Uninsured driver hit my parked car. What to do?

Calibos

Needles73 wrote: »

Poor form of the parents of the culprit if they hadn’t the decency to try and make contact with OP. It’s been 2 days.

Yeah. Not a peep yet. No call back by the Guards yet either so I'll have to pop up to the station tomorrow and chase things up.

I wonder with the father being abroad for work (according to what the kid said to the Guards), has the father told the wife not to do anything until he gets back. I wonder will the Guards even be able to give me contact details for them?

jmreire

Agreed 100%. But by now, I'd imagine that the Father has taken legal advice, and he may have been advised to let them ( the Solicitors ) handle it, and that includes not having any contact with the car owner. None the less...he should have had the manners to at least call and apologize for his son's behavior.

jmreire

jmreire wrote: »

he should have had the manners to at least call and apologize for his son's behavior.

Devil's advocate - admitting liability could affect level of insurance cover.

jmreire

Deleted User wrote: »

Devil's advocate - admitting liability could affect level of insurance cover.

Yes, if you have a look at your own insurance documents, under the section "What to do if you are involved in an accident" It expressly tells you NEVER to admit liability. Report the accident ASAP, and they will handle everything from there.
But I'd say that the legal wheel's are now in motion.

Needles73

jmreire wrote: »

Yes, if you have a look at your own insurance documents, under the section "What to do if you are involved in an accident" It expressly tells you NEVER to admit liability. Report the accident ASAP, and they will handle everything from there.
But I'd say that the legal wheel's are now in motion.

The OP has a picture of an Audi A6 with reg number visible dry humping the side of his TT. I don’t think there would be much issue with assigning liability.....,

jmreire

Needles73 wrote: »

The OP has a picture of an Audi A6 with reg number visible dry humping the side of his TT. I don’t think there would be much issue with assigning liability.....,

Yes, would be very hard to deny liability, but maybe if "You Called Saul" he might be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the TT jumped sideways out as he was overtaking......
It's not a question of Liability as far as the insurance is concerned ( of course it is, especially if there are two different Insurance company's involved) But they don't consider the owner's to be capable of making a legally informed opinion...so they insist that you leave all the negotiations to their legal department, and they ( and they alone) will make all relevant decisions.:)

Eggs For Dinner

jmreire wrote: »

Yes, if you have a look at your own insurance documents, under the section "What to do if you are involved in an accident" It expressly tells you NEVER to admit liability. Report the accident ASAP, and they will handle everything from there.
But I'd say that the legal wheel's are now in motion.

It is correct that you should never admit liability at any stage and to do so is a breach of policy conditions. However, for insurers to rely on this, they must show how your admitting liability prejudiced their position in some way.

jmreire

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

It is correct that you should never admit liability at any stage and to do so is a breach of policy conditions. However, for insurers to rely on this, they must show how your admitting liability prejudiced their position in some way.

I'm sure that you are right Eggs for Dinner, but who in the normal run of driver's is going to challenge their insurance company? I know for sure that I would not
..the relationship between the Insurers and their captive victims here in Ireland is one of " Do NOT Disturb " in case you give them ground's for denying liability, and being what they are. they WILL deny liability, if given half the chance...so for me, if the terms an condition's say "JUMP", I will jump. Motorists in this Country are literally terrified of when the next renewal letter comes in the door... and with good reason.:mad:

Calibos

Checked the reviews of my Local Bodyshop that I've had previous cars repaired in and the reviews are mostly good. Its Ace Autobody in Bray. I've been getting the car serviced in the local Nissan Dealership/Repair centre for the last few years. Both are convenient for me and within walking distance. So the fact that I don't need a courtesy car as my TT is effectively a 'Weekend' car and can walk to pick up the car from either location I thus only need a single tow/lift to the Nissan Repair centre for the suspension repair......or are they even needed? Did you say jmreire that the Bodyshop could likely do the suspension repair and check the chassis for damage too?? ie. No need to go to a regular garage at all and just get it towed straight to Ace if thats who I decide to go with??

galwaytt

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Insurance company may well go down the line of declaring it a write off--

Looks like new door, side skirt, alloy repair, rear arch body panel repair, respray, €2000?

do NOT let them write it off. You don't have to let them.

