Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to go through insurance?

59 replies

crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 19:39

Today after work I was in stationary traffic with a roundabout ahead when the car behind me tried to go around me to get to the roundabout because she was going to turn right. The road had one lane and only split into 2 lanes quite far ahead.

This car hit my drivers side towards the rear of my car and has caused deep scratches to my paintwork. The woman has a large scratch down the side of her car and a small dent.

She admitted fault and we swapped details and I have sent her a message showing her the damage to my car and have explained that I can go to the garage and get a quote. The woman has replied saying 'send me your details and I will speak to my insurance.' It seems like she now doesn't want to pay.

What do I do? I've never had an accident before and I don't want my premiums to go up because the damage is only around £120 worth. I have a dash cam that has recorded what happened and it is obvious that she was at fault.

OP posts:
Original poster
crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 20:11

@BlackcurrantJamontoast No it happened at 5.30pm.

OP posts:
MoreSlidingDoors · 13/05/2019 20:11

Her insurance will repair her car too

Only if she’s fully comp.

Arghhhhhhh12r · 13/05/2019 20:12

The damage must be absolutely minuscule to only cost £120 worth of repairs...

Body work is usually very expensive even for the most minor of accidents, so she must have barely even scraped it, or only a very very tiny area.

But going through insurance is always the best point of call anyway.

Original poster
crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 20:14

@FunkySnidge Because I am a new driver, I felt sick and anxious and I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do. The damage was to the back right hand side, I just didn't check it properly and she kept telling me that I had no damage.

OP posts:
NailsNeedDoing · 13/05/2019 20:14

Well, no, she probably doesn't want to engage with you.

You want her to do something that she doesn't want and probably can't afford to do, why would she want to engage about that on text. This is what people pay their insurance premiums for, so that the professionals can deal with it. It's quite normal, she's not doing anything wrong, don't take it personally.

Original poster
crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 20:15

@NailsNeedDoing She is the one who told me to contact her via phone to discuss whether there was damage to my car one I had checked it at home.

OP posts:
adaline · 13/05/2019 20:16

How is she trying to get out of paying if she's going through her insurance? Confused

Original poster
crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 20:17

@adaline I don't know whether she is going through insurance or is trying to make me leave it.

OP posts:
ILoveMyCaravan · 13/05/2019 20:18

Tell your insurers and let them deal with her insurers - that's what they are there for. No need for you to have contact with her at all and could make the situation worse in the long term. You should also have your car properly checked over to make sure there isn't any damage that you can't see.

NailsNeedDoing · 13/05/2019 20:18

Maybe, but now you've shown her that there is damage to your car, she's asked for details and said she'll talk to her insurance company, what more do you need her to say?

Arghhhhhhh12r · 13/05/2019 20:19

Ask the woman for her insurance details and then phone your insurance company straight away, OP. Tell them everything that happened, that she admitted fault at the scene. Send them the text messages and Dash Cam footage and give them her insurance details.

You pay a hefty price for your insurance and this is what it's for. They'll do all the work and liaise with her insurance company to get it all sorted.

adaline · 13/05/2019 20:20

Right, but the accident only happened three hours ago! She won't be able to speak to her insurers properly until tomorrow.

There's absolutely no evidence at all that she's trying to get out of paying. It seems you don't want your insurance affected so you want to sort it privately - maybe she can't afford to do that.

Divgirl2 · 13/05/2019 20:20

Since there seems to be some confusion - protecting your NCD does just that, protects the number of years you get the discretionary no claims discount for.

Your premium is impacted by (depending on the company) about 100 "ratings factors" which is everything from the car you drive, to the street you live on, your job title, even your credit score. One of these ratings factors is how many accidents you've been in and what these were/how much they cost. Non fault accidents (as I said before it's better to think of these as "the other party paid 100%" accidents) can impact your premium because it is a ratings factor. This has nothing to do with no claims bonus.

Once your premium is worked out from all the ratings factors using the highly protected algorithms that are worked out by very clever actuaries then the no claims discount is applied.

NCD and accidents are dealt with seperately for premiums (though it wouldn't surprise me if NCD was also a ratings factor).

