SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump?

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 17:53
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - lucklesspedestrian

Hi

A young woman ran into the back of my wife's car at the traffic lights today. The other car was only going about 10mph, my wife was stationary and the damage to my wife's cars back bumper looks minor/cosmetic. The woman in question wants to avoid going through her insurance (she looked about 20 on a 20 plate car) so I'm guessing she want's to avoid the excess and having her insurance increase in cost. She admitted responsibility.

Is there any way we can do this without running the risk that she backs out of paying for the repairs to my wifes car?

What would the backroomers do in this situation?

thanks in advance

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:00
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - Falkirk Bairn

You get the car examined by your chosen/trusted bodyshop.

A quote you show the owner and / or driver and take the cash.

Get the car fixed.

Only problem is if, when fixing the car, they discover other bits needing fettled.

Happened to a son, 20+ years ago and a daughter in law about 8 years ago- DiL quote was under by £200 as "plastic bits" thought to be OK were cracked when taken off.

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:06
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - lucklesspedestrian

Of course, get the inspection, quote then the cash before the bodyshop fixes it. Makes perfect sense.

Thanks FB

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:47
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - Andrew-T

Of course, get the inspection, quote then the cash before the bodyshop fixes it. Makes perfect sense.

Problem is, although blame lies with the other party, you may end up making a claim, they won't. There may be no consequences for you, but your premium may still rise next time round.

If damage only amounts to a few hundred £, I reckon it's usually best not to involve insurers. You are always liable for the Excess on a claim anyway. SWMBO had a similar incident a few years ago, and the third party was worried about having to pay up. When she got home we decided the damage was too trivial to bother with; she was effusively grateful.

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:09
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - gordonbennet

What would the backroomers do in this situation?

Go by gut feeling as to the honour of the third party.

As the other poster FB, get a quote from a decent known bodyshop plus courtesy car costs!!, then get money from third party up front, no play ball? straight to insurance.

Edited by gordonbennet on 18/09/2020 at 18:09

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:27
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - lucklesspedestrian

Re gut feeling

yes, that's a biggie GB. My wife was a psychiatric nurse for 35 years so her judgement re other people is usually pretty good although obviously none of us are infallible. Third party seems decent, about the same age as our daughters so that's probably influencing our attitude somewhat!

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 19:23
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - gordonbennet

My wife was a psychiatric nurse for 35 years so her judgement re other people is usually pretty good although obviously none of us are infallible.

Ah good, your wife approving the woman is half the battle, i have come to rely on my very own SWMBO, she is a very good judge of character, seldom wrong whereas despite ending up disappointed in numerous i trusted people throughout all my life i still err on giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Hope it works out for you.

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 18:09
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - Metropolis.
Find an agreed body shop and go there with the woman, ensure that they are aware of the situation and any invoice is to be addressed to her for works done. If she doesn’t pay, you may have a problem if the garage do not release the car until payment is made.
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Fri 18 Sep 2020 19:33
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - FP

A lot of the advice above makes sense. However, I would not give the other party any chance to back out of any non-insurance deal you come up with. It's amazing how many times a driver at blame accepts everything and promises to take responsibility at the scene, but finds every kind of excuse to back out when they've had a chance to think about the fact that their wallet will be several hundred pounds lighter.

I would get a quote and ask for the money (and expect to receive it) before having any work done, taking the chance on whether the final bill might exceed the estimate. (A bird in the hand and all that.) Call me cynical if you wish - I prefer to think of it as practical and realistic.

P.S. The trouble with Metropolis's advice is that you could have to take legal action if the other party agrees to pay at the body shop and then changes their mind, which could involve initial costs and a lot of time and hassle.

Edited by FP on 18/09/2020 at 19:37

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 19:48
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - bathtub tom

If it's a bump up the rear, get a good body shop to assess the damage. There's all sorts of collision mitigation stuff up there, from foam to steel. The boot floor will also need assessing.

If it's a '20 reg car, I expect it will have full insurance cover, unless it was being driven illegally. Ask for the driver's licence and insurance cover. If they prevaricate, contact the police - I doubt if they're legal. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 19:53
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - Zippy123

If it's a bump up the rear, get a good body shop to assess the damage. There's all sorts of collision mitigation stuff up there, from foam to steel. The boot floor will also need assessing.

If it's a '20 reg car, I expect it will have full insurance cover, unless it was being driven illegally. Ask for the driver's licence and insurance cover. If they prevaricate, contact the police - I doubt if they're legal. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

I agree with this. I had a car rear end me at about 15 mph and I was in a new Avensis.

The damage cost thousands to fix as the boot floor rippled.

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Fri 18 Sep 2020 20:05
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - lucklesspedestrian

If it's a bump up the rear, get a good body shop to assess the damage. There's all sorts of collision mitigation stuff up there, from foam to steel. The boot floor will also need assessing.

If it's a '20 reg car, I expect it will have full insurance cover, unless it was being driven illegally. Ask for the driver's licence and insurance cover. If they prevaricate, contact the police - I doubt if they're legal. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Yes, we had that with a rear ender 20 years ago where it looked like supeficial damage to an old Fiesta we had but the boot floor had crumpled as it was designed to do. Honestly don't think that is the case here but we will get it checked. Turns out now we sort of know who the family are and everything will be legit, not a cat in hells chance anything will be illegal which is reassuring.

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Sat 19 Sep 2020 08:02
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - barney100

I had a small bump in my old SLK. Took it for repair for about £200 and duly went to pick it up. Looked good and they were just finishing washing it as a young lady in a large BMW reversed straight into it. She didn't want insurance involved and the bodyshop guy knew her so he fixed it...again... and the lady paid the bill.

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Sat 19 Sep 2020 10:54
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - Bromptonaut

In a case like this I think I'd decline and insist on it going through insurers. Too many risks as quoted above.

Fairly common for even low speed rear endings to look like a bit of split plastic only for much greater damage to become apparent once the plastic is off.

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Sat 19 Sep 2020 13:42
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - RT

After a truck wiped out my door mirror while parked, I was hopeful that the company would pay for the repair directly but they prevaricated over several months - I gave up waiting and involved a claims handler who got the car repair done and added £1000 hire charge for a like-for-like car - I suggest the OP doesn't wait too long in their case.

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Sun 18 Oct 2020 19:23
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - lucklesspedestrian

Update

The 3rd party went along to the bodyshop before the repairs were due to commence and paid the quoted price (£420) in advance, Repairs now complete and all is well.

This is obviously one of those ones that works well when it's decent people you're dealing with but the problem is that you never know so you have to rely on judgement. I was going to say hopefully that's the last time we'll have to worry about this but that's been 3 times in the last 4 years where we've been stationary, minding our own business then been rear ended or side-swiped. Maybe a bright, fluorescent orange vehicle is the answer!

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Sun 18 Oct 2020 19:37
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - gordonbennet

That's a nice ending to this, your wife (good judges of character are wives in my humble) trusted the other party and she's proved right to have done so, honourable people are still out there, and credit to you for keeping your side of the bargain and not automatically going for the accident management shark route.

Thanks for the update.

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Thu 22 Oct 2020 10:53
SEAT Leon - 'Can we not go through insurance?' after bump? - barney100

Get the quote, tell the bodyshop the other party is paying and get the woman in question to give her details to the bodyshop.

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