to think that you can't just opt out of going through your car insurance?

[tittytittyhanghang]

Some one rear ended me today. God knows what they were doing but it was a bloody good jolt they gave my car (i was stationary, waiting at lights) so i assume he must have been going a decent speed. Luckilyish i have a 4x4 with a spare tyre on the back so think this took most of the impact. At the time didn't see much damage other than a few scratches (i was in the middle of a busy high street) but i took other driver's details anyway. At the time he accepted he was at fault. Later on dp had a proper look at my car and there is quite a bit more damage than i realised (a bit of the body panel is dented and pushed out/not sitting flush and driving home my tyre has blown out and it looks like it has been caused by the exhaust has shifted slightly and now rubbing off tyre). Anyhows have texted the other person and he is keen not to go through insurance but willing to pay for all work in his local garage. Im not keen and would rather go through insurance. Am i right in thinking that he has to go through his insurance if i ask him. Dp says that if he refuses theres nowt i can do. Also i have had a cracking headache since it happened. (the crash didn't cause me to hit my head off anything). Dp says this is sympton of whiplash but i dont have a sore neck or anything, just a headache. Am i going to wake up tomorrow with a sore neck because i have loads to do housework to the extreme and a sore neck would be umm a pain in the neck lol.

you can give your insurence company his details. but im rather surprised you wouldnt want it sorted out quckly by him. why?

If you insist, he has to comply. However with the knock for knock thingy, you might find your insurance jumps up next year.

Provided he does pay for everything, every one is happy. Just dont be rail roaded into going to a dodgy garage. Big trust factor of course, what if he doesnt pay?

If you are uncomfortable with that, you have his reg, tel no, and have swapped details.

This happened to my dad, other bloke said he would pay cash rather than go through insurance. My dad could never get hold of him again.

Don't listen to him. I got stung by someone saying this. He never forked out.

go through your insurance

this is not a knock for knock claim -he went into the back of you, that's his fault

and yes you probably will have a stiff neck in th emorning -make sure you go to GP to get it documented

I had an accident in my car, went into the back of some poor soul, was entirely my fault...Anyhow, my insurance excess was v high and no damage to my car (was my tow hook thingy that destroyed their bumper) - so they got a quote, I paid the bill. You do have to tell your insurer but you don't have to claim on yr insurance.

last year same thing happened to my dp, and our car was away for three weeks getting repaired for what looks liked less damage than this accident. Through the other person's insurance we got a courtesy car. I dont think we'll get that if we go through garage. Secondly, the insurance will give our car a thorough check, esp re the exhaust. Im not confident that a garage would do that. It'll just carry out the work that other driver instructs, which I would assume would be the damage he can physically see. Also the accident happened in another town about an hours drive away. He wants us to take our car there to a garage that he chooses. I dont know the garage, not saying that they are poor mechanics but if he is friendly with them they are going to do whats in his best interests, not ours iyswim.

Go through insurance, he doesn't have a choice not to. It sounds like a fair bit of damage was done so it needs fixing properly with someone you have some comeback with

This happened to me years ago, although I was the one in the wrong but it happened that I knew the woman I ran into . She wasn't bothered with an insurance claim and that suited us as I was only 18 and it would've made my mum's premiums ludicrous. We contacted our insurance company and they sent us some forms to sign anyway which iirc, were just so that the woman couldn't have the work done and then come back to us and claim that there was more damage as a result of the accident. Not sure if they'll still do this.

If you've got whiplash then you'll need to go through your insurance anyway for a PI claim, likewise if you need a hire car to cover you while the work's done on your 4x4.

The exact same thing happened to me, waiting at red lights. The guy wanted to do it private, not go through the insurance, even though I'd already got his insurance details. It was a total nightmare DON'T DO IT!!!

We agreed on a local garage to do the work, all went together, the bloke, his wife and I. The quote was £450, all was agreed that the work would be done and he would pay.

