Car accident - at-fault party asked to settle privately.

[GreenLaurel]

Car insurance - I got hit yesterday, I’m fine, was stationary, but my car needs a new bumper.

The guy who hit me was really sorry and I have no hard feelings to him at all, it was an accident and he pulled over straight away.

We’ve both notified our insurance, his provider has contacted me to say he takes full responsibility and given me some options for repairs.

The guy who hit me has asked if he can settle it privately with me. I have no problem with this in principle, the damage really isn’t severe and I don’t need anything for personal injury.

Can we sort this privately, can I decline help from his insurance company? Does he pay an excess for any repairs? The damage to my car might be less than the excess.

I know I probably sound unintelligent but luckily this is my first ever accident in 20-odd years of being a driver. Please explain it to me like you would to a child! Thanks in advance.

Also I have tried googling but everything I find seems to be written by insurance companies!

If you've let your insurance company know then I think it's too late to sort it out privately. I may be wrong though. A few years ago someone backed into the side of my car and didn't want to go through the insurance. He caused about £300 worth of damage, mainly scratches and scuff marks. I went to a garage for a quote and the other driver paid me the money up front and all was sorted. Neither of us notified our insurance companies though.

How can you guarantee he will pay you, if you settle it privately - you may go ahead and get it fixed, then send him the bill, and never hear back. I was hit by a lorry while in a stationary vehicle. We exchanged numbers and the owner of the lorry rang later to ask if they could settle it privately. We said no, and it turned out they were not insured. Our insurance took them to court, and then they tried to claim it was my fault (I was stationary!!). We won in the end, but the fact that they had started telling lies about it really made me feel that they weren’t trustworthy, and probably wouldn’t have paid if we had agreed to do it privately.

Stoufer - That's why if you ever want to settle privately for minor damage, always get the money up front first.

I agreed to settle privately after I was hit (nothing major, I was parked, she pulled in to park in front of me and scrapped all down her side onto my front/side bumper). The day we were meant to meet for her to pay me the cash, she didn't show up. So I went through my/her insurance to get it done. Wouldn't recommend a private arrangement!

You have told your insurance so both your premiums will go up anyway and you have to declare it for 3-5 years depending who your insured with.

Great thanks, good advice!

I would never agree to settle privately - way too much potential for shadiness and things to go tits up. I would let my insurance company sort it out with theirs. It's what they're for.

I think if insurance companies have already been informed, it's potentially more complicated. I'd check with your insurance company and see what they say.

if you DO go privately, the things to be careful of are:

1. Who is going todo the work of finding somewhere to get it fixed. As it's your car, most likely you'll want to take it to a garage you are happy with, which is totally fine, but only if the other person is happy with that. I had a situation like this and he wanted me to drive around and get three different quotes. I told him to get stuffed.
2. How is he going to pay? There is no way I'd be paying and asking for the money after. I'd arrange to have it fixed at my preferred garage, have an invoice/quote prepared and he would have to settle that (with the garage directly if he prefers) before the car is taken in.

Having said that, DH took out someone's rearview mirror once so we asked if we could use our preferred garage (local, good reputation, easily checked but where we knew we wouldn't get ripped off) which the owner agreed to so she took the car up there on an agreed date and we'd already pre-agreed price and payment with the garage so I popped up and paid it the following day.

I'd get a quote. I clipped a car pulling the bumper off. So lights, bumper. Her claim was £7500 of damage! At thr very worse the back wing might have been clipped. But I didn't see any damage to it. It was a ten year old Toyota

I did this both time I had a minor bump. I notified my insurance company whey the premium was up for renewal, but not at the time. Fortunately both people were very reasonable and it was easily settled.

I wouldn't. I agreed to go privately and then the bill was more than the other party expected (he'd hit my bumper, behind which were the temperature sensors so it made a mess of over £700!). He then refused to pay and threatened to tell the insurance company that I'd been at fault. In the end, after my tears, I went through the insurance company! Never again.

If it's hit your bumper, there's a risk it's done damage to the chassis. I had a rear end shunt at a roundabout where someone went int othe back of me. The car was drivable after the bump but it was still written off. Be careful because you may find other impacts.

this is also a good point. When someone drove into my car, the damage looked cosmetic. It turned out I had to replace the entire door. Also, if he'd hit the car 2 inches further wards the middle, apparently they would have WRITTEN THE CAR OFF. Mind blowing.

I had a couple of years where 3 people hit my car when it was stationary. Each time the person wanted to go privately. The first two didn’t once I had got 3 quotes so that was a waste of my time. It looked like cosmetic damage but I had an expensive car and the quotes were £££. The third was a young lad and he did end up paying me privately but even that was a nightmare as the cheapest garage didn’t do courtesy cars so ended up having to hire a car and getting taxis to take me to pick it up and drop it back. Plus I was out of pocket for the hire car as I felt sorry for him! Wouldn’t put myself out like that again.

