Car accident involving colleague

[WrendaleCountryDogs]

On Thursday, a colleague was driving into our work place car park and swerved to avoid a car coming out, and went straight into my car. Cctv shows she was going too fast and the other driver had right of way as it's a narrow entrance/exit and road signs show priority is to the one exiting the car park.
Anyway my car is damaged. I was parked in a bay and not in the car. I took car to garage yesterday and they said its going be around £800 to sort the damage. I've got my MOT in February and the car won't Pass based on the damage.
Spoke to colleague,.who I've known for years and we get on really well. I said we can go through her insurance or she can pay for it. She was very evasive and has now said she's not actually insured. She is also adamant she can't pay £800. This is probably true as she's got twin 2 year old and a 15 month old.

What the he'll do I do? I cannot afford this. Car is a 2010 and done over 150k miles. If the mot failed and it was to cost me £800 I'd scrap it and get another car. But it's not me that has caused this damage.

What do I do???

Go through the insurance.
however if she says she’ll pay then get her to pay the repairer in advance. Otherwise the repair might be done and she’ll refuse to pay

She has no insurance and drives round with young children in the car ? Absolutely no sympathy . Throw the book at her . Get your insurance company to deal with it .

You seem determined to do nothing other than rile people up on here.

A small bump can easily be thousands of pounds on a modern car, and no, normal people do not turn against the victim of an uninsured driver who damages their car.

Why can’t you claim on you own insurance?

Sorry OP but I agree with others she needs to be reported friends or not how dangerous and stupid to risk driving without insurance and what's worse she has little children as well.
As a previous poster said what if it had been a child or someone she had hit.

It's not your responsibility to take on the cost of damage to your own vehicle when you weren't the one to cause the accident.

I have absolutely no sympathy with anyone who drives uninsured. Suppose she had killed or seriously injured someone.
My car was hit by an uninsured driver. He turned out to be a shady character in other ways too.
It caused me a great deal of difficulty and inconvenience sorting it out.
She deserves everything that the law throws at her.

You have been greatly inconvenienced by her actions. She doesn’t appear to be affected at all and yet you are feeling guilty about the potential self inflicted consequences of her driving badly and without insurance. If you don’t report them to the police are they just going to carry on driving without the necessary documents. You have done nothing wrong, report your colleague.

All due respect, whether or not she might lose her job is not your concern. If she was driving uninsured then it's better that she is taken off the road. It might teach her to be responsible for her actions.
At the moment, she's shirking her responsibility.

Contact the police and go through your insurance company for the time being.

Thank you everyone. I hate confrontation and awkwardness but you're absolutely right.

What a crock. People will have sympathy for the OP having to sort out the mess created by their colleague and grateful they weren’t the one whose car was hit.

You are obliged to report all accidents to your insurer whether they're your fault or not. You'd be very foolish to not to. It's astonishing that you're willing to pay for this damage yourself, to protect an uninsured dangerous driver who could kill someone next time.

@WednesdaysNameIsFullOfWoe honestly it doesn't, we've always had nearly new BMW, Audi, Mini, etc all have had bumps or car park incidents repaired (can't stand even minor scratches) etc someone crashed into my 2 day old car. New front bumper painted by the main stealer was £300 fitted if it wasn't brand new a local garage would have done it for closer to £200. I've just ordered a mini side sill (different style to mine) for £62, DH will be fitting that next weekend. In a cost of living crisis, I would be more concerned about my colleague with young kids that feels the need to drive uninsured than the damage to a piece of metal and that's coming from a car nut. If I was the OP I would be looking at second hand parts or cheaper garages to come to an agreement with the other person. I would also be trying to help her as it's obvious she needs it.

Her kids weren't in the car on this occasion but I bet they have been.

She was driving too fast and ignored someone else's right of way. All without insurance. She needs taking off the roads immediately.

You need to report her to the police before she kills someone.

And contact your insurers. This is what they are there for! They can pay for repairs then try to reclaim the money from her. Stop trying to be so nice about it. This is a criminal act.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s lying and just trying to put you off contacting your insurance in the hope you think it’s no worth it. Either way contact your insurance

So you’ve always had “nearly new” but someone crashed I to your two day-old car.

If you can’t even keep your story straight in a single post what’s the point?

Reported.

Id get hold of a copy of the cctv and send to your insurance

Don't talk to this colleague again about it and let your insurance company sort out the rest.

If she asks, all you say is its in the hands of the insurance company as Im obliged to tell them about the crash.

You are supposed to tell the insurance company about a crash otherwise your insurance.could be invalid I believe

It's really kind of you to be considerate and I'm pleased you've realised that you don't really have another choice.

I'd let her know what you're doing.

She deserves to lose her job. Incredibly irresponsible to drive without insurance let alone the driving too fast and ignoring right of way signs. Just claim on your insurance but unfortunately you will probably lose your no claims. If she needs to drive for work and has no insurance that is probably against employment terms too.

It would make me wonder if the person who crashed the car has a driving licence? is that why they don't have insurance?

If you check on askMID you can check if a car is insured or not. It checks motor insurance database. Maybe see if she's being truthful.

@WednesdaysNameIsFullOfWoe

You were right first time You seem determined to do nothing other than rile people up on here.

How much was the car worth

because insurance company probably write it off
you will have to pay excess

hiw much is her car worth ask her for that

@WednesdaysNameIsFullOfWoe 2 days old to me, that one was pre-registered to the garage 6 months old 450miles so the definition of nearly new. You lose 20% driving something you configured off the car park. Would rather buy something they had designed with more toys less than 5k on the clock for nearly 20% less. Current one was slightly older as it had sat in a warehouse during covid so was nearly a year old when we got it. I wouldn't call it a new car unless it was configured for me and delivered from the factory

What is she replying when you ask her how she’s going to resolve it? If she’s not trying to resolve it then you need report it. If she really is trying then I would try to work with her. £800 may not be worth losing your no claims.

Why is everyone still telling her she needs to go through her insurance? She's agreeing with you! "I can't not go through my insurance." meaning she knows she has to!