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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is this fair? Someone hit my car.

76 replies

KitKat1985 · 15/04/2018 20:42

Someone hit my parked car on Wednesday. It was very clearly other drivers fault and he acknowledged this. Left me with a tennis ball sized dent at the back and scuffs across 3 panels. We exchanged details and the guy said he would rather resolve it between us rather than through insurance. However I was quite literally in the process of moving house (it was actually my removers that saw the accident) so I've only just really thought what to do about it. The thing is my car is a 12 years old and has 109000 miles on the clock. A quick check on Autotrader suggests the car is probably only worth a few hundred quid anyway, although obviously the dent will de-value it a bit more. From experience a proper dent / scuff repair over 3 panels will probably cost more than the car is worth. It would also mean having the car in the repair shop for 2-3 days which is a pain in the arse with my work commitments etc. Is it fair to just ask for £100 towards the value knocked off the car, or is that not really the done thing?

OP posts:
Piggywaspushed · 16/04/2018 07:31

Go through insurance. I have this recently on a 10 year old Corsa and it got written off. damage a bit more than yours but not much. It was a pain but I am glad I didn't cave in to his whole family phoning me up and pestering me. I was awarded £1500 damages, too but that was mainly for personal injury. The man's insurance company sorted it all out for me.

Piggywaspushed · 16/04/2018 07:34

I also wasn't keen on giving random people enough details on me to be able to turn up at my house at an appointed with money!

I would be suspicious of someone who says they want to resolve it without insurance. The guy who hit me was middle aged in a 12 year old Astra and his insurance was well over £1000 a year (I saw his renewal notice) ! I think he may have had rather a lot of these prangs...

Piggywaspushed · 16/04/2018 07:36

If you go through insurance, your insurance will go up too as you will be classed as an at risk driver!

Then change insurer using GoCompare because that is nonsense. people have banged into me twice now and my insurance is less than £150 a year.

LadyLancelot · 16/04/2018 07:36

With that damage the car will probably be written off if you go through insurance.

Piggywaspushed · 16/04/2018 07:40

Also, if you get it repaired yourself then you won't get a courtesy car for free etc. To some people that may not be a major hassle, I guess.

Slartybartfast · 16/04/2018 07:51

You dont have to agree to have the car written off though

derxa · 16/04/2018 08:00

£100? Always go through insurance.

BattleaxeGalactica · 16/04/2018 08:04

You need to get it checked for hidden damage. I fell for letting the woman who shunted me off because there was no apparent damage. A few months down the line it turned out she'd damaged the exhaust and chassis Angry

If the car is written off it's possible to buy the salvage from the insurance company and get it re-MOT'd then carry on as normal. We have done this with an old car that got shunted (we seem to
have targets painted on the arse of our cars Hmm) but was mechanically fine and worth more to us than the pathetic insurance pay out.

Piggywaspushed · 16/04/2018 08:36

I actually got a really fair insurance payout : exactly what is said the value was online and in Parkers.

It is a nuisance but less of a nuisance than discovering there is more wrong with your car than you thought!

SaucyJane · 16/04/2018 08:40

Yeah, insurers are absolute bastards that way. Totally not your fault? Yeah well, we'll hike your premium anyway...

It always blows my mind how mine goes up every year, despite the fact that the car is a year older and therefore cheaper, and I have another year of a clean licence/claims history... !

SaucyJane · 16/04/2018 08:41

(I mean obviously you can shop around, but it's the principle!!)

Peachyking000 · 16/04/2018 08:43

From previous experience - get a quote for the repair work and put it to him. If he thinks it’s too much and wants to go through insurance, then perhaps offer for him to pay a lower cash sum.

