Insurance Question

[Quixand]

This morning I unfortunately rear ended a car. Good thing that we were both starting from full stop, so when the other driver went forward i did the same but then the driver stopped suddenly and i admit my attention was partly on the intersection ahead, but i did manage to stop but not before kissing the rear bumper.

The damage was a paint scratch about an inch long, it has a matching damage on my front bumper that it took us quite an effort to locat. No dents or anything like that (we took photos of the scratch) on both cars.

We exchanged details and i told the driver that we could settle if he wants being that it is a small scratch but he was hesitant being that it was his first accident. I told him that ofcourse he is welcome to go thru his insurance and i will just wait for the notice cause i'm thinking of just paying it myself rather than getting my insurer involved due to the small damage.

My questio now is, this is also my first accident so i have not dealt with this before. I am now concern of them over charging me on estimates, of them making unnecessary repairs/improvements unrelated to the accident being that there are scratches on the side of his bumper that has been there before. Will there be any protection for me to challenge them possibly taking advantage of the situation if i don't get my insurer involed?

I mean i am fully 110% willing to pay but ofcourse nobody wants to be unjustly ripped off.

Any info is appreciated.

[Lancer1993]

Depends who's at fault, but if you decided to go outside the insurance I'd get some quotes for both cars and if you decided to just pay the other driver then get them to sign something so they don't go to the insurance later.

I'd say if you had a hard time finding the damage then it's likely to cost less to fix than your insurance excess.

As for who's at fault if the other driver suddenly stopped for no go reason then I'd say they are to blame, especially when you're leaving the lights and not expecting it and closer together.

Just my 2 cents worth, but get some quotes first with a repairer you trust.

[himynameisdaniel]

You failed to keep a safe distance and rear ended the other driver.
IF you were to challenge it in court its about what you can prove.
Really not worth it in my opinion.

just be patient and wait for the letter. it is a public holiday today.
If you have full comprehensive you will have to pay an excess and your premiums will probably rise next year.

If zero correspondence comes after 1-3 months consider yourself free.

make sure you do the right thing based on your policy requirements.
For example: lodge police report and contact your insurance within 24 hours

[Kal777]

Depends on the crash repairer of the other party. I got my car hit in works parking lot and the driver at fault attempted to leave unnoticed. Lucky 3 staff members and a courier saw the driver at fault do it. The damage was minor, some scratching and a graze on front of bumper. I got to chose what the crash repairer did, so I got a full front bumper respray, though not needed. This problem would cost the party at fault more than a simple patch and blend but I figured since they tried to run they can cop it.

Point is this could happen to you too. Small damage but the repair work may have the input of the owner of the car. Only thing you can do is get a quote for the damage to your car and the other parties and wait for the notice from their insurance. If you think it's too high of cost then challenge it.

[sleeper]

unfortunately if u rear end somebody its your fault as Daniel said, "failure to keep a safe distance" end of story.

what u have to ascertain is whether the damage bill is more than your excess

[Quixand]

Thank you for the replies.

I am not looking to challenge who is at fault as i said i am willing to pay as long as i am not taken advantage of. Dont get me wrong, at no time at all did i voluntarily admit to being at fault, i just wont challenge it as i know i could have avoided this.

We both have a clear understanding of what the damage is and hopefully they stick to that and be a reasonable person.

I just want to know about any protection against insurers taking advantage of the situation if i decide to deal with them privately as i've read a few horror stories about similar situations so i thought i'd get the opinion of my cj buddies.

Also the reason why i have not called up my insurer (nrma) yet as i'm not keen in getting them involved due to the small damage. With that in mind do you advise i still call them now even for just a heads up? Does it have to be 24 hours or can i wait for the letter and if it is unfair then i call nrma? Is that allowed?

[sleeper]

did u take a photo of the other vehicles damage?

[himynameisdaniel]

you would need to read your product disclosure statement (PDS). or policy terms and conditions.

With my policy if i am at fault i need to report it to my insurer and police within 24hours. I can then choose not to pay the excess and settle privately or dispute it all together.

