| Car insurance claim question 10:47 - Oct 25 with 2720 views | Bent_double |
Good people of TWTD...a question for you:
My son got home late last night, having driven from Gatwick, told me he'd had a little accident on the way - nothing serious, in his words, he just went into the back of someone in traffic at about 3-5mph.
Guy gets out of the car, ranting, raving, my son apologies said it was his fault (!!), guy takes video/pics and my sons details, Police were not called. According to my son, there was no visible damage to the guys car (a 17 plate) - but he did not take any pics/videos himself.
This morning, guy calls, and surprise, surprise, the garage have told him the bumper needs to come off and be resprayed, so does he want to do it privately?
Sounds like he's trying to pull a fast one if you ask me, and get £500+ off my son, which won't be used to respray the bumper, but of course he's in the right, isn't he?
From my sons p-o-v, he's worried about the increase in his premium if he goes through the insurance (he's 19, only been driving 11 months), but seems like that's the best option...anyone got any advice I can pass onto him? |  |
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| Can you offer to.... on 10:51 - Oct 25 with 2680 views | Bloots |
...get the damage sorted for him?
Might depend on location, but surely he can't complain if you contact the garage organise the repair and pay them direct?
Even if you can't, you can still pay the garage directly, at least that way he'd have to have a dodgy garage in cahoots with him. |  |
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| Can you offer to.... on 10:55 - Oct 25 with 2655 views | Bent_double |
| Can you offer to.... on 10:51 - Oct 25 by Bloots |
...get the damage sorted for him?
Might depend on location, but surely he can't complain if you contact the garage organise the repair and pay them direct?
Even if you can't, you can still pay the garage directly, at least that way he'd have to have a dodgy garage in cahoots with him. |
Possibly - thing is (according to my son) there was no damage, it was a very low speed impact, but of course it's his word against the other guy.
I'll suggest it to my son though - thanks | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 10:55 - Oct 25 with 2654 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
Truth is, if it actually was 3-5 mph there will have been no damage. The question is whether that estimate is wildly out. If there is no damage at all to your son's front bumper that is further evidence to support the likely non-damage to the other vehicle.
I would suggest that he tells the chap he will provide his insurer's details. Provided the chap accepts this (he may not), then contact the insurer himself to inform the speed at which he hit him and that he visually inspected the car and saw there was no obvious damage, but they insisted on his insurer's details. I am pretty sure insurance companies don't take kindly to fraudulent claims. |  |
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| Car insurance claim question on 10:57 - Oct 25 with 2634 views | homer_123 |
Lesson for your son - take pictures! |  |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:02 - Oct 25 with 2608 views | wrightsrightglove |
Get him a front and back dash cam for Christmas! The things can potentially save you a fortune, particularly being a young driver where even a false claim could end up adding thousands to your insurance. |  | | |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:06 - Oct 25 with 2573 views | GlasgowBlue |
As per Bloots advice, see if you can pay for the damage rather than go through the insurance. Unfortunately, the law states that your son is at fault as the car in front had stopped. Same thing happened to my boy.
Unfortunately with most modern cars, what used to be a back bumper is now a complete unit so even minor damage ends up costing an arm and a leg. |  |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:07 - Oct 25 with 2575 views | clive_baker |
Each to their own but I would certainly not be parting with cash directly or even offering to pay the garage directly, you don't know what sort of a relationship this person might have with a garage / mate etc and you could get stung.
I would be by the book on this and just say no, you don't have the money and pass over the insurance details. Then call insurance company and tell them what happened. |  |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:17 - Oct 25 with 2503 views | tazdac |
ask him to send photos of the damage and also the quote from the garage for the repairs :o) | | | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:17 - Oct 25 with 2495 views | Bent_double |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:02 - Oct 25 by wrightsrightglove |
Get him a front and back dash cam for Christmas! The things can potentially save you a fortune, particularly being a young driver where even a false claim could end up adding thousands to your insurance. |
Haha, I bought him one last Christmas! He couldn't be bothered to install it...until now! Lesson learnt... | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:26 - Oct 25 with 2449 views | Churchman |
| Car insurance claim question on 10:55 - Oct 25 by Nthsuffolkblue |
Truth is, if it actually was 3-5 mph there will have been no damage. The question is whether that estimate is wildly out. If there is no damage at all to your son's front bumper that is further evidence to support the likely non-damage to the other vehicle.
I would suggest that he tells the chap he will provide his insurer's details. Provided the chap accepts this (he may not), then contact the insurer himself to inform the speed at which he hit him and that he visually inspected the car and saw there was no obvious damage, but they insisted on his insurer's details. I am pretty sure insurance companies don't take kindly to fraudulent claims. |
That’s what I’d do.
