CAR ACCIDENT advice please.

[bonkerz]

No tsure if this is under right heading but just wondered if this had happened to anyone else.

On 26th OCtober i reversed into a car at a parade of shops. I stopped obviously and gave the man my contact details and he ttok the reg of my car. He had a small bump to his boonet and told me the cost of repair was minimal so as i have £100 excess we agreed to do it private and he was to get qultes and send me reciept when work was done and i would send a cheque for cost! He looked at my insirance papers but said he would ring me. On 28th Oct he rang and said it was going to cost £150 to repair so i said we should go through insurance and he said he would contact his company to contact me and sort it. 20 mins after that call he rang back and said insurance would take too long to sort and that he would take £100 cash instead. I didnt have this money and rang police to ask advice about handing over cash and was advised to only pay once work had been done and reciept had been shown, i told the other driver this and it seemed to be sorted. On 31st October the driver rang again saying he needed the money to which i repeated he should get the work done and i would pay when i had a reciept. He said this was fine and i have been waiting for the reciept so i can pay him. (need to add i have none of his details so cannot contact him! He was very cagey about giving me his details inc phone number which is always withheld!)
Today i have recieved a letter from HIS insurance company asking for me to ring them. I did this and explained i was confused because he told me the work was less than £100 and we were going to sort it privately. They have informed me that they were not certain why he has contacted them as he has a £500 excess so they wont get car done either and can only get money from my insurance company once he has a reciept for the work! She said she didnt need my details and that i obviously hadnt 'hit and run' and she would ring him to get him to contact me.

NOW WHAT DO I DO? Im worried he may persue me but i have said i will pay for the damage when he has a reciept for the work.

ickle bump

I'd just wait until such times as he gets you a receipt. If he does get in touch before that, I would ask for copies of his quotes, his insurance company would do this and go with the best quote. That way, he can't stiff you for extra cash. I would also mention that you had asked the police for advice abou this accident. Should make him less likely to be funny about it.

I havent given my insurance details or even told them about tis bump because we were going to go private with it. Should i let them know anyway?

I would say he's 'living with' the bump, rather than getting it fixed, but wants you to give him the cash. Which is maybe sort of fair enough, you did damage his car, presumably to about £100 quids worth of damage? (£100 doesn't go far in a garage, does it!).

Give him the cash, but with a letter / recept for him to sign absolving you of any further rsponsibility or liaibility ever?? (this may be bad advice? Just an idea to get him off your back)

If you're going to do that, I would arrange to meet him with someone else with you to serve as a witness. Blu's right, it sounds like he'll live with the bump. At least that way, it'll all be finished with. Definately get a receipt though.

If i could guarentee that the work would have cost this much i would but at the scene of the incident he said he could do the work himself and would cost him £30 for the tool. Then 2 days later said i had cracked his bumper which i know isnt true because me and my sister checked for damage and no apint was chipped or bumper was touched and he has mentioned £50 to be done by a friend etc so i really think he has done the job as planned and is now just after the money.

The accident happened the day before my mums funeral and i was 200 miles from home at the time so cant meet him personally. Thats another thing, he gave the insurance company the wrong date of the accident. It happened on October 26th and he has told them it was on November 4th. I do think this is why they wont proceed cos it looks like he is scamming TBH

Bumpers can be funny things though. I hit a cat (sorry to all cat owners, there was nothing I could do) and although my bumper looks fine, it's damaged the deflector and a couple of other bits. If he needs a new bumper, it's going to be more than £100 if he's talking about a £30 tool. Especially if the bumper needs painted.

Maybe he didn't have insurance on Oct 26????

I think you might find that it is a term of your insurance policy that you notify them of all accidents whether you intend to claim on your policy or not. I would notify them but state that you do not intend to make a claim, or you could find that you have invalidated your insurance which could prove costly should you need to claim in the future.

Yes, he is obviously pulling a fast one.

Umm, send him a post-dated cheque for £75, tell him that unless you receive a signed recepit and letter saying 'end of all liability and resonsibility' by return of post, or within 3 days, you will stop the cheque, and insist on going through the insurance co.

Suspect he may not have had insurance at the time of the accident, this happened to my sister. Make sure you mention the police advice, and suggest if he wants to take it further it goes through the insurance, you may find he would prefer just to leave it then.

Does sound like a bit of scamming to me. The otherthing you could do, is offer to pay for a bumper. There are places you can buy them on the net. You would need a chassis number and a delivery address. That way, you would be able to be notified if the bumper is delivered. If he doesn't go for that, tell him you are informing your insurance company and suggest he does the same to get it sorted out. That way, the difference in date will be highlighted.

Think you should notify your insurance company, just in case, you don't have to claim. He's trying to pull a fast one for whatever reason so suggest you cover yourself. Silly man if he doesn't think his insurance will query it and the date discrepancy won't surface. £500 is a huge excess so perhaps he's a bit strapped for cash anyway and just wants a pay off.

I would bite the bullet and inform your insurers and then if you have legal cover you can follow that advice. It's apain.

Rang HIS insurance company who have said they rang him and told him to contact me. He has not rang yet.
They did say that if damage was less than £200 that they wouldnt persue it anyway due to HIS high excess and my excess being £100 and the fact that i have written proof from him that he can get the work done for £150 means he will have to get the work done and send a reciept anyway. Have just had to email the Quote to HIS insurance company because on it it has the date of accident and that it is just the bonnet that need pulling back into line and no mention of any other damage!!! Dh came home and he said that £500 excess on a G reg car is alot and he would only have high excess if he has previous accident history or penalties on his licence. Have not rang my insurers on advice form his insurers and have been told to sit back and wait now!

thanks all for advice. It does look like this man is trying to scam and the fact he hasnt rang may mean he realises he has been caught out! Maybe he shouldnt have assumed i was a poor pregnant lady who was had just lost her mother and would just pay up!