Accident: Insurance/Legal advice needed.

Ok 2 weeks before christmas i have a small accident, i shall explain:

Ok i was behind a car doing 40 in a 60, and decided to overtake it (was @ night - ocnditions slightly greasy), then whilst overtaking a car was coming the other way, who was also overtaking which left me having to perform a bit of an evasive move (4 cars in 2 lanes eeek). Right so i had to cut in sharpish to avoid a head-on (seemingly nobody read the situation and didnt appear to slow).

Anyway in cutting in i managed to knock the wing mirror off the car i was overtaking and put a small 4-5" crease directly above the guys wheel arch. Obviously i stop and we exchange telephones numbers, and agreed to sort it over the phone. Now i agreed to get it sorted without the need for an insurance quote (his car was an F Reg Nova) because frankly his car is probably worth about £400 tops and is worth the claim. He got a few quotes and called me last week, but is being evasive about the cost of the repairs. What i've told him is unless he gives me the exact amount and gets me an invoice the the nature of the repairs that im not delaing with it.

All i want is him to get a quote, and ill give him the money to repair it but i dont see why i should pay an ambiguous amount of money, given that he may be trying to screw me over getting numerous other dents/scratches fixed at the same time. Also (hes about 55/60) i can see him turning up at a garage and saying:

guy i hit "how much can i get this fixed for?"
garage "is it an insurance quote?"
man i hit "yes perhaps"
garage "right ill charge you £100 extra then"

Can anybody advise me on what to do in this situation, i have no quibble sorting his car out, but i refuse to pay extortionate cost, i even agreed to get him a new wing mirror (£20 from scrappie) and a new panel (there bolt on) to get sprayed (£75?). How much do you guys think is reasonable?

Much appreciated guys.

Its not a case of reasonable on this, he can get you if you don't go with him, as all he has to do is go to the insurance company and you end up worse off.

If hes not too far from you then I would go with him to the garage on a day and sort it out with them. Say to the guy you will deal with the garage once the quote is done and you will pay them direct, short of doing this I think you are pretty much open to getting screwed over....

m@

If i did just allow him to claim on my insurance, how much would you expect it to increase the following year?

Currently im 22 and have 0ncb because although i passed my test 5 years ago i haven't been driving, would it increase to the amount that was claimed through my insurance? Paying £450 FC for a 1.2 Clio atm.

well put it this way, I drive a clio 1.4 and my insurance had gone up 39% in two years with my same insurer, and I have 4 years NCB, the price of insurance is rising anyway, you don't really want to have a claim if you can help it....

m@

If it was me, if he wanted £200 or less then just pay it even without anything in writing, you may be paying for extras, but you are at fault.

However, if you feel he's being a pain deliberately, or trying to do you over, or wants a small fortune for it then ask for a written quote. If he's not forthcoming then tell him if he doesn't then you will put it through the insurance (who will see the book value of an F Reg Nova at about £350 and write his off). Although if you say it you must be willing to do it.

IMO £200 is reasonable to pay for repairing someones car to avoid insurance claims. You don't have any NCB to lose, but your policy will go up, and you will have to declare it for the next 3-5 years depending on the insurers in question. How much you'd be willing to pay is obviously up to you, I know I clipped a car in my third year of driving and got away with giving him £150 cash, but I did have NCB to protect.

depends also on what your excess is

it might be that he can get mates rates to get it fixed, or perhaps he doesnt want the wing fixed and would rather have the money. if i were you, get a 'quote' (make it up) for the work done on the car, then offer that too him - say £150 or sommit. if he accepts then job done!

incidentally if he goes for an insurance quote he will be priced on NEW parts, which will cost around ~3-400 imo

Why dont you phone up a local repair garage/bodyshop and ask them if they could give you a rough estimate of the cost?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 5lab

depends also on what your excess is

it might be that he can get mates rates to get it fixed, or perhaps he doesnt want the wing fixed and would rather have the money. if i were you, get a 'quote' (make it up) for the work done on the car, then offer that too him - say £150 or sommit. if he accepts then job done!

incidentally if he goes for an insurance quote he will be priced on NEW parts, which will cost around ~3-400 imo

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I don't understand how you can get new parts for a Nova though, surely they will all be sourced from a scrappie? My understanding was that your looking at £75 per panel to be sprayed, plus filler and labour. I guess £150 would be a fair estimation.

Id give him £150 tomorrow, but he also wants a courtesy car because "i work long hours" but how he cant set aside one day without a car i have no idea, just being a pain for the sake of it.

Would i have to pay an excess if he claimed off my insurance then?

It may have been my fault but i couldnt help having to hit him, it was that or 1 of the 2 cars coming the other way - just wish he was actually driving to nearer the limit, 40 on a 60mph tested my patience.

Cheers for the advice btw guys.

Better to go through your insurers. With a coutesy car it would cost more than £350 for the write off.

Well i just got a quote for £130 (over the phone mind) for the bodywork, and the mirrors are snap on so i reckon the scrappie could sort that for £20.

Hopefully he will agree to let me take it down there Saturday morning, only other thing would be to let him use my car while i sort his, but that could proove ill fated.

Rental car via Easycar would be £70 from Saturday-Monday, unless id be able to drive the car back to him on Saturday would i? How long would it take the paint/filler to dry before it could be driven?