someone hit my car - next steps!

eventerbabe

eventerbabe

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2004
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My car was driven into today by a work colleague. Mine was parked well within a marked bay in the staff car park. A fellow teacher (who cannot drive for toffee) misjudged a swing into the spot next to me and caught my car. There is paint transfer on the rear wheel arch and slight faint scuffs on the back panel.

My dad went off his nut. He said i must get it professionally repaired asap. I've managed to remove most of the paint transfer using fairy liquid and will try the other bit with T-cut in the next day or so. I can take it to my local body shop to get an estimate of the cost of repair however i cannot see what they have to repair? most of the scuffs have buffed out with a dry cloth.

The woman admitted liability infront of the entire teaching staff at my work and has said she'll pay for any damage. Do i tell her i'm getting it assessed or simply get the assessment done then if the body shop think it needs repaired present her with the quote and ask her to stump up as she promised?

none of the body work is even dented, i can't see that there will be anything to sort once i've t-cutted out the scuff but my dad is going berserk saying i'll lose money on the car when i trade it in. It's an old car (2002 reg) with high mileage so i can't see a minor scuff making much difference?
 
If you dad is anything like my dad, you'll never hear the end of it unless you do as he says!

Tell the woman that you're taking it into the garage for them to check it over and will let her know if anything needs to be corrected. TBH - if her driving is as bad as it sounds, maybe she needs a bit of a reality check so a repair bill might be a good thing!

Just dont get into the insurance rip off of a courtsey car should your car be in the garage getting repaired
 
Was it the bumper that was damaged? I shunted a car at a junction at about 2mph. The other party decided there was no damage to either car and drove off happy. Although there was no external damage my dad pulled the bumper off to have a look and found the plastic brackets had disintegrated and would have given up the ghost at some point.
Worth getting it checked out.
 
You SHOULD let your insurers know there has been an incident, as should she, even if you don't plan to claim.

It's up to you what you do from there. If it T cuts out then all well and good, no further action required. If it needs seeing to then get I'd go down the route of getting 3 quotes and let her know.

I know lots of people don't declare any incidents they have to their insurers if they don't intend claiming but in theory if the insurers find out they can cancel your insurance.

Besides, if you do find you need work doing and either she doesn't pay up immediately or at all then you may need to in future. Your choice.
 
What is it with fathers and cars???
If you dad is anything like my dad, you'll never hear the end of it unless you do as he says!
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When we took him and his 4X4 to Iceland he had the screaming ab-dabs because we got it dirty on the cinder roads!

When the motorbike got run over by a car driver reverse parking it had to go through the insurance company. It was a nearly new bike and was pristine. Had it been a lot older OH would have hassled £50 out of him for a new brake lever and left it at that.
 
I'm going to declare it. I left her car details on my desk at work so i'll get them and phone insurers tomorrow. I think i'm going to get a quote, having looked at it again i think the stuff i cannot get off is down to the metalwork under the paint on my car. That needs proper repair so i'm leaving the t-cut and will get the damage assessor from the body shop to quote me tomorrow. Thank goodness i live 2 minutes from a good body shop which will give me a courtesy car without much issue!

I know dads mean well but mine gets so irate and ratty about things!
 
i personally wouldn't get insurance involved if shes willing to pay and its only paint damage. Why? any claim now affects your premuim even if you are not at fault. Both premiums go up.

I would however get it professionally sorted and hand her the bill to pay. You could say shes lucky it didn't go though insurance butat the same time it helps you both.
 
You don't need to make a claim, you also don't need to let an insurer know until renewal if you're not claiming. The question generally asked when insurers gain info in order to quote is 'have you had any, accidents, claims or losses' which is why any incident ought to be declared even though many of us don't.

Don't forget, if an insurer deems the info received at quotation incorrect they can void the policy which can lead to the policy holder not having had cover at all and open to prosecution for not having had valid insurance.

Informing insurers sooner rather than later is a safety fallback should the need to claim arise.

I can understand why people don't declare but they need to know the risks of not doing so.
 
get it checked, my brothers car was reversed into in a carpark. No obvious damage but later is was discovered that the crumple zone at the back had actually given way. It wasn't mega bucks to fix but it was too late to get the guy who had actually hit him.
 
