50/50 light collision in car park. How to proceed?

Cunning Alias

First time anything like this has happened to me, so looking for advice.

I was in a garage carpark earlier and myself and another person reversed into eachother. It was an awkward angle neither of us saw eachother. We were both moving quite slowly.

The other drivers van has no damage but my rear bumper has a chunk of paint missing down to the primer and numerous cracks in the remaining paint around the area. It will need to be repaired.

The garage had video footage of us and it shows we were both moving, so 50/50 seems right in my mind and the other guy seemed to agree.

I got his details and I am expecting a call from his boss (van owner) this evening. Should I expect them to pay for part of the repair costs? Full costs? Not really sure how to proceed.

Cordell

I'd say since you were both at fault each to look after their own damage. If the other driver has no damage then lucky him.

Cunning Alias

So if instead of a van this was an i8, I could tell them to look after their own more expensive repairs? Doesn't seem right to me.

bear1

What is it you want to do? He pay for your damage and you pay for his?
You both reversed into each other and you both are saying it's 50/50 so... you pay for your repairs and he pays for his.

Cunning Alias

bear1 wrote: »

What is it you want to do? He pay for your damage and you pay for his?

Based on the way insurance works in this country, pretty much. If my insurance is there to cover the costs of someone else in the event of a serious accident, I would assume the same logic applies to something small scale.

If that's the way it is then there is not much I can do I suppose.

Yawns

The common sense approach would be each to look after their own repairs. Neither of you want to go through insurance as both were at fault and both will be royally screwed for years to come. Have you gotten a quote for the repair. It prob won't be too much to be worth the hassle of chasing someone over.

Yawns

Remember if you go insurance you will most likely have an excess to pay which will probably not be far off your own repair price if you get one. Then of course premium goes up afterwards.

bear1

Cunning Alias wrote: »

Based on the way insurance works in this country, pretty much. If my insurance is there to cover the costs of someone else in the event of a serious accident, I would assume the same logic applies to something small scale.

If that's the way it is then there is not much I can do I suppose.

You'd be mad go lodge a claim through your insurance company.
The other party too.
You both reversed into each, take it as a lesson to be more attentive in future and either leave the car as it is or pay for your damage.
I wouldn't whisper a thing of this to my insurance company.

If I were you though, I'd ask the garage politely if they would give you a copy of the incident in case the van driver decides to be a smart ass about it.

Cunning Alias

Wouldn't be going the insurance route at all. Not the end of the world I suppose.

Waiting on quotes and I have found a bumper in a breakers yard in the same year/colour that I could fit myself if it was in decent nick.

bear1 wrote: »

If I were you though, I'd ask the garage politely if they would give you a copy of the incident in case the van driver decides to be a smart ass about it.

Manager who showed us the video said he would hold on to it for me.

Cordell

Cunning Alias wrote: »

So if instead of a van this was an i8, I could tell them to look after their own more expensive repairs? Doesn't seem right to me.

Sure I would, but in that case probably the insurance will be involved.

Yawns

That's prob the best way out of it. Sure it's annoying you're out of pocket and the other person probably is not. But at the end of the day you both caused it unfortunately. Nothing to say that when he got back, he checked his van again and found something wrong.

dil999

The van driver is driving for a business, i.e. he is not the owner of the van, then the business owner may decide to follow up on his insurance. Just because you didn't see damage to the van, doesn't mean there isn't any.

Did you report the accident to the guards.? I see you traded insurance details. If this happened to me, I would inform the insurance company and the guards of the accident ( you don't have to claim). The van driver may wake up with a sore neck this morning, and he may not have any recollection of assuming 50% liability.

Yawns

There's been a thread or two on here before where someone informed their insurance company of a small accident but didn't claim. Their premium went up. I'll try to dig it out later, not sure if that guy resolved his issue.

You don't report accidents to the guards unless someone is hurt, commited an offence or refusing to exchange details etc. For the likes of what happened in the OP, the guards don't need to be informed. You can do it but it won't be counted against you if you don't.

Sue Pa Key Pa

bear1 wrote:

What is it you want to do? He pay for your damage and you pay for his? You both reversed into each other and you both are saying it's 50/50 so... you pay for your repairs and he pays for his.

