crash on friday, what to do?

sodmg

On friday i reversed into a new passat.. barely even touched it but ended up doing 3000 euro damages. Now i have to make a choice in the next 24 hours.. let it go threw the insurance or pay it myself. I'm on a learner permit and was in the car on my own.. i can't pay the 3k myself so if i let it go threw the insurance will they pay up? I pay monthly for the insurance, i still got like 7 months to pay up. Whats the best option here?

Faith+1

sodmg wrote: »

On friday i reversed into a new passat.. barely even touched it but ended up doing 3000 euro damages. Now i have to make a choice in the next 24 hours.. let it go threw the insurance or pay it myself. I'm on a learner permit and was in the car on my own.. i can't pay the 3k myself so if i let it go threw the insurance will they pay up? I pay monthly for the insurance, i still got like 7 months to pay up. Whats the best option here?

What damage did you exactly cause?? Because 3k seems abit excessive for a light tip as you've said. Personally from the sounds of it I think you're getting screwed by the other driver.

If I were you I'd tell them to take the car to YOUR mechanic who'll do the repair, that way the car gets repaired and you know you're not getting ripped off. I'd recommend paying for the damage if you get a lower price as you don't want a claim so early into your driving career.

Good luck.

flyingsnail

More than likely you will need a body shop not a mechanic. If it was a new passat the owner probably took it to a main dealer for repairs, this in itself would make it more expensive. Without knowing the location and extent of the damage it is hard to put a price on it. Do you have a breakdown of what the 3k is for? The other owner may also charging you for extras like car hire.

si_guru

Bare in mind the other owner has every right to put it through his own insurance who will claim off of you. You cannot stop that.

At this point you may well be expect to cough all the installments to remain covered.

Del2005

Faith+1 wrote: »

If I were you I'd tell them to take the car to YOUR mechanic who'll do the repair, that way the car gets repaired and you know you're not getting ripped off. I'd recommend paying for the damage if you get a lower price as you don't want a claim so early into your driving career.

If you cause the crash you've no choice in how much or where the car is repaired. And you also have no control after paying over the money, either you or your insurance company, if the person you crashed into fixes the car or not.

Telling someone you hit to bring their car to YOUR mechanic is not a good idea.

OP, If you can't afford €3k then you have to go through insurance. You don't have 7 months to pay up, you have 7 months till your insurance is due for renewal, you have to pay ASAP for the damage you caused.

Faith+1

Del2005 wrote: »

If you cause the crash you've no choice in how much or where the car is repaired. And you also have no control after paying over the money, either you or your insurance company, if the person you crashed into fixes the car or not.

Telling someone you hit to bring their car to YOUR mechanic is not a good idea.

Of course you do. You are still getting the other drivers car repaired within the confines of the law. I know people who have done this with no problems down the line. Just because the OP caused the damage doesn't mean he hasn't a voice or opinion either.

Del2005

Faith+1 wrote: »

Of course you do. You are still getting the other drivers car repaired within the confines of the law. I know people who have done this with no problems down the line. Just because the OP caused the damage doesn't mean he hasn't a voice or opinion either.

But the person doesn't have to use your mechanic/garage. They may but there's nothing that forces them to.

quietriot

If someone crashed into my car I'd take it to a dealership to be fixed and tell the person to get f*cked if they think I'm letting their friends garage touch my car in the name of saving their insurance premium a bit of a hit.

Who would? I mean really, bar some absolute softie, who is going to let someone who caused an accident try to get out of it as cheaply as possible at a cost of potentially the quality of the the repair done to your own car?

Sodmg, put it through the insurance and deal with the consequences.

Faith+1

quietriot wrote: »

If someone crashed into my car I'd take it to a dealership to be fixed and tell the person to get f*cked if they think I'm letting their friends garage touch my car in the name of saving their insurance premium a bit of a hit.

Who would? I mean really, bar some absolute softie, who is going to let someone who caused an accident try to get out of it as cheaply as possible at a cost of potentially the quality of the the repair done to your own car?

Sodmg, put it through the insurance and deal with the consequences.

Okay so I gather that if you 'Tipped' off the car like the OP and you were quoted €3000 you'd put it through your insurance?? Fair play to you.

Alanstrainor

Faith+1 wrote: »

Okay so I gather that if you 'Tipped' off the car like the OP and you were quoted €3000 you'd put it through your insurance?? Fair play to you.

The thing is though, usually the OP has no say in the matter, it's just that the person has gotten a quote and let them know that if they'd prefer not to go through insurance they can cough up.

If you crash into someone you have no say whether it goes through insurance or not. It's the injured party that decides that.

quietriot

Faith+1 wrote: »

Okay so I gather that if you 'Tipped' off the car like the OP and you were quoted €3000 you'd put it through your insurance?? Fair play to you.

I don't have €3,000 in my pocket to hand out in such a case and indeed, actively pay insurance to cover such incidences, so yeah, I would be putting it through the insurance.

I can understand the person's point of view that he feels the other person has gotten a very expensive quote for it and that it could probably be done cheaper elsewhere, but that's why should the guy who owns the damaged car care? He wants his car fixed to a high quality and those repairs guaranteed, which is why he brought it to an authorized dealership, instead of his mate Anto who does a bit of body work on the side.

