I reversed into another car that was also reversing in a Tescos car park last week. Not clear who was at fault, so I would expect a knock for knock settlement. Damage to her car assessed at £600, no damage to my van (as the scratches were caused by the pedals of a Cannondale Prophet mounted on the back of my van). Seems like MTBs are hardier than Peugeot 206s…

So, what will the practical differences be of 2 outcomes:

1. It goes knock for knock – I have made a claim, this affects my no claims and I am liable for my excess only – £100. But I guess this could drag on, and I have better things to be doing.
2. Accept liability to get this over with. Again, a claim against me, but I’m still only liable for £100.

I’ve got protected no claims, maximum discount and my insurance is only about £300 per year, so any % increase would be that large.

I did write to suggest a quick settlement, but she wasnt interested. This was “without prejudice” and disclosed to my insurer.

cheers

Accept liability

aahhhh hell no! Never accept liability for anything that wasn’t your fault………… and is your neck not hurting a bit now??

😉

Life’s too short for quibbling with posh old biddies who live in Somerset cottages named after themselves, and certainly too short for corresponding with insurance companies unless absolutely necessary.

My neck’s fine thanks, but I’ve got a feeling my carbon wheelset and Kashima shock may have to be replaced….

I thought your van was in mint condition until this? Is that a limp you have now?

Honestly, it will be hard to apportion blame so your insurance companies will both have to sort it out. But you will both suffer increased insurance premiums.

I could be wrong but you have no excess on third party liabilities?

Since there is no damage to your vehicle I’d have thought option (3) might be worth considering as an alternative.

(3) Suggest it was entirely her fault; and you loose nothing.

and you loose nothing

Other than self respect and time…

My no claims is protected, the premium will probably go up a little next year anyway, but no big shakes.

Your point 1 is incorrect. If it goes 50/50 then you both pay for your own damage (or rather your insurers do) and as you’ve got no damage there’s no excess to pay. In fact even if you admit liability there’s still nothing to pay as excesses don’t apply to third party claims.

Your insurance will go up either way and I doubt there will be much difference in cost between either outcomes as they’ll both give you a fault claim.

Thanks Gribs, hadnt appreciated that (and couldnt speak to anyone at Allianz today, call centres closed…).

Guess it’s her tough luck then that her car is more fragile than a set of Shimano platform SPDs.

It does sort of make sense for one of us to admit liability, to save the other a fault claim, but that’s not likely to happen.

Even if you have an accident that you are not at fault for your insurance can go up. Stupid but true.

So you reversed into a space that a woman was also reversing into, dont you know women NEVER REVERSE they just aim and hope.

Quadruple clubcard points if you have tesco van insurance and hit someone in their car park on a wednesday in September, somebody on the internet told me that.

Knock for knock is usually done behind he scenes by the 2 insurance companies and is out of your hands , can be applied even when third party is clearly liable and this point causes you to loose your NCD ( or was the case when I was in insurance )

If you admit liability you’ll loose NCD anyway even though there is no damage to your vehicle.

Sensible action would be to deny liability and change description of incident to make it clear that while you were reversing some one hit your car with theirs.

your insurance will go up, no matter who is at fault.

It’s not your choice to make. A popular misconception is you can ‘admit liability’. It’s not your choice to make. The insurance companies decide who is liable

Had something similar with a fleet car recently. Both cars reversing, my car stopped but the other kept reversing and hit mine. However third party suggested both cars were moving at time of impact. As there were no witnesses both insurance companies suggested 50/50 although mine had easily the most damage. I was told even if the claim was taken further the result would be the same as no witnesses.

TheLittlestHobo – Member
It’s not your choice to make. A popular misconception is you can ‘admit liability’. It’s not your choice to make. The insurance companies decide who is liable

POSTED 28 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

This + ‘knock for knock’ hasn’t existed a decade now. The 50/50 deal mentioned above is the most likely outcome which is probably the best you can hope for.