50/50, in insurance terms, does not mean that you both look after your own costs. You pay half of his loss and he pays half of yours. Their can be a huge difference in the amount involved. Unless you both agree to look after your own costs it can get messy. If you then decide to inform your insurer, they can refuse to provide you with indemnity

dil999

Yawns wrote: »

There's been a thread or two on here before where someone informed their insurance company of a small accident but didn't claim. Their premium went up. I'll try to dig it out later, not sure if that guy resolved his issue.

You don't report accidents to the guards unless someone is hurt, commited an offence or refusing to exchange details etc. For the likes of what happened in the OP, the guards don't need to be informed. You can do it but it won't be counted against you if you don't.

Premiums go up every year. If you haven't claimed, your no claims bonus cannot be affected.

Of course you can report any accident to the Guards. You have no idea who has been hurt. If I was the business owner, I would already have reported this to the Guards. The purpose being to ensure that there is a contemporaneous record of events. If you do not report this to your insurance, and the other party claims, then you are seriously on the back foot.

Yawns

Yes but from what I was reading on those threads, it was a massive increase and due to the incident being reported. They were classed as a higher risk even tho they did not claim. I'll be back later on but I'll try to dig the thread out later.

dil999

Yawns wrote: »

Yes but from what I was reading on those threads, it was a massive increase and due to the incident being reported. They were classed as a higher risk even tho they did not claim. I'll be back later on but I'll try to dig the thread out later.

Rumour and hearsay.
Reporting the accident will have no impact on the OPs insurance. Their no claims bonus will not be impacted. If his/her insurance company offers him/her a much higher premium next year, he/she can simply mover to another insurer.

username?!

Get on with it, it was 50/50, each look after their own. There is more to life than getting petty over what is probably 150 - 200 euro worth of damage.

Sue Pa Key Pa

username?! wrote: »

Get on with it, it was 50/50, each look after their own. There is more to life than getting petty over what is probably 150 - 200 euro worth of damage.

As I said earlier 50/50 is NOT each look after their own. Be careful what you agree

Colonel Claptrap

If blame is apportioned 50:50 then surely it's a case of adding together both repair bills and dividing by 2?

Tenigate

Cunning Alias wrote: »

The garage had video footage of us and it shows we were both moving, so 50/50 seems right in my mind and the other guy seemed to agree.

Yep, you're equally responsible for causing damage to your own vehicles.

I'd let it blow over. If he takes a few weeks off work due to whiplash the tables might turn on you pretty quickly.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Colonel Claptrap wrote: »

If blame is apportioned 50:50 then surely it's a case of adding together both repair bills and dividing by 2?

No, it doesn't work like that. If you were half to blame for me having €5k worth of damage, you pay me €2,500, that's the system. If I'm driving a Bentley and you're driving a shltbox, then the figures are going to be vastly different

Tenigate

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

As I said earlier 50/50 is NOT each look after their own. Be careful what you agree

I doubt op's going to sue the van driver when the only evidence of a settlement agreement is his word against the van driver's.

Isn't not a legal discussion as much as a common sense "how to proceed". I'd proceed by being more careful about reversing in car parks in future.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Tenigate wrote: »

I doubt op's going to sue the van driver when the only evidence of a settlement agreement is his word against the van driver's.

Isn't not a legal discussion as much as a common sense "how to proceed". I'd proceed by being more careful about reversing in car parks in future.

All I'm advising is that the OP try to agree 'each to look after their own' rather than use the words 50/50. You are leaving yourself wide open otherwise

Tenigate

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

All I'm advising is that the OP try to agree 'each to look after their own' rather than use the words 50/50. You are leaving yourself wide open otherwise

Yes, you're correct. In the event of an accident you should never admit liability or reach a settlement without legal advice.

From the op's understanding, van driver admitted to 50% liability. Great.

In reality, an expert (assessor) might have a different idea of who was responsible for the accident. The van driver may have a different remembering of what happened or what he agreed to.

A court case could drag on a few years and regardless of the outcome the op will be left with their own legal expenses. During which time, the van driver might decide to go for a checkup for physical and mental health issues resulting from the accident.

