Minor car crash

Dutchy

Hello guys,

My girlfriend was involved in a minor car collision this morning.
Basically a dog walked onto the road & she instinctively swerved to avoid hitting said dog. She bumped into the front of another car.

So there is a bit of damage done to her car but she is more worried about the damage done to the other car. The driver of the other car took pictures of the damage done. She asked my girlfriend if she wanted to call a guard.. she declined & admitted that the accident was her fault.

She received a a text message stating that the other car is a write off (listing a few things that are wrong). The lady said she is happy to take the car to a garage in order to get the damage assessed but that it would probably be better to agree on the market value of the car & pay cash.

I'm due to call said lady to discuss but would welcome any thoughts re best way to approach? I had a look on adverts.ie & I believe the market value of the car is from 500 euro to 800 euro. At least she didnt crash into a brand new Merc

The one thing that I am slightly more worried about is that she asked if my girlfriend was ok and that she might be in shock & sometimes one does not realise they're injured until they come out of shock. Now, perhaps she was genuinely worried about my girlfriend but language of that nature has me slightly worried, in that, is she going to claim whiplash over the coming days!? Perhaps I'm just being too cynical...

mgbgt1978

Your girlfriend just might be very lucky and just have to pay for a replacement car.........I would be surprised though.


Next time, hit the dog and claim for any damage from the dog's owner.

Dutchy

It was an expensive trip to the shops :mad:

Cool, so just agreed a price & get it sorted ASAP?

The fact that there were no guards called, thus no report, mean that it is unlikely she is going to play the whole whiplash card?

Should my girlfriend contact her insurance company even if she is going to pay for all damages herself?

Kristopherus

Dutchy wrote: »

It was an expensive trip to the shops :mad:

Cool, so just agreed a price & get it sorted ASAP?

The fact that there were no guards called, thus no report, mean that it is unlikely she is going to play the whole whiplash card?

Should my girlfriend contact her insurance company even if she is going to pay for all damages herself?

I would delay calling the insurance co.IMO they are worse than vultures, waiting for a chance to hike up your next premium.:mad:

mgbgt1978

Impossible to say if the other driver will/won't put in a personal injuries claim.
Personally I would be inclined to let my insurer know about the incident (after a day or two to give the other party a chance to "gather their thoughts"). Make sure they understand that you are sorting it out amongst yourselves (for the moment anyway).

Dutchy

Yeah, was thinking that myself. Cash is king so may loop out the insurance company (for now at least).

pablo128

Let it go through the insurance. Do you think you could get an estimate within a few hours on a Saturday to write off a car? It sounds fishy to me. Then you could pay cash and she could go through your insurance anyway for personal injuries.

I would report the accident at a Garda station too. Do it by the book.

Dutchy

pablo128 wrote: »

Let it go through the insurance. Do you think you could get an estimate within a few hours on a Saturday to write off a car? It sounds fishy to me. Then you could pay cash and she could go through your insurance anyway for personal injuries.

I would report the accident at a Garda station too. Do it by the book.

Thanks for the comment. In fairness she did say that she thinks it's a write off. Basically because it's an older car so the cost for any body work will probably cost more than the car itself. So, may ask her to take it to a garage... just so all options are in play.

Sleeper12

mgbgt1978 wrote:

Next time, hit the dog and claim for any damage from the dog's owner.

This is what you are supposed to do. Crashing into a human to save a dog (I am a dog lover) is considered the wrong thing to do.
OP it's actually the dog owners fault. Any chance that they can be tracked down?

Dutchy

Sleeper12 wrote:

This is what you are supposed to do. Crashing into a human to save a dog (I am a dog lover) is considered the wrong thing to do. OP it's actually the dog owners fault. Any chance that they can be tracked down?

That ship has sailed unfortunately...

pablo128

Dutchy wrote: »

Thanks for the comment. In fairness she did say that she thinks it's a write off. Basically because it's an older car so the cost for any body work will probably cost more than the car itself. So, may ask her to take it to a garage... just so all options are in play.

There's countless threads on here where people got burnt from not going through the proper channels. I have accepted cash myself from a lad that hit the back of me, but have also been caught by another lad who simply wouldn't pay and then tried to disappear.

Do you know for sure if the other driver was insured, was it her car, was she disqualified etc. Get her details and report it to the Garda immediately. You can leave it a couple of days to contact the insurance company. In any case the ins co will want to know if you made a report if a claim is made.

Sleeper12

pablo128 wrote:

Let it go through the insurance. Do you think you could get an estimate within a few hours on a Saturday to write off a car? It sounds fishy to me. Then you could pay cash and she could go through your insurance anyway for personal injuries.

pablo128 wrote:

I would report the accident at a Garda station too. Do it by the book.

I agree. Your policy says that you must inform the insurance company of any accidents. If you pay out now the other party can claim whiplash in 6 months & the insurance will pay out anyway. In this case the insurance won't refund the money you paid to the other party. You can always reimburse the insurance company & keep the ncb.
Always inform the police. Other party may not be insured on the car or have a licence. All this helps your case and would discourage a whiplash claim

_Kaiser_

I'm a bit confused OP...

You say it was a minor collision but yet the other party is claiming their car is a write-off without actually having had it assessed by a garage and is looking for cash. Am I the only one who thinks this dodgy?
From the rest of your post a personal injury claim will be along alright. Time to get the insurance involved IMO

What kind of road was it? How fast was your GF travelling? Was it a head-on crash or a side-swipe? What kind of cars are involved?

liam7831

Id say its more than likely that she will claim for whiplash seeing as she has already self diagnosed her car as a write off

Go for gold

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I'm a bit confused OP...

You say it was a minor collision but yet the other party is claiming their car is a write-off without actually having had it assessed by a garage and is looking for cash. Am I the only one who thinks this dodgy?

Yes your are the only one. Op girlfriend crash into car that was worth 500 to 800 at best so let say need new bumper headlights bonnet + paint + hire car for when it being fixed and wouldn't get that done for 800 euro

_Kaiser_

Go for gold wrote: »

Yes your are the only one. Op girlfriend crash into car that was worth 500 to 800 at best so let say need new bumper headlights bonnet + paint + hire car for when it being fixed and wouldn't get that done for 800 euro

I'd still want to get it checked myself/some sort of written report (who diagnosed it a write-off?) - and if they do go the cash route then some sort of receipt AND waiver of personal injury claim should be part of the deal.