Learner Driver Just reversed into me

Jokah

Well the Subject says it all really.

Poor girl only a week on the road and just got her licence a week ago, reversed into me...

So the lights didnt smash and still work, but the front of the car kinda sunk in..The bonnet of course arched up about 2 inches and I can't open the thing...

I rang her 20 minutes later to see if she was alright and also to get her address.

I was talking to her father who offered to do a cash deal in order to keep his daughters No claims Bonus...

I accepted, but now I have been told by another source that I should register the details of the accident with my insurance company so they have a record..

My thing is if I do tell my insurance company, will they go ahead and ask me for the girls details....? I am happy to take cash for the damage, which will be costly for them no doubt, but is it ok to say, yep this happened?

Thanks for any opinions/feedback.

Duckjob

If you tell them they will want all the details. I wouldn't say anything to them. If the fault is clearly on her side and you're happy to make a deal then it's none of their concern.

But I'd get the repairs done or at least quoted for before you make a deal. You don't want to get stung by finding out the repair cost is twice what you got paid.

pedro ferio-vti

If your not gonna inform the insurance co. inform the Gards of what happened and take the name/Badge no of the Gard you reported it to. If it all goes pearshaped at least you'll have some record of what happened by an independant intermediary of some sort.

Pete

mike65

Christ! DON'T tell the Gardai. Keep the law out of it unless you need them, and you don't.

Keep it nice and civil and you'll be fine. I'm sure the girls' mortified and shocked and her parents are too. They'll be very helpful, so don't do the dirty...

Mike.

leonotron

That last post is the dumbest advice ever. Definetly tell the gardai, just so they have a record. It's not going to make any difference to the woman who reversed into you or yourself by them having a record of what happened. You never know what the girl or her parents might do, if they find out the bill is preety high they might refuse to pay it or say it was half your fault. At least if you have a Garda report your ass is covered.

Atomic Pineapple

so much distrust among people, the world truly has become a sad sad place.

leonotron

I had a guy run in to me this time last year, he wanted to pay for the damage and not call the cops. €4000 worth of damage, the guy had no Insurance, no tax and a un roadworthy car. Should I have listened to him? I'm not going to trust a stranger when it comes to something like this. WHats wrong with having an official record of it happening?

pedro ferio-vti

Sad place indeed, in fairness the guy doesn't know that girl for sh1t, they always seem nice when they're at fault. I'm simply offering the guy a contingency plan in case it all goes wrong for him. The Gards will simply file a report, they won't inform the insurance co w/o your consent.

Pete

ando

yeap, I agree with leonotron. Its not much good knowing the girl was upset and sorry, only then for her to turn around and say it was your fault, you hit her from behind!

I deffo would get the gards involved

Tommy Vercetti

Definitely report it, just in case. At the end of the day, you were wronged, not her.

Have a read through this:
http://www.cbg.ie/ins_car.asp#Claim

Jokah

Thanks for the advice...

mike65

My point about getting the law involved is that you dont acually need to now 'cos thats something you can do at anytime and the other party will know that (indeed they are proberly crapping themselves at the thought).

Mike.

uberwolf

I was taken off my bike once and dissappered through your mans windscreen, he got off the car after pulling it out of the way, and as I seemed ok he gave me his name and work details and we parted ways. I just memorised his reg plate just in case.

The work place had no record of the man and the reg proved to be the only way of getting hold of him. It was a garage car not even owned by him so it had no imapct on his insurance but he still needed to lie!

Point is, if you have doubts you're better safe than sorry, because even with no motivation people will be dishonest.

ArphaRima

Let the girls parents pay for it.
Get a quote, tell them the price. Then put it in for repair, with themselves to pick up the tab.

My nextdoor neighbour reversed into my parked car last week. I'm doing just that.
Use your own judgement. If there are six burnt out cars and a parade of caravans where she lives, I might doubt their sincerity. But by the sounds of it this will all work out fine. Dont ring your insurance company, and dont ring the gardai. Trust.

BrianD3

I think it's a good idea for car drivers to keep a notebook, pen and camera (eg a cheap digi cam) in the car at all times. If you're involved in a crash they'll allow you to take notes/make sketches/take pics. These will help you to give a good account of the accident in the event of a dispute. Also, if the other party sees you taking notes and pics it's likely that he'll think something along the lines of "this guy is no mug" and could be deterred from attempting to make a fraudlent claim or from trying to rip you off.

From what I've heard the gardai are often reluctant to attend minor accidents where there are no injuries involved so it ends up that the parties themselves have to sort it out among themselves. So there is definitely potential for getting ripped off as there are an awful lot of dishonest c*nts out there.