When they took the back of the car off, there was more work than the original quote needing doing. They did it, called the bloke to come and pay for it. He said he would only pay the agreed price. The garage wouldn't release the car until the work was done. So I was faced with making up the difference in cost or not getting my car back!

I called my insurance company for advice, and thankfully, because we happened to choose an approved garage (total coincidence) they took over the claim and charged his insurance company the full outstanding amount. He went mental, phoning me saying how dare I take it through the insurance, it was going to put his premiums up even more, he needed to be able to afford to run his car for work, I was putting him out of work etc. It was frightening.

It turns out, he is a crap driver and has had to make lots of claims because he keeps having bumps and scrapes. His insurance was getting more and more expensive so he didn't want any more claims going through.

Seriously, just put it through the insurance. If you have his details, just do it.

i have his name address phone number and licence plate. but not his insurance details. If i give these to my insurance company can they sort it so it goes through his insurance and not mines?

This is not knock for knock. If you feel uneasy then insist on his insurance details. If you chase it for too long and he doesn't pay up then you could lose out. I work for police and in our force if it isn't reported within 30 days we don't investigate. Insist on ins details. Also if you don't go through ins and you have an accident in future and you ins company find out they won't cover you. The small print will tell you you have to inform them.

Your ins company will know if he is insured.

If you are fully comp your ins will chase it up for you. If you are third party chances are they won't.

Yeah, your ins co should be able to find him with that. The fact that it was his fault will mean he pays for it, and the damage to your car is proof that he ran into the back of you.

Really Purple, will TP not cover you for that? Glad I am fully comp!

that sounds fair enough to me.and yes with that info your insurence company can find out who insures him

the only problem you have is if he isn't insured

You don't have to go through insurance sister shunted a taxi once as a teenager and dad paid the guy for the work rather than involving the insurance as it was on a pita business policy and would have affected all cars.

Having said that him asking for a garage of his choice isn't very fair he needs to just foot your bill so I wouldnt trust him. You also wouldn't be able to claim for injury which tbh I don't advocate but your choice.

I would leave it for your insurance company to sort out.

Someone went into the back of me in 2009 on a roundabout. The apparent damage was minimal but as it's a Motability vehicle I said I needed to put it through the insurance company.

Once in the garage my car was inspected, there was more damage than was first apparent, mine was off the road for 2 weeks and I needed a hire car for that period. If the chap had paid for it all himself it would have cost over a thousand pounds. I'm sure he wouldn't have shelled out all that.

the 'knock for knock' agreement was dropped by insurance companies over 15 years ago... However, he doesn't need to go through his own insurance company if he wishes. The insurance is a compulsory cover,but an insurance company is only obliged to pick up your claim once an 'unsatisfied Judgement' had been entered by a court. ie...he didnt pay for your repairs and you had to sue him for the money.. It may be easier to see what happens first - get two estimates from reputable garages...the cost could surprise you (and him) -dont let him dictate to you where you get the work done..

we are fully comp but obviously don't want to claim through our insurance as it will really affect our premiums.

Funnily enough a police car pulled up along side us as we were in the middle of a busy high street and he asked us through his window if we could just move our cars to a side street. Didn't even bother to get out his car to check that we were alright and drove on!

However as bad luck would have it three passerby's did come ask us if we were alright just as we got out of my car (my mum was in the passenger side and my son was in the back). Turned out they were bloody thieving little shits and nicked my bank card which was sitting on the passenger side dash. Got a call from bank when i got home saying they had blocked that card as they suspected fraudulent activity, just 15 minutes after the other driver crashed into me! So much for concerned passerby's.

It won't put up your insurance though, its 100% his fault.

Oh, and speak to the local police station - might be useful to have a witness to the location of the accident from the police.

Of course he can choose not to go through his insurance company

If he is willing to pay you, and pay for rental car why are you insistant in going through insurance company

Some times your premium will go up, even if you don't claim on your insurance and it isn't your fault