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AIBU?

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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:
BackforGood · 18/04/2018 22:41

It shouldnt hike your insurance it's not your fault.

Yes, I used to think that to.
Now, I just wish it were true.
AsWentmadintheCOuntry has given an example of, it never actually is true.
Patti is right.

Piggywaspushed · 18/04/2018 22:44

I have to say it didn't hike mine. Twice.

Spam88 · 18/04/2018 22:46

If your car is written off you can use it again though once it's roadworthy, or am I missing something?

GlueSticks · 18/04/2018 23:06

Spam, I'm not an expert but I think you have to inform the insurers that it was once written off and it can have a big affect on premiums.

GlueSticks · 18/04/2018 23:11

Ignore me, I think that last post was nonsense according to this:

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/articles/rights-and-wrongs-of-insurance-write-off/#/10

Spam88 · 18/04/2018 23:13

I don't know the ins and outs but my mum's (very) old civic got written off twice because of little bumps, and she used it again both times. There was some kind of form-filling in involved.

SevenStones · 18/04/2018 23:18

Who are people insuring with???? I drove into the back of someone at a roundabout driving at about 5mph, they took me to court because I refused to accept their claim of months of physio, and the judge deemed me liable for a small amount of damage to the car but none of the rest of their claim. My insurance didn't increase at all!

Fruitcorner123 · 19/04/2018 00:23

SevenStones my insurance increased because i reported an accident that was not my fault. I later decided not to claim becuse the damage was a minor and I didnt have full reg of car that caused it. I now I have to declare it whenever I change insurer for 5 yrs since the incident

I was with admiral

Piggywaspushed · 19/04/2018 07:05

Yes, but your insurance went up because you didn't have the details for the other driver.

If there is a no fault accident (eg someone drives up your back end and you are not at fault) your insurance NCB and premium should not be affected. If the following year you get a higher premium, you might assume it is because of the accident, but it may well not be. Phone them up and find out. Anyway, people on here must have heard of Compare the Market! Shop around! I change insurer annually!

Admiral have just dealt with my entire claim (I am with RAC, the other driver was Admiral) which means my insurer was not even involved.

You can drive/ sell on/buy a write off, if t is a Category C (I think it's C, you see them on EBay) but the value of the car really drops. Good for the buyer, not so much for the seller. You might as well write if off for full pre accident market value imo.

WeirdyMcBeardy · 19/04/2018 17:17

Sorry, it's not nonsense that my premiums went up when my parked car was hit. It is a fact that companies do this.

Renewal came along, I had to declare it as being in an accident, not at fault of course as I wasn't even in the car. Spoke to an insurer because it seemed high who said I was now classed as an at risk driver just because my car had been hit and my premiums went up. I shop around every year and never just renew. 5 bloody years I had to declare that. And we swapped details and it all went through his insurance, not mine.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 19/04/2018 17:35

Funnily enough I had the sob story from a woman who reversed into me at speed in a car park - she even followed me into the shop to carry on her sob story and was even trying to talk to me while I was on the phone to DH! Angry

Honestly, I wouldn’t waste your time - I guarantee it’ll be something else next week, I think he’s just going to keep fobbing you off til you give up and I doubt that the sob story is even true. You’ve made him a more than generous offer and he’s taking the piss - would he do this to a bloke who looks mean enough to rip his head off? I doubt it.

You’re not a loan company, go through your insurance.

Piggywaspushed · 19/04/2018 19:38

Didn't say it was nonsense, just that it hasn't happened to me on either occasion and shouldn't hike your premium at all.

WeirdyMcBeardy · 19/04/2018 21:08

"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"

Your post earlier piggy. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It did happen to me and I get quotes from all the comparision sites every year. My premiums certainly went up when I had to declare the accident.

BackforGood · 19/04/2018 21:16

Very pleased for you Piggy but as several of us have said, it does happen.

Also, Insurance companies use a different language from everyone else in the English speaking world.
As happened to both me and Weirdy, even when your car is legitimately parked and you aren't in it, so clearly not your fault, the insurance companies still call this an 'at fault' accident. When what they mean is "Unlucky enough to have been hit by a selfish and dishonest so and so". Which is completely different scenario in my language.

polkadotpixie · 19/04/2018 21:28

I reversed into my neighbour's Audi with my old banger Corsa, I was mortified!

It barely marked his car but took a good chunk out of mine. I did offer to go through insurance but he just asked me to give him £100 and he'd get his mechanic mate to sort it...I could have kissed him 😂

I've not mentioned it to my insurance company at renewal time. It didn't cost them anything and no-one official knows it even happened so I'd rather not have my premium hiked up

Piggywaspushed · 19/04/2018 21:49

weirdy , I meant the insurance company's stance was nonsense, not you.

There is a difference , however, between the accident as described by OP and the ones described where the other party won't accept liability (even if they were !). Where the other party accepts all liability, premiums should not go up.

Plantlover · 19/04/2018 21:53

Kitkat and piggy

Car is an 05 but in excellent condition and less than 50,000 miles.

The insurer has had it assessed via pictures! Says its category s but don't know how they can decide that from photos?!

Woman from insurance says they won't have someone look at it. I don't trust her cos I've caught her out lying to me twice.

Bluelady · 20/04/2018 15:07

Some bastard hit my car this morning and just drove off. The damage s horrific so that's an insurance claim and a £250 excess gone when I wasn't even in it. How do these people live with themselves?

Original poster
KitKat1985 · 20/04/2018 17:32

I'm sorry Bluelady. Sad Someone did exactly the same to DH's car a couple of years ago - it was a complete write off afterwards and we never did find out who did it.

Plantlady - they can probably see damage to the structural integrity of the vehicle in the pictures, which is an expensive repair job. In an 05 reg car (even with the low mileage) the car won't be deemed by them to be worth the repair job. If you really want to keep the car, you can speak to your insurance company though about keeping the car and just taking what they consider the value of the car to be in payment, and putting that money towards the repair job. It is legal to drive a category s car provided it is properly repaired, but it may be hard to re-sell and it can push up your insurance premiums.

OP posts:
Original poster
KitKat1985 · 20/04/2018 17:32

Plantlover sorry not plantlady!

OP posts:
WeirdyMcBeardy · 20/04/2018 21:55

piggy, yes it is indeed nonsense from insurance companies. There is no way on this earth that I am at more risk of making a claim because some idiot drove too fast on ice and hit my car, parked perfectly well, whilst I was in my house. It's total shit. It's also shit that points on licence come off after 4 years, clean licence again but you still have to declare it to the insurance for another year so they can still charge you more even though your licence is clean. Pisses me off that they are allowed to get away with these things.

Plantlover · 25/04/2018 18:35

Thankyou kit Kat.

glasshalffull2018 · 25/04/2018 18:42

I would ask for a bit higher and then negotiate down if needed, otherwise if you start at hundred it will end up at fifty

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 25/04/2018 19:00

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.

No no no, do it now. You should have reported the accident as soon as you could, and reporting it over a week later could land you in serious trouble. You have NO guarantee that the sob stories won't continue and next weekend will turn into next month and then the guy stops answering the phone...

Go through insurance. He missed his chance.

mum11970 · 25/04/2018 19:09

kitkat don’t let him mess you around, give him until the weekend to come up with the cash or make an insurance claim. Sounds like your car would be classed as a write off but the insurance company will offer to sell it back to you for less than your payout so don’t worry on that score. Declaring every bump and scratch on your car to your insurance company is just plain madness, how on earth do people think the insurance company knows unless you are daft enough to tell them.