Accident advice

Jimmy Bottlehead

Hey all.

Had my first wee accident today... at a roundabout I (stupidly) nudged into the person in front. Did no damage to me, cracked his bumper a bit along the top. No other damage.
I'm a named driver on my fathers insurance, and me and the other guy exchanged numbers and names.

Thing is, my dad owns a couple trucks and covers them with the same company so I'm worried this will fook up his no claims bonus and cost him

I really don't want anyone to find out, most of all my father, so what happens from here on in? Is a cracked bumper costly to fix and can it be settled privately outside of insurance companies?

Bricking it here so any advice is great. Thanks.

guil

what car did ya hit, could be cheap to fix depending on the car

mathepac

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

... I'm a named driver on my fathers insurance, and me and the other guy exchanged numbers and names ...
I really don't want anyone to find out, most of all my father, so what happens from here on in? Is a cracked bumper costly to fix and can it be settled privately outside of insurance companies? ...

Why in God's name would you even consider keeping this from your father? It's his insurance FFS and he needs to know, urgently, before the insurance company / broker contact him.

As a professional owner/driver his insurance is an important part of earning his livelihood. I have no idea waht his insurance arrangemants are but if the other guy initiates a claim, it could have serious implications for your father's commercial insurance.

Jimmy Bottlehead

guil wrote: »

what car did ya hit, could be cheap to fix depending on the car

Volkswagen Golf GT TDI, but it was up north outside Belfast and NI plates don't show age. I'm not 100% positive but I think he may have said he's had the car either two or four years with no bother... but he also said he's in the process of selling it, so I'm really anxious as to whether I'll get fucked over. And I didn't take pics there and then, only thought of it after. My friend, who was with me, did see the damage though, so he was a witness.

Jimmy Bottlehead

mathepac wrote: »

Why in God's name would you even consider keeping this from your father? It's his insurance FFS and he needs to know, urgently, before the insurance company / broker contact him.

As a professional owner/driver his insurance is an important part of earning his livelihood. I have no idea waht his insurance arrangemants are but if the other guy initiates a claim, it could have serious implications for your father's commercial insurance.

It's mainly due to feeling stupid and inept. Plus if I had the possibility to settle outside of a claim, I'd prefer to take the fall instead of him and his policy. It's guilt.

mikemac

Realy, don't be stressing over it.
Best to tell your father and offer to pay any damages once you get a final figure.
Relax, these things happen, nobody was hurt and you learned from it.

And if your dad owns a fleet of vehicles he is probably very aware of what to do in these cases.

talkin

It'd cost about 260 to fix. ask him not to go through the insurance

Absurdum

Best to own up to your dad, it will be a lot worse if it comes back and bites you on the arse in a few months.

It can happen to anyone, don't fret about it.

Jimmy Bottlehead

talkin wrote: »

It'd cost about 260 to fix. ask him not to go through the insurance

Ouch... is it really that much for the few cracks?!

Still if it's off the insurance, better than a claim.

jap gt

talkin wrote: »

It'd cost about 260 to fix. ask him not to go through the insurance

how can you tell it will be 260, without seeing the car?
op tell your father and wait until the other driver contacts you

Alanstrainor

Absurdum wrote: »

Best to own up to your dad, it will be a lot worse if it comes back and bites you on the arse in a few months.

It can happen to anyone, don't fret about it.

Completely agree. I can see where you're coming from, but it's not a big deal, these things happen, no one was hurt, it'll be grand.

Fol20

Did you call the gardai when the accident happened.A while back a friend of mine nudged into a car.barely a scratch on it.They exchanged numbers and a few days later she finds out,theres a claim against her. Somehow,there was extensive damage done to the back of the car and the 3 people in the car all claimed whiplash against her.better to sort this out sooner rather than later because you would never know what some people are like.Not trying to freak you out,just telling you to cover yourself.

Id tell your father as well,I know you dont want to,but he might have measures to protect himself incase something like this happened.

Jimmy Bottlehead

No we didn't call the police. The other guy had a friend with him and I had my friend. We all got out, no complaints in the least from anybody, talked for about 10 min after exchanging details and left. He said he'd call tonight or more likely tomorrow. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow night I'll tell my dad, I'd just prefer if I can handle it myself.

Also, thanks very much to everybody for the replies, first accident, and it's not pleasant, so it's very thoughtful of everyone to be nice.

djimi

Fol20 wrote: »

Did you call the gardai when the accident happened.A while back a friend of mine nudged into a car.barely a scratch on it.They exchanged numbers and a few days later she finds out,theres a claim against her. Somehow,there was extensive damage done to the back of the car and the 3 people in the car all claimed whiplash against her.better to sort this out sooner rather than later because you would never know what some people are like.Not trying to freak you out,just telling you to cover yourself.

