Rear ended - not our fault

[Bahhumbug25]

Hi
Another car bumped into the back of our car. The other driver admitted it’s his fault - all fine that way.
our car is damaged and needs checking out.
We reported to our insurance company and they got things in motion and so I have had their garage service and car hire companies contact me already.
today the other driver’s insurance company (well known company) called me. Said not to worry, they will deal with everything and they will tell our insurance company to treat it as a notification.
firstly, is this normal?
secondly, they’ve offered 2 options:

1. I send photos, they assess damage and send me a “settlement” of a lump sum. The car then goes into the garage. If the fix is costs less, we keep the rest of the sum. If it’s more, company will pay the garage. This apparently will be quicker so they won’t give a hire car.
2. they’ll provide a hire car and our car will go into the garage for them to cover. they are very keen for me to accept 1. I feel suspicious but these are reputable insurance companies so I’m not sure what I’m missing! I’m concerned that with 1), if it costs more it will be hard to get them to pay out. im also wondering if its right to bypass my insurance company. any help / thoughts appreciated! Thanks!

I am always wary about insurers providing hire cars, I think they can end up costing you a lot of money.
There was a thread about it on here the other day

It sounds like a scam I’ve seen on here before - where the at fault party (probably in a tizzy) Googles the number for their insurer and gets a dodgy number and person who pretends they work for the ensurer, is very crafty in how they word things and you end up owing a tonne of money to this random 3rd party. At the very least, verify these offers are genuinely from the insurance company, maybe by contacting a number on the website.

Let your insurers deal with it all. They should not be contacting you directly. Just refer them to your insurer if they contact you again.

Are you sure it is not an accident management company?

Go through your own insurance company only. Don’t accept any offers from the third party directly.

Don't you have replacement car from your own insurance? They’ll recoup the costs.

The fraudulent companies’ tactics are covered in this episode of You and Yours:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027l5g?

They use SEO to put their number at the top of Google searches. When you’re in shock following an accident it’s very easy to call the number which is made to look like your insurer.

I don’t think it’s a scam. I’ve had the call unprompted. But I’m going to be extra cautious and go back via my insurance.
Hastings Direct are the ones that contacted me. I’ve not googled any numbers.

When a car went into the back of me in December, my insurance company said do not speak to the 3rd party insurers as this could invalidate any claim. They did try to call me (Hastings Direct) and left a message for me to contact them. Just ignored. It’s what you pay your insurance for-for them to sort it out.

Deal with the entire thing via your own insurers.

The fault insurers will be offering you those options to keep you out of credit hire, which is hideously expensive and drives up everyone's premiums.

I was rear ended twice in 3 months 3 years ago!

On both occasions no one contacted me except for my own insurance company, and even then it was only once or twice. It was a fairly new car though, only 3 years old, soon don't think there was ever a possibility of write off.

Be careful to check if it is credit hire. They may be look to bill you for the hire car

Make sure you deal with your ACTUAL insurance company. Don’t let them put you to an accident management company. They’ll sting you for hire car when you’re already entitled to a courtesy car via your insurer

I was insured with (Esure?) and had a non-fault accident last year. My insurance company sent me straight to an accident management third party who were slow and reluctant to act and I was contacted by the other parties insurer, Admiral.

Admiral were great, got me into a local repair place, offered a hire car, but accepted with no fight when I said I didn’t need one, repaired it and got it all sorted.

I think this will become more common as it’s definitely in the “at fault” insurer’s interest to keep the costs down and manage it well, but it’s actually in everyone’s as it keeps all our premiums down too.

OP, I imagine it’s genuine and based on my experience I was very happy dealing with them directly.

Definitely go back to your own insurance
It’s anecdotal I know but Hastings were fucking awful with me for 2 claims
One ended up with me out of pocket for over 9 months as the driver that rear ended me refused to reply to anything and it was so shitty to deal with I won’t ever use them again

Someone ran up the back of me a few months ago and none of this happened. Insurance took care of the repair (have no idea how much it cost) and provided a curtosy car free of charge as it was non fault.

So this does sound off to me.

You never ever call or speak to other insurer you tell your insurance and that's it. They are trying to blindside you. Let your insirance know asap whats happened and the contact.

Agree that you just need to stick to letting your own insurance sort this out . Last accident we had I was called by numerous other companies offering to sort everything out . I fail to see why anyone would go down that route when it’s what you have paid your insurance premiums for . Our insurance specifically says if you don’t use their specific garage ( who came and collected and returned the car ) then no repairs are guaranteed. Again car hire was dropped off and collected with no additional work for us .

What I would suggest is making sure that the car is still 'square' after the impact as an impact can wreck the alignment which wont otherwise be picked up until the next MoT

If you ask your own insurance company they'll tell you it's completely normal for the fault insurer to offer you assistance. It keeps costs down. It's up to you whether you do it or not.

Completely normal to deal with the third party’s insurer direct when it’s a cut and dried case of their driver at fault. I’ve dealt with Hastings’ third party team before and they were excellent. They organised a hire car and I specified I was only happy having the car repaired by a BMW main dealer. They will bend over backwards to avoid you going to a claims management company (which is where your own insurer may push you). It keeps the cost of the claim down and in effect benefits everyone.

The risk is that the person who went into the back of you googled, not that you did.

Even if it is legit, the other sides insurers are not working for your interests but their own - it is not a guarantee that those interests align. Speak to your insurers.

Yep - as PP have said - only talk to your own insurance company. I got hit from behind a couple of years ago and I'm fairly sure the paperwork I got from my insurance said not to talk to the other insurance company (they didn't contact me in the end).

It did take a long time to sort out though. For some reason they had trouble getting the money off the other driver and had to threaten him with going to court, which he was never going to win... given that he'd driven into the back of me as I was pulled over to the side to let a police car through and he got bundled off in said police car after they breathalysed him.