Sorta doubt the insurance company will want to get involved, but I could be wrong.

Del2005

dil999 wrote: »

Rumour and hearsay.
Reporting the accident will have no impact on the OPs insurance. Their no claims bonus will not be impacted. If his/her insurance company offers him/her a much higher premium next year, he/she can simply mover to another insurer.

You're confusing NCD and premium. If the OP reports to their insurance their NCD is fine but they are an increased risk because they have reported an accident. If the premium goes up at renewal of course they can move but because they informed the original company of the crash they will have to inform the new companies and still have a higher risk, but full NCD. If they don't inform the new company there's a risk of getting the policy cancelled and no one wants that.

Cunning Alias

Just an update.

Boss (van owner) called me last night and was nice about the whole thing and we basically agreed that if it turns out to be expensive, he will help out with the costs.

Im of the opinion that if a person isn't going to be a dick about it, I won't take them for a ride. S*** happens. It could have been a Bentley and I would be in a right mess.

Currently getting quotes (1st one is 250+vat) and I will hopefully get mates rates from one I am seeing tomorrow that works with a family member.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Del2005 wrote: »

You're confusing NCD and premium. If the OP reports to their insurance their NCD is fine but they are an increased risk because they have reported an accident. If the premium goes up at renewal of course they can move but because they informed the original company of the crash they will have to inform the new companies and still have a higher risk, but full NCD. If they don't inform the new company there's a risk of getting the policy cancelled and no one wants that.

If you have an accident and don't report it to your insurance own company, you still have to disclose it to potential insurers in the future if asked "have you or any of the drivers proposed had any accidents or claims in the last x years?"

I've never seen an insurer increase a premium where there were no payments made under the policy

dil999

Del2005 wrote: »

You're confusing NCD and premium. If the OP reports to their insurance their NCD is fine but they are an increased risk because they have reported an accident. If the premium goes up at renewal of course they can move but because they informed the original company of the crash they will have to inform the new companies and still have a higher risk, but full NCD. If they don't inform the new company there's a risk of getting the policy cancelled and no one wants that.

Perhaps, but the consequences of the Van driver or owner claiming from the OP's insurance, and the OP not having informed his insurance of the accident, could be a lot more serious.

Unless the OP personally knows and trusts the van driver or the business owner, they are leaving themselves very vulnerable by not informing their insurance or the guards.

Ash.J.Williams

Never tell insurance company anything unless you have to

Sue Pa Key Pa

Ash.J.Williams wrote:

Never tell insurance company anything unless you have to

Your contract with them says you have to.

mfceiling

Cunning Alias wrote: »

So if instead of a van this was an i8, I could tell them to look after their own more expensive repairs? Doesn't seem right to me.

Does it only count as fix your own if you feel that your car is worth more than theirs?

Your car is expensive - I need your insurance to pay for mine.

Their car is more expensive - sure we'll sort it out ourselves.

biko

Cunning Alias wrote: »

So if instead of a van this was an i8, I could tell them to look after their own more expensive repairs? Doesn't seem right to me.

Yes, you were both reversing without due care and attention. You pick up your own pieces.
There could have been a person, a post, a tank, a fish, etc etc behind any of you.

Sue Pa Key Pa

biko wrote: »

Yes, you were both reversing without due care and attention. You pick up your own pieces.
There could have been a person, a post, a tank, a fish, etc etc behind any of you.

You pick up half of eachother's pieces if you are both equally at fault.

sunnysoutheast

Isn't it called knock-for-knock if each party looks after their own repairs?

50/50 each pays half of the total cost for both repairs.

Need to advise insurance company of anything that could give rise to a claim afaik

kala85

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Never tell insurance company anything unless you have to

Where would you stand if the van owner claimed whiplash on this later

Del2005

kala85 wrote: »

Where would you stand if the van owner claimed whiplash on this later

The insurance company would pay out and you'll have a claim against your policy, they can't refuse to pay out.

Sue Pa Key Pa

kala85 wrote:

Where would you stand if the van owner claimed whiplash on this later

If your insurers feel that your attempt to settle the matter prejudiced their position, they would likely cancel your insurance for breaching policy conditions. That's not something you want