The Misses Rear Ended Someone :-(

[notamondayfan 44]

Hey guys,

 

Advice needed!

 

The misses hit a van this morning from behind, doing 5-10 mph. The "crash" has done more damage to our 207 than his rusty escort van. The van has slightly dinted the rear door in, moved te bumper, and dislodge a load of rust, other than that not a lot. Our 207 looks like the front grill is scuffed, some parts are loose, but I wont know properly until I have a look under it tonight. The crash wasnt hard enough to set the airbag off, or even crack any parts, or damage the radiatior, so im hoping I can get away with a quick paint job.

 

Anyway, the guy who owned the van has rang up and he wants £100 to repair the van, and not put it through the insurance. This sounds fair enough I thought as it was my misses fault and when we come to renew the insurance, I'm sure we would get shafted more than £100, and plus there's the excess to pay too.

 

I'm just worried that in the future he could say "what £100?" and still demand to go through the insurance. I have never been in this situation so I'm a bit lost. He said he wants cash only so it's not tracable.

 

What do you guys think I should do?

 

Cheers, Deano :-(

[McDude 33]

I think it sounds fair enough too - just get him to sign something to agree that this is a settlement for the incident and that he has waivered his rights to further claims.

[NeilGTi85 5]

TBH all you can do is take his word for it that he wont claim, if you give him the money..... You could try and get him to sign a reciet?!?

 

I would personally go through the insurance

 

Edit - It is only illegal if you do not notify the insurance I have just been told, so you can give him 100, get a reciet and tell the insurance what you have agreed.

Edited May 19, 2010 by NeilGTi85

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

i rear ended someone last week, unless you claim you wil not be liable for the excess. so as long as you dont mind declaring an accident to your insurance then let them pay for it.

[Jemehan 3 1 Cars]

i would write out a recipt and get him to sign and name it. that way you will be coverd if it crops up. TBH if he ias asking cash its UNLIKELY that he will try go through insurance, to repair an old rusty van even £100 probably would be a write off on it!

[Batfink 201]

If he goes through insurance they will probably write off the van and he would have to buy another. £100 gets him some nice beer money and i'll bet he will just continue running the van.

[notamondayfan 44]

It is only illegal if you do not notify the insurance I have just been told, so you can give him 100, get a reciet and tell the insurance what you have agreed.

is this only the case if decide to go through the insurance, or are we supose to declare the crash even if we dont claim?

 

 

I would imagine it would be a write off due to the age and the condition of the van.

 

I just need to check the damage to our car, as I would have to put it through the insurance if it looks like it's gonna cost a lot. Luckily it looks like theres quite a bit of room between the grill and the radiator, so fingers crossed.

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

Having had bumps in the past and been eternally screwed by insurance companies from there-on in, I'd jump at the chance to settle over a few quid like this. In fact, I did, once. I reversed into a kid's car on a rally stage, scraping all the rear quarter. I apologised, gave him my details, showed him as much proof of who I was (driving license, etc) and then told him to get a quote from a couple of garages, for them to get in touch with me and I'd pay them directly. It all worked fine and by seeing the quotes and paying them directly at least I knew it wasn't going straight into his pocket. Mind you, in this instance, I'd just pay the £100 cash to him in return for a little signed piece of paper saying "£100 received with respect of damage to vehicle XXXX XXX" and be done with it

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I had someone in a 4x4 reverse into my skip 3 weeks after it had all been repainted and it smashed the bumper and front indicator and headlight protectors and scuffed the paint lightly. I saw it happen, the guy who did it was gutted. I took his details and said I would see what I could do. I just charged him the price of the parts and did the work myself as he was one of the stage organisers on the night Road Rally I was watching and I didn't want to profit from someone who gave their free time to arranging motorsport events. I sent him the invoices and he sent me a cheque back with an extra £50 for my trouble

 

I'd pay the £100 and run!

[Richie 32]

I'd also pay the £100. People don't want the hassle of going through insurance and if its an old van, he probably will just leave it, vans are rarely someone pride and joy.

[lemmingzappa 75 1 Cars]

Sounds fine to me if you get a receipt of some description.

[large 33]

I would pay the £100 but I would also run his reg through ask mid just to see if he has cover.

[jeremy 68]

I would pay the £100 but I would also run his reg through ask mid just to see if he has cover.

 

I too had similar thoughts, but before paying the £100. If no insurance then no £100.

[large 33]

I too had similar thoughts, but before paying the £100. If no insurance then no £100.

 

That should go without saying.

[johno_78 2]

£100 is a bargain. I've paid £400 twice and even had a £800 invoice to fix a car for which i paid cash. You're lucky he's not claiming injury, in fact by doing this, he's keeping insurance premiums down for all of us.

[denva2682 2 2 Cars]

Pay the ton, get him to sign a receipt, job done.

[notamondayfan 44]

all sorted now, paid the £100 and got a receipt so that should be the last of it.

 

there was minimal damage to our car, popped the grill back in place, there a few clips that have snapped, but nothing at really, and there are a couple of fins missing off the centre grill. Just need to get the tcut out and hopefully the scuffs on the bumper will come out!