accident:(

[longman]

this is what happened last night:(

[Audax]

That's not good, what state is the boot floor in? I can see that potentially being problematic to sort with an insurer.

[sgould]

Doesn't look good.

Remove the side trays in the floor and pull out the two foam pads and see what's gone on.



Ignore the towbar and the reinforcing brackets at the ends.  The metal channel across the back on the cars without a towbar is secured by one stud at each end.




This is what the body should look like underneath.




The top hole of the three is drilled when the towbar is fitted.

[Norfolk Jim]

Wow Will - that's good of yo to take yours apart to show Longman what it should look like!

Often the perpetrator of the crime thinks they've only bent a bumper but there's always a lot lurking under the skin!!

I remember when someone reversed quickly into the front of my first 9-5 and thought they'd only cracked the number plate and wanted to pay there and then for new one - I was cagy about it and had insurer look - cost the guy 1200 quid as loads of clips and brackets had been damaged by bumper moving backwards + bumper cracked either side (hardly noticeable on quick look).

Have a really good look Longman and get dealers bodyshop to go over it with you.

[Neil of Stevenage]

How did the other car fare? Some years ago a "young filly" ran into the back of my Aero. Her car's front end was caved in with water pouring onto the road from a broken radiator. The Aero had a bit of dirt removed from the bumper!

[longman]

hi

i was stood at the traffic lights indicating to turn left and suddenly was hit in the rear. I came out of my car and all i could see was smoke and fluids everywhere. five 17 years old in a punt didn't see me and drove into me without even touching the brakes.
Punto was smashed up all the way to rear passenger doors!
They couldn't get out of the car. My and a passer by forced the rear door open and got them all out. Driver was ok however three passengers ended up with a broken wrist, broken arm and concussion. They were really lucky.

Re the car.
Saab/vauxhall dealer quoted me 5700 to fix. My local body shop garage quoted me 2700 for the job. I am waiting for the driver's dad to give me a call with their decision. They asked to pay me for all the damage but if they can't afford it it will go through the insurance.

[TomPaine]

Saab/vauxhall dealer quoted me 5700 to fix. My local body shop garage quoted me 2700 for the job. I am waiting for the driver's dad to give me a call with their decision. They asked to pay me for all the damage but if they can't afford it it will go through the insurance.

Do you know that they were insured therefore?

[Audax]

Saab/vauxhall dealer quoted me 5700 to fix. My local body shop garage quoted me 2700 for the job. I am waiting for the driver's dad to give me a call with their decision. They asked to pay me for all the damage but if they can't afford it it will go through the insurance.

I'd just go through the insurance, the kids has screwed up but needs to know the consequences. I wouldn't be surprised if the car was insured in a parents name with the kid just as a named driver.

[longman]

Hi
yes they were insured. I also have two witnesses and a statement from the Police so I think I am covered if suddenly they start playing games with me. I told them that if they would like to go past the insurance company then I need all the money in my account by Wednesday (tomorrow) if not, for any reason I will go through the insurance.

[TomPaine]

OK that's good, sounds like you're indeed covered if they start playing games. (You are supposed to tell your own insurer about the accident of course, even if you make it clear that you do not wish them to handle the claim and that it's 'for information only'.)

[Norfolk Jim]

Tom is right but sadly you may find it does affect your renewal which i ind to be totally wrong.

Someone hit my son 3 years ago in similar situation and the others paid for all the work. We just informed insurers of the incident as police attended and lo and behold at renewal (3 months later) the premium shot up. I called them and asked what they were playing at and they said 'well you son was involved in an accident'. I explained again the situation and said I need not have told them so why penalise him for something that wasn't his fault in any way and was paid for without their help. They said it's normal as his car was then termed a risk!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say they never got my custom again!!!!!

[Audax]

They said it's normal as his car was then termed a risk!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say they never got my custom again!!!!!

The trouble is that as far as I know *all* insurance companies work this way which is blatantly unfair. They claim it's because if you've been involved in one accident you're more likely to be involved in another and therefore risk increases.

When I was hit by a driver who was less than 3 months part my test my insurance co said it was not my fault and that they would fight it for me, this was until they spoke to the insurer on the other side, suddenly it was 100% my fault and they weren't interested in fighting. Turned out that the girl who hit my car was on her dads policy as a named driver and not as the main user of the car which she had told me at the scene they'd done to keep the costs of insurance down, she also had told me she was late for work and was in a hurry. It then turned out that her brother worked in the claims dept for the insurance company she was insured with and was arguing for her side but neither insurance company thought this was a problem or unfair!

Quite honestly, insurance companies say costs are high due to fraud, but I'm not sure how they can preach about people acting fraudulently when they act the way they do and treat people poorly. 

I did think about an insurance model which made sense to me recently for younger drivers, where they pay a large deposit (in the region of several thousand pounds) to the insurance company and then pay a smaller yearly premium on top. If they were involved in an accident then fault/blame is attributed on a range of percentages between the two parties and then they lose that percentage of the deposit to assist with the cost of the claim. It would certainly give younger drivers an incentive to not drive into other peoples cars!

[phoenix]

They claim it's because if you've been involved in one accident you're more likely to be involved in another and therefore risk increases.

There is some justification for this approach.

It's about rating your ability to read potential danger  or an accident and your ability to act to avoid it. We are all called on regularly to take evasive actions because of other driver's mistakes. The better we are at avoiding it, the lower risk to insurers we are.

Now, granted in the case above it's pretty clear cut that there wasn't going to be anything that could be done to avoid the accident, but the insurers don't go to that level of granularity in assessing risk.

[longman]

I am going in inform my insurance company. I have read the policy and I have maximum seven days to do so. The only reason I haven't yet is because I gave the other driver some time to think about and also was advised by Vauxhall/Saab dealer that they can completely take over if I decide to have my car repaired at theirs. They will provide me with a replacement car (I don't have one on my policy) and without involving my insurance they will be dealing directly with the other driver's insurance. It sounds good to me so if they don't want to pay me I will just go with Vauxhall accident care.

I agree with the above comments. The fact that the diver who is not at fault has to suffer because of higher premium is wrong. I also experienced people changing their minds and their description of the accident. Few years back I was hit by a  driver while I was parked up in a parking bay and later he claimed I was reversing and I hit him!! I was sat in a passanger's seat!!! I had a witness that he didn't know of and that saved me. The only bit I could not understand that there were no consequences for him trying to lie and cheat the police and insurance company!

It sends a very clear message. Just say whatever when it happens and then change the story as you see fit. No punishment.

[longman]

if somebody is interested, please find attached the breakdown of the repairs