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?

I had similar happen. An 18 year old crossed the central reservation on a dual carriageway as he lost control on a bend, and crashed into the side of my car. He rang his father whilst someone had called the police. His father arrived and asked me if he could pay for the damage due to son’s ins increasing, and I agreed. Found out it was going to cost £2k to repair, and he gave me a cheque for £2.5k to add a bit of an inconvenience payment. Suited me, as I’d been in a no fault accident two years earlier, and my ins premium still increased. I was told it was because people who had been in accidents even where no fault were likely to be less confident drivers and so prone to having more accidents than before. Apparently……

You MUST go through the insurance. A woman did this in an online group I'm in and I can't remember the details but her insurer ended up finding out and she has been blacklisted from insurance now and is having a nightmare. She put a post in the group to warn people about it. I wouldn't risk it and the potential repercussions if you get found out and subsequently blacklisted.

That's rubbish. Work done will always be warranties by the garage that does it

Sounds unlikely. Why or how would they have found out

It isn't 'unlikely' it happened. I don't want to be outing but it's a group of people who know each other through a network (albeit loosely) not just randoms from the internet. She had no reason to make it up or lie and was trying to be kind and warn her friends/ acquaintances.

I'd go straight through the insurance without a thought I'm afraid. I couldn't do with the hassle of the "will he, won't he" of paying.
Honestly, of course he'd give a sob story, many people would. That's not your issue.
The same happened to me just over a year ago. I was stopped at lights, and a woman in her 30s just drove straight into the back of me. She wanted to deal with it privately. I didn't. Went straight to the insurance company. I'm not faffing around going to garages, getting quotes etc. Especially for something 100% not my fault.

Really all thats coming out of this is how horrible people are. You go ahead and treat him the way you would like to see your boys treated. Your instincts are likely to be sound. And you sound like lovely parents.

Why would you bet that?

This!

I think legally, you are required to report it.

Just saw update - okay, great to hear it's going through insurance.

I think it would be lovely to settle privately if you are happy to but need to sort it quick in case talks break down and you do need to go through insurance

I was thinking this.

Did u see proof of his insurance?

Do people not bother to at least read the updates from an op? She posted 3 days ago to say it’s going through insurance already

You need to tell your insurance. It’s amazing how they find out these things and then they will increase the premiums.
As for premiums going up with a non-fault claim, sometimes they do but not every time. I worked for car insurance and it was honestly rare that it did unless it impacted no claims of course.

Premiums do not go up for a no fault claim. I’ve had two over the years and my renewal did not change, in fact it went down on one occasion.

as for settling privately, absolutely not. It’s a lesson learned for this young driver. YOU can be done for breach of contract by your insurers and have your policy cancelled

‘No claims bonus’ is a separate thing and even if protected doesn’t stop your premium going up when any claim is made. It’s another scam from the insurance companies that makes you think you’re getting a discount but actually it’s negligible.
I learnt this the hard way

I did, felt so sorry for the young lad. The local Vauxhall garage quoted £3k for a new rear bumper, our local body shop repair quoted £350 so I told the lad it would cost £500 to cover taxis while my car was being repaired and we were all happy. I think you will do the right thing but not sure his insurance will increase by that amoubt but I guess thats up to him 🤷‍♀️

I work in insurance claims. Find out his insurance and claim from them direct rather than via your own insurance.
Your car needs repairing properly with a guarantee. No doubt he is a very nice young man. There is a reason that young drivers are charged high premiums. It is simply not your problem. This isn't something that can be sorted out for a few hundred pounds.

Even if it doesn’t go through his insurance he will still need to tell them so it might as well be claimed.
your premium will go up too.

My premium went up twice, both times after my car was hit and damaged when it was parked and I wasn’t there.

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned but if it was a work van he probably wasn’t insured OP because most insurers want anyone using a van to be 25 or over, it’s the same with hiring a van

My Son shunted a woman who did an emergency stop because she wanted to read a text, not much damage to her car, but after the insurance expert estimated the damage to our car, the garage actually took the bumper etc off & he discovered there was a lot more damage. They scrapped our 3 year old, but almost unused car as it was cheaper to pay us than to fix😥

"My Son shunted a woman who did an emergency stop because she wanted to read a text,"

Then he was too close and at fault regardless of the reason for the emergency stop...