Post-Crash Legal Advice

[RachaelEllen]

Hi all,

As I am sure many of you are aware via either Facebook or SBQE2's post (my dad) I ended up riding into the back of a van last wednesday and basically smashing up the front of my Kawasaki ER6f. The van was a work vehicle but the driver was very kind and basically said he aimed to not go through insurance and for us to settle it privately as his boss’ father in law carried out repairs to vehicles. This was good news for me as I only have third party fire and theft insurance so was therefore unable to claim for the damage to my bike (the accident was my fault). I rang the man on Friday and left a message on his voicemail thanking him for staying with me until the recovery van came and telling him to let me know when he had a quote for the van. Today (Monday) I received a text from the van driver saying “ ...I am sorry to tell you but for legal reasons I will have to go through your insurance...”. I have a £950 excess (£550 compulsory and £400 voluntary) on my insurance so I assume the damage to the van will not come to this much ( At the bottom of my essay is a link to an image of the damage to the van) so I’ll have to pay for the damage. I am a month away from my no claims bonus which would reduce my insurance from £700 to £400 approximately so obviously i would ideally not involve my insurers. If i inform my insurers but the value of the damage does not meet the excess does this still count as a claim? Do I have to go through my insurers if the other driver requests it?

I have never been in a collision before so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated

Link to image of the damage to the van : http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a.../vandamage.jpg

[mick_benson]

appeal to his better nature, looking at that pic it should't cost much to fix,

[RachaelEllen]

I think the problem is that it was a work van, so I don't know whether it is a work policy. They aren't a big multi-national company or anything though :-/

[mick_benson]

i get that but that door shouldnt cost much more than a say £200
ask to see the quotes dont take there word for the cost

[Nelly]

I'm sure one of the legal eagles on here will be able to advise you. Me? I aint got a clue TBH. Hope it can be sorted quickly for you though.

[SupeRDel]

Offer the driver/van owners 400 quid to call it quits!

If it is a small company then the van maybe a leased van which will cause a problem when returned to the lease company

[SupeRDel]

Third party insurance with a £950 excess....

How much was the original premium?

I must be out of touch

[pilninggas]

If he does claim via your insurance it they will pay all of the costs. Your excess relates to you claiming on your insurance with TPFT this would be if it caught fire or if it was stolen.

My only advice is don't get stressed (not easy i know), and remember as much as not accruing no-claims is frustrating these sorts of accidents are exactly what insurance is intended for.

[Senna(Dan)]

Check the bay, you may find a door at a stupidly low price.
Movano doors can be picked up for about £100 and I'm sure it wouldn't cost £300 to get it fittted!

[Snowy]

My advice for what its worth is to tell your insurer the full details of the accident and let them deal with it. Thats what you pay them for in the first instance. Remember its not in the other parties best interests to try and get it done on the cheap just to help with your future insurance premiums. I'm sure if the situation were reversed, we would all want our own pride and joys repaired to the highest spec with all new parts, not bought secondhand off Ebay. What about his time off work to get the van fixed, loss of income etc etc? Best thing in my view is hand it over to the insurers, forget about the other party and concentrate on getting yours fixed.

You must tell your insurer about the accident anyway irrespective of blame and whether there is a claim or not so your premium is going to get loaded either way.