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.