Read ended, any advice?

Mr Benevolent

I was rear ended at red lights on Thursday evening. The car looks ok, but when I looked closer the bumper mounts are almost pushed through the bumper, the boot floor is creased and the spare tyre is immovably wedged into the well. There's more minor damage as well - the boot lock is broken and the hatch door is slightly bent.

Thing is, my car is 2002 Corsa, so not worth much in the first place. The person who rear ended me wants to pay for the damage themselves, but I suspect when they get the bill for the above they'll change their minds. I haven't brought the car for a repair quote yet, but I think it'll be an economic writeoff.

Any ideas on how to proceed in that case? Would I buy the car back off the insurance company and have the damage repaired? Or just take the cheque and buy something else?

biko

Proceed by getting a quote by a panel beater or two and present it to the person who damaged your car.

pogsick

Same thing happened to me last year, I would advise getting it seen by 2 separate crash repair specialists, chances are the person will go via their insurance when they get the quote from you, good luck with it.

fl4pj4ck

was in similar situation last year and got a quote of e300, the guy paid it without going down the insurance route

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Above all, remember that you are doing the other person a favor by not going down the insurance route.
So it should be either your way or the highway!

bazz26

Get a few quotes from various repair shops to fix the car. You then choose which of these is the best for you to get the work done. Don't feel obligated to get it repaired where the other party thinks it will work out cheapest for them. Give the quote to the other party and let them decide if they want to pay for it themselves or go through their insurance.

Still inform your insurance company of the accident even though you are not lodging a claim. If the other party objects or drags their feet around the cost of the repairs then tell them that you will be dealing with their insurance company directly from now on.

GoodisonPark

Have been through this myself last year.
Initial damage did'nt look too bad but when my mechanic looked at it I had much the same damage as the OP.
Other person initially wanted to pay for repairs but when presented with two estimates in the region of €1500 he changed his tune.
I called his insurance company and they took over from there.
Provided me with a replacement car that day and sent an assessor out the following day.
Assessor felt the car was'nt worth repairing , so after a little negotiating agreed a settlement fee with the insurance company and had a cheque from them within a week.
Id advise going that route and the other person still has the option to settle if he so wishes , but at least with his insurance company at his heels it wont drag on.

Good luck.

antodeco

Similar happened me! Brought it to a main garage to get fixed and it came to €4200 for a repair that looked fine on the outside. Car was only worth around €5000 but the 3rd parties insurance were happy to save the €800!

Del2005

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

I was rear ended at red lights on Thursday evening. The car looks ok, but when I looked closer the bumper mounts are almost pushed through the bumper, the boot floor is creased and the spare tyre is immovably wedged into the well. There's more minor damage as well - the boot lock is broken and the hatch door is slightly bent.

Thing is, my car is 2002 Corsa, so not worth much in the first place. The person who rear ended me wants to pay for the damage themselves, but I suspect when they get the bill for the above they'll change their minds. I haven't brought the car for a repair quote yet, but I think it'll be an economic writeoff.

Any ideas on how to proceed in that case? Would I buy the car back off the insurance company and have the damage repaired? Or just take the cheque and buy something else?

I got side swiped by a fellow in a van. He said he'd pay it himself and send him on some quotes. The whole passenger side was damaged but as it was a 13 year old JDM it would have cost a lot more than it was worth to fix.

Never bothered looking for quotes, just called him a few days later and said quotes where coming in at more than the price of car. We agreed he'd pay me the value of the car and I happily drove it for a few more years before passing it on. It eventually had to be parked up when the windscreen got a huge crack.

Get the quotes, which will be huge, and the average asking price for 02 Corsa's with similar mileage/condition. Bring both options to the other driver and see what they say. If they don't play ball you can still call the insurance company, but they won't give you anywhere near the what you think your car is worth when written off.