Advice on front bumper tip - They don't want to go through insurance

Lekrub

Looking for advice as I'm sure someone has been in this scenario before.

Someone has reversed pretty hard into my front bumper in a car park. I was walking towards the car when it happened too and saw the whole thing.

Its a w203 sport with factory amg kit.

The damage:
-Bumper has some rough deep scracthes now needs a respray i'd say but is not cracked.
-The trim insert with chrome is damaged though and is popped out
-There is now a gap between the bonnet and side panel by the headlight. Getting smaller at the end of the bonnet. The passenger door seems ok and doesnt catch or anything

Got details and getting cash price first from two repair shops tomorrow. The other driver said they will go insurance route if it is too expensive.

Question:
Is there anything else I can do to ensure I dont get screwed over? I felt like it was too small to call the guards on since its all on shop camera if I need it. I have pics of it and their insurance details etc. The bang was pretty hard so im not sure if there is a small bit of chassis/steering/rad/ac damage etc.

cheers
Ps hope the lads have better luck in 45 mins than I do!

Cee-Jay-Cee

You claim on their insurance not your own.

The shop won't give you the CCTV footage due to Data protection laws so unless you inform Gardai and give them all the details then you can't rely on cctv footage as evidence and even then they're not going to seek it as there are no injuries.

Inform your own insurance immediately. Give them the details of the other driver.

Report the details to Gardai now also.

Is the other driver saying it's not their fault or why do you think there could be difficulties?

mickdw

If the other driver is being genuine, get a fair quote and see what they say.
Your car is a fair few years old at this stage so you really have no worries about it being devalued when repaired or anything like that.

biko

Get some quotes and let the other driver decide if they want to go cask or insurance route.

Lekrub

The other driver is being genuine and said they would rather see if they can pay for the damage themselves first, instead of me putting in a claim against them today.

Never had to deal with insurance before so am I screwing myself over by not reporting it straight away? Or will it all be good If I wait until I see what the repair bill is tomorrow, and if it is higher than they want to pay, I then get onto my insurance crowd. Im thinking around 400 mark for realignment and respray if no underlying damage.

Regards the cameras I know they wont give it to me but if the guards ask for it Monday they would still have it. Wish I had a dashcam..

endacl

I'd inform insurance company anyway. Doesn't mean you will claim, but it's best to have your paper trail in order in case of a change of mind when the bill comes in.

Lekrub

Thats the thing. Its the paper trail thing Im worried about. If it was a new car I would of rang straight away.

I just want to make sure I'm fully covered, but don't want to unnecessarily screw them over if they are happy to give me the cash/pay the repair place directly once I get the quote.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Report it to the Gardai immediately if only for record purposes and at least if the other driver turns turk in a few weeks time at least there's a record of it. The Gardai won't request cctv footage for a non injury collision so I can't see you getting it in any event.

bazz26

You need to inform your insurance company irrespective of whether you are claiming against your insurance or someone else's. They are not being asked to get involved but need to be aware of the incident all the same in the event the other party changes their story and makes a counterclaim against you.

As for the other party, just get a quote for the repair and give it to them, it's up to them then if they want to pay it themselves or go through their insurance. Remember that you choose who repairs it, not the liable party.

mgbgt1978

Exactly what Cee said. The main reason for reporting it to the Gardai is to obtain a Pulse Number for the incident.
This is the 1st thing your Insurance company (and the other party's company) will look for in the event of a claim.
Doing this will not affect the other driver's Insurance, it will just make things easier for you if you need to go down the Insurance route later.

Liam McPoyle

What's to stop the person saying you rear ended them?

Maybe they are genuine.

What id say is get a quote from a garage and see what they say.

I'd also ring your own insurer in the morning and tell them what happened, just tell them it's for notification only and that the other person has said they will arrange the repairs.

While it would be great to be able to fully trust people, the chance of a nice fat pay off turns many many people into bastards.

Nonoperational

If they are genuine get a decent bodyshop to repair it. Will actually probably be better than new because all stone chips etc will be repaired. Should be around €300 for a respray in a good place.

Lekrub

Sound for the advice. I'll call my insurance and let em know tomorrow morning, gonna stop off for two quotes on the way home from work and will go to the guards for a pulse number anyway. Then I'll call the other driver and see what they say about the quote.

Vic_08

Lekrub wrote: »

Sound for the advice. I'll call my insurance and let em know tomorrow morning, gonna stop off for two quotes on the way home from work and will go to the guards for a pulse number anyway. Then I'll call the other driver and see what they say about the quote.