BrianD3

jesus_thats_gre

Originally posted by mike65
Christ! DON'T tell the Gardai. Keep the law out of it unless you need them, and you don't.

Keep it nice and civil and you'll be fine. I'm sure the girls' mortified and shocked and her parents are too. They'll be very helpful, so don't do the dirty...

Mike.

Nonsence. Tell the Gardai. Tell them that you are reporting the accident to cover your own back and that the other party has accepted all responsibility and are paying for the repair of the car. They will not force you to pursue it any further...

I was once in an accident whereby the Guard actually advised the other party and I to keep it between ourselves and not contact insurance companies. Its the safest way to do things.

mike65

Jokah you better keep us abreast of developments given the deversity of opinion!

My own views are proberly the result of an icident a few years back when a newbie reversed into my van in a car park. He was contrite, I was calm. His parents were reasonable ppl and all turned out fine.

Mike.

Seth Brundle

I was involved in a scrape last summer when someone crossed a signal controlled single lane bridge. As soon as I reached the crest of the hill, I saw a car coming towards me. Anyway I had a witness to say that I had in fact got the green light - the other fella had none (and often cars break the lights when they go red - up to seven seconds).
The guy in the car that scraped me told me that he had a green but to get a price on the repairs anyway. The gardai said they would try and come in about an hour - no use! I contacted my insurance company and registered the incident but told them not to do anything except send out the forms to me.

Over the next few weeks the guy in the other car kept insisting that he had a green light and he was in talks with his solicitors about taking a case against the council over the lights ("Killian, they even confirmed to me over the phone that the lights keep breaking" - I've never seen this happen).
I was getting such a pain in my family jewels & even once he and his wife even started giving out to me and then hung up on me.

I eventually said that I was sending off the form to the insurance company (which I did but with instructions not to process it yet).
The guy paid up fairly quick then!

I would not trust anyone as they can and often do their utmost to get out of it somehow.
Write all the details down asap before you forget them and inform your insurance company - they dont have to act on it yet.

Was the girl in the car on her own on a 1st provisional? Legally it is a hanging offence now!

pedro ferio-vti

Originally posted by kbannon
Was the girl in the car on her own on a 1st provisional? Legally it is a hanging offence now!

Followed by a burning at the stake! MUAHAHAHH :ninja:

TommyK

Was she attractive?

Ask if she'll sleep with you to pay off her debts!

Atomic Pineapple

Ah yeh definatly inform the guards to have a record, i'm just saying its a bit of a f*cked up world when ya have to do that to cover your back cos of the amount of sh*theads out there

Cake Fiend

Originally posted by mike65
His parents were reasonable ppl and all turned out fine.

Luckily for you.

A mate of mine was knocked off his bike from behind by a car a while back. It was clearly the woman in the car's fault, so she agreed straight away to pay for any damage to the bike, but understandably enough didn't want to go through the insurance co for such a small sum if possible. My mate thought nothing much of it, no serious injuries, so they exchanged details and he awaited her call without informing the police or his insurance company.

A couple of days later, he has the woman's husband on the phone to him, demanding payment for damage done to the front of his wife's car. Turns out the husband reported the crash to the police, so they were taking their side. End result, my mate got shafted out of several hundred euros.

The moral of the story is: you should inform the police so you have a record - even just for the fact that if the other person does report it before you, it could look bad on you. Reporting the accident to the police doesn't mean the police will stick their noses into it, it doesn't mean anyone's insurance co is going to be contacted, it just covers your ass. You'd be stupid to take risks these days. There is absolutely no reason not to contact the police, and you'd be thick not to IMO.

LegacyUser

Originally posted by Sico
Luckily for you.

A mate of mine was knocked off his bike from behind by a car a while back. It was clearly the woman in the car's fault, so she agreed straight away to pay for any damage to the bike, but understandably enough didn't want to go through the insurance co for such a small sum if possible. My mate thought nothing much of it, no serious injuries, so they exchanged details and he awaited her call without informing the police or his insurance company.

A couple of days later, he has the woman's husband on the phone to him, demanding payment for damage done to the front of his wife's car. Turns out the husband reported the crash to the police, so they were taking their side. End result, my mate got shafted out of several hundred euros.

The moral of the story is: you should inform the police so you have a record - even just for the fact that if the other person does report it before you, it could look bad on you. Reporting the accident to the police doesn't mean the police will stick their noses into it, it doesn't mean anyone's insurance co is going to be contacted, it just covers your ass. You'd be stupid to take risks these days. There is absolutely no reason not to contact the police, and you'd be thick not to IMO.