Nookster said:
i personally wouldn't get insurance involved if shes willing to pay and its only paint damage. Why? any claim now affects your premuim even if you are not at fault. Both premiums go up.

I would however get it professionally sorted and hand her the bill to pay. You could say shes lucky it didn't go though insurance butat the same time it helps you both.
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Totally agree. No harm done if she's agreed to pay the bill surely? The insurance people can be so "computer says no" and you can argue till you are blue in the face - I have experience on this one! Many years ago OH backed into my mini on our driveway at home and we decided NOT to claim, however we told the insurance and they've never forgotten it. It comes up every year when the policy is up for rewnewal and it is like pulling teeth arguing with them that it shouldn't affect the policy!!!! When in doubt say nowt.
 
trouble is she is getting pissy about the cost. I spoke to her today and she was insisting i get multiple quotes and she would pay the cheapest of them. WTF??! she hit my car!

I called my insurance to inform them and it is currently a closed reference and will not affect my premium. As she admitted fault and the job will be done before i renew next june it should have no impact on my premium. I also have guarenteed no claims bonus with this insurer. I was advised by a colleague (ex car insurance!) that i must report it even if i don't claim.

Should i go 'private' i won't get a courtesy car. Also none of the body shops i spoke to will take private work just now. I do not see why i should be put out to satisfy her. She should bear the brunt and a hike in her premiums for being such a p*ss poor driver.

My mum had a similar debacle when someone smashed her wing mirror off. She's with same insurers as me and it's never been an issue. I'm so mad about the whole situation. I don't see why i should be put out so i think i'll be calling my insurers and getting them involved tomorrow.
 
happyhacker101 said:
Just dont get into the insurance rip off of a courtsey car should your car be in the garage getting repaired
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my insurance includes a courtesy car as standard should mine be in for repair. Think i had to pay an extra £5 on my premium for it at renewal.
 
Don't blame you. Had a similar thing happen to ms while back which I posted about. More often than not you'll get them quibbling on price or even if anything needs doing at all for a little scrape in an older car!

I'm ex car insurance myself in quality and compliance (complaints!) and glad to see your colleague giving you sound advice.

Whilst as a consumer myself I want the best price for. insurance. The insurers gather info to ascertain risk and therefore price. Misinformation about accidents claims or losses irrespective of blame or whether a claim was made is fraud. They can void insurance for that and having no insurance carries penalties.

As I said before, I know many people won't declare every incident but it's important to know what the consequences could be if you take that risk.
 
eventerbabe said:
my insurance includes a courtesy car as standard should mine be in for repair. Think i had to pay an extra £5 on my premium for it at renewal.
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There's some sort of scam that involves courtesy cars - don't know the ins and outs but it sounds as though you should be fine:biggrin:

As for Miss Prissy Knickers - her fault so she will just have to get on with whatever you decide to do!
 
cheers m'dears for your advice. I really think it will be insurance. The authorised body shop is very close to me and i will get a courtesy car (from enterprise). What set the wind up me was her email she sent this afternoon - "the cost of repairing your car will decide if i claim on insurance". ERM -no love! i decide if it's an insurance claim, you have no choice! she has no concept of how insurance works. I explained in my reply that i would speak to her tomorrow but it was my intention to claim through insurance and hence her insurance would pay for repair to my car and her premium would hence be affected as she'd admitted liability. Thank goodness she announced the prang in our whole staff meeting! i've over 100 witnesses so she cannot wangle out of it!!

i think i'll have a nice glass of wine and a long soak in the bath. First day back teaching after hols, full day and no lunch break as i was trying to sort this mess out! grrr
 
Our car got re ended in the winter, other parties fault, went in for professional work and was all done through insurance. Renewal came in and our policy went up as we had been in an accident - its no longer based on whose fault we were told so it was put against both parties. Added on £200!

I agree if she gets arsey go at her with all u can as poor drivers do my complete nut! Parking ones more so if you don't know the dimensions of your var you shouldn't be driving.

But beaware you might get a different story when you renew.
 
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