Rearended - Other party refusing to communicate

L

Lauren

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Was rearended last week...Minor damage, mainly cosmetic but quoted at around 400 Euro. I was stationary at a stop sign when it happened.
Other party initially admitted liability, would not give insurance details but got a phone number, registration details and name etc.

Other party said she didn't want to go through insurance as she had only just 'sorted out the last one'

Made a police report that evening and went to a garage to have the damage assessed.

Have now left three messages for the person at home and she hasn't returned my call. I guess she's trying to avoid me. I was trying to do the decent thing by her and avoid insurance company involvement.
Therefore I assume I need to contact my own insurance company to have it sorted.....Question is, will my insurance premium be affected at all?
 
only if other party contests it. if there is a contested claim going on when its time to renew your insurance, your premium goes up. i think you get a refund should you win the case and your record is adjusted. If the other party admits liability there will be no change.
 
I would say tru the gardai and see what they say.

Might put it down as a civil issue and nothing to do with them, worth a call though.
 
Lauren said:
Have already been to the Gardai to make the report.
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Yes, but maybe it's time to tell the gardai that the other party is not being cooperative. Sounds like she may not have any insurance at all. Did you not jot down the details of her insurance disk?
 
happened to me,gave details to my insurers told them to sort it,thats what i pay em for,no more problems.
 
Hi Lauren,
I can empathise with you as my story is "some-what" similar to yours.
In 2005 my car was rear-ended and a substantial amount of damage was done, 3,000 Euro!

The person admitted full liability and gave me a written and signed statement to this effect. They said they would pay for any damage caused as they did not want to go through their insurance as they had only renewed it. I also called the Garda Station to report the accident, they recorded the accident but advised this was a civil matter between me and the person who caused the accident and they would not get involved.

To cut a long story short, I proceeded with a civil action against the person as they did not pay for the damage caused to my car and the matter is still on-going. The person has never turned up in court or replied to any solicitors letters.

Maybe my case is the exception to the rule but I hope you get sorted out. The mistake I made was not to have taken the persons insurance details at the scene of the accident (hind sight is a great thing).

Best of Luck
G
 
Hind sight being a great thing but regardless of the amount of damage done it is always advisable to call the gardai and ask them to come out to scene. They will take everyone's details and pass them on to each other. Also not advisable not to move cars until the Gardai arrive if possible so they can do a sketch of the scene.

Unfortunately all of the above is pretty useless to you. You may not get any further assistance from the Gardai. You should inform your own insurance company and give them full details just in case other party comes in with a claim against you down the line your insurance company will believe you more if you told them first. You can repair the damage yourself and claim on your own insurance or pay for it yourself and then try and recover it from other person through district court proceedings.
 
Same thing happened to me but I'd got the guys insurance details from his insurance disk at the time. The guy concerned basically ignored me afterwards and was always in "meetings" when I rang. In the end I rang my own insurers and then rang his to find he hadn't even reported it to them. Got it sorted in a couple of weeks and hopefully his preiums have gone up as a result
 
A few years ago in west cork, my car was rear ended and the guy jumped out of his car stinking of booze saying, it's all okay etc. My car seemed okay, bumper showing a slight scrape. The offender drove off. Checked car later and discovered that behind bumper the metal was bent in, I found out later that the car is designed this way and it is a called a crumple zone.
As west cork near ballydehob is a small place, drove back to near the accident and found his car outside pub, copied down insurance etc, reported to local police the next day, as they are only there in mornings and went through insurance, with no problems.
 
extopia said:
Yes, but maybe it's time to tell the gardai that the other party is not being cooperative. Sounds like she may not have any insurance at all. Did you not jot down the details of her insurance disk?
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Ok, to be honest I figure the gardai are pretty busy with other stuff....
I think she had insurance alright but had only just had one of a few claims sorted out...In my shock at being hit I never thought of looking at her disk...She became very aggitated and tried to fob me off by saying 'ah sure its barely a scratch'. I guess I could call the Gardai and ask their advice...I just don't want to be in a position where my insurance goes up because of what is a fairly minor ding!
 
Sometimes you can end up out of pocket. My brother was in a similar situation and while the claim was being contested his insurance premium increased substantially (he renewed his insurance during the time that the claim was being pursued). Eventually he won the case (never in doubt really as it was patently obvious who was in the wrong) and his insurance company reduced his premium BUT never reimbursed him for the time that his premium was increased, despite the fact that he was totally exonerated. He was driving one of his work vehicles at the time so the actual increase was substantial.

Good luck with your claim.

DavyJones said:
only if other party contests it. if there is a contested claim going on when its time to renew your insurance, your premium goes up. i think you get a refund should you win the case and your record is adjusted. If the other party admits liability there will be no change.
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It's also a good idea to have one of those disposable camera's in your car and take pictures of the damage, location of car and the other person. Very hard for someone to deny being the cause of the damage if you have that. I also thought one should never admit liability - I think the insurers advise this but I may be wrong.
 
I would just go through the insurance. Why did you not just get the insurance details off the disc on the other car.
 
Lauren said:
In my shock at being hit I never thought of looking at her disk...
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As I said


Thanks everyone for the advice. Just had a call from her, sounding clearly anxious....I think she thought the damage might have been more and was plucking up courage to call....She's asked for the estimate so we can sort out. I'm sure it will be fine now.
 
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