Holy ****. Are you serious? That is so harsh. :dunno:

Victor

You have to be very careful because she reversed into you. It implies you were too close to her.

Do some notes for yourself immediately and have a chat with a friendly cop.

ALLGOOD

CLASS !

seaghdhas

How many people here would give the other person's side? Or put their hand up and say they were the other person?

There are alot of scam artists around. But there's very little to say if you're set against trusting people generally. I once backed into a guys car, there was no damage to my own, his back door was only dented (I got him with the corner of the my bumper). I gave him a phone number and where I worked and had the uniform to prove I was working there at that moment (I was doing deliveries).

I ended up paying almost what I paid for my own car cost in the first place (my car wasn't exactly new, and he got a brand new door and resprayed it). I'm not saying anything about blame on either side (it was my fault), or about anyone else (or the guy, because I don't entirely know all the facts), but this can cut both ways.

I'm not saying don't go through official channels, only if she's honest, I'm sure she's sh***ing herself. Someone's going to say 'that's the real world, she has to learn somehow'. I'm fairly sure her parents are letting her know.

Having said that, a friend on a provisional licence tapped a parked car, only denting it. He took down the reg number(?), paniced and left. His father traced the guy through the reg and he turned out to have had no insurance, tax or nct.

Captain Trips

Its not really her you're dealing with, it's her dad most likely. He will basically control the whole thing and she, if new to driving and on first license, will let him. She is a kid in the motor world. He will try and do his best to stop his daughter getting screwed (no pun intended), even if wrong.

Get the accident documented by police. If an insurance company needs evidence, they can then get it from the best place.

2142

Be very careful. A lorry crashed into me a few years ago and caused £2000 worth of damage. The guy said that he would pay for it and did not want to go through the insurance. I reported to the gardai and my insurance company. When I rang the guy in the lorry he said that he was not accepting resposibility. As I had no witnesses I had to pay for the repairs myself. Always get the person to sign something saying that they were responsible or get the gardai on the scene.

Jokah

Hey Ive read through the replies and they have been very helpful and Interesting.

Heres the update....Well I informed my insurance company. They told me that there is no problem with me settling outside of the insurance company, they are just glad that I recorded the details of the crash and things are now great.

I filled out the Crash Report form and wrote down everything that happened that night. I was talking to a lady in the insurance company (quinn) and she said that it is wise for me to report to them, because if this girl turns around and says "oh no, that never happened" then I have a fall back because all her details are now recorded with my insurance company.they said they will not be getting in contact with the 3rd party unless they want me to....I said don't bother unless she turns around and makes a claim against me..highly unlikey and not wise..... Got the damage assessed today and I will be given a quote tomorrow...

There is no need to inform the Gardai in my opinion and the insurance company didnt mind about that.

You see the thing is, if I didn't inform my insurance company they could have turned on me and said I went into them.....then I would be royally screwed as my insurance co. would say "well why didnt you tell us in the first place....."

Im not bothered to be honest, because if they do turn around and say I hit them, I have the phone call recorded with them fully admitting responsibility and the father saying he is willing to "do what it takes to keep my daughters no claims bonus".

Hot Dog.....:D

Jokah

Oh and just to reply to someone who said I was to close to her...

I was at the other end of a 7 foot box junction and she reversed the whole way through it and hit me...

Oh and yes she was very attractive and yes she was on her first provisional which as we know is not good. But hey...no lets not be hypocrites about the whole "driving on your own on your first provisional".

I would be very surprised if any of us drivers here, didn't drive on their own while on their first provisional?

Victor

Originally posted by Jokah
There is no need to inform the Gardai in my opinion and the insurance company didnt mind about that.

So one more dangerous driver on the road and one more accident unrecorded.....

Jokah

What would u then Victor?

Victor

Originally posted by Jokah
What would u then Victor?

?

Jokah

Your post sounded like "well if anything else happens in the future, and that girl is to blame, then we should blame me instead of her, because I didn't report it way back when she was 18"......

I have done my bit...

Victor

Originally posted by Jokah
Your post sounded like "well if anything else happens in the future, and that girl is to blame, then we should blame me instead of her, because I didn't report it way back when she was 18"......

Sorry, my point being there are only 20,000 reported accidents (+~15,000 car thefts), but 180,000 motor claims every year.

shoegirl

Something a bit weird about this.

So she is a learner and only has her license one week? Then how can she have a no claims bonus? (Could be Daddy's no claims of course).

