# Had my first crash / bump in my own car yesterday..



## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Coming home Uni from yesterday I was driving down a 30mph straight road in quite a bit of traffic and an oncoming car was wanting to turn right so I thought I'd let him go because i'm such a nice guy and that lol.

Anyway I flash him however there was also a woman at the same street wanting to come out, she thought I'd flashed her to go !!

So as the guy goes and waves me thank you, she pulls out without looking right (at me) as she thought id let her go, so she looks left the whole time and not realising i'm right where her car is headed!

I slammed on but she drove into my bumper, it's cracked the bump strip and put a bulge in the bumper, it's quite small but still its been damaged.

I pulled over and she got out and was really apologetic, really nice woman, couldn't say sorry enough and admitted it was her doing and all that. 

Basically, i'm wondering what to do next, it's seriously not worth going through the insurance so please don't tell me otherwise...

How much roughly would a new bumper and respray of it cost would you think?

I'm more interested in the respray quotes, shes offered to pay for it all so its all good there. 

Dan!

The car in question is my 2002 mk1.5 Focus


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

you will have to inform your insurers anyway mate as it is a non fault claim, so ring them up put say you are going to sort it keeps everything kosha.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Why would I? Surely I could have done it myself hitting a badger or something lol 

(I'm not arguing btw, just asking why  )


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

£50 if it's a banger 

£50k if it's a veyron 

What car is it ? 

You've got to take it to a garage to get a quote anyway , And at least 3 to give her a fair option ,

I'd also inform your insurance company doesn't mean you need to make a claim 

Also she could get home and her husband might say , No let it go through the insurance and then you get done for not informing them


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

dann2707 said:


> Why would I? Surely I could have done it myself hitting a badger or something lol


Guy in my work hit 2 badgers yesterday morning :doublesho !!! £2800 worth of damage , Fear the badger


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## markamo (Sep 26, 2010)

Hi Dan 
My experience with accidents when people don't want to go through the insurance ends in tears, when you get a quote she'll say thats to much and it goes on... contact your insurance it's her fault and let them sort it:thumb:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Strictly speaking you should notify your Insurers of any accident as it is a condition of your policy.

However, if the lady that hit you is paying cash and not involving her own insurers, then personally i would take a view on it and treat it like you would if you caught your wing on a post and decided to fix it yourself.

If she is getting her own Insurers involved, then you should let your own insurers know, but for "notification only" and not for the purpose of making a claim.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

dann2707 said:


> Why would I? Surely I could have done it myself hitting a badger or something lol
> 
> (I'm not arguing btw, just asking why  )


you could be considered a greater risk by some insurers that seem to charge for non fault a lot do not and should not charge for non fault claims.










I would highly advise you to contact them explain the situation what occurred ensuring to put that she admitted fault at the side of the road yadder yadder.

take some pictures of said damage to.

you will get a claim number and probably the above to tell them what went on.

In addition, i have noticed a lot more insurers wanting you to disclose windscreen REPAIRS not just replacements now to!

yeah as shiny has said it is more just for notification.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks so far! Keep the comments coming please!!

And she offered to go through the insurance but I said it would be better for her if she just payed for it straight off as she had been driving 20 years with no claims so far so I felt really bad for her.

Plus im under the impression insurance claims take absolutely ages to happen. 

I'd rather get the bumper and fit it myself rather than waiting for someone else to do it.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

She will probably think the damage will not cost much to repair and might change her mind presented with a bill to repair both cars. 

I've always had the belief that if you flash your light there is a strong chance the insurance company will hold you partially responsible.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Personally i'd get an estimate or two (or rather a *pro-forma invoice* as this will confirm the total cost of parts, labour, materials, paint and vat) and try to keep the costs down as low as possible. If she stumps up the cash, all is good, get it repaired and leave it at that.

If she wants to go through her own Insurers, they will probably contact you and offer a "third party repair" where you take the car to one of their approved repairers and they deal with it all for you. If they don't, you will need to initiate a claim against her for her to pass to her insurers to deal with it. You should notify your own insurers at this stage that you have been involved in accident. To complicate things, there may be a dispute over liability, in which case you would want your own insurers involved so they can repudiate any claim made against you and argue over liability.

See how it pans out first, and then advise your insurers if it is the best course of action. You should know where you are in a couple of days, provided you get a pro-forma invoice and have received some feedback from the lady as to whether she will pay or wants to go through her insurers.


