Dinged the car :(

[old.user4556]

So here I am, getting the train to and from work every day to save myself wear & tear on my lil car and also to avoid the increased risk of having an accident. I drive out the train station tonight and i'm waiting to turn right into a main road. I look right, look left, look right, start to pull out and (don't ask me how the fuck) I catch the right rear bumper of a Ford Focus at about 5 mph against the front right of my bumper.

fuck

My insurance premium is already high enough with a huge excess (Clio 182, 24 year old male) so i naturally start to shit my pants at the thought of losing no claims and forking out £400.

The bump was literally a low speed glancing blow, the other party being a very sound bloke who offered to accept cash to get it fixed. He says his mate owns a bodyshop and that he can get it done cheap (or cost price). The damage to his car was just a scuff that rubbed away with a tissue, but obviously he still wants it fixed. We agree to do it outside of insurance and he'll get an estimate from his mate. Tbh, he wasn't that bothered about the whole thing and said words to the effect "people take bumps far too seriously".

I get home, look at the damage, literally just a muddy scuff - a quick wash, T-Cut and polish and it's absolutely spotless, no damage at all.

My problem is this:

1) I know he will probably say "£200 to fix" if it's maybe only £100 - compared to my £400 and loss of no claims, i don't give a fuck if he inflates it slightly.

2) How long does he have to report to his insurers if he decides to say "ahh bollocks, i'll just claim". I don't think he will, but how long does he have me by the balls for this? Can he just pull it out the bag two months down the line?

Any suggestions/thoughts?

I'm willing to avoid insurance at pretty much all cost.

 

[Frizz]

It wouldn't suprise me if he had no insurance.

 

[old.user4556]

Yes Frizz, that did cross my mind the fact he was so layed back and said "aye, lets just do cash, no bother to me". In addition, he said "you can even pay it up weekly if that suits you" which I found very odd.

I mean, call me sus, but he seemed a bit too keen for me not to claim on the insurance.

He said he'd phone me this evening with an estimate, not heard anything.

 

[Brynn]

till he contacts you there is nothing you can do

fiver says he doesnt contact you, due to a possibility of no insurance

 

[Tom]

Were there any witnesses? If he comes up with some bollocks about it costing £200, tell him he can either:

a) fuckoff
b) accept a realistic offer
c) fuckoff

Because if there are no witnesses, its then his word against yours, and would anybody really be stupid enough to try it on? Tell him if he wants to play that game, he can go and bloody well get 3 quotes.

 

[venus]

i was involved in a similar incident to this, and as has happened with you the other driver didnt seem fussed, and agreed to settle it without involving the insurance. He said that he would get a quote and i could check it out and if i could get it done cheeper then he would use my choice of garage, which seemed fair enough. Anyway he didnt get in contact until nearly three weeks later and said that he hadnt had the time to get the quote yet (at which point i basically said if you cant make the time to get the quote then fuck off). Eventually a further 2 weeks later he came back to me with the most almighty quote. To cut a long story short i eventually went through the insurance nearly six weeks after the accident, so they must allow a fair amount of time to claim?

 

[Guest]

You can make a claim upto 6 months after your accident.

 

[Tom]

Although not reporting a traffic accident is an offence, so bear that in mind.

 

[PLightstar]

Its amazing how many ppl never claim, last August I scraped a car and took a bit of the paint work off the side of the car, I gave her all my Insurance details and she never claimed me being 21 and owning a 1.6 Golf I new it would be a headache on my insurance but, she never put the claim through for some reason, same thing happened to my uncle at Christmas.

 

[old.user4556]

For minor scrapes and scuffs, it doesn't seem like a lot of sense to pay a £250 excess (or if you're like me, £400 ) and the loss of your car for weeks to a bodyshop to get small scuffs done. For obvious crashes, smashed bumpers, buckled wings, large dents in doors etc - 30mph accidents, then it makes pefect sense to do it on the insurance because of possible chassis damage, very high repair costs and/or injury.

There are plenty paint touch-up companies that can repair scrapes/scratches/minor dents for less than £100. I had a 12" crack (Wij.. ) on my old car's bumper and to get it pinned/painted/blended was going to cost £75.

If the roles had been the other way around, and it was my rear bumper scuffed, i'd try washing/t-cut/polish - if it took 99% of it out, then i wouldn't claim either - the loss of my excess to begin with, the hastle of getting it to the bodyshop (the place i had it in last time took about 4 weeks to get my car sorted) just to get some cosmetic scuffs done. I couldn't be arsed, although i'd probably like the other party to contribute to getting it touched up if need be (as in this case).

Brooky: 6 months, that's what i thought, but surely it'll become increasingly difficult to prove liability for an ambiguous "knock for knock" situation (particularly since my car has no damage) that had no witnesses?

Tom: yeah, there were no witnesses and i said above it could be ambiguous as to the situation - did he swerve and clip me, or did i hit him because i nipped out.

Still, it hasn't come to that ... and he still hasn't phoned.

 

[KevinUK]

Someone went into my rear bumper at a roundabout at about 5 mph, i had a small ding in the bumper so I got him to cough up for a new bumper.

It was £150 (M reg VW Polo) but now I have a new shiny bumper

 

[old.user4556]

Quite right.

I'm prepared to pay for his bumper repairs, but if it exceeds £400 (which i really doubt, and seriously doubt if his mate owns a bodyshop) then ram it.

 

[old.user4556]

Although not reporting a traffic accident is an offence, so bear that in mind.

Isn't that only if there is injury?

Supermarket dings, scuffs, car park knocks and very minor bumps don't have to be reported surely? The police were very reluctant to come out to me when someone rear-ended me at 30 mph because there was no injury. They did come out though because we were obstructing the carriageway.

 

[Tom]

I'm not sure G, you could ask on Pistonheads theres a gazillion people who would know for sure.

I'd only contact the police because I wouldn't want the other person to get arsey, and complain that I'd left the scene of an incident (get your side of the story in first etc).

 

[old.user4556]

He phoned tonight, very sound about it, gonna cost £100 and he'll get a receipt printed up before i hand over the cash.

 

[Frizz]

Win/Win situation G.

 

[old.user4556]

There is a god .

 

[king_crud]

Isn't that only if there is injury?

Supermarket dings, scuffs, car park knocks and very minor bumps don't have to be reported surely? The police were very reluctant to come out to me when someone rear-ended me at 30 mph because there was no injury. They did come out though because we were obstructing the carriageway.

i don't know about over there but in Australia a car accident must be reported to the police if it has over $500 worth of damage (about 200 quid)