Reversed into a car in supermarket car park?

AndrewJRenko

pablo128 wrote: »

They don't even have to get the car fixed. They could go to a main dealer for a quote and you have to pay. They could leave the bumper as is if they want, and there's nothing you can do.

Though you don't have to pay the VAT part of the quote if they didn't actually get the work done.

gman2k wrote: »

As advised by a Garda before to me after something similar, You are under no legal obligation to report it to your insurance if there are no injuries and if you are sorting it out between yourselves.

Why would you rely on a Garda for expertise in a civil matter - your contract with your insurer?

Eggs For Dinner

Orlak2410 wrote: »

There must be a time limit after an incident that you have to take action. Most things have time limits.

You won't want to hear this, but a claimant has a right to notify you of their intention to seek damages to property up to 6 years after it occurred. It's 2 years for injury.

Please notify your own insurer for record purposes, it is a condition of your policy, there is nothing 'technical ' about it. Never give an insurer reason to exercise the claim conditions of your policy

Syncpolice

silver2020 wrote: »

I would not do it - even a possible claim would lead to immediate rise in your insurance and inability to look elsewhere.

There was no claim of injury at the time, damage minimal.

I'd forget it until they get back to me. - if they get back

No you have to inform them within reasonable timeframe

They can cancel your policy if you haven't and a claim arises later

silver2020

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

Please notify your own insurer for record purposes, it is a condition of your policy, there is nothing 'technical ' about it. Never give an insurer reason to exercise the claim conditions of your policy

It is NOT a condition of any insurance policy. I've two policies - axa & aig (van and car), both state "it is advisable to inform"

It is not a condition.

Same with any web search - it says "should inform" or "advisable to inform".

Check your policy documents - it will tell you, but I'd bet it says "advisable" or "should" and not the word "must"

Syncpolice

silver2020 wrote: »

It is NOT a condition of any insurance policy. I've two policies - axa & aig (van and car), both state "it is advisable to inform"

It is not a condition.

Same with any web search - it says "should inform" or "advisable to inform".

Check your policy documents - it will tell you, but I'd bet it says "advisable" or "should" and not the word "must"

I'll be surprised if that's true

I would be reasonably confident there's an obligation.to inform on most policys

Syncpolice

Mines Aviva just checked

Says "must inform them of any event which might lead to a claim"

If be surprised if the others had any different wording

Eggs For Dinner

silver2020 wrote: »

It is NOT a condition of any insurance policy. I've two policies - axa & aig (van and car), both state "it is advisable to inform"

It is not a condition.

Same with any web search - it says "should inform" or "advisable to inform".

Check your policy documents - it will tell you, but I'd bet it says "advisable" or "should" and not the word "must"

Have a good read of AXA's Claims Conditions and come back go me on that

boardz

I crashed into a car 5 years ago totally my fault doing a U turn on a main road at night. Scraped the whole side of the other car. Stopped of course and asked the guy was he ok he said he was. He suggested that be both get a quote for the damage and we go with the cheapest. Very reasonable. It was an oldish car he had. As we went our separate ways I went back to him and looked him in the eye and asked are you hurt at all? He said don't worry I won't say I hurt the head or the neck I won't do that to you. It was four days before xmas so he called me the week after with a quote he got of €250. I was very happy with that and we went with it. He left in a kind of back street garage and I went and paid the garage directly. I had offered him the money. I did inform my insurance and they asked lots of questions but it didn't affect my NCB. All went according to plan. The other driver was African and quite a lot of people I told at the time said I was going to get screwed but he kept his word. Bottom line definitely tell your insurer.

Orlak2410

boardz wrote: »

I crashed into a car 5 years ago totally my fault doing a U turn on a main road at night. Scraped the whole side of the other car. Stopped of course and asked the guy was he ok he said he was. He suggested that be both get a quote for the damage and we go with the cheapest. Very reasonable. It was an oldish car he had. As we went our separate ways I went back to him and looked him in the eye and asked are you hurt at all? He said don't worry I won't say I hurt the head or the neck I won't do that to you. It was four days before xmas so he called me the week after with a quote he got of €250. I was very happy with that and we went with it. He left in a kind of back street garage and I went and paid the garage directly. I had offered him the money. I did inform my insurance and they asked lots of questions but it didn't affect my NCB. All went according to plan. The other driver was African and quite a lot of people I told at the time said I was going to get screwed but he kept his word. Bottom line definitely tell your insurer.

