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AIBU?

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Original poster

Car crash

185 replies

notagooddayallround · 07/01/2019 04:06

Namechanged.

Yesterday I was involved in a minor car crash. Was at a junction, thought the lights were still green, turns out they had gone red and bumped into the car in front at very low speed. No damage to my car (bar the little plastic bumper just popping out) but his car was a bit smashed in, light box smashed, scratches and dents in one corner. Ok.
Drove round corner to exchange phone, name and Reg.

Both drove away from accident happy that he would go and get quotes tomorrow and let me know, as we didn't want to take it through insurance.

I checked his reg this eve on DVLA website and it is mot'd but only has a SORN. Can anyone advise if I should just take this through my insurance?? I haven't been driving long (2-3 years) so obviously don't want my premiums going up massively.

OP posts:
BlackCatSleeping · 07/01/2019 05:15

The OP has been very clear that she isn't trying to avoid blame here, so I don't understand why some posters are giving her a hard time. She's simply asking whether it's better to go through insurance or pay by herself.

OP, I think you should call your insurance company and let them deal with it.

Original poster
notagooddayallround · 07/01/2019 05:15

My excess will be £750 through my insurance. Feel like it would be best just to do that. He did offer for me to come with him to the garage today to get a quote but I declined , maybe I should've said I would go.

OP posts:
MyOtherProfile · 07/01/2019 05:19

But you wont have to pay 750 if thwre isnt really that much damage. Let the insurance handle it.

Flobalob · 07/01/2019 05:20

But that could be part of a scam - the garage owner is a mate of his and says to you it'll cost thousands to repair. I wouldn't get involved in all that. Just take the hit with your excess. It's part and parcel of driving. As you get more experience you can lower your excess by paying slightly higher premiums.
I would be very wary if that car is coming up as SORN.

FixTheBone · 07/01/2019 05:22

Check your policy. There's a good chance it says you must report all accidents, not doing so could invalidate your insurance, which will be fun if he decides there's a personal injury claim for him and his 4 children or £5000 worth of damage.

EatCrisps · 07/01/2019 05:22

I agree to going through insurance to have this resolved and ended.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 07/01/2019 05:24

Go.through your insurance. Also, get your car checked at a garage. My dh had someone reverse into the front of his car at very low speed, he didn't think there was any real damage to his car but took it to a garage and there was damage underneath which came to over £1k. Luckily the other drivers insurance covered it.

Original poster
notagooddayallround · 07/01/2019 05:27

I think I will ring my insurance and inform them. Finding it all very stressful , not knowing quite what might happen anyway. When I ring insurance what will they need to know?

OP posts:
Original poster
notagooddayallround · 07/01/2019 05:28

I have business as an extra on mine so may tell him that work have made me put it through insurance.

OP posts:
MsHopey · 07/01/2019 05:36

I have business as an extra on mine so may tell him that work have made me put it through insurance.

You don't have to tell him anything.
Once you contact your insurance company they will be solely responsible for all contact on your behalf.

katykins85 · 07/01/2019 05:38

Notify your insurance co asap. If he reports to his and they tell them before you do, you'll be in a sticky wicket as you are required to notify them of all accidents regardless of whether you claim or not.
Don't make excuses about work, there is no need. Just tell him your policy will be invalid if you don't report it so you have. Give him the reference no and see if he contacts them or not. They will want all your details, his if you have them, what happened and where (road name etc) and photos if you have them. Be prepared fora personal injury claim, his insurers legal team will contact him as routine and "suggest it". This has happenedto me when I had a similar incident, a woman ran into me on a slip road when traffic had stopped.

Devilishpyjamas · 07/01/2019 05:45

Yeah just go through insurance.

GetRid · 07/01/2019 05:53

100% you should ring your insurance company and tell them all this. They will advise you. Generally call centre staff are friendly and helpful. Believe me, paying £750 excess (which might not even happen) is better than sorting this out privately.

AJPTaylor · 07/01/2019 05:59

If it is a bit of an old banger that's why he doesn't want to through insurance. They will write it off. Have a look to see what the car is worth.

QuitMoaning · 07/01/2019 06:04

The excess will be for your own damage. There is no excess for third party damage.

There is no legal obligation to go through insurance but there is an obligation to advise them of the incident.

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread.

BayandBlonde · 07/01/2019 06:05

Tell him first it's going through the insurance and judge his reaction. He might just tell you to forget it, in which case you don't phone your insurance co and carry on with life.

If he says ok, go through insurance, then obviously you will need to call them.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/01/2019 06:11

If it is a bit of an old banger that's why he doesn't want to through insurance. They will write it off. Have a look to see what the car is worth.

Yes, very likely - it does seem extremely unfair to him that he might be given a few quid to replace his trusty old workhouse with a completely unknown one, as a 'punishment' for having had somebody pile into the back of him.

There's a world of difference between the battered 25yo old car you've owned from when it was 5yo and know inside out and having to risk buying an unknown 25yo car - even though the (very small) market value might be identical.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/01/2019 06:13

....imagine if he'd been restoring it as a labour of love for several years, finally finished it and just taxed it and took it out on the road that morning (although the SORN database hadn't quite been updated yet) - only to have somebody instantly trash all of his hard work through a careless mistake.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 07/01/2019 06:15

Tell him first it's going through the insurance and judge his reaction. He might just tell you to forget it, in which case you don't phone your insurance co and carry on with life.

And you've therefore broken the terms of your insurance policy and could find it invalidated next time you DO need to make a claim.

Mothergooseflying · 07/01/2019 06:15

If this car is on data base as SORN, it without any doubt, should NOT be on the road.
Get in touch with the driver of the other car, he/she are bound to know they are SORN, they will be in trouble with Police and DVLA, I dont think , they would want to take this any further????
If they play stupid, go straight to your insurance company, tell them what you know, let them sort it, they surely wil.l

Godowneasy · 07/01/2019 06:19

Ask him to get a quote for the repair work from a garage of your choice.
This should give you an independent and genuine view of how much the repair wil cost.

Tell him you're planning to go through your insurance company- If he hasn't got insurance himself, he won't want to pursue the claim against you

ReflectentMonatomism · 07/01/2019 06:30

My excess will be £750 through my insurance.

The excess is not payable against third party claims, it only applies to damage to your own car.

fiydwi · 07/01/2019 06:31

Www.askmid.com

Just put the reg on there and you can see if he’s got insurance.

Fwiw if it’s just minor damage I would not go through insurance regardless of whether or not he’s insured. You’ve been driving 2-3 years. Your premiums will go up significantly. However if the cost to fix his car his high then I would.

clairedelalune · 07/01/2019 06:37

Go through insurance; your new premium is likely to be less than if you pay whatever random fee he comes up with.
Also, according to dvla site, unless he was driving to/from mot test centre he is driving illegally and could face prosecution.
While accident your fault, are you 100% sure lights had changed to red? He could have been trying his luck there...
And finally, yes do drive again. Going into back of someone in those tupes of circumstances is very common.

clairedelalune · 07/01/2019 06:39

Also better to go through insurance in case he later decides car needs further work or he has an injury etc

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