Problems in the snow :(

[maglite]

Hello, this post is just for some advice really.. It started snowing quite heavy and I thought I would get some essentials from Sainsburys before the weather got any worse. On the way back, the car in front braked suddenly and then I did too. As I did this, my D9 slid towards the left and went up against a parked 1998 S reg Corsa. I moved away from the Corsa and parked up to inspect the damage. On the D9 there was no damage what-so-ever. Nothing absolutely nothing. My passenger side wing mirror did however hit the Corsa's mirror. A lady came out of a shop and started F'ing and blinding at me We exchanged details, but the damage on her car is appox £40 - £90 Max. I offered politely about getting her car fixed privately, but she insisted on going through my insurance. I came home and looked at my excess. It's bloody £250 I just feel like

I called the insurance up when I got home and they said they were busy, so someone is gonna call me up in the morning. Any advice would be appreciated about what to do in this situation.

[darrenwall]

yeah drive away next time lol . try contacting her and explaining about your no claims bonus and say you are willing to pay privately and i dont know if this is right but i thought you only pay your excess against any damage to your own car

[DaiRees]

I doubt there's much you can do if she's insisting, try and persuede her to get a quote and take it from there. Did you take pics of the damage? She could be trying it on

[maglite]

Unfortunately I didn't take any pics. As it was dark my phone camera is useless. I think she is trying it on as the car did have some previous marks on the door. She also refused to give her phone number, so I cannot even contact her.

With this bad spell of weather, be EXTRA, EXTRA careful everyone!

[darrenwall]

I think she is trying it on as the car did have some previous marks on the door. She also refused to give her phone number, so I cannot even contact her.

if thats the case id do nothing and wait for her to contact you cos if she is trying it on perhaps she is afraid to chase it too much incase you have clicked on

[BruceT]

She needs to inform her insurance that her car was hit whilst parked, as info only as minumum.

You can ring your insurance as you have and inform them you have no damage and YOU ARE NOT CLAIMING (Thus, no excess payable by yourself) and its just for the Third Party to get her car repaired. In which case this will be a claim as such on your insurance as your at fault. Double check your car for damage in the dry with good light and clean also.

You are 100% at fault and since you have no damage then it doesnt matter really whether she goes through your insurance or her insurance.

If she goes through her own then she would be liable for any excess untill your insurance accept liability. This can take be done at notification off loss stage or can take months!

If she goes through your insurance and you admit liability (you are at fault) then she will have no xs to pay at any stage so its upto her in the end.

Who are you insured with?

[maglite]

The insurance company (Aviva, used to be Norwich Union) called today and I explained what happened. They were quite understanding about it. They also said that I do not have to pay any excess if there is no damage to my vehicle. They said they would have to contact the vehicle owner in writing to arrange for one of their Assessor's to inspect the "claimed" damage if she wants to take the matter further. I guess I'll just have to see what happens next..

[highlander]

I can sympathize with you - my first week after getting my Mk.1 Clio back in October 2007, I was in a "my fault" accident.

I was coming down a side-road onto a main road, and there was a T-junction. It was raining, and visibility was fairly poor. I looked left, then right, and it was clear, so I started moving forward, but it was only then that I started turning my head to look left again, and there was a guy in a pretty-much new Astra. By that point, it was too late; I hit the brakes, but I bumped into his door (at very low speed).

There was no dent on his car, but there was damage to his paintwork in the form of a long scratch a few inches above the sill.

My car had a small scuff on the left corner of the front bumper (I was turning right, so I scuffed him at an angle). Since the bumper wasn't body-coloured, I wasn't worried, there was no actual damage.

Unfortunately, his garage quoted him £800 for the cost of repairing the paintwork on his door. I didn't have that kind of money at the time, so I had to go through my insurance and admit a "my fault" accident.

Not much fun, and it really buggered up my premiums since then. At least I didn't lose any no-claims, but I didn't gain any for my first year of driving.

And, I've been so much more careful ever since - no other prangs or bumps since (touch wood)

[Welly]

Your're in good hands with Aviva (NU) because they are reputed to be the fairest insurer out there. Our company uses them and the dealings I've had with them have been very good.

[turbolag]

If it goes through insurers, be sure to point out in your statement that the Corsas owner commited offences under S4a of the Public Order Act. If she'd spoken to me like that in public I'd have nicked her for it.

Many moons ago my daughter clipped a car in her scooter. Very minor damage, just scratches to the corner of the bumper. All her fault, but as she lay in the road clutching her bleeding leg the voyager driver thought it would me more appropriate to get out and verbally abuse her rather than call an Ambo. in the end a passer by told the stupid woman to wind her neck in or he would take matters into his own hands.

I wrote to the insurers and said that if the claim didn't go away, I would pursue a prosecution for the Public Order Act offences the lady commited, backed with statements from witnesses - the few hundred quid for the claim is probably as much as she'd get fined in court, with a nice criminal record to go with it. Blow me if she didn't back down and withdrew the claim, which made me wonder if she had previous and didn't want something else weighing against her.

Nothing justifies such pathetic behaviour over such a minor incident, and I'm glad you rose above it.

[Welly]

What ever happened to us all being human beings and dealing with each other as such?

[steve_earwig]

That was before Thatcher.