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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

66 replies

tittytittyhanghang · 14/08/2012 21:38

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.

OP posts:
JarethTheGoblinKing · 14/08/2012 22:17

I claimed 2 years ago when someone went into the back at me at traffic lights (i was stationary with hand brake on). All sorted by the insurance, and my premiums stayed the same. It was decided to be totally the other drivers fault.

hermionestranger · 14/08/2012 22:21

Go through our insurance. Dh was shunted back in June and it caused £3.5k worth o damage and neck, back and ankle problems for him. The car was back in two weeks but the claim is ongoing, but the insurers and lawyers are dealing with it all whilst dh has physio and is seeing an orthopedic consultant to sort him out.

schoolgovernor · 14/08/2012 22:31

I'm going through this now. If he went into the back of you then it's highly unlikely to be anything other than a "no fault" claim on our insurance. Meaning it doesn't affect your premium. I would insist on going through insurance personally. He wants to pay for the work in his local garage. What if you aren't happy with what they do? You'd need to get a range of quotes to make sure everything was above board. Far too risky.

zipzap · 14/08/2012 22:34

Somebody drove into dh's car in a car park. Other chap admitted liability and gave over his insurance details happily and they paid up in full, provided courtesy car etc.

However, our insurance company said that we had to tell them we had been in an accident and it still affected our premium despite no claims insurance as they say that once you have been involved in an accident you are more likely to be involved in another. Hmm seemed a sneaky weasel lawyerish way to extract more money from you as the percentage discount you get is the same but they up the premium to cover the increased risk. Angry
They also said if we didn't tell them we would have invalidated our insurance...

And as lotsof others have said,there's often structural damage that you can't see in these sort of things and if you have been hurt (how's your mum?) then you should get compensation for that so worth getting an insurance company involved to make sure you get everything sorted out right. The fact he wants you to take it to a single garage in his home town, not giving you the chance to get several quotes or take it somewhere convenient for you (and would he pay your petrol to get there? Way fuel prices are going up rapidly it's not going to be cheap or easy for you to take it there) plus guarantees on the work... All ringing big red warning flags that it would be easier to get insurance company involved.

Oh and talk to local police - you might find he's been driving around uninsured so they could nab him for that (and not handing over insurance details at an accident?)

Good luck getting it sorted and hope your neck feels better soon...

Purple2012 · 14/08/2012 22:37

He cannot chose to not go through insurance. By law if you want to go through insurance he has to give you the details. If he refuses he is breaking the law. If it turns out he doesnt have insurance report it to police. They will prosecute if he is driving uninsured.

It is dodgy not going through insurance, all sorts can happen. And as I said by not declaring it to your insurance could cause problems in the future.

stargirl1701 · 14/08/2012 22:42

I damaged another vehicle with my car door and we agreed to repair the damage without going through my insurer.

I gave all my details to the other party and I think they were very nervous about the arrangement but it worked out much faster to fix and neither of us had raised premiums.

It's down to trust.

Original poster
tittytittyhanghang · 14/08/2012 22:50

when my dp was hit about a year ago we did it through other drivers insurance, as it was 100% their fault. I asked other insurance company if we had to declare this when we renewed our insurance and they said no as it wasn't our fault. When i was gathering quotes online for this years insurance i did put in 2 different types, one without declaring the not at fault accident and one with, and there was a slight difference, so i went with the one without and paid the lower quote. About a month later I then got a call from the fraud dept of our insurance as it had been flagged up we had been in an accident (at the time we were still settling the claim) and they took an extra £70 out of my debit card (apparently i had agreed to continuous card payments when i paid for the insurance initially when i took it out online, bloody small print!) . I told them that other insurance had said we did not have to declare this as it wasn't our fault. Our insurance contacted the other insurers and obviously told this was true and we were refunded the extra money that they took out. But still a bit Hmm at the different quotes we got to begin with.

OP posts:
zipzap · 14/08/2012 22:52

It's one thing sorting it out yourselves when it is just a minor thing - a scratch to be repainted, or a small dent knocked out, or a new light cover or wing mirror etc.