Give the insurers the Garda report number, and leave it on file with your insurer, informing them it may be settled privately.

Let the guy who hit it pay for it in full, once you have your car repaired, close the file with your insurer: if you don't, you'll have all sorts of bother at renewal time.

bladespin

jmreire wrote: »

Reputable Body Shops are more than capable of handling all the paperwork and certification, without involving the main dealer. I know because I've done it in a professional capacity for many years. Involving the Main Dealer will only add to the costs, without laying a hand on the car. If you had the bad luck to have an accident with your own car, ( no one else involved, just say an icy road, and minor damage done, new headlight, bumper and front wing repairs.etc ) And will pay for it your self, would you go direct to the panel shop, or the main dealers, who don't have their own in house repairing, but will send it to the local independent panel shop? Which would you choose?

If it was my accident then I'd look after it my way, probably get the local indy to look after it for me tbh, that said this is not the OP's accident therefore OP's under no obligation to consider cost or anything else other than getting the car back to the way they want it.

jmreire

Calibos wrote: »

Checked the reviews of my Local Bodyshop that I've had previous cars repaired in and the reviews are mostly good. Its Ace Autobody in Bray. I've been getting the car serviced in the local Nissan Dealership/Repair centre for the last few years. Both are convenient for me and within walking distance. So the fact that I don't need a courtesy car as my TT is effectively a 'Weekend' car and can walk to pick up the car from either location I thus only need a single tow/lift to the Nissan Repair centre for the suspension repair......or are they even needed? Did you say jmreire that the Bodyshop could likely do the suspension repair and check the chassis for damage too?? ie. No need to go to a regular garage at all and just get it towed straight to Ace if thats who I decide to go with??

I'd ask the bodyshop if they can collect it, and also if they can replace the suspension part's etc. If they cannot do the mechanical part ( I'd be surprised if this was the case TBH ) Remember that you are entitled to recovery costs as part of the repair costs. Do this first, and see how you get on, OK? Unless I inspected it myself, I could not give you any advice on how to move it or not, but the safe bet would be to have it collected.

Toyotafanboi

ACE in Bray are very good, a professional outfit. You'll be getting genuine replacement parts there and they will definitely do the mechanical end of the work too. They may subcontract the final checks and wheel alignment but it'll be a complete service to the end user.

As above, if going insurance you are entitled to towing costs. If not I'd be added a tow to the private costs, I wouldnt be driving any distance with that dodgy wheel.

Calibos

I have to say, you’ve been playing a blinder lads, everyone who has replied over the last few days. Really put my mind at ease and lessened the stress. Thanks a million!

Calibos

Arranged a phonecall with the arresting Guard last night and they have charged him with several offences. She said that the mother wants to pay for this herself without going through insurance and the guard gave me Idowu's phone number. I also asked for the incident number so I can let my insurance know regardless as GalwayTT described yesterday. If she hasn't driven past to look at the damage I think she might be surprised by the repair quote and it may end up having to go through the insurance/MIBI in the end. Hopefully not but...

jmreire

Calibos wrote: »

Arranged a phonecall with the arresting Guard last night and they have charged him with several offences. She said that the mother wants to pay for this herself without going through insurance and the guard gave me Idowu's phone number. I also asked for the incident number so I can let my insurance know regardless as GalwayTT described yesterday. If she hasn't driven past to look at the damage I think she might be surprised by the repair quote and it may end up having to go through the insurance/MIBI in the end. Hopefully not but...

Under the circumstances, I doubt very much that they will put it through their insurance.

earlytobed

OP, after reading 10 pages of your unfortunate situation, I hope you can update when there are developments

seagull

I'd be amazed if he hadn't been charged. The potential list of charges I can think of would be
Taking car without consent. It's either that, or the parents facing charges for allowing him to drive the car.
Driving unaccompanied. I'm presuming the friend won't qualify
Driving uninsured? Depends on the wording of the various insurance policies on the cars
Leaving the scene of an accident

Anything obvious I've missed?

