Should we settle privately after a rear-end crash involving a young driver?

[Lollipopsicle]

Hope there's some insurance experts on here who might be able to help.

We were rear-ended by a van earlier this week in a queue of traffic. We stopped and a really lovely young guy got out of the van and apologised (it was obviously his fault), gave his name and telephone number, we took photos, all good. Anyway, he then begged us to not take it through insurance, as he was 18 years old - obviously his first job - and the insurance had already cost £7k and he said it would likely double if he claimed and would probably lose his job. I have to stress that we're not here to ruin his life and, having had 2 sons years ago who had accidents at a very young age (one at fault, one not), I'm feeling particularly maternal and want to do the right thing as much as I can. As I said, lovely lad, very smart, first job and kudos to him. We told him to leave it with us for a few days to get quotes and we'd get back to him and he was so grateful.

So, we have had two estimates now. One from a workshop local to my DH'S workplace, where they were able to assess the damage to a degree, and my DH has sent a lot of photos to the workshop attached to the Hyundai dealership. Both have come back with figures in the £3,500-4,000 range. I'm also going to get a third quote from a local body workshop very close to where our main address is when we get there tomorrow. I expect it will be a similar price, but thought it only fair to get 3 quotes so this young lad can see we've tried, but I also think he will still be surprised that it's come in as much as that. I don't know, because we haven't had that conversation. Anyway, it's very clear that he wants to pay rather than have his insurance increase hugely.

My question is, is it likely that his insurance really would double to £14,000, or would they just slap something like a £2,000 increase on next time? I'm just trying to figure out if it would actually be worth both parties going through our insurance companies? It doesn't matter to us who pays because we weren't at fault, but I'm trying to work out whether it's worth him personally settling if his insurance premium isn't going to increase that much?

I really do feel bad for him - we both do. There's been no question of him trying to duck out of his responsibilities. However, if we do have to go through insurance, I also have evidence of him apologising in a recorded telephone call (he knew it was being recorded), plus he's texted me and thanked me for trying to get this sorted between us.

Can anyone offer any professional advice on what the insurance company is likely to do come renewal time?

Not reporting this smells a little of collusion and it may backfire.

Although you've updated with your decision, for those interested I've been on the other side as my DS, then 17, had a crash last year about 3 months after passing his test. It was his fault, he moved into the fast lane on a dual carriage way and hadn't seen the car, probably in a blind spot already there and the car hit him. No one was hurt, he was lucky. Not going through insurance was discussed and the other driver was very nice. However, in the end my son and I decided to go through insurance, he was stressed about sending money to someone he didn't know, however nice they seemed and the insurance company still getting informed, not by him and him getting into trouble.

The worry was of course that his premium would really increase when it was up for renewal. He was very happy and relieved to find it actually decreased by £950 and they said no need for a black box anymore. This was due to a good score on his box for the rest of the year. So in his case it didn't seem to have much of a bearing on his renewal unless of course if he hadn't had the at fault crash it would have gone down even more!

Glad you have reported it to your insurance company, it’s always the right thing to do. Hope it gets sorted quickly

Went to pick up a brand new car from a dealership. Drive it a quarter of a mile down the road to a discount store. While loading the car up a woman let go of her shopping trolley which ran down a slope straight into our car. We went straight back to the dealership who arranged to fix the car. A couple of weeks later we received an invoice in the post for the work - well over a thousand pounds. Phoned up dealership as obviously work done under insurance. They were mortified and said the invoice should never have come to us and to destroy it. Clearly the dealership were making a huge profit and taking advantage of it being an insurance job.

I think most garages will bump up the estimate if they think insurers are paying.

@Lolalady i don’t understand. Did you have insurance or gap insurance direct with the dealership?

im not sure how they would agree to fix your car without confirmation from your insurance company they would cover the costs

was it a goodwill repair due to you being a new customer for them?

No way would I settle privately. I understand you sympathise with the young guy, but no good deed goes unpunished!

Go through the insurance company.

I realise I am late to this party, but I do have plenty of experience of being rear ended! Twice in 3 months…. the second time I’d only had my car back for 4 weeks from the first time!

Anyway - the cost of the work to the car (3 year old Golf) was around £5k each time, but my car was off the road for a very long time time 6 weeks first time, 4 weeks second time. The hire car costs were pretty big.

I’d take the estimates from photos as indicative too, until a garage has actually seen the car.