Well I hope if they get back to me they will be reasonable like that but I'd be afraid telling my insurance about it a month after it happened.

silver2020

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

Have a good read of AXA's Claims Conditions and come back go me on that

I have.

It says it is important to contact them about any incident that may lead to a claim.

It does not say that your insurance will be affected in any way. Also in the small print of terms and conditions, it does not state that not informing them will cause any issue.

Orlak2410

silver2020 wrote: »

I have.

It says it is important to contact them about any incident that may lead to a claim.

It does not say that your insurance will be affected in any way. Also in the small print of terms and conditions, it does not state that not informing them will cause any issue.

So would you say that most insurers are the same?

Eggs For Dinner

silver2020 wrote: »

I have.

It says it is important to contact them about any incident that may lead to a claim.

It does not say that your insurance will be affected in any way. Also in the small print of terms and conditions, it does not state that not informing them will cause any issue.

So you've gone from advisable, to important. Go back and have another look. The word they actually use is MUST. It's the same in every policy

Insurance policies are about what they do say, not about what they don't

Ignore policy conditions at your peril. Insurers will always treat a policyholder better who works with them, rather than those who don't

Marcusm

Orlak2410 wrote: »

There must be a time limit after an incident that you have to take action. Most things have time limits.

I think it’s generally 2 years. I have been the “victim” of a number of such incidents but have never followed through with a claim. Hope you end up as lucky as the people who have hit me over the years!

Orlak2410

Marcusm wrote: »

I think it’s generally 2 years. I have been the “victim” of a number of such incidents but have never followed through with a claim. Hope you end up as lucky as the people who have hit me over the years!

Fair is fair I damaged their car and I have no problem accepting responsibility and getting it fixed reasonably. If they come back to me after a month and are unreasonable with their price or if they are stalling me while they make a claim then they are just nasty.

Syncpolice

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Fair is fair I damaged their car and I have no problem accepting responsibility and getting it fixed reasonably. If they come back to me after a month and are unreasonable with their price or if they are stalling me while they make a claim then they are just nasty.

That's why you have to cover your back by notifying insurance
Not burying head in the sand

pablo128

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Fair is fair I damaged their car and I have no problem accepting responsibility and getting it fixed reasonably. If they come back to me after a month and are unreasonable with their price or if they are stalling me while they make a claim then they are just nasty.

What kind of price are you expecting, just out of interest? Bearing in mind they are entitled to a new bumper plus spraying plus fitting plus car hire while this is being done?

And hopefully there's no damage behind the bumper.

silver2020

They could be decent and decide the damage is so small, its not worth it. There are plenty of decent people out there.

I had someone slightly hit a van I was driving in heavy traffic a few years ago - he was mortified, probably thought his no claims bonus was gone. It felt a lot worse than it was.

He insisted on giving me his details, but the van had over 250k miles on it, plenty of scratches and a few small dents and another little dent or scratch made no difference. - I tore his details uo in front of him so that he didn't need to worry. (youngish driver - probably 1st tip).
Also, insurers and courts are thankfully cracking down on fraudulent claims and awarding full costs against false claimants, so that type of claimant is starting to think twice.

Eggs For Dinner

The problem you have in dealing with reasonable people, who want to settle the damage they cause privately, is that they underestimate the cost of repairs (parts, labour, VAT). That's when people renege on their promises

whomitconcerns

Sorry op is not about them being decent or reasonable. You hit them, no matter how you look at it, you created the situation and inconvenienced them.

It's not a question for you to decide what's a decent or acceptable time frame. You need to inform your insurance company now, to cover your own a$$, especially because you haven't heard from the other party yet!

AndrewJRenko

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Fair is fair I damaged their car and I have no problem accepting responsibility and getting it fixed reasonably. If they come back to me after a month and are unreasonable with their price or if they are stalling me while they make a claim then they are just nasty.

Be grateful that it wasn't their small child behind your car while you were reversing.

Reverse in, drive out.

