driver reversed into me - refusing to pay for repairs

I'm not surprised he doesn't want to pay if the repairs cost more than your car is worth. Regardless of whether you went through insurance or the courts, the most he or his insurer would have to pay is the value of your car. If you want repairs costing more than that, it is up to you to fund the difference. He is only getting away with it if you choose not to pursue it. If he is willing to pay you the value of your car, you can take it. If not, go through insurance and they will pay you the value of your car.

I hate it when they won't go through insurance.

If he is driving a Lambhorgini he can afford insurance. If he doesn't have insurance then he needs to be reported to the police.

Always go through insurance.

I agree with going through insurance but make sure you pay for a valuation (Glass guide used to be good, but ask your insurance company which one they use and use the same one). When my car got written off they said they used Glass and would pay their valuation, then tried to stiff me by £1k! When I said that I had checked on Glass (cost less than a tenner a few years back) and it was a higher figure the guy blustered and back tracked and said it must have been a typo, I got the full amount!

Also, give him one last chance to pay up saying that otherwise you will be going through his insurance, and with a Lambo it will push his premium into orbit so he may well pay up to avoid that!

Please take some legal advice, because I'm sure when a similar thing happened to someone I know, it was written off but they were able to buy it back? Can't remember the full details.

You have to tell your insurance anyway so might as well go through them

Ah yes. Didn't think of that possibility!

Can't think of one valid reason why you'd push for cash over insurance. Unless of course op planned to pocket the money and not get her car repaired if its only minor damage

I reverse slightly if I'm parked on the road (space allowing) if someone else has parked in front of me. Then go forward. I assume that's what happened?

I read it as he was parallel parked and reversed to allow himself room at the front to pull out but didn't check behind him and collided with OP.

OP hasn't been back though, so who knows?

Has anyone mentioned going through your insurance yet?

If that were the case how could lambo man have reversed into ops car?

I edited my post. Yes people pull reverse in and out of parking bays. Didn't sound like that's what happened here though.

Cant think of any other instances where you'd "pull off" as op stated, in reverse.

It’s quite normal to reverse in the space and then pull out.

Doesn't sound like you were in a place where there's no parking bays. Like a supermarket.

Which begs the question. Who tf pulls off from the side of the road in reverse?

The OP can do that herself too!

YABU because you should have gone through insurance in the first place.

Yes, they'd probably write off your car, but you may have been able to buy it back and use the write off money to have it repaired and get it back on the road, maybe by using second hand parts that smaller/independent bodyshops tend to use for older cars.

The insurance firm has to pay you the open market value of an equivalent car of same/similar condition, which is higher than scrap value or we buy any car or PX value. So try to find equivalent cars on the internet or local used car showrooms and provide the insurance company with that evidence.

It happened to us. Idiot neighbour across the road didn't put her handbrake on when she parked in her sloping drive and it rolled back into our old banger. She wanted to pay at first, but soon started getting argumentative about repair costs, so we went through insurance instead, against her will. Car was only worth £1k per we buy any car. But her insurance firm initially offered £2k and we talked them up to nearly £3k because we found similar cars on ebay and auto trader and ours was a lot better because it was very low mileage, full service history, and immaculate condition (as evidenced by photos provided), so after haggling, we got a few hundred more than the others we found which were in poorer condition. We bought it back and had the repairs done, using scrapyard parts sourced by a local small bodyshop, for just £1500. Then it was good as new (or at least as good as it was before the stupid idiot wrote it off). That was 5 years ago, and it's still going strong so well worth doing.

The insurance company will probably allow you to buy it back from them for a token amount and you can continue to drive it (as long as damage is cosmetic)

Check he has insurance and go through insurance.

If you have it in dashcam and it was less than 7 days ago you can submit the footage to your local police service.

Insurance every time.

Go through insurance. That way he won't get away with it.

They can’t get away with it. You have them on dash cam.
you can go to the police.

This is why you pay insurance. Don’t let him get away with it.

He won’t ’definitely’ pay more - if his ncb is protected, quite a few companies don’t load if it is a first accident in three years (obvs it may not be)

Always go through insurance. Something very similar happened to me and he didn’t want to go through the insurance (obviously), but I wasn’t prepared to take the risk of taking his word. It is a hassle but not as bad as having the other party mess you around.

That is why you should go straight to insurance.

Go through the insurance then buy your car back. We did this, Just ask the insurance company. At least you will have your car and he will have to pay a higher premium next year so win win.