You cannot know if the other party is going to claim the accident was somehow your fault. Unlikely in a rear end accident, but it has happened. Therefore you have to let your insurance company know the accident happed and how it happened.

"Thanks, but it's a brand new car on a 4-year business lease, so we would need everything to be replaced with genuine parts."

Glad you went through insurance; it would be crazy to do otherwise on a leased car which means you are not the owner or the registered keeper.

I'm not sure what the ramifications would be if the repair was sub standard and the lease company found out about it or realised when you hand it back.

Firstly as a parent to an 18 year old i appreciate you considering his situation. To all those saying how can he afford it, maybe he can! maybe his parents would help him out? maybe he has a nice amount saved up for emergencies, maybe his child trust amount was decent and could cover it, its really not relevant as long as its paid. Yes his insurance would go up astronomically!! i'd pass him the quotes and give him the opportunity to sort it and at that point stress that if it's not financially possible, you'd have to consider going through the insurance and maybe request he confirm with you by a certain date. Can't really say fairer than that x

Thinking about it my 19yo dd managed to back into a car last year (the other car was parked 🤦‍♀️) she was really worried about the premiums going up but they didn’t really. They definitely didn’t double.

Car insurance doesn't automatically mean a hike in payments, which I was surprised about after my first accident! (Not my fault but my car was a write off so was nervous about the expenditure)

Apparently you can claim several times before it does. He needs to look into the details and also take on acknowledgement that likely he wasn't being careful, lessons we all have to learn.

Sounds dodgy to me, if he’s going to loose his job over it, that means company car and there is company insurance.
Go through your insurance

It would probably would have happened by now if it was going to, but beware also of “third party capture”: the other insurance company calls you directly, and offers a quick settlement, sounding very friendly and helpful, Although this is above board, and very tempting to take their offer, it causes problems if there are injuries developing later. It’s probably their way of getting a quick “case closed”.

Thats not always the case. I’ve had two non fault accidents in the space of a year. Insured with Aviva with protected no claims, and my insurance premium has not gone up at all

Just go through insurance. I was parked at my friends house when her neighbour reversed out of his drive t speed and hit my car. He was a lovely old man and immediately offered to fund the cost of repair however as a virtually new car I declined and he was most put out and said it would only be a £1000 at most!! Final bill including care hire for 20 days whilst waiting for parts was just short of £8000. What he thought was a small incident involved a new door, back wing, replacement of petrol tank as well as new back wheel and tyre plus all the paintwork.

This. You don't know this bloke, have no idea if what a word he said was true and as @Whinge says it could get very messy very quickly. Honestly its not your problem, don't turn it into your problem.

No it isn't disgusting.

It's different in your case as you were in a rear end shunt which you could do nothing about.

But it's a fact that people who are involved in accidents which are not their fault are more likely to be involved in other accidents, their fault of not.

Some people actively drive to avoid accidents, watching constantly for people who aren't watching enough. Others don't.

The rates go up so that the more careful drivers can have their rates kept down.

It's not unfair except if your rates rise for a rear end shunt when you were stationary in what should have been a safe place, and even then it might be seen as fair if you drive in an area where there's a higher proportion of bad drivers, which would be the same as paying more in high theft areas.

My husband foolishly agreed to settle privately when man hit our car in car park, then the guy never paid up, just ignored our messages. My husband had left it too late to contact insurance and police so we were out of pocket.

I wasn’t aware that insurance companies did that. I would have thought the bodyshop would be liable for a failed repair (unless the insurer means they would take it up with the body shop or your behalf)?

Good to know though!

I rear ended someone as a new driver before, she was super nice and I paid for her damage (wasn't much though couple of hundred it was like 13 years ago!) and got her flowers. I could afford my insurance (just about! But having an accident added would have shot it right up). Just make sure he pays before you have it done so you know he gives it you

OP updated 3 days ago to say it’s going through insurance.

You can feel sorry for him but his actions caused the crash and actions have consequences.

He wasn’t paying attention and drove into the back of your car. Why wasn’t he paying attention? His actions aren’t your responsibility

You need to go through your insurance to protect yourselves.

If he pays and you trust the garage let it go.
He sounds like he was working not messing around or racing an innocent mistake. We’ve all been young.

Insurance for young drivers and their families is shocking and can cripple a family who are just trying their best. Go with your gut, this could’ve been your child and it’s damn hard.

A lot of jobs you can’t without driving too so it mgiht not be a luxury to him but a genuine way of making a living