Help - insurance question after accident

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somebidy went into the back of my stationary car. I reported to my insurance company. No issues. The other party has accepted liability all good. No date for repair yet through my insurers but i should hear soon. Today other party’s insurers have said all good but if I let them arrange the repair it will be cheaper for them to fix with their own garage network so they will give me £400 to go through them!

Has anybody done this? I have to decide soon and I am not sure how my insurance company would be. Only thing I have signed is an online claim form detailing the accident.

Would I be unreasonable to cancel my claim and take the cash ?

It is often better to go with the other 3rd party insurer. Not unreasonable at all.

I would call your insurance company, tell them the other insurer has offered to sort and pay for the repairs directly and give you a payout in return for allowing this. Ask them of this is a standard practice and are there any risks associated with accepting this (eg is it likely to be work done by a non brand specialist/dealer, the work won’t be guaranteed for as long, the repair garage could be a long way away, is the quality of the work usually ok when done “on the cheap”, etc). If you’re happy with the answers, tell them that you’d like to accept that offer, and ask them what is needed for this.

I seem to remember the insurer of a driver that hit my car when it was parked up offered to sort the repairs out directly, but didn’t offer us money to accept that, and it was all fine with our insurer.

Don't do it! They do not work for you they want to pay as little as possible to end the claim. Stay with your insurance company and let them know you've been approached.

I had a similar situation recently where someone went into the back of me and my insurance said when I first called them that if anyone from the other drivers insurance company got in touch with me directly I needed to call my insurance and let them know, and not have anything to do with it. Not sure why but I remember them being really strict about it!

This is not necessarily a bad idea. All insurers have their own repair network which the have negotiated cheap deals with. In 2013 there was a legal case (Coles Vs Heatherton) which stupidly set the precedent of allowing one insurer to charge another insurer the "full" price for repairs, even though the amount paid for repairs was smaller. So if you stick with your own insurer for the repair, your insurer makes money by claiming more from the third parties' insurer than the repair actually cost. The third party could get the repair done cheaper themselves, and share some of the cost saving with you.

So long as you are happy with the proposed repair garage, and you have not committed to getting the repair from your own insurer, then you could go ahead.

The third party insurer will have their own garage they use so cheaper FOR THEM rather than letting you use your own insurer's garage, then your insurer bills them for the cost, which will probably add an admin fee.

Contact your own insurer and discuss it with them.