Syncpolice

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Be grateful that it wasn't their small child behind your car while you were reversing.

Reverse in, drive out.

Is this a consensus opinion?

I could imagine getting.into a few prangs if I started reversing into car park spaces

Peregrinus

Syncpolice wrote: »

Is this a consensus opinion?

I could imagine getting.into a few prangs if I started reversing into car park spaces

Once you're familiar with the dimensions of your own car, it's generally much easier to reverse into a space than to drive forwards into it. Cars are generally more maneouvrable when travelling in reverse - tighter turning circle, more precision, that kind of thing.

Plus, something is much less likely to appear suddenly in the bay that you reversing into than in the lane that you are reversing out to. Plus, the obstacles you are worried about when reversing into a bay are at least stationary, which makes them easier to avoid.

Midnight Sundance

I remember one time someone ran into the back of me. It looked absolutely minimal damage, only reason i took details was cos I was in my mams car,
Took car to local garage that everyone goes to. Very reputable place. He opened boot n showed me the bumper was hanging on by one clip . Wed to get the whole bumper replaced.
I felt bad cos at the moment of incident I wasnt expecting to hav to contact other party at all and then had to hit them with cost of new bumper.
They were delighted that's all I looked for.
What I'm saying is, sometimes the damage may not be what you initially thought It was.
They might be like me n never intended to claim unless it was going to be a big job.
They will contact you if they need to, a d be thankful no one was hurt and they seem decent about it so far!!

Syncpolice

There was a guy whose bumper cost 20k to fix, was posted here

Grumpypants

I was hit before and the guy offered to pay for it. I brought it to his garage and they agreed to fix it and bill him.

Then I got super busy and didn't have a chance to book it in. Then a few weeks later it broke down with an unrelated issue and was stuck in Dublin for weeks.

I collected it and on the way home the head gasket blew.

I ended up scraping it, I went to call the guy and let him know he didn't have to fix it but I couldn't find his number do just left it.

I often wonder if he thinks about it. As there was a nice but of damage but no one was hurt so no need to take it any further.

My daughter had a very low speed tip with a taxi driver, was her fault, witnesses, photos showing no damage to his car, bumper had a tiny scratch, ambulance crew examined him, she ended up paying for whiplash, he got nearly 20k. Nothing wrong with the fcuker.

Peregrinus

Deleted User wrote: »

My daughter had a very low speed tip with a taxi driver, was her fault, witnesses, photos showing no damage to his car, bumper had a tiny scratch, ambulance crew examined him, she ended up paying for whiplash, he got nearly 20k. Nothing wrong with the fcuker.

What makes you think there was nothing wrong with him? An ambulance crew wouldn't be in a position to diagnose whiplash, so the fact that they didn't diagnose whiplash tells you precisely zero about whether he had whiplash.

Whiplash injuries commonely don't manifest for several hours; often not until the next day.

Orlak2410

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

The problem you have in dealing with reasonable people, who want to settle the damage they cause privately, is that they underestimate the cost of repairs (parts, labour, VAT). That's when people renege on their promises

Well I'd rather pay even a few grand and get it fixed privately then go through the insurance. Will lose my no claims and it would follow me around for years.

tjhook

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Be grateful that it wasn't their small child behind your car while you were reversing.

Reverse in, drive out.

I've thought about that from time to time... It's a sensible general rule, especially for driveways, but I generally drive forward into the space at shopping centres.

In some of the larger/outdoor centres, the spaces are angled so that it's difficult to reverse in. Even in an indoor centre, reversing into a space means the boot (where the shopping goes) is either up against a wall or another car. Very awkward for loading.

I must try to convince the other half that we need a Porsche, where the boot is in the front. Purely for safety reasons of course

Orlak2410

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Sorry op is not about them being decent or reasonable. You hit them, no matter how you look at it, you created the situation and inconvenienced them.

It's not a question for you to decide what's a decent or acceptable time frame. You need to inform your insurance company now, to cover your own a$$, especially because you haven't heard from the other party yet!

I know I was in the wrong and nobody wants to find themselves in my situation. I think most people would agree that a leaving it a month isn't fair on me especially since I told the person multiple times to let me know how much it will be to get fixed.