If they start complaining about it or demanding you go to a place they know or some guy who will do it cheaper or any other nonsense don't get dragged into an argument, just tell them you will get back to them and disengage.

Then immediately put a claim in against THEIR insurance and also inform your insurance company you are doing so.

Plenty of people seem very reasonable and contrite after causing a collision. A few days later when faced with a big bill and the "expert" opinions of family, friends or mick from the local in their ears telling them that they are being screwed by the man and are entitled to a nice payout for their sore neck you can easily end up on the defense against a made-up claim.

BreadnBuddha

There's only one way to avoid hassle here and you running around getting quotes, pulse number, calling your insurer, being without transport while your car is repaired...that's not it.

Call their insurer and let them assess it, arrange a repair and get you alternative transport while it's being sorted/painted etc.

Fair is fair here. They reversed into your car, scratched the bumper, broke some trim and it sounds like either a damaged headlamp and/or wing and possibly even the crush/crash cans and other damage behind the bumper. That's on them. You and they have insurance to take care of these kinds of things and if they don't want to be loaded on their policy at renewal, they have the option to pay off the claim with their insurer afterwards.

Depending on what damage is done, the repair could be closer to a grand or thereabouts, PLUS all the farting about you'll end up doing. That's not the smart way to fix a problem someone else made. You're not screwing them over by dealing with it the way it's supposed to be dealt with.

mgbgt1978

His own Insurer won't give him anything unless he has fully comp.
Also if this is not sorted out before his renewal he will pay a fortune to renew (and no other Insurer will touch him) as he will have an open claim against him.

Liam McPoyle

You should also google the person that hit you too.

My wife was involved in a similar incident two years ago - someone reversed into the front of her car at at a petrol station - and yer man didn't want to go through insurance and he offered to sort the repairs.

Turns out he had had some brushes with the law over the previous couple of years so I just rang his insurer, brought the car to a local repairer and let them sort it out.

Sh1tbag OToole

Saul T Nutzz wrote: »

You should also google the person that hit you too.

My wife was involved in a similar incident two years ago - someone reversed into the front of her car at at a petrol station - and yer man didn't want to go through insurance and he offered to sort the repairs.

Turns out he had had some brushes with the law over the previous couple of years so I just rang his insurer, brought the car to a local repairer and let them sort it out.

So instead of giving yer man a chance to pay up you more than likely ended up costing him 1000s in extra insurance costs over the next few years just because what Uncle GOOG turned up for his name wasn't to your liking. Jaysus I hope I'm never unfortunate enough to crash into someone like you anyway

Though I suppose if everyone who put a scratch on someone's car lost their no claim and had to pay the extra 1,000 quid a year you'd be in line for a nice juicy pay rise

2Mad2BeMad

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Saul T Nutzz wrote: »

You should also google the person that hit you too.

My wife was involved in a similar incident two years ago - someone reversed into the front of her car at at a petrol station - and yer man didn't want to go through insurance and he offered to sort the repairs.

Turns out he had had some brushes with the law over the previous couple of years so I just rang his insurer, brought the car to a local repairer and let them sort it out.

So instead of giving yer man a chance to pay up you more than likely ended up costing him 1000s in extra insurance costs over the next few years just because what Uncle GOOG turned up for his name wasn't to your liking. Jaysus I hope I'm never unfortunate enough to crash into someone like you anyway

Though I suppose if everyone who put a scratch on someone's car lost their no claim and had to pay the extra 1,000 quid a year you'd be in line for a nice juicy pay rise

To be fair. Theirs more people screwing other people over fake injury claims. Or even saying they will fix with cash but then saying nothing happened a few days later.
Works both ways. If someone hit my car I'd get insurance claim on it. If it's a scrap and just needs a respray I ask for cash upfront their and then or insurance. Can't trust anyone when it comes to cars hitting cars.

BreadnBuddha

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Though I suppose if everyone who put a scratch on someone's car lost their no claim and had to pay the extra 1,000 quid a year you'd be in line for a nice juicy pay rise

More like, they'd learn to be a bit more careful and stop damaging other peoples cars for lack of it.

Liam McPoyle

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

So instead of giving yer man a chance to pay up you more than likely ended up costing him 1000s in extra insurance costs over the next few years just because what Uncle GOOG turned up for his name wasn't to your liking. Jaysus I hope I'm never unfortunate enough to crash into someone like you anyway

Though I suppose if everyone who put a scratch on someone's car lost their no claim and had to pay the extra 1,000 quid a year you'd be in line for a nice juicy pay rise

Yes, give her car to a convicted criminal, that's what any person would do in the circumstances.

:rolleyes:

I have the advantage of knowledge and I know what many people are like when it comes to insurance.