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## Hotchy (Jul 22, 2010)

My mate paid off a guys car after he crashed into it, the guy pocketed the £400 and never fixed the crack in his bumper :lol: afterall his car was lucky to be worth £400. Thought id share this useless info with you, or give you ideas? :lol:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

There is actually nothing wrong with doing that, as the guy was compensated for the damage (ie his financial loss). What he chose to do with the money was his choice.


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## hoikey (Mar 9, 2011)

I wouldnt inform your insurance as they will try to increase the price for next year etc...

I tried to inform my insurers of a no claims no fault crash one year when it came to renewal and they asked me questions like when and where etc... but I couldnt remember the exact date as there was no claim and it was all settled with a handshake an a couple hundred quid. I then guessed at a date and they told me that unless the date is exact they can void my inurance for providing false information. I then put the phone down and rang back and said no to the question "any accidents in the last 5 years". 

More hassle than its worth dude.


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## Johnboy82 (Nov 12, 2010)

I get claims landing on my desk just about on a daily basis, I phone our Policyholder and they tell me that as far as he/she is aware its the other persons fault and they agreed to pay for the damage without the insurance companies being involved. I tell them that the 3rd party is making a claim for damage and injury and they loose the rag. Speak to your insurer mate. Chances are and ambulance chasing accident management company will have contacted her if she's been to a garage with her own car and it usually ends up with the at fault party submitting a claim against the non-fault driver.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

There was no damage on her car. She wasn't even like bothered about hers, it was around a 2002 vw polo in light blue. 

I've just been to the local spray shop.

For the OEM bumper from Ford including mouldings, spraying, labour and VAT
= £323..71

I'm going to ring her tonight, I wonder if she'll want to go through insurance after that quote haha


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Get a second estimate too, this helps to show that the estimate you have is a fair rate for the job.


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## PaulaJayne (Feb 17, 2012)

Shiny said:


> Get a second estimate too, this helps to show that the estimate you have is a fair rate for the job.


+1

Paula


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

hoikey said:


> *I wouldnt inform your insurance as they will try to increase the price for next year etc...*
> 
> I tried to inform my insurers of a no claims no fault crash one year when it came to renewal and they asked me questions like when and where etc... but I couldnt remember the exact date as there was no claim and it was all settled with a handshake an a couple hundred quid. I then guessed at a date and they told me that unless the date is exact they can void my inurance for providing false information. I then put the phone down and rang back and said no to the question "any accidents in the last 5 years".
> 
> More hassle than its worth dude.


So basically what you are saying is you cannot corroborate that sentence in bold with what you have said below as you never got a quote with the change. Oh and i have tried on quite a few insurers sites with none fault claims and the price usually comes back the same i have never paid anything extra from when i had a none fault claim.

+1 on getting another quote as well.


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## dew1911 (Jun 9, 2009)

Insurance will take ANY opportunity to add money on, unless you have too, tell them nothing. Robbing twats.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

dew1911 said:


> Insurance will take ANY opportunity to add money on, unless you have too, tell them nothing. Robbing twats.


not in my experience on this point mate...


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

dew1911 said:


> unless you have too, tell them nothing.


As things currently stand, insurance is currently a contract of "utmost good faith".

_UTMOST GOOD FAITH
Insurance contracts are contracts of utmost good faith (uberrima fides), which means that both parties to the contract have a duty to disclose, clearly and accurately, all material facts relating to the proposed insurance. Any breach of this duty by the proposer may entitle the insurer to repudiate liability._

So in other words, quite the opposite, you need to tell them everything, even if not asked.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

On a separate note, my missus was insured with Diamond for years, and apparently when I looked on her insurance renewal thingy they had been adding stuff to her policy without her knowledge, and yes she should have checked properly, and her insurance was £420 odd for her little Fiesta, told her to change company just because of that issue, now with Priviledge for £169, so I don't know how they get away with doing that

Also, stupidly, I'm with Budget as they came out cheapest on a price comparison website, never again, ridiculous cancellation penalties, in fact, obscene penalties


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

as for the flashing lights thing........ if she saw you flash she should have assumed it was a warning rather than an indication to proceed


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## should_do_more (Apr 30, 2008)

i got hit on a motorway, the guy sorted through insurance. my old car had a bumper scuff and a slightly bent exhaust end pipe....i asked not to go there but he pushed to get it settled as his car was destroyed, fair enough, but i still didn't want to get anything from it.

despite not asking for a penny they paid me 900 quid for a new sprayed bumper.....i never got it done, kept the cash.

the next year my insurance quote jumped up. they sent the reminder, i called up, they asked if i had claimed and i said no (as in my eyes i hadn't claimed on my insurance, i never even spoke to them), they already knew i was in a 'non-fault' incident, and they chucked on 20%.

over the 5 years i have had to renew i have spent well over 900 quid extra on insurance as a result. for 300 quid, and you'll probably get better quotes than than, i'd just leave it.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

2nd hand bumper,passable paint job,£100?
scaling up from the £60 it cost me for the same a few years ago.