Even if he would ordinarily be covered on that car if accompanied, the insurance company are very unlikely to indemnify him, so the parents are going to wind up paying the costs either way. It either goes through the insurance, who then reclaim everything from them, or they just pay it up front.

jmreire

seagull wrote: »

I'd be amazed if he hadn't been charged. The potential list of charges I can think of would be
Taking car without consent. It's either that, or the parents facing charges for allowing him to drive the car.
Driving unaccompanied. I'm presuming the friend won't qualify
Driving uninsured? Depends on the wording of the various insurance policies on the cars
Leaving the scene of an accident

Anything obvious I've missed?

Even if he would ordinarily be covered on that car if accompanied, the insurance company are very unlikely to indemnify him, so the parents are going to wind up paying the costs either way. It either goes through the insurance, who then reclaim everything from them, or they just pay it up front.

Things being the way they are in this Country insurance-wise, if you can manage to pay it upfront without involving them, it will work out better for you.

Bass Reeves

galwaytt wrote: »

do NOT let them write it off. You don't have to let them.

Give the insurers the Garda report number, and leave it on file with your insurer, informing them it may be settled privately.

Let the guy who hit it pay for it in full, once you have your car repaired, close the file with your insurer: if you don't, you'll have all sorts of bother at renewal time.

Insurance will only cover a car to its max value minus the scrap value of the car. If you disagree with the.insurance accessor you may appoint your own at your own cost there is seldom a significant difference in value. There is an onus on accessors to value you car to a similar car. However in Op case this is impossible.
If the car is deemed beyond economic repair what the insurance company will offer is the value minus the what a dismantler or repairer will pay for it.

Lekrub

It's not often I read 10 pages of a thread.

What a little scumbag. That TT looked in great condition and only 40k on it:eek:

jmreire

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Insurance will only cover a car to its max value minus the scrap value of the car. If you disagree with the.insurance accessor you may appoint your own at your own cost there is seldom a significant difference in value. There is an onus on accessors to value you car to a similar car. However in Op case this is impossible.
If the car is deemed beyond economic repair what the insurance company will offer is the value minus the what a dismantler or repairer will pay for it.

Yes, and that's all the more reason that the Family pays for the damage , and keep's the insurance out of it. The TT owner only wants his car back as it was pre crash. And having seen the pics, I can only agree with him.

Bass Reeves

jmreire wrote: »

Yes, and that's all the more reason that the Family pays for the damage , and keep's the insurance out of it. The TT owner only wants his car back as it was pre crash. And having seen the pics, I can only agree with him.

Family can follow exactly the same rules. Yes the car owner can try to use fear of prosecution of the.nonminsuref driver but it is possible this will go ahead anyway. At the end of the day the parents can appoint an acessor to do exactly as an insurance company would.

holyhead

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Family can follow exactly the same rules. Yes the car owner can try to use fear of prosecution of the.nonminsuref driver but it is possible this will go ahead anyway. At the end of the day the parents can appoint an acessor to do exactly as an insurance company would.

I would be very surprised if the family played hard ball and actually appointed an assessor. I can understand it from a practical point of view. However unless the quote is for the birds I would see no reason for them to do so.
The OP comes across as being, quite chilled about it, and simply wants his car restored to pre incident condition.

As a matter of curiosity does the assessor assess the car and then arrive at a fix price or does he assess the car to justify the expected bill based on the quote from the aggrieved party?

Voodoomelon

Good to hear the result so far, that's one thing a few people weren't mentioning; there was no way in hell he would not be charged with the amount of offences committed. And because of this, I don't see how the OP will end up claiming from MIBI. If the mother decides not to pay once she hears the bill (unlikely), the claim should be processed through the offending vehicles policy, even though the lad wasn't insured.

Bass Reeves

holyhead wrote: »

I would be very surprised if the family played hard ball and actually appointed an assessor. I can understand it from a practical point of view. However unless the quote is for the birds I would see no reason for them to do so.
The OP comes across as being, quite chilled about it, and simply wants his car restored to pre incident condition.