So you know what you can do with your holier than thou opinion.

Sh1tbag OToole

Saul T Nutzz wrote: »

Yes, give her car to a convicted criminal, that's what any person would do in the circumstances.

:rolleyes:

I have the advantage of knowledge and I know what many people are like when it comes to insurance.

So you know what you can do with your holier than thou opinion.

I never said anything about giving him the car but he could pay you or the repair lad directly

Liam McPoyle

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

I never said anything about giving him the car but he could pay you or the repair lad directly

He wanted to take the car and bring it to a friend of his.

Sh1tbag OToole

Saul T Nutzz wrote: »

He wanted to take the car and bring it to a friend of his.

That sounds dodgy alright, wouldn't have gone along with that plan myself.

SuperS54

In these situations where you may have accidentally run into someone and try to do the right thing and offer to pay without going through the hassle and expense of insurance, are you actually potentially screwing yourself? It's my understanding that you are never supposed to admit fault in an accident at the roadside, even if it's clearly your fault as this opens your insurance company up to accepting the full claim. Offering to pay for the other vehicle is clearly an admission of guilt.

Liam McPoyle

SuperS54 wrote: »

In these situations where you may have accidentally run into someone and try to do the right thing and offer to pay without going through the hassle and expensive of insurance, are you actually potentially screwing yourself? It's my understanding that you are never supposed to admit fault in an accident at the roadside, even if it's clearly your fault as this opens your insurance company up to accepting the full claim. Offering to pay for the other vehicle is clearing an admission of guilt.

Absolutely.

Iirc there has been at least one thread in here over the last 12 months or so of someone being involved in a very minor prang, seemingly having a gentleman's arrangement to sort out the damages without the insurance company only for the other person to suddenly develop a stiff neck.

grogi

Lekrub wrote: »

The other driver is being genuine and said they would rather see if they can pay for the damage themselves first, instead of me putting in a claim against them today.

Can't really blame her/him with the current insurance climate.

Get a quote from a body shop, on genuine parts. Repair of something like that will be four figure, they will go through insurance in the end.

Blazer

I had a tip in my car recently and the crash repair guy said to me when I mentioned that yer one was going to pay for it was basically "bull****..every single of them says that and 95% of all the cars he's repaired end up going through the insurance companies. He mentioned a ball park figure of €500...anything above that and they go the insurance route.
Bumpers tend to be expensive on newer cars as you can't really see the damage that's been done until its removed and it could be worse than it looks going by the bumper.

Lekrub

So an update is I got 3 quotes. €400 to €900. All said that they are very confident there is no internal damage and its just a bumper repair job and adjusting the wing.

One guy advised the bumper insert should be replaced at €251 - merc prices :eek:

But I know it can be just lightly bonded and fixed so that's the difference in price really.

Confident there is no sneaky hidden damage I'm going the non insurance route. Since the bumper is getting done I'm gonna get the stone chipped bonnet sprayed (outta my own pocket but at a reduced price) at the same time since everything will be off the car and the booth going. The other driver has paid the body shop directly already.

I doubt I'll regret it as I have done a fair amount of milage and have been driving it every day and would know if somethings up by now.

So that's one less reason for premiums to go up this year. If I had a newer car though it would be insurance all the way.

I'll post a pic next week when its done.

Kristopherus

Lekrub wrote: »

So an update is I got 3 quotes. €400 to €900. All said that they are very confident there is no internal damage and its just a bumper repair job and adjusting the wing.

One guy advised the bumper insert should be replaced at €251 - merc prices :eek:

But I know it can be just lightly bonded and fixed so that's the difference in price really.

Confident there is no sneaky hidden damage I'm going the non insurance route. Since the bumper is getting done I'm gonna get the stone chipped bonnet sprayed (outta my own pocket but at a reduced price) at the same time since everything will be off the car and the booth going. The other driver has paid the body shop directly already.

I doubt I'll regret it as I have done a fair amount of milage and have been driving it every day and would know if somethings up by now.

So that's one less reason for premiums to go up this year. If I had a newer car though it would be insurance all the way.

I'll post a pic next week when its done.

Pics before and after, please:).

Lekrub

So I said I would posts back when this was done after getting advice and only getting around to it now.

The bumper trim was badly scratched, slightly damaged and wing not aligned after someone reversed into me.

Went to Kenny Bros on Tramore Road in Cork (other driver paid). I paid to get my bonnet done myself (at a discount) since the bumper was being done. This post is to say they done a smashing job. Credit to them its a perfect blend.

So treated myself to to a new grill too and removed the merc badge.