It’s a bit of a minefield and the risk of your son not reporting it is that if the bloke goes through a claims company or his own insurer, your son’s insurer will become involved and won’t be happy.
If it’s a con trick, the Insurer will pick that up and the mush trying it on will get the grief for a fraudulent claim.
One problem with modern cars is that the bumpers are deliberately flexible and it’s the panel behind that’s the bit that might need some work if the speed is greater than your son thought. I know this from a couple of experiences in the past 20 years.
On a separate note, I had an incident two years ago where I stupidly reversed into a Mercedes in a car park at very low speed. There was a scratch on my car and on his. I offered to pay him money if he got his garage to look at it, but swapped details anyway (as you should). He agreed, but when I got home I thought about it and phoned my insurer to discuss it.
By doing that I registered an accident despite me not making a claim for my car. Lucky I did because the b’stard went to a third party claims company and tried it on. The outcome was that it counted against me because I’d reported an accident (fair enough) but his claim was turned down. Greedy b’std. I’d have been in bother had I not reported. These days you can’t be too careful.
Given the reaction of the bloke, I’d tell your son to inform his insurer. It’ll cost your son one way or another but heck, that happens to us all. Just an opinion. [Post edited 25 Oct 2022 11:27]
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:32 - Oct 25 with 2417 views | Bent_double |
Update:
Guy has sent the photos he took, which just show both cars, bumper to bumper, and there's a few marks/scratches/stone chip? on his rear bumper - could have been caused last night, or may have been there ages, it's a 5+yr old car.
He's also sent the garage quote, £465.
My son's told him he can't/won't pay and he's going through insurance, which seems the sensible option, even though it will cost him at renewal.
Thanks for all the replies, people. | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:32 - Oct 25 with 2400 views | urbanblue |
You say that the other guy took your sons details but did your son get his?? If the other driver has Comprehensive Insurance it is HIS Insurance that will repair it and they will contact your sons Insurance Company. If there is no damage he won't want to tell his Insurers as he will get found out.
If your son is so sure there was no damage the other guy may be trying it on and you have to decide whether to call his bluff. You could also ask him to send the pictures to you? |  | | |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:35 - Oct 25 with 2377 views | urbanblue |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:32 - Oct 25 by urbanblue |
You say that the other guy took your sons details but did your son get his?? If the other driver has Comprehensive Insurance it is HIS Insurance that will repair it and they will contact your sons Insurance Company. If there is no damage he won't want to tell his Insurers as he will get found out.
If your son is so sure there was no damage the other guy may be trying it on and you have to decide whether to call his bluff. You could also ask him to send the pictures to you? |
Edit .. just seen your latest post. I think it's the right move but tell him you'll wait to hear from his Insurers. | | | |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:36 - Oct 25 with 2374 views | clive_baker |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:32 - Oct 25 by Bent_double |
Update:
Guy has sent the photos he took, which just show both cars, bumper to bumper, and there's a few marks/scratches/stone chip? on his rear bumper - could have been caused last night, or may have been there ages, it's a 5+yr old car.
He's also sent the garage quote, £465.
My son's told him he can't/won't pay and he's going through insurance, which seems the sensible option, even though it will cost him at renewal.
Thanks for all the replies, people. |
Right call IMO.
Hopefully he was trying to pull a fast one, get the £500 and not bother getting it fixed. If he has to go through insurance he might decide it's not worth the effort. | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 11:41 - Oct 25 with 2240 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
Just waiting for the thread from someone who was driving near Gatwick and had someone go into the back of him at 30+mph, left horrendous damage to his rear bumper and caused whiplash too. Now the so-and-so is quibbling over paying for damage without going through the insurer! | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 12:18 - Oct 25 with 2153 views | clive_baker |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:41 - Oct 25 by Nthsuffolkblue |
Just waiting for the thread from someone who was driving near Gatwick and had someone go into the back of him at 30+mph, left horrendous damage to his rear bumper and caused whiplash too. Now the so-and-so is quibbling over paying for damage without going through the insurer! |
Ahh the old 'callback' thread, a TWTD classic. | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 12:49 - Oct 25 with 2073 views | stonojnr |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:26 - Oct 25 by Churchman |
That’s what I’d do.
It’s a bit of a minefield and the risk of your son not reporting it is that if the bloke goes through a claims company or his own insurer, your son’s insurer will become involved and won’t be happy.
If it’s a con trick, the Insurer will pick that up and the mush trying it on will get the grief for a fraudulent claim.
