saint Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Wondering what people have to say about this - I scraped my front bumper against someones rear left wheel as they passed me at a junction. We exchanged insurance details and I enlisted a passing policeman as an intermediary whilst we sorted things out. The damage to both cars is minimal, scuff marks at best, but the other party is now asking me for £200 in order for him to not report to his insurance. In addition he says he has a personal injury lawyer who is seeking up to £1500 in compensation for a neck injury (despite the police having a report of "no injuries to either driver"). I don't have legal cover on my insurance, and I've gone by the book with Adrian Flux from my side. He's not reported to his insurance yet, so I wonder if his notice period has expired? Main question is how to proceed from here... I haven't agreed to pay him off and I informed him to get an impartial repair quote from his insurance. His damage is for a scuff alloy wheel and a SMART rear bumper repair, although he also claims the suspension is damaged (something he could tell me by driving 20ft between the accident and pulling over...). I persuaded him to drive me around in his car at the scene of the accident and I have a recording on my phone showing the car drives fine. I'd take his offer instantly since my insurance will go up by £500 if we go that way, but what's to stop him either A) pretending he never got money from me, B ) pretending he never agreed to it, in the process giving his insurance an uncontested win, or C) taking the money and making a personal injury claim outside of the insurance. I told the police about his tactics and they didn't give a crap... Edited July 21, 2015 by saint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techinstaller Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Does not sound good , not much i can say other than following an accident it is legally possible to make a personal injury claim any time up to 3 years after the accident. others may offer advice on the other aspects shortly ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevoD Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 go through insurance its what you pay it for if he doesnt want to sounds like he has something to hide from his insurers so it doesnt void his policy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Go via insurance. It'll work out cheaper in the long run if you get screwed by them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Just go through your insurance and have no more contact with this imbecile. It sucks as your insurance "may" rise I know but it is the only way to go forward with this imo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angrybiker Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Even if it's 100% your fault, his insurance will still go up, I'd call his bluff. Also chances are his injury claim would fail, the days of getting a whiplash claim for every little bump are gone, he'd need some sort of medical evidence to back his claim Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIGWEL Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 P#*#*s me of all these fake injury claims. Whiplash etc. we all pay extra to cover the wasters that claim for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 I'll give the insurance a ring tomorrow and let them know of his behavior! I think next time I ring him I'll record it too! I have zero faith that if I give him £200 this is going to just go away, my mate reckons paying him is an admission of guilt and thats when he'll sting me for medical fees. Does anyone know time limits on these things? 3 years for a medical claim seems a long time, how would they prove they had whiplash 3 years ago? I reckon another smart move is to stall him until he can't claim on his car insurance 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Just go through your insurance and have no more contact with this imbecile. It sucks as your insurance "may" rise I know but it is the only way to go forward with this imo. Depends what happens, but the general impression I get is that if I have to claim this I'll have to revert everything back to stock on my car. Insurers get edgy with "custom XYZ, has zero no claims". The difference is a grand with mods, or 500 without, although I've only checked Adrian Flux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Tell him to go and ....you know the rest 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Miester Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 How do Saint it sounds as though he is trying it on,and I go with what others have said through Insurance but how people think they can get a personal injury claim from little bumps is be on me in the long run thats one of the reasons our insurance goes up..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 I wonder how you can claim injury when my number plate didn't even get displaced (and it's just stuck on, plinth deleted!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick350z Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Insurance all the way. It's what you pay them for and any increase on your premium will be minimal compared to what you might actually end up giving this fool if he starts demanding more and more - he sounds like a complete knob so who knows where it will stop! Chances are he's not insured by the way he's behaving and is just trying his luck. I'd call his bluff, tell him to deal with your insurers and that you've told them of all the false claims he's making. Also how do you know your premium will go up £500? Have Flux told you that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Report to insurance. Whiplash claims are thrown out below a certain speed. Once you give in to blackmail it never stops. Also once payment has passed hands, makes you look like you are doing things underhanded. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Agree with the above short term pain long term gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Just call me the black sheep but Ive sorted a few outside of insurance now, you just need to get him to sign a witnessed "no further action" letter. Your choice, if it was more major then I could understand going through insurance but as you say, losing £500 a year over a £200 claim seems a bit stupid. ETA: You need to report the accident to insurance anyway, Id imagine you still have cover against any personal injury claim going forward as part of the policy, worth asking them at least Edited July 22, 2015 by docwra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Insurance all the way. It's what you pay them for and any increase on your premium will be minimal compared to what you might actually end up giving this fool if he starts demanding more and more - he sounds like a complete knob so who knows where it will stop! Chances are he's not insured by the way he's behaving and is just trying his luck. I'd call his bluff, tell him to deal with your insurers and that you've told them of all the false claims he's making. Also how do you know your premium will go up £500? Have Flux told you that? To check the impact on my quotes I asked them to check for me and they were happy to help. I've got similar results via comparison tools when putting in a bogus name / email address. He's definitely insured, the boys in blue checked our details whilst we exchanged them. Fairly glad the cops didn't bend me over for having incorrect spacing on my plate Report to insurance. Whiplash claims are thrown out below a certain speed. Once you give in to blackmail it never stops. Also once payment has passed hands, makes you look like you are doing things underhanded. That's fairly handy to know. The impact speed was around walking pace, maybe even less. I literally rolled forwards at a junction and clipped his rear bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bockaaarck Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Insurance company all the way, no point in messing around, it will be a world of hurt if you do. Accept the fact that your insurance may go up and bite the bullet. Take it as a lesson learned 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 First off, chill. This isn't as big a deal as you might think, so don't stress. To start with, you've had an accident, so you MUST report it to your insurer and/or declare it come renewal. Failure to do so may lead to your insurance being invalidated etc. Now, the easy thing to do is just call your insurance co and let them sort it. I can't tell if you've done that or not yet. Legal cover is irrelevant, any injuries the TP may have will be covered by your standard insurance terms, so you already have enough cover for everything. Let them deal with it, any letters you get you can just pass on. That's the right way to do things. On the other hand, if you're not going to tell your insurer at all, then Docwra's absolutely right. Pay him the £200, get him to sign a full & final settlement letter, and you're done. If he comes back later, you have that letter as proof that he was done with. You can then go to your insurer at that point if he really is an arse, however I suspect he's no intention of doing that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payco Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 There are some scum bags around. I shunted into a woman at a junction 2 years ago in my focus who pulled forward and then stopped. Just touched her rear bumper and crazed it. She called the police, ambulance, vehicle recovery. It was pathetic. The policeman even told me he didn't know why she called him. When I renewed my insurance and they asked about the incident and how much i thought the cost was. I said max £500. They came back and told me it was settled at £9k !!!. I reckon she claimed injuries, loss of earnings, all sorts. I told the insurance company at the time I thought she was going to take them and me for a ride. She was in an old BMW which looked like it was worth about £500 to me. I just hope these people get what they deserve. I firmly believe in what goes around comes around. Good luck with whatever route you take to resolve this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ^^ this is why I now have front and rear dash cams 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bockaaarck Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ^^ this is why I now have front and rear dash cams This is why I now have front and rear mounted 12" spikes on my bumpers 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payco Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Me too. Money well spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Don't even entertain it. Insurance all the way......this doesn't seem your average reasonable person Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Would the police have an Incident Number for witnessing you both exchanging details? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.