DH’s car was recently written off. It was 9 year old and had 111000 miles on the clock, but was actually a v reliable car and would probably have lasted us another few years. He was only given £350 by the insurance company! The reason being, his insurance policy couldn’t be cancelled early so he still had to pay them the remaining 9 months of the policy

Charley50 · 16/04/2018 08:45

Exact same thing happened to me and my much loved shitty old Polo. I asked for and got £250. I didn't bother getting it repaired, not really worth it, but it did make my car look even worse.

lougle · 16/04/2018 08:45

Even if you don't go through insurance, you'd still have to declare the accident when you renew. The question isn't "have you made any claims?" It's "have you had any accidents, regardless of fault?", and it's fraudulent to say no if you have, and your insurance can be cancelled if you are found out, then you have to declare that you have had insurance cancelled to other insurers, which means you'll get a really high premium, or just won't get a policy.

frankchickens · 16/04/2018 08:54

+1 yo getting a quick check. I was rammed with stationary on the motorway by a nasty arrogant women who was too busy running her office from her Range Rover to look out of the big window in the front of her car. My car appeared undamaged but the whole bumper had been irreparably cracked and broken and I didn't notice.

I personally wouldn't bother about people whittering on about "fraud" though - if there's no structural damage I'd take the cash and get on with my life :)

Bluelady · 16/04/2018 10:03

I'm with frank, going through insurance for a car that's not worth repairing seems ridiculous. Especially when you're planning to get rid of it in the near future anyway.

fuckingjournocunts · 16/04/2018 11:05

Yeah we thought ours was cosmetic until the car was written off by my insurer.

DairyisClosed · 16/04/2018 11:08

If it was me that hit you car I would think that was more than fair.

tortelliniforever · 17/04/2018 10:50

@DD43 I live in Italy and my insurance covers me for accidents (where you exchange details) or vandalism. They argued that it was neither! We challenged it but short of taking them to court, we couldn't do much about it. It must have been a local who hit it but they didn't bother to stop.

UterusUterusGhali · 17/04/2018 10:55

I'd take the cash personally.

I got someone accidentally recently. Left a note etc. I couldn't afford the £1000 quoted to fix her car so went through insurance.
She has claimed £10k on a £2k car and my insurance has doubled leaving me financially stymied. :(

Silly thing was I didn't get mine fixed either as I figured it was just cosmetic. Sigh.

Plantlover · 18/04/2018 22:00

Can anyone tell me more about cars being written off by insurers and how to ensure you get the best value for your car?

Someone hit my car and the police say they are at fault. They are disputing liability.

I'm not sure I want my car to be written off but the insurers haven't even had someone look at it. They have had it assessed through photos!

Grateful for any help.

Original poster
KitKat1985 · 18/04/2018 22:12

Just to update. Finally spoke to the guy today (who I think has been avoiding speaking to me). He gave me a huge sob story about his washing machine and dishwasher both failing this week, and he needed more time to get the money together. I'm feeling a bit hacked off now as I felt I was trying to be fair and reasonable, and I feel he is trying to take the piss a bit. I've agreed to give him until next weekend to get the money together, or I'll message him and tell him I'm putting an insurance claim in. Although in reality I don't actually want to as I think an insurance company will say my car is a financial write off and the pay out of a few hundred will be unlikely to get a decent replacement for what is an old, but actually very reliable, car; and also even though it's a non-fault claim I'm sure it would push my premiums up.

Plantlover - how old is your car and how severe is the damage? If the car is old and not worth much and the repair work is likely to exceed the book value for the car, they will write the car off rather than pay the repair bill as it's cheaper for them. They won't pay for a repair bill that's more than the cars value.

OP posts:
Piggywaspushed · 18/04/2018 22:12

They should give you fair market value. Buy a Parker's used car Guide and let them know you have one . Tell them you will accept that price. Also put reg into various online calculators.

If they write it off, they should go on more than photos tbh. That's usually a first step.

Piggywaspushed · 18/04/2018 22:13

Sorry, that was to plantlover!

Piggywaspushed · 18/04/2018 22:15

OP , I got all the sob stories, too. Exactly why I said - sorry to say- upthread to go through the insurers. I'd be willing to bet he has had a few prangs and has a high insurance premium!

I've had two write offs and got a nice replacement car each time. Tbh the companies gave me more money than I expected!

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