It's completely different when it looks lime it's going to be quite a major job with need for a replacementcar for a few days plus who knows how bad your whiplash is and what longterm treatment you will need?

Please dont be tempted to be nice and let him have it his own way - think of yourself and what is best for you. If he'd been driving properly then he wouldn't have put you inthis position anyway!

parisianwife · 14/08/2012 22:55

I can't understand folk who are saying "why would you go through the insurance, just get him to pay". (for example, icecold)

Er, because there's nothing in it for the OP, except a shedload of risk?! If this is sorted privately, stuff that immediately comes to mind:

  • Her insurer may force her to declare it anyway ("have you ever been involved in an accident in the last X years" wording on renewals)
  • There may be non-obvious damage to vehicles
  • She's leaving herself open to having to deal with this person directly (if he's dodgey enough to think she'd agree to fix it at a garage of his choosing, why would you open yourself having to justify the refusal?) - the insurance company is in a much better position to arrange and co-ordinate from a relatively impatial standpoint.. what if he doesn't pay, turns nasty, takes months to settle the bill, whatever
  • losing common potential benefits like a courtesy car in this arrangement

... and where would the benefit to this be to the OP? Because I don't see one at all, for running the above risks.

I see that some people have hinted that it may be faster to deal with him directly (and I'd contest that point myself anyway...), but balanced by the huge risks above, I'd say they're being completely naive to think it's the best option here.

You'd have to be totally off your fvcking rocker to even consider it.

Do it legit, OP, go through the insurance company. do NOT get into dealing with this with the at fault party.

Original poster
tittytittyhanghang · 14/08/2012 22:57

tbh i dont understand how he managed to go into the back of me, its a busy high street in a big city with traffic lights really close together, literally you just get past one set and you have to stop for the next set. He must have really not been paying attention or on the phone or something. I have been in a few slow speed bumps so i think he must have been going faster than at least 10/15 miles an hour to cause the jolt that he did.

OP posts:
WelshMaenad · 14/08/2012 22:58

Having been in this position a year or so ago - ABSOLUTELY go through insurance. Depending on how much damage there is, the repair bill could run high, not to mention you being without a car in the meantime.

To be honest, if your neck is sore tomorrow and you feel you might want to make a personal injury claim, of recommend going via an accident management company or solicitors who will sort it all out and get you a courtesy car for the duration. I can recommend our solicitor, they were brilliant, and will deal nationwide and sort you out with a local car rental.

OneOfMyTurnsComingOn · 14/08/2012 23:02

You have to inform insurance either way.

ratspeaker · 14/08/2012 23:04

Best to talk to your insurance and get your car checked out
Years ago DH car was parked out in the road with handbrake on, as you do and was shunted a good few feet ( it was hit by a drunk driver ).
We didnt think there was much damage to look at it but the garage found the brakes had taken a pounding

TeaBrick · 14/08/2012 23:29

Just phone your insurance company and ask them for their advice. As this accident was not your fault (he went into the back of you, so it will be a fault claim against him), it will not affect your premiums or your no claims discount, and you won't have to pay an excess.
Let your insurer deal with it and save yourself a lot of hassle, that's what you pay them for.

Jenstar21 · 15/08/2012 00:10

I've been hit from behind whilst stationery - twice. Both times gone through insurance. Didn't cost anything for me, but did put my premium up both times, even though they were both the entire fault of the other party. I'd still go through the insurance though. More cover for you that way.

ivykaty44 · 15/08/2012 00:18

you need to inform your insuracne company if you have an accident in your car - look at the small print - otherwise you may find that if they find out you had an accident and didn't tell them, your insurance may well be invalid. This would be regardless of who's fault the accident was.

So call your insurance and explain to them all the details of the accident and give the other drivers details and his name and address. Then let them deal with the incident with him - as that is what you pay them for.

Your insurance will probably go up anyway as they have shot up the last two years, better that than find out that you are not insured as you didn't tell them about an accident.

