1st ever shunt

the corpo

Howdy

Was out driving the other day, stopped at a stop sign and the car behind me didn't.
Bang!

It was a fairly gentle knock so I'm pretty sure there was no structural damage, but there is about a foot long dent in the body work at the back.

In my shock and stupidity I only got the persons name and number, and not insurance details or reg (though judging by their reaction I doubt they were pulling a fast one giving false info)

So, how do I proceed? They admitted complete responsibility. Call our insurance company? Theirs? Or just bring the car to our garage, get a quote and ask them to pay themselves?

I'm assuming as they've admitted total culpability this shouldn't affect our insurance?

Run_to_da_hills

Happened to me before, most importantly you must notify your own insurance in the off chance that the third party might counterclaim, highly unlikely. Then you must try to chase up the person involved for his insurance details (Unless he is willing to settle and have the damage repaired at his own expense) All this failing go down to the cops and report the matter and ask them to do a search on information given to you, describe the car involved, If the name is legit they can access car registration detail or poling records. It helps to have a description of the vehicle.

alias no.9

Very minor shunts from behind can cause significant damage. Lift up the carpet in the boot and look for any ripples or creases in the metal work. Get the car properly checked out by a repair shop ASAP. If you put it off only to find that there is more damage than you thought and get back to the other person at a later date, they may quite rightly think you're taking the piss.

Vikings

Had a similar situation myself 2 years ago. Not necessarily in this order but what you should do is:

Call them to get their insurance details, asap.

Call the Guards or go to the station closest to the accident and report it - that way it will be documented should the person not be forthcoming with insurance details.

Call your insurance company and inform them of the accident.

Take your car to one or two garages that you would trust to repair the car to a high standard and get estimates for repair - my car had roughly €1000 worth of structural damage behind the rear bumper to the rear, spare wheel well and surrounding area, even though there was only a crack and a few scratches in my bumper so that needed repairing along with the new bumper.

Call the other person involved with the two estimates you have and give them the option to pay themselves. If they are not willing to do this then let them know you are going to contact their insurance - then immediately contact their insurance company!

They will then contact the other party to confirm the story and if all goes well your car should be in with one of their garages to be repaired within a week.

In my case I had my car fully repaired and back in my hands in under 2 weeks. Communication between both the other party and their insurance company is key here. Never wait for them to ring you back, always be going after them and you will have it sorted in no time.

Good luck!

the corpo

thanks folks!

the corpo

just spoke to the other party, and got their details, phew.

they'd prefer to pay it themselves if the quote isn't too bad, which is fine by me. can anyone recommend a good mechanic in the cabra/ashtown area i could bring it to?

alias no.9

I had my car repaired at Soraghans when I was rear ended a few years ago. They're just at the end of the dual carriageway before you get to the halfway house roundabout coming in the navan road from the M50. They did a very professional repair but it was a full insurance job so they're likely to be pricey. They have enterprise car rental on site to provide a replacement car while yours is being fixed.