driver reversed into me - refusing to pay for repairs

Go through insurance but then say you dont want your car written off so can you have a cheque for the repairs, ive had to do this twice as people have hit me and would have written off my car and say you will get the work done.

Tell him you will be making the insurance claim if the full amount isn't paid with 24 hours.

It will cost him a fortune as his insurance on a Lamborghini will already be high and now he’s at fault. He’s being an arse when he really doesn’t have the upper hand here so I’d go through your insurer and tell him you’re fed up of trying to be reasonable to save him money.

No matter which insurance you are claiming from, you cannot force them to pay for repairs if they cost more than the value of the car. That is the limit of their legal liability.

If your claiming off his insurance you can refuse a write off and demand that they repair your car.
Its if it was your insurance you were claiming off you would have to accept it and buy it back.

"Official" bodyshops are also more expensive because they are required to provide a courtesy/hire car, as well as having to use new parts etc., so can easily be 2, 3 or 4 times as expensive as private firm Bob on the local trading estate.

Clever, I like that…

Straight to insurance if he doesn’t want to pay. Inform him of this and make it clear you aren’t going to accept a lower settlement. His insurance will be affected and the likelihood is he will pay the bill.

He sounds like a dick.

You legally have to tell insurance anyway, whether you make a claim or not.

Go through the insurance!

Hey Op - go through insurance... and cancel the cheque. 😉
Seriously though, good luck with your claim. The outcome might even be better than you expect. The insurance company valuations can turn out quite well, so fingers crossed.

Go through insurance even if it gets written off, that way he won't get away with it. Tell him thats precisely what you will do if he doesn't take responsibility and pay for the repairs.

@lifeisacarcrash

Just a warning. Beware of We Buy Any Car. If the online valuation is £560, by the time they've been over it with a magnifying glass, the actual offer will be more like £5.60. That is NOT an exaggeration. You'd get more from the scrappie.

As others have said, go through your insurance and if your car is written off as not economical to repair, you can ask for it back. This happened to me when my £700 car was stolen - only the door and steering locks were damaged but the insurers still wrote it off. I got it back plus about £200 which was enough to replace the locks.

He's already proved himself unreasonable. No more chances, just go through your insurance. Why give him another opportunity to stitch you up? You're meant to report stuff within a certain timeframe anyway so stop wasting any more time on him

His insurance will sky rocket if you claim on yours, so I would say to him he either pays for the damage or you’ll be contacting your insurance. Give him 48 hours. Make a police report as well.

OP going through insurance is the right call. If they write it off you can look into buying back the car for salvage value which will reduce the payout but could then get a garage to buy a second hand bumper.

Insurance companies must always use new parts and labour rates from approved repairers which makes repairs expensive.

Go though the insurance.

If its helps I got hit in an old car that was deemed a write-off as uneconomical to repair, we bought the car back from the insurers and had it repaired (two panels needed to be replaced) It was a faff but we knew the car was mechanically sound and it lasted a few more years after that. We about broke even money wise.

If you don't mind your car not looking perfect, get it written off, buy it back for next to nothing and get a second hand bumper ideally in the same colour from a scrap yard or eBay and get it changed over. Then you'll have your own car back and have made a profit although with a lot of hassle admittedly.

I wish I had known this before I had a big accident some years ago. Was run off the road by a lorry driver, no question of it being anyones fault but his. If I had known that my premiums would sky rocket I would have pursued the increased cost in my uninsured losses claim, if everyone did that then the insurers would probably stop doing it as it wouldnt gain them anything.

A non-fault accident can still affect your insurance if going through an insurance company.
My DP and I had three cars because we both did over 150 miles a day commuting and the spare was useful if one of them was in the garage.
An elderly woman pulled out from a parking spot on a public road and hit the side of my vehicle.
Wanted to cover it cash in hand but I refused and went through the insurance company.
For the next 5 years the insurance premium on all three vehicles was up by around 200 pounds per year.
The reason given by the insurance company? "You have been involved in an accident even though it was non-fault therefore increased premiums apply"
Cost us a lot of money over the five years despite being the innocent party.

We had similar once. A neighbour's elderly father lost control of his car while trying to get out of a parking spot and rammed into my car. His daughter asked us to go private and get quotes, then she wasnt happy with the quotes and wanted us to take the car out into the country to some cheaper garage she had found ( we are in London).

I couldn't believe her attitude. It was the absolute inability to see any of it from our point of view that astonished me. She was a GP and lived in a huge house and clearly looked down on me and my Nissan Micra!

These people are horrible.

Go through your insurance and pet them write it off. If it's drivable you can buy it back. My care was written off recently. I got 2200 for my car. If I wanted to keep the car I would have got £1900.

Oh yes! I entirely agree!

I had a note from one woman who said let's call it £100 for repairs and I won't call my insurers.

I sent the note to my insurers and she became liable for everything.

What do you mean? People don't have a choice. Isn't it in your (OP's) insurance to tell them of any accidents?

I had this really arrogant little man drive into the back of me once and he just said 'oh it's just a scratch, it'll buff out. No need for insurance.' I just said I'd let them decide if it's just a little scratch and I don't want to drive a scratched car thanks. He thought he could bully me. He was wrong.

If you met someone who didn't want to involve insurance, you just say tough titties.