advice with insurance and hitting a wing mirror

unwashed potato! · 27 Sep 2016 at 20:07

so a couple weeks ago one of my guys was driving his van down a road that had cars parked on both sides. the gap in the middle was tight and as he was driving down the road between the cars someone tried to come from the other side so he steered towards the left to create a small gap.

at the same time someone on the left was parking/parked on double yellow lines and my guys wing mirror collided with this persons wing mirror and broke it.

they swapped details, took number etc and my guy told the driver i'd call to get it dealt with. i called to speak with the person to offer a simple solution. i'd pay to fix it as it's fairly low cost and i'm a fan of easy solutions to quickly get it dealt with and move on.

the guy never answered phone calls, texts and voicemails.

skip to friday last week i get a call from his insurance company saying he's made a claim against us.

now this has annoyed me and i want to know what the options are.

i hold my guy responsible for this, but also partly the person who was parking his car on double yellows shouldn't have been there. i wanted to keep this simple and not fight over who did what, but he's gone to his insurance and now i imagine we will lose our NCD, pay for it all any way as it'll be less than our excess, and the costs will be stupidly higher now insurance is involved when it wasn't needed.

we have photos showing the guy was on double yellow lines.

anything we can do or should we accept it?

i find it a little unfair that although my guy was driving while the other was parking up, we are fully responsible

phil675 · 27 Sep 2016 at 20:19

Double yellows doesn't matter, can't get away with hitting a pedestrian because the traffic light was green.

snapdragon69 · 27 Sep 2016 at 20:23

Maybe it wasn't his car / company car and he doesn't have a choice - I know I don't and it must be reported within 48 hours regardless of fault or I am potentially liable for £31k balance for breaching terms of the scheme. What's more no-one's going to go into all that at the side of the road with someone who just hit them.

koolpc · 27 Sep 2016 at 20:24

phil675 said:
Double yellows doesn't matter, can't get away with hitting a pedestrian because the traffic light was green.

Unless the pedestrian appears from nowhere!

peterwalkley · 27 Sep 2016 at 20:36

Suspect you will have to suck it up and be grateful there's no whiplash claim.

unwashed potato! · 27 Sep 2016 at 21:01

thanks for the replies.

as this wasn't a case of a parked vehicle just sat there, but instead someone on their vehicle, currently parking up but i guess could argue now parked at the moment of collision, though with engine still on, would this not class as both hitting each other?

he was reversing literally split seconds before this happened.

Kaeo · 28 Sep 2016 at 02:07

Impossible to prove without dashcam footage really. Suck it up, I'm afraid.

MooMoo444 · 28 Sep 2016 at 06:28

Without proof there isn't much you can fight against. Photos showing their car on double yellows is moot as you are allowed to stop and pick up passengers etc on them.

Jamesyboyjim · 28 Sep 2016 at 08:49

That's infuriating, a wing mirror wouldn't have cost the earth, he could have at least had the balls to say over the phone he wanted to go the insurance route. To me it sounds as though if you argued his claim, it would go 50 50 anyway.

Teknobry · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:14

argue it, it goes 50/50. say he pulled out and hit you.

Abyss · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:31

You seem to be relating it to the fact he was stopping on double yellow lines. Note it is perfectly legal to stop on double yellows in some instances (e.g.loading) as long as an obstruction is not being caused. Given the fact the vehicle had only just stopped they could have been stopping for legitimate reasons.

From what you describe your driver is at fault and whilst frustrating the 3rd party is fully within their right to go through their insurance if they wish.

I would strongly suggest against commiting insurance fraud as Trmnobry suggests.

Gornall · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:34

Teknobry said:
argue it, it goes 50/50. say he pulled out and hit you.

People like you are scum.

OP - You've acknowledged your lad was at fault, it's a pain but as others has said he's within his rights to go insurance. Why he would...I don't know. But hey ho.

Maundie · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:36

Teknobry said:
argue it, it goes 50/50. say he pulled out and hit you.

What if he had a dashcam and could prove he was stationary when he was hit?

MooMoo444 · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:41

Teknobry said:
argue it, it goes 50/50. say he pulled out and hit you.

I hope you've never done this.

Akagi · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:43

Teknobry said:
argue it, it goes 50/50. say he pulled out and hit you.

I'm going to assume this is not serious...

Rids · 28 Sep 2016 at 13:50

Surely if you settle it (as the cost is cheaper than your excess) then it won't count as a claim as your insurer hasn't paid out. As such your NCD should remain intact.

Unless I've completely misunderstood how motor insurance works.

ttaskmaster · 28 Sep 2016 at 14:00

Rids said:
Unless I've completely misunderstood how motor insurance works.

My latest round of quotes all asked how many accidents I'd been involved in, specifying that this was regardless of whether any claims were made, who was at fault, whether it was my own vehicle, whether I was driving, whether I was even in a vehicle... Anything they can use to justify charging you more, really!!

tom_e · 28 Sep 2016 at 14:14

Rids said:
Surely if you settle it (as the cost is cheaper than your excess) then it won't count as a claim as your insurer hasn't paid out. As such your NCD should remain intact.

Unless I've completely misunderstood how motor insurance works.

You have indeed completely misunderstood how they rob you. Anything mentioned to an insurer is used against you whether it cost them anything or not.

Jamesyboyjim · 28 Sep 2016 at 14:52

I'd send the guy another text explaining that if he does go through insurance, his premiums will also rise, you were only trying to do what was best for everyone and would have got his wing mirror sorted as quickly as possible..

Lots of people don't seem to realise this. My mum and dad are on the same policy together, my mum was rear ended, as was my dad in the same year, both not their fault, both claims went in their favour, but my dad is moaning this years renewal is much higher. I explained why but he insisted I was wrong because they won both claims and that's not how insurance works.

He pulled the "I've been driving xx years" card and at that point I said "fair enough" and switched off.

swain90 · 28 Sep 2016 at 15:05

Jamesyboyjim said:
I'd send the guy another text explaining that if he does go through insurance, his premiums will also rise, you were only trying to do what was best for everyone and would have got his wing mirror sorted as quickly as possible.

My understanding is that the guy who has the broken wing mirror will have his premiums rise now anyway seeing as he's informed his insurer?