As a matter of curiosity does the assessor assess the car and then arrive at a fix price or does he assess the car to justify the expected bill based on the quote from the aggrieved party?

In this case because of age of car and cost of Audi parts acessor will value the car as close as he can and contact 3-4 dismantlers/repairer's to get an as is value for the car. If this is less than the owners quotation he will.offer the lesser of the two values.

An acessor costs about 2-300 to carry out such an accessment.

Technically the car was hit by an uninsured car so the offending car's insurance will not come into play

jmreire

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Family can follow exactly the same rules. Yes the car owner can try to use fear of prosecution of the.nonminsuref driver but it is possible this will go ahead anyway. At the end of the day the parents can appoint an acessor to do exactly as an insurance company would.

There are two different issues;
(1)The Guards are involved, charge's will be brought, and the car owner has no influence over this part of it, except for one detail. And that is compensation for the damage done. So when it comes before the Court, the defending solicitor in mitigation, would like to be able to say that the owner of the damaged car had been compensated, and has suffered no financial loss. OP has no wish to seek " His pound of flesh", or see the Family in any more trouble than they have at the moment.
(2) In the case where the Family disagree with the quote's given, then more than likely it will get very messy. They ( the Family) will have to engage an assessor themselves, and his findings will not differ too much from the quote...will probably be able to get a small reduction..labour charges maybe, but parts, paint, recovery charges, not so much.
Bear in mind, that the business who gave the quotes, will be quite capable of defending them. Its something that they do regularly in insurance cases.....Garage /Business provide a quotation, insurance sends an assessor, who will negotiate with the Garage, and agree on a figure to cover the costs of the repair's.
Ideal situation for the OP: He provides quote's ( x 3 ) to the Family. Family agree to pay on the selected quote. Payment made in full and final settlement. OP then take's the car to the workshop, car is restored to pre-accident condition. End of Story.
Worst case scenario: Family decide to hand the whole thing over to their Insurance Company. Uncertain outcome in this case. The Insurance will take the least-cost option, and they will not put any value whatsoever on the OP's wishes, or his attachment to the car.

Bass Reeves

jmreire wrote: »

There are two different issues;
(1)The Guards are involved, charge's will be brought, and the car owner has no influence over this part of it, except for one detail. And that is compensation for the damage done. So when it comes before the Court, the defending solicitor in mitigation, would like to be able to say that the owner of the damaged car had been compensated, and has suffered no financial loss. OP has no wish to seek " His pound of flesh", or see the Family in any more trouble than they have at the moment.
(2) In the case where the Family disagree with the quote's given, then more than likely it will get very messy. They ( the Family) will have to engage an assessor themselves, and his findings will not differ too much from the quote...will probably be able to get a small reduction..labour charges maybe, but parts, paint, recovery charges, not so much.
Bear in mind, that the business who gave the quotes, will be quite capable of defending them. Its something that they do regularly in insurance cases.....Garage /Business provide a quotation, insurance sends an assessor, who will negotiate with the Garage, and agree on a figure to cover the costs of the repair's.
Ideal situation for the OP: He provides quote's ( x 3 ) to the Family. Family agree to pay on the selected quote. Payment made in full and final settlement. OP then take's the car to the workshop, car is restored to pre-accident condition. End of Story.
Worst case scenario: Family decide to hand the whole thing over to their Insurance Company. Uncertain outcome in this case. The Insurance will take the least-cost option, and they will not put any value whatsoever on the OP's wishes, or his attachment to the car.

IMO this car is an economic write off. An economic write off is where the repair value is greater than the value of the car minus its present scrap value.. while.mitigation can come.into.play you have to factor in a few things, the driver seems to be under 18 so mitigation is not as much of a factor as you would expect especially as this will be prosecuted under the road traffic act. As well it is likely no matter what is or is not mitigated the judge will impose a sentence of barring the offender from driving for 5+ years.

IMO repair costs may run into 4-5k this is a substantial amount of money and even if half that is offered in mitigation it would have to be taken into account by the judge.

