Paying for damage in a motor accident

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bnr88

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Hi everyone.

So I clipped another car in february this year. We opened a case at the local police station but didn't take it further after that.

The other guy calls me today and says he's ready to get his car fixed.

What is the procedure in this case? Whose insurance should the claim be done through? I have a feeling he doesn't even have insurance. Also, his car had pre-existing damage that i am worried he is going to say i caused so he can get it fixed. I took a picture of the damage which i caused but unfortunately not of the other stuff.

He said he's taking his car to a panel beater today and he'll send me the quote tomorrow.

Any advice?

Edit: Forgot to mention that I changed insurance companies in March. So my current insurer was not my insurer when the accident happened.
 
Last edited:
bnr88 said:
Hi everyone.

So I clipped another car in february this year. We opened a case at the local police station but didn't take it further after that.

The other guy calls me today and says he's ready to get his car fixed.

What is the procedure in this case? Whose insurance should the claim be done through? I have a feeling he doesn't even have insurance. Also, his car had pre-existing damage that i am worried he is going to say i caused so he can get it fixed. I took a picture of the damage which i caused but unfortunately not of the other stuff.

He said he's taking his car to a panel beater today and he'll send me the quote tomorrow.

Any advice?
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Let your insurance handle it. thats what they are there for.
 
bnr88 said:
Hi everyone.

So I clipped another car in february this year. We opened a case at the local police station but didn't take it further after that.

The other guy calls me today and says he's ready to get his car fixed.

What is the procedure in this case? Whose insurance should the claim be done through? I have a feeling he doesn't even have insurance. Also, his car had pre-existing damage that i am worried he is going to say i caused so he can get it fixed. I took a picture of the damage which i caused but unfortunately not of the other stuff.

He said he's taking his car to a panel beater today and he'll send me the quote tomorrow.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Isn't his insurance supposed to contact your insurance?

What car was it that you damaged
 
Mr Feesh said:
Isn't his insurance supposed to contact your insurance?

What car was it that you damaged
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Dammit, forgot to mention that I have actually changed my insurance company since March. So my current insurer was not my insurer when the accident happened.

It was a VW Jetta 5.
 
So, you're no longer covered under the policy you where when the accident happened, and you don't have proper records of events?

Buy Vaseline. This might not be fun.
 
There is no reason for the two drivers to contact one another. Insurance company must do it. Why did he wait so long? If he didn't report the accident within 24 hours, then I think he is fighting a losing battle.
Did you submit your claim after the police report? Did you get a case number?
 
bokdrol said:
There is no reason for the two drivers to contact one another. Insurance company must do it. Why did he wait so long? If he didn't report the accident within 24 hours, then I think he is fighting a losing battle.
Did you submit your claim after the police report? Did you get a case number?
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I don't know why he waited so long to get it fixed.
I didn't submit a claim when it happened unfortunately, but yes i do have the case number.
 
bnr88 said:
I admitted to clipping his car in the police report, yes.
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Unfortunately... i think your insurer will refuse the claim. The indecent occurred BEFORE you were on their books.

You might however be covered under your OLD POLICY... MAYBE... check with your old insurance broker.
 
bnr88 said:
Hi everyone.

So I clipped another car in february this year. We opened a case at the local police station but didn't take it further after that.
Click to expand...

I do not want to be the party pooper here, but did you tell your insurance company at the time that you has an accident? In other words, did you tell them inside of 30 days of the accident that you clipped a third party vehicle? If not, you are facing an uphill battle here.

Reason. Most insurance policy wordings want you to tell/notify them within a prescribed time. That prescribed time is usually 30 days. If you do not tell them, the insurer will be looking for good reason why.

Regardless, I would contact the company and lodge a claim. Then let them handle it. Else you are on your own I am afraid.

Edit: I am happy to answer any other specific questions. I hope this works out for the best for you.
 
McT said:
I do not want to be the party pooper here, but did you tell your insurance company at the time that you has an accident? In other words, did you tell them inside of 30 days of the accident that you clipped a third party vehicle? If not, you are facing an uphill battle here.

Reason. Most insurance policy wordings want you to tell/notify them within a prescribed time. That prescribed time is usually 30 days. If you do not tell them, the insurer will be looking for good reason why.

Regardless, I would contact the company and lodge a claim. Then let them handle it. Else you are on your own I am afraid.

Edit: I am happy to answer any other specific questions. I hope this works out for the best for you.
Click to expand...

I unfortunately did not make a claim at the time. I just called them now and a claim has been put through, but as you pointed out, they said it may not be successful because of the time since the accident.

I am not even really concerned about paying for the damage. The damage which i caused is minimal and will not cost much to fix. I am just worried that this guy is gonna try and take me for a ride and try to get his other damage fixed. As i said, i have a picture of the damage i did to his car. Would i be able to use that as proof that he is trying to get previous damage fixed?

Thanks for your help.
 
It sounds like the idiot doesn't have insurance (which makes him/her an idiot). They won't get far if you don't want to take their calls.
 
bnr88 said:
The damage which i caused is minimal and will not cost much to fix.
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I would also recommend you let your insurance deal with the matter.
Damage we consider to be minor is often not the case. My brothers X5 front door was dented by a person who reversed out of a parking bay and BMW had to replace the door.
 
LaraC said:
I would also recommend you let your insurance deal with the matter.
Damage we consider to be minor is often not the case. My brothers X5 front door was dented by a person who reversed out of a parking bay and BMW had to replace the door.
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The damage i caused is just paint damage to his bumper, not even a dent. It's really minor, but as i said, i'm just worried he's gonna try to take advantage of the situation and get the rest of his car fixed up too.

As for the insurance, i will be letting them deal with this from tomorrow. But I don't think the claim will even go through since it's been over 5 months since the accident, so i will have to end up dealing with this anyway.
 
bnr88 said:
I unfortunately did not make a claim at the time. I just called them now and a claim has been put through, but as you pointed out, they said it may not be successful because of the time since the accident.

I am not even really concerned about paying for the damage. The damage which i caused is minimal and will not cost much to fix. I am just worried that this guy is gonna try and take me for a ride and try to get his other damage fixed. As i said, i have a picture of the damage i did to his car. Would i be able to use that as proof that he is trying to get previous damage fixed?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

The picture should help to deter the other fella from inflating the cost of the damage. I hope it works out well for you.

reactor_sa said:
It sounds like the idiot doesn't have insurance (which makes him/her an idiot). They won't get far if you don't want to take their calls.
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Only 35% to 40% of the vehicles on public roads are insured. Unfortunately that makes a sizeable chunk of road-users a hazard to the rest of us who have insurance of some kind.

The very minimum should be third party only if you cannot afford to comprehensively insure the vehicle. Hopefully one day government will wake up and make law to have compulsory insurance or decline to grant vehicles licenses.
 
reactor_sa said:
It sounds like the idiot doesn't have insurance (which makes him/her an idiot). They won't get far if you don't want to take their calls.
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bull****...that person just needs to take OP to court as the OP admitted to being at fault. small claims court WILL award against OP
 
crackersa said:
bull****...that person just needs to take OP to court as the OP admitted to being at fault. small claims court WILL award against OP
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The OP had insurance at the time(still do), they could have dealt with it then.
Instead said person (claimer)decided to leave it until now....

That is a bit suspect.
 
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