JudgeJodie · 15/08/2012 07:50

I was the passenger in a car hit from behind at a roundabout last year. The girl said she would pay for the damage without the need for insurance. She had a baby in the car and it was a busy roundabout so we all just wanted to move on.

We both (driver and I) ended up with GENUINE whiplash, and when the car was taken to the garage there was about £1400 of damage. The underside of the car where you can't see was crushed and compromised the safety of the car. Took two weeks to fix. Apparently modern cars are designed like this so what you initially see as the damage can be way more extensive.

Anyway we got in touch with her and asked for insurance details as it was more than cosmetic damage and she insisted it was "a tenner for a new boot catch" and refused details. Turns out she didn'thave any insurance.

Police said always be suspicious of people who claim excess is high, do it ourselves etc etc. get the insurance details immediately and if you decide to deal privately after so be it.

UKSky · 15/08/2012 08:15

I'm going through a claim at the moment. Driver pulled out of a side road straight across me.

You don't have to go through your insurers you can go direct to his (but you do need to tell yours what you are doing).

You should request a car if similar type to yours. You can use a garage of your choice.

If he won't give you his insurance details, contact your local police station and they will get it for you.

If you need more advice, drop me a PM as BIL is in the industry.

Also if you don't need a car while yours is being fixed you can ask them to pay you the amount they would have paid for car hire. For a PI claim they may make you an offer rather than use lawyers. If they do, do some research and you may be able to come to an agreement.

If you had a child's eat in the car, this should be replaced.

NervousAt20 · 15/08/2012 08:20

Can your prove that he hit you? Did you take photos or have any witnesses that you took details from? If not and you go through the insurance he could just deny it was him completely, someone did this to a friend of mine even though at the time they admitted it was their fault but when it went to insurance changed there mind and over a year later it's still going on

BeeBawBabbity · 15/08/2012 08:27

In my experience the premium will go up a little, even if you dont claim and it wasn't your fault. I think that legally you have to declare the incident when you insure next time.

Sucks.

BlueCanary · 15/08/2012 08:43

I would only not go through insurance if there was a significant benefit to me.

I have twice agreed to not go through insurance when it was other drivers fault and damage was fairly minor. Once we got a quote from a garage and other driver gave us a one off payment to cover it (suited me as my uncle is a mechanic and he did the work for me at cost, so I actually ended up with more money than the repairs cost).

Second time it was a bit of a debacle. 18yo who turned out to have no insurance, and a nightmare father. Would think very hard about bypassing insurance in the future as a result.

Jenny70 · 15/08/2012 08:50

I would think he's got the option to not claim on his insurance... if the damage were the same as the excess, I'd be paying it, not claiming it.

But he can't ask YOU not to go through yours - so your insurance is dealing with him, not you personally.

For me, I'd not be comfortable using "his" garage, I'd want one convenient to me and one I'd trust to do the work well. If he was happy to pay wherever I chose, then that would be OK. I'd get 2 quotes, chose the cheaper and get the cheque from him before I put the car in (to make sure it cleared and got paid).

If I got any hassle, I'd be going to my insurance company and sic them onto him!

RustyBear · 15/08/2012 08:50

It's possible he did it on purpose to give accomplices the chance to see what they could steal under the pretence of 'being helpful' I wouldn't trust him an inch, tbh.

ZeldaUpNorth · 15/08/2012 08:58

Also, you said your son was in the back? How old is he? Was he in a car seat? as this will need replaced too, which the is would pay for. Hope you are all ok?

Boondoggle · 15/08/2012 09:00

The same thing happened to me last year (idiot other driver reversed around a corner into my stationary car, with me in it). He was driving a work vehicle so it went through insurance.

Some time after my car was fixed I got a letter from my insurer saying they still had not recovered the cost from the party at fault's insurer. Never heard again so assumed it had subsequently been resolved.

This week I have been getting renewal quotes. It turns out the other insurer never did pay, as a result of which the costs if repair count against MY insurance, as a result of which my premium is £250 more this year than last year. Apparently the "big 4" insurers all exercise this policy. I am Angry

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