JustAThought

jmreire wrote: »

You do realize that it's the body shop who will do the assessment and the work? All the dealership will do take a slice of the action....and if the kids Dad has to pay up front, that's just an additional cost. Is that what you would want if you were in the Fathers position? They have enough trouble as it is. If the car is restored to its pre-accident condition, that seems to be what the owner wants. Unless I'm missing something in his post's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning the kids activity..he made a mistake, something we have all done...no one was injured. Now if that had been a joy rider in a stolen car, it would be a different case .

When I was halfway through thread & spotted this - my insurance is INVALID if I have work done on the car by anyone other than the official brand garage ( eg Audi Workshop using Audi Parts & trained audi mechanics). My last insurance had the same little print on page 20 - different broker - they never tell you when you get an insurance quote & I can’t believe the competition authority isn’t onto it.

I doubt the guy in the insurance call centre will know -or tell you - again - OP its well worth getting your policy out and reading every page before doung or agreeing anything.

Regarding resale value (I know the OP has a sentimental attachment so this may never arise) but I discovered randomly that everytime you seem to go through your insurance for repairs it ends up listed on that car dealer site where a garage or person can pay e10 or e20 and see the history of the car. A big fix like this with realignment of the back axel etc might be a major turn off for future buyers or trade in’s. I found out all my insurance claim work and claims off my no claims protect that had no involvement with other cars ended up in this site when I went to trade in my car. Most dealers have a professional access to the site. So much for GDPR.

OP when I rang to do a notification of a hit and run I had been involved in few years back (I was hot not the runner) my then insurance company call centre guy told me NOT to officially notify them as it would be marked against me and my insurance - even if I didn’t claim against my no claims - would go up the following year. Also, in my insurance policy they have the right to negotiate on your behalf and you have already by signing the insurance documents given them this right to make write off or repair (or settle & accept liability) on your behalf - it can be tKen out of your hands depending on the detail of your insurance policy - live and learn

Personally I was wondering what you would do if the parents just folded their arms and said they hadn’t the money or to get the son to pay as he did it (& has no money) but thankfully you can then refer to the MIBI and the sons actions will be registered with all the partner insurance companies so he will most likely never get affordable insurance until his 30’s - so you have leverage - thankfully.

Very sorry about your car OP - saving grace is the witnesses who took the pictures and that you clearly parked within the white lines . There for the grace of god ... Hope it all works out for you and you get to keep your prestige car

Calibos

JustAThought,

So you reckon I shouldn't contact insurance at all unless/until the kids parents decide the repair quote is too high and 'fold their arms' otherwise I'd have a black mark on Cartell and on record with my insurance even if I never claimed for this damage via insurance/MIBI. Lucky I haven't contacted them yet so!! ie. I'd have incurred these black marks for no reason assuming the parents do indeed follow through and pay for the damage?

Like I said previously, the car will be worth nothing by the time I come to sell or scrap it as I intend to drive it as long as financially viable to do so and with the low mileage that could be another decade at least! LOL. So the depreciation caused by the accident or the selling price hit when I inform the 'Classic's' buyer in 2030 of the damage it incurred on a cold Winters day in 2020, it'll make feck all financial difference by then.

If it does end up having to go through insurance/MIBI and its obviously going to be a CAT D economic write-off, I would still expect the settlement minus the salvage buyback to cover most of the cost of the repairs. I will of course make up the short-fall myself if I have to because while I am of course a bit sentimental about the car, just purely from an economic standpoint it makes sense to pony up a €1000 shortfall for example, because where else would I ever find another cheap 2007 TT or even 2012+ Golf with a barely run in 40,000km (26,000mile) 200PS 2.0TFSI engine in it. It'll just sting big-time that the vagaries of insurance and write-off's and my ultra low mileage TT meant that an accident that was no fault of my own ended up costing me money.

I'm optimistic now though. No matter what happens I'm going to get back a car that looks like new like it did in one of the 2007 photo's I posted earlier. While its in for the accident damage repairs, I'll get the Body Shop to repair (and invoice me separately obviously) the bonnet dent, front passenger side quarter panel keying, buff and polish out the swirls on the other panels and refurbish the other 3 Wheels' 13 years of kerbings! LOL.