Drove into the back of someone - how much will it cost me?

[selflove]

Stationary at a roundabout and went into the back of someone when they pulled off then hesitated - totally my fault, I went into the back of them. I have a black box fitted in my car because I have only had an insurance policy in my own name for one year so it made it cheaper (was a named driver on ExH's before this), and the bump was such low speed it didn't even register on my black box.

Gave my details to the woman, who was angry and aggressive, and I'm happy to go through insurance, she reckons there is damage (none visible), but what will it cost me from a money perspective to pay now? My excess? My excess AND her excess? Anything else?

I suspect she'll come back with a "let's not go through insurance and you give me X cash" perspective, and whilst she was awful and I think a bit of a chancer, I also don't want to cut my nose off to spite my face, so wanted to know what costs I would be liable for if I insist on going through insurance. Can anyone shed any light?!

inform your insurers
they will deal with everything
thats what they are for
dont offer cash
dont tell her your excess, that has nothing to do with her

If youve had an accident and dont tell the insurance company and they find out they can look very poorly on you in the future.

DO NOT GIVE HER CASH!

Seriously, go through insurance, it is not worth the risk to do otherwise.

Do not be tempted to do this without insurance. She can come back for years claiming some new injury, damage etc and keep trying to scam you. I know it’s tempting and your premiums will go up but honestly it’s safer.

When someone went into the back of my car from the outside the car had a couple of scratches but the underneath was so damaged it was a write off because it was unsafe.

Please go through your insurer. If you don’t, what will you do if she comes back to you with a claim for whiplash/soft tissue damage, trauma to other passengers in the car, additional damages (pre-existing) to her car? Worked in the industry for some years, and yeah the claims submitted were often inflated. It’s not in the interest of your insurer to pay out on aspects of claims which are not due. Go through your insurer and let the companies fight it out.

@selflove

Ok so

IF I GO THROUGH INSURANCE
cost to me = increased premiums only. Had my own policy for less than a year so don't have any NCD to lose.

So essentially I need to put a mental price on how much I'm willing to pay to avoid an increase in my next premium (say £200).

If she wants more than that, go through insurance, because the only cost to me is increased premiums. If she's happy with £150, give her cash, then no increased premium on my next renewal.

Does that all sound correct?

No

Go through your insurance

Get a dash cam

Insurance worker here. It's correct that you only pay excess if you make a claim for your damage (which it seems isn't necessary in this case) so it will cost you nothing up front BUT you could pay her cash tomorrow for her damage and she can still submit an injury claim against your insurer.

Admittedly since the rules around whiplash were changed recently it is not as easy as it once was to make a bogus whiplash claim, but it's not impossible, and if you inform your insurance they will likely rate on the incident and increase your premium anyway so it's much more straight forward to just hand it all over to them now and pay nothing up front.

Also, you have the black box info in your favour - if she submits an exaggerated claim for damage or injury, your black box will be able to show your speed and prove how low impact it was as it hasn't registered.

Lastly, all the information you need to exchange is registrations and names - her insurance should be able to find yours with just that but most people exchange addresses, phone numbers and policy details too.
Don't give her any other details, just advise her to contact her insurance then call yours and report.

@Doubledoorsontogarden

Just say that you don’t know how much your excess is. Don’t tell her.

I would ay I have low excess £200, that will scupper any cash grabbing plans the woman might have.

@selflove I work in insurance fraud. If she claims and you don't, you don't pay anything the insurance does. You need to inform your insurer they will use the black box data to access her claim. If you claim and the car is repaired you pay your excess to the garage when you collect you repaired car. If the car is written off any you have a payout they will take the excess of the amount they pay you.

I thought you would pay the excess if you damaged someone else’s car? Surely they are claiming against your insurance if you were at fault which means you have to pay the excess to cover the cost of damage to their car?

I’ve never had to do it so didn’t realise it worked differently!

I did this a few weeks ago but the lady I bumped was so lovely. I damaged her car but I dont know how badly.

I was bumped years ago and the damage was slight.

I would go through your insurance.

Yes, contact insurance

My DH got stung by chancers claiming being unable to work due to whiplash, and suing for 2x20k (and winning as you cannot prove you don't have whiplash)

@gobbynorthernbird

It'll cost you your excess (if you claim for damage to your vehicle) and whatever your premiums increase by.

This. They may add the excess to your next policy, or ask you to pay it independently.

You need to go through insurance in case the”chancer” tries to sting you for a hire whilst here is being fixed, and whiplash.

@Santastealer

I was the same I didn't really know how it all worked till it happened to me this yr.

My premium went up slightly. Luckily I had protected no claims for like 9 plus yrs.

I've no idea how my no claims would have been affected tho if I'd claimed on my insurance for damage.

It is all a minefield when an accident happens.
Everyone panics, me included.

Op hopefully you've sorted what you're going to do.