Quick Insurance Query (Small Accident)

R0B75

R0B75

R0B75

Soldato
Joined
15 Aug 2003
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Location
Kirk Langley
This should be pretty quick as you guys know your stuff.

Had a bit of an accident today which is my first, which the other driver has admitted full responsibilty for. He reversed out of the space to my left on full left lock scraping the left side of my car. He admitted he didn't look.

Anyway, we exchanged details, name, phone number, address, car reg and insurance company details.

The other driver said he knows the owner of a Body Shop near where I live and would see if the owner would give me a cheaper quote, and if not too expensive the other driver would pay for it, thus avoiding insurance.

I said I would be happy to do that, as long as the damage is fixed.

What I want to know is, is there any potential risk in doing this or should I just go with insurance?

Have I got all the necessary details from the other driver, bearing in mind he was driving a brand newish (I think) SAAB convertable with a personal plate and lives in a nice area of the city? Seemed legit to me, but I'm slightly paranoid as I've never done this before.

Do I have to report it to my insurance, even though it could be settled without their help?

As I've said I haven't done this before so really just want some reassurance.

Cheers.
 
Yeah, its cheaper for most drivers to pay for the damage privately and keep the accident off the record and keep their no claims.

As long as its genuine roll with it.
 
I think it's a condition of nearly every insurance policy that you have to report accidents to them even if you don't intend making a claim.
 
Cybermyk said:
I think it's a condition of nearly every insurance policy that you have to report accidents to them even if you don't intend making a claim.
Click to expand...
^ this.

If it's not your fault, why go along with it? If this bloke is that chummy with the body shop owner he'll do it on the cheap and you'll have a crappy job done on your car.
 
The guy who hit me just rang me and said the body shop has a mobile inspection team who will come to my house, assess the damage and give me a quote. Sounds good to me and if it goes that way I will make sure a proper job is done with it.

I just rang Direct Line and said did I have to report it even if it can be settled privately and the guy on the phone said no, we don't need to know about it.
 
Personally I'd be choosing my own body shop and giving him the bill if he wants to avoid insurance (I'm all for avoiding insurance though) that way the shop is your customer not his and he'll likely after getting it done as cheap as possible, not as good as possible.
 
To be fair he has said that if it is too expensive he will be happy to go through insurance, probably unlikely as it is mainly just scratches with a small dent.
 
I'd still use my own bodyshop. At the very least make sure they're going to respray that panel properly and not just apply a bit of crappy touch-up paint.

Dont forget the cost of alternate transport if you don't have any either.
 
Go through their insurer. Its their fault. Get a hire car for a few days while they fix yours, and have it done properly and not by "his mate down the road".

Then again, ive been having a nightmare doing this after an equally slow speed minor accident.
 
I would also rather go through the insurance unless he is willing to pay for the repairs at a bodyshop of your choice. I would only do this if it was a friend or a member of family mind you....

The above are right, his mate will do a quick crappy job i would imagine and that is not what you deserve ...

Sam
 
why is it they always know some bloke called Dave who owns 'body bodges' round the corner who can do it on the cheap? :p
 
To me this would entirely depends on how bad the damage is. Rob, as you know I've done this both ways, once when a truck took out the rear wing on my Rangie and I repaired it myself, no going through the insurance just a cheque in the post. When the car was totaled that obviously went through the insurance.

If it's just a bit of a side swipe and a scuffed wing then i'd say go with this guy. If it's severely dented or panels have been malformed enough to change gap-lines then almost certainly go through the insurance.


Wasn't in the work car park was it?
 
I have one of those on my Volvo :(

Seriously though, your own choice of bodyshop, or insurance. The fact that they're trying to pick their own garage just sounds iffy.

I've been on both ends of this, a long long time ago I hit someone, entirely my own fault (I was chasing the people who had just stolen my other, much better handling, car - yeah I was stupid), and I said to them basically, we can either put this through the insurance, or you can take it to a repairer of your choice, get a quote, send it to me and I'll write you a cheque. If you do it that way you wont have an accident on your history and it'll be sorted within a couple of weeks with no hassle, and I wont lose my no claims. One cheque for £730 later and it was sorted. They chose to have it repaired at a Ford dealer expensive but entirely my fault so tough luck for me.

As far as I'm concerned that's the way to handle it, not "my mate Dave who owns a hammer and a rattlecan can fix that for you, save going through the insurance"
 
I totally understand what you are saying but rest assured I will be checking the place out before I let them touch my car. If anything looks dodgy it will on the insurance.
 
What would constitute 'dodgy' when you check it out? I'm interested to know, as I'd look for bodies in boots, but if there are no cars there with multiple colour schemes and no Halfords touch-up kits lying around I'm not sure what to look for.
 
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