[Toaster Leavings]

Hi,

On Monday night a driver rear-ended my 2001 Ford Fiesta as I stopped at a roundabout junction as a Range Rover drove around the roundabout, which was very visible given the size of Range Rovers. I stopped in good time and she admitted on the scene, with the police there (who she had called), that she hadn't been paying attention and apologised for driving into the back of me. My car moved about 7 metres forwards from the impact and her bonnet was crumpled with the headlights smashed but the engine was fine. The rear end of my car looked superficially ok and she said to me 'how does your car look fine and mine is all crumpled?' my boyfriend laughed and said it was built like a tank but I suspected there was internal damage but it was a busy roundabout and I just wanted to get home.

Anyway she asked me whether I would avoid going through insurance as her policy is up for renewal. I said that might be a good idea as I could get penalised even if it isn't my fault. So, I said I would take it into the garage and forward the bill to her by email.

When I got home I was still quite shaken and my Dad was going into hospital for a major operation the next day so my family were stressed out anyway. For this reason I didn't bother looking at my car and just tried to relax with my family and boyfriend and reassure my Dad. Anyway, she called me that same night asking if I was alright and asking about the car, I said the car indicator definitely wasn't working and then she said 'well, bulbs cost about 50p' I was fed up and stressed about my Dad anyway so I just said shortly that I would take it to the garage and see what they say.

Anyway, I took it in the next day and they took until yesterday to send over the quote which totalled £1660. The internal body work was badly damaged with the boot floor risen up and a gap between the boot door and body of the car letting rainwater in and scratches on the boot door from the impact. Considering it didn't look that bad on the scene and the fact the girl said this to me at the scene and her mentioning bulbs costing 50p suggests she isn't going to happily fork over that amount of cash.

Anyway, my car is only worth £1060 through private retail (I paid for a glass.co.uk valuation) so the insurance company would deem it a write off. The car is £500 trade price so I said to her to pay me £700 as a compromise in an email, which is probably what an insurer would pay out.

I am just wondering a few things, if she refuses to pay (quite likely i'd imagine) will the insurance company increase my premium despite it not being my fault? Also, if they give me about £700 or less for the cost of the car, do they then own my car and will take it away? I already have a claim on my policy as well from a crash which was my fault a few years ago and 3 points on my licence so my insurance is already ridiculously high.

Just wondering what to do, I don't want to live with a broken boot given that it wasn't my fault but I also don't want to be without a car and not enough to pay for anything reliable. My Fiesta is actually very reliable.

[tomrw]

Your insurance may well go up as result of a non-fault accident because it shows you're statistically more likely to have another accident.

If she doesn't cough up what you want I suggest you just take it through insurance.

[Salu.]

I really do feel for you but try to come up with some sort of agreement with this woman. At the end of the day it was her fault and the fact that she admitted it too means she'll have to cough up. I'm afraid your insurance will go up as a result of this but don't worry about that at the moment. Hope your dad is okay after the operation.

[P1mP]

(Original post by Toaster Leavings)
Hi,

On Monday night a driver rear-ended my 2001 Ford Fiesta as I stopped at a roundabout junction as a Range Rover drove around the roundabout, which was very visible given the size of Range Rovers. I stopped in good time and she admitted on the scene, with the police there (who she had called), that she hadn't been paying attention and apologised for driving into the back of me. My car moved about 7 metres forwards from the impact and her bonnet was crumpled with the headlights smashed but the engine was fine. The rear end of my car looked superficially ok and she said to me 'how does your car look fine and mine is all crumpled?' my boyfriend laughed and said it was built like a tank but I suspected there was internal damage but it was a busy roundabout and I just wanted to get home.

Anyway she asked me whether I would avoid going through insurance as her policy is up for renewal. I said that might be a good idea as I could get penalised even if it isn't my fault. So, I said I would take it into the garage and forward the bill to her by email.

When I got home I was still quite shaken and my Dad was going into hospital for a major operation the next day so my family were stressed out anyway. For this reason I didn't bother looking at my car and just tried to relax with my family and boyfriend and reassure my Dad. Anyway, she called me that same night asking if I was alright and asking about the car, I said the car indicator definitely wasn't working and then she said 'well, bulbs cost about 50p' I was fed up and stressed about my Dad anyway so I just said shortly that I would take it to the garage and see what they say.

Anyway, I took it in the next day and they took until yesterday to send over the quote which totalled £1660. The internal body work was badly damaged with the boot floor risen up and a gap between the boot door and body of the car letting rainwater in and scratches on the boot door from the impact. Considering it didn't look that bad on the scene and the fact the girl said this to me at the scene and her mentioning bulbs costing 50p suggests she isn't going to happily fork over that amount of cash.

Anyway, my car is only worth £1060 through private retail (I paid for a glass.co.uk valuation) so the insurance company would deem it a write off. The car is £500 trade price so I said to her to pay me £700 as a compromise in an email, which is probably what an insurer would pay out.

I am just wondering a few things, if she refuses to pay (quite likely i'd imagine) will the insurance company increase my premium despite it not being my fault? Also, if they give me about £700 or less for the cost of the car, do they then own my car and will take it away? I already have a claim on my policy as well from a crash which was my fault a few years ago and 3 points on my licence so my insurance is already ridiculously high.

Just wondering what to do, I don't want to live with a broken boot given that it wasn't my fault but I also don't want to be without a car and not enough to pay for anything reliable. My Fiesta is actually very reliable.

Hi OP,

1. As it's not your fault and the driver has admitted fault, this shouldn't really affect your premium; you may have an excess on your insurance policy, but even if your insurance company were to charge you, this can be recovered from the other driver's insurance company.

2. As soon as I read the 1st para I had a feeling there would be damage to the boot floor, this is quite common with rear-end shunts on smaller cars. The price you have been quotes for the repair is crazy expensive; I know that private garages can do it in half the price. The problem you now have is the fact that you have emailed the lady with a £700 offer. She may deem this to be too much and may opt to go through insurance instead! If she does that, then your back to position 1.

PM me if you need more info as I have some experience in this sector so can advise further.

P1mP

[NewFolder]

(Original post by Toaster Leavings)
...

Just go through insurance. It's her fault, so you'll be claiming off her insurance, not yours.

Your insurance premium will not go up because of this. Why should you have to pay more because of someone else's failure to drive properly?! I've had a car reverse into mine while I wasn't in the car, ended up having a courtesy car at £30/day on the other guy's insurance, and the accident repair company disassembled most of one side of my car, removed a dent, and then resprayed the entire side, replaced a piece of plastic film, and reassembled my car, as well as delivering it to the garage and to my house, it took 8 days. Mustn't have been too cheap, and wouldn't have even considered paying to have that done myself, but the other driver's insurance paid for all of it. Even after the other insurer paying all that money, my insurance was over £300 cheaper the year after.

I'd just claim on her insurance, that's what its there for. They will probably write your car off, but then you could sell it on webuyanycar or something like that and get about £100 extra, as well as the current value that the insurance will pay out. It will not affect your insurance at all.