Id tell your father as well,I know you dont want to,but he might have measures to protect himself incase something like this happened.

This is why you always take extensive pictures at any accident, no matter how small it may be. Everyone has a camera phone these days so its not that hard to do and can save a lot of hassle in the long run. You can have as many witnesses as you like but nothing beats photographic evidence!

djimi

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

No we didn't call the police. The other guy had a friend with him and I had my friend. We all got out, no complaints in the least from anybody, talked for about 10 min after exchanging details and left. He said he'd call tonight or more likely tomorrow. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow night I'll tell my dad, I'd just prefer if I can handle it myself.

Also, thanks very much to everybody for the replies, first accident, and it's not pleasant, so it's very thoughtful of everyone to be nice.

For that kind of damage Id make every effort to not go thru the insurance if at all possible, but even if they do go thru the insurance, you can pay the insurance company back the amount which they paid out before the renewal date on the policy and if its cleared off then it doesnt affect the policy or the NCB. Might be another option if the policy has some time to run and you cant afford the money immediately.

Of course double check with your insurance company first that this is valid and that they dont have some other way of operating!

x in the city

Ive been driving since 1994, had no accidents ever but a blint in cork wouldn't heed way for me a good bit back and i tipped her qtr panel, other drivers beckoned me on but she didnt observe. anyway.

i told her calm down i can get your panel done, twas only a nudge. i never got her number , my bad. only her plate.

end result, 4 years NCB wiped from my policy over that.


ridiculous

Jimmy Bottlehead

Got some excellent news there, he just rang me and is happy to sort it out without insurance companies being involved, as he understands what it does for a record. He did say that he told his insurance company "to keep himself right" but they won't be taking it further.

So we're going to sort it privately. He's going to get a quote and let me know. So what happens from now? How can I make sure he's being legit and not ripping me off? And what's the best way to pay?

mikemac

Wait for a quote, it may be a lot higher then you think.
Report back here and posters will let you know what they think.

You can ask for a second quote if you wish if you think it's excessive but realy, you'd be surprised what repairs cost.

If you've not informed your Dad yet then realy you've ignored a lot of people here so I'm going to assume you've done this
And you're supposed to inform your insurance company if you are in an accident, even if there is no claim afterwards. It's in the first few pages of your booklet

Jimmy Bottlehead

feelingstressed wrote: »

Wait for a quote, it may be a lot higher then you think.
Report back here and posters will let you know what they think.

You can ask for a second quote if you wish if you think it's excessive but realy, you'd be surprised what repairs cost.

If you've not informed your Dad yet then realy you've ignored a lot of people here so I'm going to assume you've done this
And you're supposed to inform your insurance company if you are in an accident, even if there is no claim afterwards. It's in the first few pages of your booklet

I just spoke to my dad there... kinda felt that if I didn't listen to everybody's advice I'd be a bit of a knob

It was fine, he completely understood and said that what happened can happen to anybody. He's going to report it to the insurance company too to safeguard against any medical claims or whatever, but it's a weight off my shoulders.

Once I get a quote I'll post it up here... just HOPING it's not excessive But you make a mistake, you pay the price. Still better than making a mess of the No Claims Bonus for the father - after about 30 years of never having an accident, I don't wanna be the one to end that!

djimi

FWIW I was on the receiving end of a similar incident a couple of years ago while driving a 99 Civic saloon; girl ran up the back of me at the top of a motorway slip road, no major damage, just a crack in the bumper. I cant remember the exact figures but I think the bumper was in or around €250 and then another €150 to get it fitted and sprayed (the price of the bumper Im pretty sure about, the fitting and spraying I could be wrong about). The bumper on the Civic was completely standard (no light fittings or anything like that), and I ordered it from a Honda main dealer.

Might give you some indication as to what to expect in terms of repair cost.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Ok got the quote, and it's £295 / €355 for a new bumper for a 2004 Volkswagon Golf TDi. My dad has talked to the guy and the garage involved, and the guy knows the garage owner so he says it's for near enough cost price plus a little labour for paint etc.

Does that sound fair enough?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Bump

djimi

Its roughly what I was being charged by a main Honda dealer to get the bumper on my Civic replaced. If it were for your own car you might be able to pick up the bumper in a scrap yard or the likes, but given that its someone elses car then its probably what youre going to end up paying.