I worked in motor liability for many years but am a bit out of date, but as I understand it, he should notify his insurers either way (I see he has). If he wanhts to pay privately thats his call. They used to call it a 'notification only' claim. They are not allowed call it a 'claim' unless they pay it, i.e. he should not lose his no claims bonus and it should not come up on any claim records that he seeks. This is why most people are afraid to claim, again, this may depend on the insurance company so its worth a check. If you know the insurer you could ring without giving any details and just ask what the usual position is. In my time, it was no problem and often people changed their mind after the quotes, they just called us to say they were settling privately and their records would be adjusted. As PP say, the damage might be worse than expected so he shouldn't make this decision until the quotes are received.

Remember you are the 'Third party' in this scenario. The man has a contract with his insurer so they have no relationship with you. They can take your details and keep them on file but unless he completes a claim form they do not technically need to deal with you at all for now. For practical reasons, most will start the paperwork chain immediately. What the claim form does is legally permit them to act on his behalf and settle under his name so it is a breach of contract for the insurers to fire ahead without the claim form signed. However, under the terms of the insurance policy this man is obliged to assist them so is obliged to sign the forms... its just sometimes there is a bit of a time lag.

You have 3 options - settle privately, claim from his insurers as a third party, or claim from your own insurance. If you go with option 3 your insurer can then make the claim from his insurers. This means there will be a record of a claim on your file and your no claims bonus will be affected until the claim is settled by his insurers, then your record will be wiped clean and your bonus reinstated including back pay. This is certainly the easier option but you are putting your faith in the insurers to sort it out for you. If there is any dispute about liability its harder to resolve. However if you were to lose money while waiting for the 1st 2 options, if your car was not driveable and needed for your business for example, you should go with option 3. A claim for loss of earnings when you could have gotten back on the road will be very difficult to prove.

Personally, if he offers to settle privately I would go with it. If he drags his heels then you can contact his insurers. Maybe agree a timeframe for payment with him. I have had a few tips over the years and settled privately, its absolutely fine. The excess is nothing to do with you, he needs to settle the full amount with you either way, whether it is paid by him or his insurers is not for you to worry about.

Good luck OP, hope it gets sorted asap.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I agreed to let other driver just pay for repairs after they hit my car. Once they found out how much it would cost they got difficult. I went to my insurance to find out they'd put a claim in against me!

Always go via insurance

I hit a parked car and wanted to settle privately. I only asked for one quote because I didn't want him to have the hassle of arranging multiple. I sent him the money upfront and he took it to the garage. Sorted!

Do you have fully comprehensive insurance (where your insurers repair your car after an accident), or third party insurance (where your insurers will only repair the other driver’s vehicle if you cause damage)?

If it’s fully comprehensive, there’s absolutely nothing to be gained from not involving your insurers. Let them deal with it with the other driver and his insurers.

I'd just be more inclined to go with insurance in almost all instances of an accident. Especially as you have both already told ur insurance so u still need to record it as an accident even if no claim was made. They can sort you out with a hire car too for when it's away to get the work done.

My dh had accident in bad weather years ago. It was snowing and the car wouldn't stop and skidded in to the car infront. He asked the guy to get a quote and he wld pay for it outwith insurance as had only been driving a few years so didn't want to lose his no claims. It was a small scratch on the car, dh car actually had a bigger mark.

However the guy called asking for money but wouldn't provide the quote said his "mate" works in a garage and wld fix it but wanted £600 to fix it (there was a tiny mark on the bumper). Then was asking for more money for a hire car on top of that. So he told him no just go through insurance.

Thanks, yes I have fully comprehensive insurance.

I do appreciate all the replies, thanks

I was hit by a 17 year old 6th former outside school when collecting my child. She only passed a couple months prior. Not too much damage but a dent and paint work. We swapped phone numbers and I was about to ring my insurance and her mum rang me. Absolutely lovely and so apologetic. Wanted to go private because of premium going up on a 17 year old. The mum was very genuine, came to me to apologise the following day too at pick up. I got their full details including address. I got 3 quotes and went middle range about £300. The mum rang garage to pay and had no problem. Guessing I was lucky but you never know and be mindful of hidden damage as others have said especially on bumper. Mine was literally a small dent and few scratches

You don’t have to claim through your insurance company but you do have to notify them of the accident. I got hit by someone and he settled in cash but I did notify my insurers. I was obliged to regardless of what he wanted to do.

Don’t arrange anything privately. I very nearly agreed to this when I bumped into someone - minor minor bump, very small scratch to car. She asked me to give her cash for the car repair. I thought about it but decided not to.

She ended up claiming 1000s for whiplash once we had opened a case with insurers. You just never know what someone is going to claim/say and if you haven’t notified your insurers and opened a claim you could be left uninsured.