No contact from the person who's car I hit?

daisychain

4 weeks ago, I had a very minor collision with another car. I was coming out of a car park with high walls on both sides, had a good look right, then left, pulled out but a car sped from my right and my front bumper hit his wheel. As I was cautious of the poor visibility, I was doing less than 5mph. He pulled over, I pulled over, the damage was very minor but I wanted to call the guards anyway, just to have a record of the incident in case it ever went any further. A guard came, told me as I was the one pulling out, I was in the wrong. I agreed to pay for the damage, we exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers and went on our way.

The guy I hit, already had previous (worse) damage done around his other wheel and had been quoted €320 for that to be fixed, but had been working overtime and never brought it in to be done when it was booked. I told him when he was getting it done, get the damage I fixed done as well and I would pay the extra cost. I gave him my phone number and told him to ring me when he gets a price for it.

Now a month later I have heard nothing from him, surely he would have had it looked at by now. If he had lost my number, he could just call to the guards because they have it on file. But if he can't be bothered ringing me with the price, why should I go after him for it when it's only going to cost me money? Is there a certain time limit within which he can contact me, say if he rings me in 2 years time should I tell him to f**k off, that he had his chance or am I still liable?

NUTLEY BOY

daisychain wrote: »

4 weeks ago, I had a very minor collision with another car. I was coming out of a car park with high walls on both sides, had a good look right, then left, pulled out but a car sped from my right and my front bumper hit his wheel. As I was cautious of the poor visibility, I was doing less than 5mph. He pulled over, I pulled over, the damage was very minor but I wanted to call the guards anyway, just to have a record of the incident in case it ever went any further. A guard came, told me as I was the one pulling out, I was in the wrong. I agreed to pay for the damage, we exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers and went on our way.

The guy I hit, already had previous (worse) damage done around his other wheel and had been quoted €320 for that to be fixed, but had been working overtime and never brought it in to be done when it was booked. I told him when he was getting it done, get the damage I fixed done as well and I would pay the extra cost. I gave him my phone number and told him to ring me when he gets a price for it.

Now a month later I have heard nothing from him, surely he would have had it looked at by now. If he had lost my number, he could just call to the guards because they have it on file. But if he can't be bothered ringing me with the price, why should I go after him for it when it's only going to cost me money? Is there a certain time limit within which he can contact me, say if he rings me in 2 years time should I tell him to f**k off, that he had his chance or am I still liable?

I think that it is still 6 years within which to issue proceedings for property damage.

If he rings do not tell him to ***k off but refer him on to your insurers. You did notify them didn't you ?

Anan1

I'd maybe rethink the attitude, daisychain. You hit him, you were wrong, you're hardly in any position to be issuing edicts.;)

Rory123

Yes it is 6 years til you can politely tell him to stuff it. Statute of limitations or something like that majiggy! I've researched this myself as I'm in a similar situation a year and a half later... and I know she has plenty of contact details for me... she's just not arsed... which is funny as she acted like it was the end of the world when she came back to her car after I waited 3 hours to own up to the not-so-bad damage I caused when reversing out of a space, she even wanted to call the cops as she didn't trust that I had insurance! :eek: Only we agreed not to go through insurance as it would work out a million times cheaper for me in the long run.

Random

Make sure you report it to your insurance company or he could pop up in a few months time and leave your insurance with little choice but to pay out for damages which have been exageerated. Take some photos of the damage to your car aswell to put things in context.

daisychain

Apologies for my french, it was meant to be tongue in cheek.

Obviously I wouldn't tell him to get lost, I was just wondering if a certain amount of time elapsed, would he not be bothered ringing me.