Technically it is illegal not to report an accident, though this is pretty minor. I'd make sure you have her details correct and if there are any problems with her paying up then threaten to claim.

Actually he'd probably be better off with a claim unless he's no protection on his NCD

sceptre

Originally posted by shoegirl
So she is a learner and only has her license one week? Then how can she have a no claims bonus? (Could be Daddy's no claims of course).

Doesn't make sense, you're right. Could be a strange twist of logic where Daddy wants his daughter to have an NCB next year when she applies for her insurance and ticks the "no claims in the past three years" box for the next three years.

Jokah

I never thought about that licence thing actually...good point

Sorry Victor, I was in a sarky mood last night cos of the whole car assessment damage thing. So apologies...

Ill keep this up to date as things progress...no price on the car yet...

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Victor
Sorry, my point being there are only 20,000 reported accidents (+~15,000 car thefts), but 180,000 motor claims every year.

Shouldn't the insurance companies be reporting them ?

Jokah

Damage came back as 1400 euros.

Am telling him tonight...No strings and an independent VW garage did the evaulation.

Oh well.

mike65

Thats not too bad (not that you're paying of course), just have the estimate handy to show the father of the crasher...

Mike.

Victor

Oh, make sure they are billed for the time you are wheel-less.

Jokah

Well, I get paid for holidays, the only inconvenience is that I have to travel 20 miles to work everyday, and I wont have a car to get out to work..

I'll work something out...He is quite a resonable man, he rang me on Thursday to ask if I had forgotten about the whole thing.

Ill see how it goes...

Victor

Originally posted by Jokah
Well, I get paid for holidays, the only inconvenience is that I have to travel 20 miles to work everyday, and I wont have a car to get out to work.. I'll work something out...He is quite a resonable man, he rang me on Thursday to ask if I had forgotten about the whole thing. Ill see how it goes...

Most garages will give you a loaner car and include the cost in the bill.

mudflapgirl

Interesting one really. Having had 3 minor scrapes (rather than crashes - seems to harsh for them really) 2 of which were no my fault. It's always a tricky one.

First one, I had to brake very hard to stop from hitting a pedestrian. The woman behind hit me, got out and started shouting about what an idiot I was, when I told her why I had to brake she called me stupid. When I pointed out she was in the wrong and I was well within my rights to claim she shut up pretty quick. When I asked why she'd been so close to me before the incident she said she hadn't been paying attention. I had witnesses to it etc etc. Funnily enough, I had virtually no damage to me car, whereas her front bumper was pretty bad, but being a learner at the time (L Plates up and all) she obviously thought I'd be an easy target. Once I started talking about ringing the gardai and mentioned claiming again she shut fairly quick and started talking about doing nothing about it since it had been her fault for not paying due care and attention. Sorted.

Second, I was coming down a hill and had to stop for a line of traffic. The Road had roadworks going on and they'd been cleaning their bollards with soapy water, so when I braked I skidded and slid into the back of the car in front. I was only going about 2 mile and hour when I hit them, moreso nudged them. She got out and looked at the damage, looked at the fear on my face and the L plate on my car and then said 'It's ok the only damage I see there is what I've done myself' I coulda kissed her really and after making sure that she was sure that nothing was going to be done, we went our seperate ways.

Third, at the toll bridge on the M50. The guy behind me hit me when I was stopped in line for the booths. He got out and nearly cried - no damage to either car but it was fairly obvious he shouldn't have been there (ie a learner on the M50) he was terrified I was going to claim or something and he'd have been f**ked. So being the lovely kind benevolent person I am and there being no damage to my (or his) car, told him to leave it and we'd be on our way. He was so apologetic, admitted liabilty and was so happy that I was letting him off. He made me take his name, number and reg just in case I changed my mind but didn't want the same details from me.

So it pays to be kind when the situation allows and give people the benefit of the doubt. This 'claim culture' that seems to be worsening in this country is getting out of hand. Years ago things were just settled with cold hard cash. Not always and option but sometimes it's better.

mike65

Originally posted by mudflapgirl


...She got out and looked at the damage, looked at the fear on my face and the L plate on my car and then said 'It's ok the only damage I see there is what I've done myself' I coulda kissed her really and after making sure that she was sure that nothing was going to be done, we went our seperate ways...


So it pays to be kind when the situation allows and give people the benefit of the doubt. This 'claim culture' that seems to be worsening in this country is getting out of hand. Years ago things were just settled with cold hard cash. Not always and option but sometimes it's better.

God bless that woman!

Mike.

Tommy Vercetti

You should have kissed her, and posted pics of the event for us:mad: