed me around and tried to get out of £50's worth of repair. Result = i went thru the insurance and the bodyshop added some extras and the price was soon £400.

They will have lost their no claims now for the sake of £50 (how much i could have got it done for), and HOPEFULLY i do not have to pay any extra for declaring a non-fault accident - but you know what insurance companies are like

Andy

Stringpants

Get the Insurance claim in now!!!

That to**er will never pay for that!!

Turbohot

INSURANCE FOR SURE!!!

Mr.M

Was hit last bank holiday, driver insisted he would pay if not go through insurance. Had a mare of a time, bloke has changed his mind and now it looks like it's going to court. Get intouch with insurance company straight away.

slasha

Had a friend who agreed to a private settlement and ened up being shafted as the guy stared arguing he never caused that much damage etc etc. If this happens to you you'll have to sue him for the money and think of the time involved.

You MUST only think of yourself in this situation and claim on the insurance.

StickyMicky

i would claim

Gordo

Claim on their insurance - it'll never resolve itself otherwise.

A friend of mine had this issue where the other party argued for months about the cost and tried to dictate use of a cheap back street body shop. Get yours and their insurance involved and tell them it's out of your hands.

G

Scooby96

Have you also thought that the reason he might have suggested settling direct is that he doesn't have insurance / wasn't on his girlfriends policy??? Stuff him and look after no1 - ring your insurance company cos if he does have insurance he might just contact them and say it was your fault.

pugoetru

I used to work in a body shop and the average rear ender would cost around 1500 to put right on some cars labour can acount for more than half of that.

LanciaChris

Insurance. Besides, its illegal not to I believe.... commonly flauted but still illegal.

scoobynutta555

I had my P1 for 3 months brand spanking new. A 17 year old 6 days into his driving career rear ended me. He wanted to settle for cash too.Rear of my car had a scuffed bumber and pushed in the mongoose exhaust, the front end of his E reg orion was a complete mess.

I decided to go through insurance, the bill was £3500. Basically youll need a new bumper, full exhaust system (got a result there ) and rear panel sorted, plus anything else specific to your damage.

Go through insurance, thats what its there for, rear end shunt is almost always person behinds fault

rb5 286

iTrader: (2)

go thru the insurance man, thats wot we all pay thru the roof for, times like these.

i'd say ur looking at around £2k for repair

BIG E

I had a accident on a garage four court about five years ago both parties agreed to get there own damage fixed knock for knock 3 years after the incident I had a summons to got to county court I then got screwed for 1500 quid. He had decided to claim on his insurance blamed me for the whole incident.

God help the next person to smash my car up.

Ian

TurboKitty

I've just been quoted over £700 for a new bumper and beam plus labour and paint. That's without any panel damage.

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

GO THROUGH THE INSURANCE!! Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a whole load of grief down the line. My first thought now when someone offers to pay themselves is that they don't have insurance , so find out quick. Pass his details to your own insurance company and ask them to check wether he has a policy or is a named driver on the policy for the car he drove in to you.

I have been shafted up the **** twice recently by these sort of things - so don't end up like me.

scoob_babe

Go through insurance - we got rear ended last year relatively minor damage and it still cost £1k ish for the bill - new bumper, number plate, re-aligment.
Even if it doesn't look much, you may have problems with the chassis later on

MJW

Seems like opinion is pretty unanimous in going through the insurance. The 'sob story' is more than likely a cover for the fact that the other party is not insured. Don't leave it to chance !

DrEvil

As RB5 said, minimum £2K for the repair, just had a very similar incident in an MY'02 wagon, less damage than you've mentioned and its costing just over 2K to fix.

Andrew Dixon

I had a similar bump in my Scoob back in '00. Bumper cracked, floor warped, boot wouldn't shut. Total bill was around £4500!

My advice would be not to have any further dealings with the other driver - simply refer him to your insurance company. Let them take care of the repair, and then chase him for the money.

A

turbo wrx

I have since contacted my insurance and told them what has gone on. They said it was up to me how I wanted to persue, so I have told them to carry on with the claim. I have phoned the guy back and told him this, if he wants to pay out of his own pocket then I have told him to speak to my insurance and settle with them.

Thanks for the responces everyone, my good nature was getting in the way a bit and I was feeling a little sorry for him and at the same time getting worried over being shafted.

Fatman

Good move - you made the right decision

scoobynutta555

Its the best decision you could have made. If the bill is a few grand, i cant see that he would be willing to stump up the cash out of his own pocket. Youve hopefully saved yourself a load of hassle.

BTW when they offer you a cheap 5hitty 1.0 micra as a courtesy car tell them you want a 'proper' car as you rack up loads of M way miles. Worked for me, I was offered said micra, rejected it and was in a 2 litre mondeo for a week. I called up my insurance company straight away and they upgraded it from the workshop repairers meagre offerings to the mondeo from a bone fida car hire company.