I didn't inform my insurers, the repairs will be a few hundred max so I wouldn't bother upsetting my no claims bonus. I told him I would pay, he was actually being very apologetic towards me for some reason. There were no harsh words exchanged, it was all very amicable, once I got the guards opinion that I was responsible, I agreed to pay for the damage. The guard was happy with this so obviously if I did tell him to get lost, I would either get a summons or he would go directly to my insurance co. (guards took details from my disc)

Thanks for the advice, I have a picture of the damage but he seemed very honest anyway I don't think he'd try anything like that. I would just wonder, for a very small bit of damage, and seeing as he was getting other damage fixed anyway, would it be possible that he's just paying for it himself and not contacting me, say maybe if the repair bill was only €100 or something?

Leeside

daisychain wrote: »

I didn't inform my insurers, the repairs will be a few hundred max so I wouldn't bother upsetting my no claims bonus.

You won't lose your NCB unless a payment is made by your Insurers. Its best to let them know in case this develops into something bigger. It probably won't but its not unknown for whiplash claims to be made months after a minor incident.

Seth Brundle

daisychain wrote: »

I didn't inform my insurers, the repairs will be a few hundred max so I wouldn't bother upsetting my no claims bonus. I told him I would pay, he was actually being very apologetic towards me for some reason.

Are you 110% sure?
I got rear ended about six weeks ago. Did the usuals at the scene and I said that I would get some quotes and call him back. As it turned out, the damage to the car was about €5k!
Also that evening, things took a turn. My neck became sore and I got really bad headaches (migrane strength!). Went to the doc and then to a physio who also diagnosed a seatbelt injury in my lower back that I hadn't really paid heed to.
I'm still getting backache & sore necks, still having headaches and therefore still having to go to the physio. I have to spend about 30 minutes every day doing exercises to try and fix it all.
In all fairness to the other party, it was a genuine accident. Still I plan on making a claim for personal injury.
Tell your insurance company ASAP!!!

pinty52

Leeside wrote: »

You won't lose your NCB unless a payment is made by your Insurers. Its best to let them know in case this develops into something bigger. It probably won't but its not unknown for whiplash claims to be made months after a minor incident.

By law you do have to inform your insurers... for all you know this third party may already have informed your insurers - Sometimes insurance companies dont let their insured know if they have seen a garda report and deem that you were at fault........

But you must let your insurance company know if anything came of it failure to disclose could result in your insurance policy being canceled. You must tell them

Steve

As previously said, inform your insurance co. of the accident. It won't affect your NCB unless there is a claim.
Unfortunately there's nothing you can do except sit tight and wait - you never know, the other party may have reasons that they don't want attention drawn to themselves.

The fact that a guard was called and took statements is good, along with the photo you have, it means the damage cannot be exagerated (sp.?) later.

(sorry to hear that kb, hope you're ok)

Leeside

pinty52 wrote: »

By law you do have to inform your insurers...

I'm not aware of any law which says that. Can you elaborate?

Certainly, the insurance conditions would state that any potential claim must be advised to them within a certain time limit. Any delay can prejudice their investigations.

Always call your insurers whenever you are involved in an accident.

Slidey

Something like this happened to me in Donegal town in the diamond.
I was picking up a broken down Sprinter van and the place was mental busy with a french market.
I pulled in to get a spot cleared and when i had done so ran back and jmped into the truck and forgot about the tailswing, catchin the front bumper of a new RAV4.
Yer wan was sitting in and not best pleased.
Had had a VERY bad week so convinced her not to ring the garage and that i would pay for a new bumper and paint it. She eventally took my word for it and took the number off the side of the truck, my phone number and all the details off the drivers licence.
Must be 4 years later and I never heard a word since... \0/

craichoe

Could be that he wasnt supposed to be driving the car in the first place .. brothers car and not on the insurance or something.

Anyways, a guard saying "Its your fault" doesn't mean anything. Its down to a judge to decide.

Never admit liability, your just setting yourself up to get screwed !

cabrwab

I would be worried about the fact he could come back at any moment, i wouldn't contact him but he could just decide to get it fixed over the summer when he is off or something.

Depends how much damage is done too. At least he has your info to contact you, although another "nice" thing to do is ring and ask has he had a chance, sure you run the risk of reminding him, but you don't want him to have gone behind your back yo insurance companies etc! Id still inform the insurance company though