Some workshops take advantage of the fact that they know that another insurer will be billed ultimately for the work so they go to town.

for example on my last accident they decided to flash the ECU.
no codes, no faults, just 80$ extra reason which got charged to the other drivers insurance.

If you do decide to challenge the amount of work they are going to do be firm and supply evidence. (photos of damage etc.)

Let us know if you do manage to successfully challenge it. I have not personally heard of many successful stories.

[Quixand]

Yes, we have taken photos. Both of us were very cooperative as it is our first accident.

I will take your advice Daniel and call them tomorrow. There is never anything wrong with calling them.

[sleeper]

could u upload a pic of his damage so we can see it?

we might be able to give u an educated guess on what its worth to repair

also whats your excess?

[r00tc4u53]

Someone reversed into the front of my magna in the maccas drive through ages ago and their towball put a little dent and a few scratches on the front bumper and tray grazed the bonnet, also took a while to find. The other driver was being a tool and playing it down, so I ended up going through my insurance.

There were scratches from where the girlfriend had swung the nose out of the garage too early previously (lovely magna turning circles!) and the panel beater just shrugged and said "it's your lucky day, we'll be respraying the whole bar regardless and see if we can buff the bonnet damage." Not sure what the cost was as insurance chased him and I didn't have to do anything. Someone also reversed into the rear corner about a year later and was mostly paint transfer and minor scratches, full bar respray again on insurance.

I'd say this is what the other guys insurance will be doing anyways, not worth just painting a tiny bit it seems. I think the rear bar cost the other party about $450 all up as AAMI sent me a copy of the demand letter they sent to the other party haha

[Lancer1993]

I was in my dads 99 Pathfinder which has a bullbar, parked in a loading area near a chemist to pick him up (he's old) any way I'd left a space infront of the car barely big enough for a small hatch and while I was waiting some guy in a Prado (I think) thought he'd try backing in to the spoke...

He only tapped the bullbar but with his spare tire cover. Didn't really do any damage to either so no insurance need but he blamed the reversing camera. Stupid thing was he left his 4x4 half hanging out of the parking spot while he when in to the chemist and later apologized (for being a tool)

Point is some marks are not worth involving the insurance, it's just going to cost more for both of you than maybe a couple of dollars for a good polish to get the marks out.

Another case, I drive a small truck for a charity, one day another volunteer was backed into causing some minor damage to the front, still drivable and 100% legal on the road but his insurance got involved to fix the damage, took the truck of the road for almost a week, they did a good job fixing it but really at most I would have cleaned up the area, put some rust paint on it and been done in a couple of hours. It's like a 15yo Isuzu, wasn't really worth the time and money to do that work, seriously they could have payed a bit more to have the whole cab re-sprayed.

Best idea is to get a dash-cam, even a cheap one, comes in really handy for things like this and you can post youtube clips of other idiots on the road.

[Quixand]

I guess if they try to do that then i can go to my insurance so we could straighten it out especially since we have evidence of the damage related to the accident. I check and apparently i have a claim protection in my policy so it will not affect my no-claim status if i need to get my insurer involved if i cant sort it with them ameccably by myself privately. I'd rather pay my excess.

[Quixand]

Well I tried to settle right there and even said give me a fair amount but he was hesitant thinking he will get ripped off and he wants to go thru insurance.

I do have a dash cam which would only show me kissing the rear

I'll just wait and see what happens, cause i know that if i was the one in front and some guy hit me from behind and cost me damage and inconvenience then i would not be happy.

Craig just a question, how could it end up also costing the other party more when it goes thru insurance when I am at fault?

[Lancer1993]

The example I gave is if you want additional work done at the same time not covered by the insurance, you can often pay the panel shop extra to fix other issues at the same time.

I do agree the one at the rear is usually the one held to blame as you should have had a bigger gap but there can be exceptions if the other drive stops suddenly especially in a situation like this were you were leaving the lights, you just don't expect someone to suddenly stop.

Post the footage of your 'crash'.