One problem with modern cars is that the bumpers are deliberately flexible and it’s the panel behind that’s the bit that might need some work if the speed is greater than your son thought. I know this from a couple of experiences in the past 20 years.
On a separate note, I had an incident two years ago where I stupidly reversed into a Mercedes in a car park at very low speed. There was a scratch on my car and on his. I offered to pay him money if he got his garage to look at it, but swapped details anyway (as you should). He agreed, but when I got home I thought about it and phoned my insurer to discuss it.
By doing that I registered an accident despite me not making a claim for my car. Lucky I did because the b’stard went to a third party claims company and tried it on. The outcome was that it counted against me because I’d reported an accident (fair enough) but his claim was turned down. Greedy b’std. I’d have been in bother had I not reported. These days you can’t be too careful.
Given the reaction of the bloke, I’d tell your son to inform his insurer. It’ll cost your son one way or another but heck, that happens to us all. Just an opinion. [Post edited 25 Oct 2022 11:27]
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yep fwiw theres crash protection structure behind modern car bumpers these days, they really are no more than decoration as opposed to actually bumpers that do anything, and equally they are stupidly expensive to repair, probably because of the complex shapes of the moulding in one piece.
I know when I managed to rear end someone in a similar low speed contact, again was my fault. But my insurance co, came up with more than £1500 of repairs just to my car alone, they wanted to totally respray the front bumper, which was made of plastic (I dont think the original is even painted), and yet the only visibile damage you could see was the number plate was a bit bent, which I fixed for 30 quid, and told them not to bother with their list of needless repairs as it was going to take two weeks to do anyway and there genuinely was no need for those repairs, not that it impacted my premiums which doubled for the next couple of years.
but at which point I kind of realised why insurance is so expensive these days. | | | |
| Car insurance claim question on 13:35 - Oct 25 with 1996 views | Bent_double |
ANOTHER UPDATE:
Son has just had a call from the garage...so the guy gave them his number...the garage asked my son 3 times if he was sure he wanted to go through insurance, instead of paying £365 (yes, it's suddenly gone down £100).
Dodgy | |
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| Car insurance claim question on 14:49 - Oct 25 with 1903 views | jontysnut |
| Car insurance claim question on 11:06 - Oct 25 by GlasgowBlue |
As per Bloots advice, see if you can pay for the damage rather than go through the insurance. Unfortunately, the law states that your son is at fault as the car in front had stopped. Same thing happened to my boy.
Unfortunately with most modern cars, what used to be a back bumper is now a complete unit so even minor damage ends up costing an arm and a leg. |
Same happened to my son. Person in front was about to pull out of junction then braked suddenly. Son literally rolled in to the back. Couldn't see any damage but other driver insisted in going through insurance even though we said we'd pay. Insurers said it's virtually impossible to blame person in front unless video evidence of something reckless. |  | | |
| Car insurance claim question on 15:01 - Oct 25 with 1861 views | Churchman |
| Car insurance claim question on 13:35 - Oct 25 by Bent_double |
ANOTHER UPDATE:
Son has just had a call from the garage...so the guy gave them his number...the garage asked my son 3 times if he was sure he wanted to go through insurance, instead of paying £365 (yes, it's suddenly gone down £100).
Dodgy |
Very dodgy. I’m wondering if the bloke even has insurance.
In terms if accidents, they’re always a shock. The general rule is not to admit liability, take pictures, swap insurance details, note what is said. The police are only required if somebody is injured. People often try it on with that at a later date too.
It’s a real minefield. Aggro but the main thing always with accidents is that nobody is hurt. Cars can be fixed, insurance paid. Sh… brown stuff happens. [Post edited 25 Oct 2022 15:07]
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| Car insurance claim question on 16:11 - Oct 25 with 1772 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Car insurance claim question on 15:01 - Oct 25 by Churchman |
Very dodgy. I’m wondering if the bloke even has insurance.
In terms if accidents, they’re always a shock. The general rule is not to admit liability, take pictures, swap insurance details, note what is said. The police are only required if somebody is injured. People often try it on with that at a later date too.
It’s a real minefield. Aggro but the main thing always with accidents is that nobody is hurt. Cars can be fixed, insurance paid. Sh… brown stuff happens. [Post edited 25 Oct 2022 15:07]
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Can’t you check ion DVLA to see if everything in order, tax, MOT etc. |  |
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| Car insurance claim question on 16:28 - Oct 25 with 1727 views | Warkysgonnagetyou |
Tell the guy you need two written estimates from two different garages to ensure a fair price and that you will arrange payment directly once you've chosen. | | | |
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