To claim or not?

Farmer_3650

My mother was driving home from work today, and a van slid in the snow straight into the side of my mothers car and put her off the road. The van then drove off from the scene afterwards. The right hand side back door and back wing have a dent in them, and there is few scrapes running from the front door back to the back of the car. I'd say it will cost €700-800 to fix it, but what I am wondering is, is she better to claim or just get it fixed without going through insurance? The van drove off, we have no registration for him, and unless I get him, it looks like it will be coming out of mams pocket. Thanks.

treascon

You will have to pay an excess so 100% pay it yourself. Hard luck on your mam, some people are a**holes!

jmreire

You can get a good basic dash cam for about €60.00, and they are very simple to fit. Best €60 you will spend on your car. Some car manufacturers are now filling them as standard production on the assembly lines.

Farmer_3650

jmreire wrote: »

You can get a good basic dash cam for about €60.00, and they are very simple to fit. Best €60 you will spend on your car. Some car manufacturers are now filling them as standard production on the assembly lines.

Best money ever spent. I have one on the jeep myself. she actually bought one for her car before christmas, and I haven't got around to putting it in.

jmreire

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

My mother was driving home from work today, and a van slid in the snow straight into the side of my mothers car and put her off the road. The van then drove off from the scene afterwards. The right hand side back door and back wing have a dent in them, and there is few scrapes running from the front door back to the back of the car. I'd say it will cost €700-800 to fix it, but what I am wondering is, is she better to claim or just get it fixed without going through insurance? The van drove off, we have no registration for him, and unless I get him, it looks like it will be coming out of mams pocket. Thanks.

Get a quote, and if it's anyway reasonable, pay it and put it down to experience. If it's fairly expensive....then you have two courses of action:
(1) Claim off your own insurance if you have Comprehensive cover. Bear in mind that unless you have a "No Claim or 1 claim " allowed in your policy, then it's very likely that your insurance costs will increase, come next renewal.
(2) You could try claiming from the MIBI, who cover accidents caused by uninsured drivers, or hit and run incident's. You will need to see a solicitor for this course of action.

Eggs For Dinner

MIBI do not compensate you for property damage claims unless you can verify the other driver was uninsured

jmreire

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

MIBI do not compensate you for property damage claims unless you can verify the other driver was uninsured

If it's a hit and run, how do you know what the insurance status is? Was a case widely reported in the last few days where a claim was kicked out of court because the claimant ( conman/ fraudster) was filmed behaving normally, walking moving etc while claiming that he needed a wheel chair to move about in. He claimed that he was struck by a car while cycling, and was badly injured, but the car never stopped, and kept going. Hit and run case. This case was in the high Court.

Eggs For Dinner

jmreire wrote: »

If it's a hit and run, how do you know what the insurance status is? Was a case widely reported in the last few days where a claim was kicked out of court because the claimant ( conman/ fraudster) was filmed behaving normally, walking moving etc while claiming that he needed a wheel chair to move about in. He claimed that he was struck by a car while cycling, and was badly injured, but the car never stopped, and kept going. Hit and run case. This case was in the high Court.

That was for an injury, my comment related to property damage.

Jurgen The German

Did she report it to the guards?

No harm to contact the insurance company, explain the situation and get advice from them. It wouldn't be that uncommon for them to take a sympathetic view to circumstances like you outlined however it would be important that she had reported it to the guards.

Farmer_3650

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Did she report it to the guards?

No harm to contact the insurance company, explain the situation and get advice from them. It wouldn't be that uncommon for them to take a sympathetic view to circumstances like you outlined however it would be important that she had reported it to the guards.

Yes it was reported to the guards that evening