Been Hit!

Badgerpoo · 2 Feb 2006 at 10:44

The car that is.

Car was parked in my girlfriends work carpark, and it looks like another cars handbrake failed and it rolled into ours. The cars both shifted a couple of feet forward, and the bumper is now cracked. What kind of damage should I look for? Also where should I take it to get the bumper sorted, I assume it will need to be replaced as they can only dissipate the force of a collision once.

The owner of the car seems to be willing to take responsibilty, and there are plenty of witnesses who saw the cars in their final state so it was obvious it was her car that hit ours. What is the usual etiquette in this situation? Ive never had to claim off someone before...

James H · 2 Feb 2006 at 10:52

If it's just a cracked bumper I'd try and come to a deal outside insurance first.

willd58 · 2 Feb 2006 at 10:55

James H said:
If it's just a cracked bumper I'd try and come to a deal outside insurance first.

Yea, its a shame your not guna get any personal injury claims in.

Tesla · 2 Feb 2006 at 10:56

This kind of thing happened to my aunt the other week.

You are better claiming outside of insurance for several reasons, benefits to both partes.

The party at fault will not have to pay any excess or lose NCB.
The victim, you, would have to declare a non-fault claim at next renewal. I have found this has bumped my insurance up by £100 roughly

It will probably get sorted much quicker and stress-free.

The person whose fault it is doesn't sound like a willy and they have said sorry and amitted fault. I would therfore go to a few body shops and get a quote.

You may be able to get a mint condition second hand bumper off of ebay in the correct colour. You can then pay a bodyshop to fit it.

I just sold my Mondeo front bumper on ebay for £40, it was near-mint and the buyer was very happy. Won't need to paint it as it's the right colour so just needs to fit or pay for fitting.

However, my first point of call would be several bodyshops. I would insist they use original parts though as the copied bumpers always seem to be lower quality imo.

Jest3r · 2 Feb 2006 at 10:59

Agreed tesla,

a friend of mine was involved in an incident which was not his fault, but he was using a broker to find the best deal, come renewal, his insurance had gone up 200 quid, he queried it, and was told that the company he was insured with through the broker did not accept people who had had accidents within the last 3 years, regardless of fault, so the broker put him on next cheapest option

Badgerpoo · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:01

Anyone know of any good bodyshops in Bristol?

Yeah it will almost certainly be settled outside of insurance, the person in question actual wrote her car off a few weeks ago and this is the courtesy car! Oh dear.

Tesla · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:05

There is one near my house, Central Bodyshop. They are very good but also very very expensive.

I will speak to my Aunt and ask her for the name of the bodyshop she uses.

She had her Mk1 Mondeo all tidied up by them as she is selling and it came out mint.

My uncle once had a Shogun stolen and lots of damage to it and they made it mint too. Looked brand new.

They are reasonably priced too. Will get back to you...

v0n · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:20

Jest3r said:
a friend of mine was involved in an incident which was not his fault, but he was using a broker to find the best deal, come renewal, his insurance had gone up 200 quid, he queried it, and was told that the company he was insured with through the broker did not accept people who had had accidents within the last 3 years, regardless of fault, so the broker put him on next cheapest option

I'm almost sure it's illegal for them to do so. These things are regulated. Besides, one thing you have to remember about insurance brokers - the bigger policy they sell the bigger their cut, technically, they are not in business of finding the cheapest possible option...

Lopéz · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:28

I wouldn't declare a non-fault incident if my life depended on it.

That said, I'd almost certainly go through the non-insurance route - just make sure you don't come out worse off by accepting clearly substandard parts orneglecting to get slightly bent panels straightened and so on.

g0th2000 · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:42

Same thing happened to me last year, the woman whose car it was was very appologetic (it actually wasn't her who'd left the handbrake off!). One dented wing, wasn't worth fixing or going through insurance for given the age of my car, so I happily accepted £150 and put it towards my 'teg

Badgerpoo · 2 Feb 2006 at 19:29

Any word on which bodyshop it was yet Tesla? I'll call up a few tomorrow but these things are always best done through recommendation.

Matt82 · 2 Feb 2006 at 19:46

i work in insurance litigation.

the best way to do it is call your insurance co. give them the other cars reg no, they will do the leg work.

i think you might have a prob due to the fact that there was no driver, it may be an MIB claim, it can get very complicated if your repair costs are expensive.

tell the insurance co tho. so many stupid blaggers out there. youll get promised to be reimbursed out of the other idiots pocket then he will back off when he sees the bill.

i promise