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

I notified my insurer when I got hit by the ambulance. The claim amounted to the cost of them appointing an assessor (£70 + VAT I think) to inspect the car and I didn't complete a claim. I can't see that my policy was loaded, I still got a better price than my renewal after moving to another insurer but with my NCD reinstated I don't think I lost out.

You shouldn't have to but if you can't find a reasonably good mk1.5 State Blue front bumper from a breaker or ebay then you're not looking hard enough. It's a 20 minute job to swap them over too. I'm not saying you should take advantage of the woman's offer but if you took a sum to repair your car based on the middle of 3 quotes, then as said what you do with the money is up to you.

Also another good reason why you shouldn't flash your lights to let somebody out, only really to let people know you're there (and I do appreciate that this is almost the norm in the UK to flash to let somebody out).


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

dew1911 said:


> Insurance will take ANY opportunity to add money on, unless you have too, tell them nothing. Robbing twats.


Agreed. Lou had someone plough into the back of her and write off her car. Completely his fault, he acknowledged this (not a lot of choice in the matter, she stopped at a junction, he "thought she would have pulled out by the time he got there" and went square into the back of it!) yet she still pays twice the premium "because you're more likely to be involved in an accident".

Scum of the earth, out to make money back from honest people after insuring arseholes at below the going rate and failing to recoup their costs properly.


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## KennyC (Aug 11, 2008)

Ninja59 said:


> i have never paid anything extra from when i had a none fault claim.
> 
> +1 on getting another quote as well.


I have/ I am paying more, it was a non-fault claim, about £2k damage to the van and no personal injuries. It's adding roughly 10% onto my policy.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

meh your choice whether to declare it or not...i can only talk from my pov and the fact that it has not. 

Shiny has given the thing that you should declare it as that is what insurance is based on trust and honesty. If you do not then take your chances and take the consequences your choice.

And if it does increase the premium why not look for another insurer who does not. :lol:

There is far more variables in these premiums to so technically not like for like.


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## Gretsch-drummer (Sep 17, 2010)

Teeeelllll them nothing. Go over to cross green industrial estate: 2 scrap yards there, you might get lucky and find the parts you're after.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Surely a non fault accident should be exactly that, not YOUR fault, so why should the insurance company need to know? Why should you be persecuted for something that isn't your fault?


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## dew1911 (Jun 9, 2009)

bidderman1969 said:


> Surely a non fault accident should be exactly that, not YOUR fault, so why should the insurance company need to know? Why should you be persecuted for something that isn't your fault?


Because if an insurance company can find any way to provide an extra bottle of champers at the share holders do, they'll do everything possible to get it!


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

The police crashed into the back of my car while I was stationary last year and wrote it off, part of my claim will include any increase in overall cost.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

bidderman1969 said:


> Surely a non fault accident should be exactly that, not YOUR fault, so why should the insurance company need to know? Why should you be persecuted for something that isn't your fault?


the end of the day it is an incident that is how it is phrased on any quote so should be declared whether you like that or not. Regardless of who did what hit what etc. something still occurred on the public highway.

IMHO your better being honest if something did occur even if it loads something on a premium with the amount of information sharing these days but as i have said those that say not to take your chance...

On the 2nd point i have shown you do not have to be! And as i have said in above post there is so many other variables in this for all i know one of the above posts saying it did load a premium could have an actual claim where they did something! one instant variable here is even the cost of the none fault incident.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

well, through experience i have seen that companies will give you a "favourable" rate for the first year, then hike it up year after year


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Any update from Dan2707? Has the lady agreed to settle cash or is she involving her Insurers?


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## SAL73R (Jan 12, 2011)

See if there is a bumper and moulding in the same colour in a scrap yard, just change the whole thing. I will be a lot cheaper then repairing and painting the old bumper.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

I've been at uni all day today. I think I might ring her tonight.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

She rang me just now and as soon as I gave her the repair quote she didn't sound like she liked it haha. It is a lot of money though.