If someone drove into my car, I would expect that they (and their insurance) would pay for it to be put back to the condition it was in before they hit it. Similarly, if I damage goods belonging to someone else, it is right that I see to it that it is put back to the condition it was in before I damaged it and accept any costs involved (and by extension, it's up to the insurer to accept that where their client is found liable).

Fair is fair. These are our cars, they cost us presumably a lot of money and I don't see why we should accept sub-par, unguaranteed repair work in the name of saving the person who damaged our car a few quid.

Faith+1

quietriot wrote: »

Fair is fair. These are our cars, they cost us presumably a lot of money and I don't see why we should accept sub-par, unguaranteed repair work in the name of saving the person who damaged our car a few quid.

And I completely agree with you however I go to a fantastic Mechanic/Panel beater not some dingy back alley chancer. I just think for €3000 the OP is being taken advantage off and this should be nipped in the bud.

arleitiss

To be honest, I am on my learner permit, doing EDT, and this thread just has literally scared me away from trying or even thinking to drive without accompanied driver and now I wont. Also I told my ADI about this situation and what should person do, he said better find cash to pay off, as there is no fact that insurance will pay off and that you might get into even more legal trouble, but dont know that's what my ADI said understanding from what I told him.

Alanstrainor

There were no gards called, the fact that the OP was alone wont come into play at all. Of course they shouldn't have been driving unaccompanied, but this wont affect the OPs situation.

Del2005

Faith+1 wrote: »

And I completely agree with you however I go to a fantastic Mechanic/Panel beater not some dingy back alley chancer. I just think for €3000 the OP is being taken advantage off and this should be nipped in the bud.

I know plenty of cheap panel beaters.

I know a person who's bike they used for work was knocked over while parked on the road. They agreed to do it off insurnace. When they went to the persons house to collect the money for the bikes repair, which was all done by the my friend and they only wanted the money for parts not the days of lost work, they walked past a couple of high end Mercs. The ***** gave my friend the cheque for a couple of hundred €s, but made a snide comment about feeling good taking money off them.

Since then I've decided that if someone does damage to anything I own I ain't doing any favours for them. But I've let honest people off for doing minor damage, when they've owned even though they could have got away with it.

Faith+1

Del2005 wrote: »

I know a person who's bike they used for work was knocked over while parked on the road. They agreed to do it off insurnace. When they went to the persons house to collect the money for the bikes repair, which was all done by the my friend and they only wanted the money for parts not the days of lost work, they walked past a couple of high end Mercs. The ***** gave my friend the cheque for a couple of hundred €s, but made a snide comment about feeling good taking money off them.

That's just a fact of life Del. Chancers everywhere.

4odh4n

surely if going thought insurance, the ins companies should have some responsibility when it comes to getting the quotes for repairs AND following them though???
i rear ended a car a few years back, guy i hit was sound and had no prob with me paying to fix the car but had to go through proper garage, fair enough, quoted 3000k for repair. bit steep, but as i had a pretty high performance car and was >25yo it was still going to be cheaper than going through the insurance.
i got quote for the work and part of it was a new floor panel or something and it was crazy money, good few hundred, i then found out the garage were trying to source a secondhand one!! Now i dont know if they would have still charged me for the new one had i not found this out?, they didnt when the bill came out, but how much of this carry on is going on and insurance co's just handing over cheques left right and centre??

matt70iu

sodmg wrote: »

On friday i reversed into a new passat.. barely even touched it but ended up doing 3000 euro damages. Now i have to make a choice in the next 24 hours.. let it go threw the insurance or pay it myself. I'm on a learner permit and was in the car on my own.. i can't pay the 3k myself so if i let it go threw the insurance will they pay up? I pay monthly for the insurance, i still got like 7 months to pay up. Whats the best option here?

I would advise to go through your insurance if you can't afford the 3 grand. Also leaves a paper trail if there's problems later.

I had an accident a few years back with liberty/quinn. My fault, 2,500 the claim came to.

I was then given the option of paying back the claim before my renewal in order to keep my NCB and the policy from getting loaded.

Might be an option for you before your renewal in a few months and will also buy you more time , while keeping the third party happy as he/she now has their car fixed.

Del2005

4odh4n wrote: »

surely if going thought insurance, the ins companies should have some responsibility when it comes to getting the quotes for repairs AND following them though???
i rear ended a car a few years back, guy i hit was sound and had no prob with me paying to fix the car but had to go through proper garage, fair enough, quoted 3000k for repair. bit steep, but as i had a pretty high performance car and was >25yo it was still going to be cheaper than going through the insurance.
i got quote for the work and part of it was a new floor panel or something and it was crazy money, good few hundred, i then found out the garage were trying to source a secondhand one!! Now i dont know if they would have still charged me for the new one had i not found this out?, they didnt when the bill came out, but how much of this carry on is going on and insurance co's just handing over cheques left right and centre??

Insurance companies are the biggest scammers. They do all claims on OEM new parts at dealer rates.

A lot of cars are unnecessarily written off because they aren't economical to repair, you can write off a lot of cars by scrapping each panel. As the insurance claim will be to replace all the panels, when a decent body shop could make it near perfect for a couple of grand.

Don't forget it's not their money they are paying out. If they pay out too much they just increase premiums and drag some stats out to prove that it's our fault, as stats can be made to say whether you want them to say.