To refuse to talk directly with the other party in a claim?

[SixImpossible]

WIBBU to tell them that I will only communicate through the insurers?

Rear end shunt, they ran into me.

NU - that's what you are supposed to do.

What can they need to say to you besides 'Sorry. Hope you are OK'

What they want to say to you will probably include some convoluted crap that puts you at a disadvantage!

Ignore them. Refer them to your insurers. Make a note with your insurers if they are persistent...

Keep radio silence. Makes recordings of messages and take screen shots of texts. Do not answer.

I wouldn't suggest the word sorry is used in the event of an accident. It is courteous and shows consideration to check that the person is OK but beyond that, sorry can be taken as an admission of guilt in an insurance claim. Best avoided.

I agree that keeping silent is the best approach. Your only legal obligation is to exchange insurance details. Also to contact your insurance company as soon as possible with your version of events including as many photos as you can.

We had a rear end shunt and in the end even demanded that their insurance didn't communicate with us as they were rather threatening. That's what you pay insurance for, make the most of it!

Thanks.

It all started off 'correctly', but then the other party contacted me directly. They were very polite and apologetic, accepting that it was their fault. They want me to withdraw my claim and settle directly with them, and say that they will pay for everything.

.....and say that they will pay for everything......

Oh Yeah?

Well it's not impossible, I suppose, but the the highways are littered with the remains of people who tried to be 'nice and accommodating' in such circumstances. Besides - why should you have the hassle of dealing with them personally? Relax and let the insurers deal with it.

They can pay your insurance company directly rather than involve theirs, they don't have to deal with you or get you doing the leg work with quotes etc.

Thanks for your advice. I will simply say that I prefer to communicate through our insurers. All the work has been done already, anyway. I was just unsure because the others live on our road, about 1 minute walk away, and I worry about courtesy and neighbourly relationships.

cozitosie I once returned to my parked car to find a great big dent in the side and a phone number tucked under the windscreen wiper. What followed was an utter farce, as the other party tried again and again to pay up in person - even turning up at the repair centre, chequebook in hand - and the insurance company thwarted them at every attempt.

When my insurance came up for renewal I queried the resiculous premium:

"You have a claim against you, and have therefore lost part of your NCD"
"What?!" Etc etc
"The other party was not contactable, so the claim had to be paid by you"(or words to that effect)
"What?! I have you full details and spoke to them myself, so I know that they were contactable."

It turned out that the insurers would only call during business hours, when the other party was at work. Doh!

The insurers got it right in the end, after I kicked up a right stink, but now I wonder whether they just could not be bothered to deal with individuals, rather than with another insurance company.

Oops, I meant Damnyouautocorrect.

Double oops!

Tbh if they are agreeing to pay for everything it saves both of you losing your ncb. My rear window got smashed in by a firm who were strimming the grass verges (loose stone amongst grass). I dealt directly with them and they got Autoglass to repair on their a/c so I didn't need to involve my insurance co. A neighbour whose car also got hit involved his insurance and he's still waiting to be paid.

Go through the insurance. Many an example can be found of people taking their car to the garage and the other party promising to pay the bill - only to refuse to pay it and the innocent driver having to foot the bill.

Somebody ran into my friend at a junction (rear end shunt), the young girl driver wouldnt give any details of her insurance or her name etc. Friend took the number plate and gave it to her insurance company. Turns out it was the dads insurance and the young girl was a named driver. Then the dad got heavy with my friend, wanting to come round to her house and inspect the damage. She told him to Foxtrot Oscar and refused to deal with them anymore and left it to the insurance.

No doubt if she had gone down the route of him paying for the repairs he would have been vile and argued every single detail.

It has already gone to the insurers, they are asking me to withdraw my clsim and deal directly with them. I shouldn't lose my NCD even if they don't pay up (maximum , protected NCD), whereas they have discovered that they are in deep doo-da for next year's premium. I have nothing to gain by bypassing my insurers, it would merely be a kindness to a new, young driver.

Deal with the insurers. I had a rear end shunt yesterday and the woman who went into me was outraged that I wanted her details. Apparently it's obvious there's no damage (I'm not an expert but apparently she has x ray vision )

She demanded I call her first before going to insurers but why would I want that hassle?

Ignore them and protect yourself.

Exactly AnneEllott, you cannot know what damage has been done to your car. It may just look like a cracked bumper but 9 times out of 10 there is more unseen damage done.

Are they insured.....

Eh, depends. I was rear end shunted by someone's au pair years ago, the employer whose car it was phoned me up at home and first said can we settle this without insurers and then when I said no, said "oh well you don't have our address anyway" and hung up on me! Yeah sorry love, we have your reg number so there is a big bill coming your way...

Another time I was older, had a bit more cash. A kid rear ended us on the motorway in a traffic jam, he was driving some heap of shite - basically me 10 years before. It was a really slow collision, just a touch and turned out there was nothing other than paint damage. Very happy to be able to phone him up and tell him to forget about it Probably helped that he was in the army and wearing his uniform, sort of gives you the feeling that you're dealing with a decent type rather than some wee idiot (although they deserve a break too I suppose)

They will raise your premium even if it's a no fault claim. I was rear ended. The other driver accepted responsibility. All sorted through the insurance company. I kept my no claims bonus but it doesn't stop the sticking your premium up as you have to declare any claims even if they are no fault- for the next 3 or 5 years.
If the work has been done and you accompany them to the garage to see them pay then I would be tempted to do it.

Now the insurers are involved I don't think it will make any difference even if you do withdraw your claim. Most insurers will still take it into account on the premium even if you withdraw and deal privately.

It can be better for everyone to deal with things privately without involving anyone's insurers if everyone is amicable and the amounts involved are not enormous - it means that the huge amounts of inflated costs which go on insurance claims can be avoided, and both your policies will be protected. Once insurers are involved everyone's premium goes up even if completely not your fault. But it is almost certainly too late to avoid that now.

It is usually better for everyone to bypass insurers if you possibly can, but only works if everyone plays nicely!