So she says shes going to go through insurance instead. Although she kind of cut me off, and didn't ask for any details from me? I thought she would have at least got my registration plate or something? Hmmm.


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## Teddy (Dec 15, 2007)

I'd definately see how much a 2nd hand bumper is...might even get on the same colour too.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

dann2707 said:


> I've been at uni all day today. I think I might ring her tonight.


Christ. :doublesho


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

What alan lol?


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

It was a joke. You might ring her. No?

I thought it was funny.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Shiny said:


> As things currently stand, insurance is currently a contract of "utmost good faith".
> 
> _UTMOST GOOD FAITH
> Insurance contracts are contracts of utmost good faith (uberrima fides), which means that both parties to the contract have a duty to disclose, clearly and accurately, all material facts relating to the proposed insurance. Any breach of this duty by the proposer may entitle the insurer to repudiate liability._
> ...


IMHO in a cut and dried '3rd party hit you, she (or her insurance company) admits fault and pays you (or her insurance does)' it's not a 'material fact' and does not go against the 'utmost good faith' the contract is based on.

What would be more of a material fact is if a number of cars on your street have been vandalised recently as this does change their risk profile....but people are not going to do that!



bidderman1969 said:


> Surely a non fault accident should be exactly that, not YOUR fault, so why should the insurance company need to know? Why should you be persecuted for something that isn't your fault?


I understand why it's taken into consideration - non fault accidents does not mean they're not avoidable. The OP DIRECTLY caused this accident through his actions. Ok, the accident was not his fault but he was a major contributing factor....if it was another driver it likely wouldn't have happened.

There are many similar situations where situational awareness, perception of hazards or driver maneuvers, defensive driving and appropriate speed can avoid a potential non-fault accident whereas another driver less perceptive may have had an accident. So companies add some weighting to non-fault accidents (and make more profit!).

Not a dig at OP - just using it as an example.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Bero said:


> IMHO in a cut and dried '3rd party hit you, she (or her insurance company) admits fault and pays you (or her insurance does)' it's not a 'material fact' and does not go against the 'utmost good faith' the contract is based on.


So how about someone who has had ten clear "cut and dried" claims in one year, either very very unlucky or perhaps their driving style contributes to it? At what point does it become a material fact that their non fault accidents should be disclosed, or in your opinion is there is never a need to do so?

It is up to the Insurers to decide if a fact is material, as it is them that is providing the insurance cover. As proposal forms say - "If you are unsure as to whether a fact is material, you should disclose it".

Although the second half of you post contradicts the first?


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Shiny said:


> So how about someone who has had ten clear "cut and dried" claims in one year, either very very unlucky or perhaps their driving style contributes to it? At what point does it become a material fact that their non fault accidents should be disclosed, or in your opinion is there is never a need to do so?
> 
> It is up to the Insurers to decide if a fact is material, as it is them that is providing the insurance cover. As proposal forms say - "If you are unsure as to whether a fact is material, you should disclose it".
> 
> Although the second half of you post contradicts the first?


As with most grey areas it comes down to opinion - I may be sure it's not material and therefore I'm under no requirement (or obligation) to report it.

Do you report a bump in a car park when your car is stationary and the TP pays you? How about a car park bump or ding when the TP disappears, grazing a high kerb with your bumper? Scratching your alloy? Hitting a Scottish Moose, rabbit, pheasant, deer, Canadian Moose?

It may read a little contradictory - it was just to illustrate why companies do add cost for non-fault claims, does not mean I agree with it in all circumstances....in the same way your 'you need to tell your insurance company'.....unless she's paying you cash then don't bother is contradictory. The way you're paid makes zero difference to the material facts.


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## should_do_more (Apr 30, 2008)

i'd still pay for it myself.

at best i can see this as a 50/50 blame, which is even worse.
it's not 'non-fault' as he flashed his lights and it sort of happened - accident yes, fault-less i doubt it in the insurance company's eyes. my non-fault was clearly that, i was stationary in a queue of traffic on a motorway and the bloke hit the back of my car.

i know we all pay insurance for a reason, but the cost vs. penalty on this just isn't worth it in my opinion.

300 quid is top dollar, it isn't even like it's a critical area or damage, so doesn't need to be done straight away.

i'd ask her for 100 quid towards the repairs and call it a day. sounds like it's too late now though.


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

Surely there's a scrappy near you with a bumper the same colour? Like the above poster call it £100?


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