Someone just reversed into my car

[animal]

im not sure what to do now.....if my insurance find out things are guna be worse for me???

Unfortunately, yes. Insurance companies don't care who is at fault, its about whether a claim has been made or not hence the phrase: 'Have you made a claim in the last 36 months, regardless of fault'. Standard procedure is that you claim through your company for pay out for all the work, then they claim back from the third party's insurance. This counts as a claim on your part, regardless of whether or not you were to blame and can bump your premium at renewal time, particularly if you dont have protected no claims.

Try Help Hire www.helphire.co.uk. I used them when someone hit me and I worked for them for a while too (delivering the cars - lots of fast, prestiege stuff). Your insurance company is totally cut out of the loop. It's not fraud because you haven't made a claim through your insurance company - it's all recovered directly from the third party's insurance by Help Hire. And you get a like-for-like courtesy car at no cost to you (Not some micky mouse Kia Picanto from the body shot if you are lucky) plus legal cover and personal injury cover if needed. Legal protection and a courtesy car IS NOT worth the money on your standard insurance, this applies to anyone who is renewing soon - it's a waste of time and money.

[edd666999]

will i be able to chose the body shop with them?

so should i tell the guy not to give my insurance details to his insurance? or just contact hire help now and let them do everything?

[Nick S]

If you tell your insurance company they will put your car in for work and pay for it.  You will pay an excess and then they will recover their costs from the 3rd party.  If the 3rd parties insurance company are going to pay then they will do everything, you do not need to inform your insurance company its as if the 3rd party was paying cash to fix it, would you tell your insurers then??? I dont think so.

Your insurance company want you to tell them so they can make money, that is what they are in business for.  You dont need to tell them.  We didnt last year my mate didnt when someone shunted his 911, he didnt use an accident management company either the 3rd parties insurers dealt with him directly they even paid for a brand new Cayman S hire car for 2 weeks.

If you want to tell them tell them but they will happily deal with it for you and relieve you of your excess for 6 months, can you imagine the interest on all the excesses they are sitting on for 6 months before paying back.

[Janner_Sy]

think yourself lucky. I just noticed on mine that someones scraped theyre car along side my rear passenger door. not sure when as i dont normally see that side.

 luckily i think it was a tiny nudge as the panels havent been pushed in. jsut marks from where theyre bumper strip has scraped it. going to wash the car in a minute and see if it is bad, cos the car is pretty dirty

[edd666999]

oh i dont want to tell them lol, but if he has my insurance details......i might be stuck.

[animal]

Help Hire will give you a choice of local approved bodyshops all of which, from experience, are pretty top-notch (most were BMW/Merc/Jag approved from the ones I used to deal with).

I couldn't comment of what to do about the insurance company now, you could try contacting the other person to see if they have done anything yet but to be honest, his insurance co. have no real need to contact your company as it's not their concern. They just need to repair the third party's car. If you haven't already spoken to your insurance co. definately call Help Hire. You'll probably have the replacement car by lunch time tomorrow. Help Hire will still want to take the details of your insurance company, but unless its a total loss and anything severe like that they are unlikely to contact them.

[Nick S]

Your insurance company will contact you if they need to, when they do tell them you do not want them to deal with it and that they should cancel the claim as you are dealing directly with the 3rd party. You could tell the 3rd party this and ask him to tell his insurers to contact you directly. 

[edd666999]

he is guna contact them monday morning. i aint told mine. i might ask him just to give them my name and number.


@nick thats what i wanted to here 

[animal]

If you tell your insurance company they will put your car in for work and pay for it.  You will pay an excess and then they will recover their costs from the 3rd party.  If the 3rd parties insurance company are going to pay then they will do everything, you do not need to inform your insurance company its as if the 3rd party was paying cash to fix it, would you tell your insurers then??? I dont think so.

Your insurance company want you to tell them so they can make money, that is what they are in business for.  You dont need to tell them.  We didnt last year my mate didnt when someone shunted his 911, he didnt use an accident management company either the 3rd parties insurers dealt with him directly they even paid for a brand new Cayman S hire car for 2 weeks.

If you want to tell them tell them but they will happily deal with it for you and relieve you of your excess for 6 months, can you imagine the interest on all the excesses they are sitting on for 6 months before paying back.

With regards to going to direct to third party's insurance co. and cutting yours out, this is exactly what Help Hire do, but they do all the leg work for you. No chasing around, car the next day etc. from one phone call. It's much easier with an accident management company - it's cost you nothing as every penny is claimed from the third party.

One bit of advice though, make sure you take the collision damage waiver on the courtesy car - it's only a couple of quid a day and is capped at £15 if memory serves, which is a small price to pay if anything happens to the courtesy car, again, regardless of fault!

[Nick S]

I had already recommended an accident management service but to be honest there is no legwork if there is no injury, just means there is no middlemen.  Mate took his car where he wanted 3rd party insurers had a Cayman S dropped off at the bodyshop before he got there, he picked car up 2 weeks later and left the car at the bodyshop.  Wheres the legwork in that. 

I had to chase the accident management company to sort ours and they certainly took their time as they were making money on the hire car.

[edd666999]

just rang them. they have been evacuated due to an emergency   im guessing its fire alarm time!

[Jono76]

If you take it to the bodyshop you want to use they will probably have one they deal with.  I cant recall the one we used, sorry.


edit.  They were called Kindertons, based in Crewe, but as I said most bodyshops have one they deal with.

I would recommend you steer well clear of Kindertons - I work in a bodyshop not far from their base and they are far from the best people to use!!

I would recommend Helphire as we use them and have had a claim with them recently when the wife was rear-ended (no pun intended   !!!)


Read this link http://www.helphire.co.uk/helphire/service/servicesformotorists/ and then give them a call. They will advise you and there is no commitment to using their services.

Also, although you mention you have a bodyshop in mind I would also recommend checking out the official VW Paint and Body website http://vwgrouppaintandbody.co.uk and contact your nearest VAG approved bodyshop and see whether they have any local accident managemnet companies they can recommend.

Good luck!!!!

[edd666999]

I had already recommended an accident management service but to be honest there is no legwork if there is no injury, just means there is no middlemen.  Mate took his car where he wanted 3rd party insurers had a Cayman S dropped off at the bodyshop before he got there, he picked car up 2 weeks later and left the car at the bodyshop.  Wheres the legwork in that.  

I had to chase the accident management company to sort ours and they certainly took their time as they were making money on the hire car.

i really dont want to pay my £800 excess and i dont want to deal with his insurance, if they use any legal babble i will be lost as i dont know all my rights. so a AM company sounds good. and 2 recommendations for helphire has sold them to me

[edd666999]

all 3 of the new cars i have owned have all been reversed into within 3months of me owning them!!! its like an initiation ceremony!

[Jono76]

If the 3rd party insurance company contact you direct then just tell them that Helphire are dealing with your case!!

Remember that his inurance company will be wanting to minimise ALL costs. As such will want to repair your car as cheaply as possible and give you a crappy little courtesu car.

Stick to your guns and get your car repaired as it should be!!

If you want any more specific advice just ask or PM me.