NailsNeedDoing · 13/05/2019 20:21

You have to take her word for it that she's going though the insurance, but that's why it's important that you speak to your insurance too. You take her details, pass them on to your insurance company, and they will sort it.

SummerInSun · 13/05/2019 20:21

She is right to contact her insurance company - the fact she is doing that means she wants to do the right thing, not that she doesn't want to pay. You should also be telling your insurance company, explaining that it was her fault, and giving them her registration details, etc. Then the two insurance companies sort it out. That's how the system works.

Divgirl2 · 13/05/2019 20:22

Oh, and ring your insurance company now and report the accident. Tell them as above - she admitted fault at the scene and that you have your dashcam footage. Don't message her again.

Passthecherrycoke · 13/05/2019 20:23

Hmmm I scraped another car in the car park and my insurance company paid over £5000 for the fix. She probably knows she’s talking about a lot of money so may as well go through insurance.

Your premium might go up. But you can still shop around, I bet they won’t all go up. Lots offer great year 1 deals to get your business

Bad luck though op, not a fun evening

adaline · 13/05/2019 20:28

And yes, you need to contact your insurance too - it's what you're legally supposed to do when you have an accident.

I was involved in a minor accident earlier in the year - narrow lane and we hit wing mirrors - they drove off at the scene. So, I reported it to the police on 101 and they said to make sure I contacted my insurance just in case. I didn't need to claim and paid for repairs myself - but that's the legal stance on things.

Make sure you cover yourself. If she goes through insurance and you've failed to report the accident, you could be in trouble.

Dungeondragon15 · 13/05/2019 20:29

Some insurance companies will raise your premium even with a no fault claim but not all so I wouldn't worry about that. She perhaps will try to claim it is your fault even though she admitted at the time it was hers. This happened to me at a roundabout. The insurance company told me they usually settle knock for knock if an accident happens on a roundabout.. However, you have proof so she won't get away with it.

pudcat · 13/05/2019 20:33

She perhaps will try to claim it is your fault even though she admitted at the time it was hers. This happened to me when someone jumped a red light. You do need to tell your insurance co. That is why you have it. then they will do all the work.

TheTrollFairy · 13/05/2019 20:38

Do you have her reg number?
I would just call your insurance company and hand the details over to them and let them deal with it. As it’s the other drivers fault you’ll likely to get your money back (providing you pass the dash cam footage over). You’ll need to declare the accident for the next 3-5 years regardless of who’s fault it was though (and your insurance is likely to go up but probably not by much - stock another named driver on and it’ll probably go down a bit if they have quite a few years driving experience)

blacktiger · 13/05/2019 20:59

Go through the insurance. Someone parked next to me last year and she just misjudged the size of the space and scraped my car. It looked just like scuffed paint on the wheel arch. Turned out where it was was a much bigger job and they ended up replacing the bumper and doing something to the door too, had my car for 10 days "for just paint work". They also sorted me a courtesy car charged to her insurers.
Even if it was only £120 damage, I'd want to go through the insurance if it was me in case the garage found other things and then I ended up with a far bigger bill, would also save me the hassle of having to deal with it all too.
I also wouldn't think too much of her not engaging in chat just now, dinner time, putting kids to bed, who knows why she's not replying. Contacting your own insurance just now may save some hassle though.

Original poster
crazycatgal · 13/05/2019 21:07

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've spoken to my insurer who have recorded this as a non fault claim so my NCB is protected and I do not need the pay any excess, they will also provide a hire car for me to use when repairs are taking place.

OP posts:
SwiftyT · 13/05/2019 21:09

I had someone hit me at a roundabout recently and like you I was keen to avoid going through the insurance initially. Then the other driver started questioning the damage and disputing quotes so I claimed. I didn't lose my NCB as it was a no fault accident for me, I didn't have to pay the excess and they said there would probably be a small increase in my premium next year.

Even for relatively little damage it was well over 1k for the repairs plus a courtesy car for 10 days. It was really easy to claim and definitely easier than sorting everything myself.

NewName54321 · 13/05/2019 22:13

Let your insurers deal with everything. Do not contact the other driver any further and if she contacts you, ask her to tell her insurers to deal with yours.

If you haven’t already done so, don't forget that you'll need to report the accident to the police within 24 hours (non-emergency number).

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.