As already mentioned, the fact you have had an accident will probably make the premium rise but you should consider the following:

1) if you are deemed ‘at fault’ it will go up more.
2) if your insurer has to pay out it will go up even more.
3) in today’s society, the other party will no doubt be after hire car charges & compo if there’s even a hint that you’ (or your insurers) will admit liability.

Best advice is to blame the other person & hope your insurer backs you.

I’m involved in a claim ATM. A van drove into my car. Their fault, although they did argue it was mine. I’m not claiming on my insurance, it was their fault, I don’t have to tell my insurance company anything. I did not have an accident, I’m not making a claim on my insurance.

They’ve finally agreed to pay my repair bill without admitting liability and without predjudice. Bottom line is I tell my insurance company nothing.

50/50 would end up that we would both be responsible for our own repairs. If you wish to claim on your insurance then you will end up paying for it in the long run with higher premiums over the next few years. Being as you have sustained no damage, just refuse to admit liability. The other person has to prove you are at fault. Difficult without a witness or CCTV footage.

I used a claims solutions agency who dealt with everything. No fee because their charges are met by the other person. Email in profile if you want the contact details.

Bottom line is I tell my insurance company nothing.

Bottom line is that your insurance is invalid if you fail to notify them of an accident.

Why did it get this far?

Did the woman demand it was your fault?

Incredibly naive as to how insurance works. Both your premiums will go up on renewal for a few years now, claimed or not. Always best to keep insurers out of it in such situations.

. Bottom line is I tell my insurance company nothing.

That doesn’t mean they don’t know about it – standard protocol is to contact the other party’s insurer via data on the MID. These things get recorded nowadays with “anti-fraud” used as an excuse.

Fact is, if you hadn’t won the argument or had to go to court it is very likely you’d end up footing the bill as your insurer is likely to decline to assist on the basis that your late notification of the incident had prejudiced their position.

Solo accident or if both parties decide its 50/50 and non-event then no.

Insurers arent our friends. Premuims raise annually ‘because of fraudulent claims’. Insurers would rather settle as its cheaper than fight a 5mph whiplash claim. The person paying that particular bill is the driver who drove into the fraudulent claim, the rest is profits by perpetuating the myth to a large degree.

Perhaps where both parties are insured with the same underwriter, that underwriter may have a vested interest in a 50:50 outcome as they get to take the excess from both parties and increase premiums for both…..just sayin….

If it is 50:50 it will go down as fault for both parties. Your don’t pay your excess as you are not claiming any damage for your vehicle and you will just lose this years NCD.

It doesnt really matter what you do because I doubt it will go down as 100% as either parties fault, meaning you both get a fault claim and this wont really effect your insurance premium that much anyway

Thanks everyone. As I said, I really cant be @rsed dealing with Allianz, Sun Alliance and the old woman, so just want it out the way. My time is worth more to me than any principle hear, or a few £££ either way.

BTW – insurers dont decide legal liability, courts do. Insurers come to agreements between themselves on “on behalf…” of their customers.

If its been reported to insurance then just fill the form in honestly, draw a pretty picture and forget about it. Let the insurance companies do their thing. The only additional involvement you’d have to have is if it went to court, which it won’t as that is too expensive (even if you have a witness and police statement of the other person admitting liability in my case!)

This sounds as ridiculous as it is typical.

You have tried settling this with her in an amicable way by writing to her so it’s her tough shit that she wouldn’t and now wants to play silly buggars with the insurance companies.

If it’s not your fault, then why accept liability?

Just how bad is the damage anyway? Do you have pics? Oh yeh and because of her playing hardball I suggest you definitely claim for any damage to the bike and van, whether cosmetic or otherwise.

Let the insurance sweat it, that’s what they are paid for.

😆 I find it hilarious what some people come out with in here, there’s a hell of a lot of clueless zoomers on this forum that just spout pish and think they’re right!
There’s some decent posts up there though, mainly…..
1. Your insurance will go up, but not by much.
2. You should tell your insurance company, even if your not making a claim. It could come back to bite you.
3. 50/50 claim should mean you’ll get half your excess back, or I did anyway, but I had to pay the excess to get my car back from the bodyshop. If your car isn’t going in then……. I don’t know. 😉
4. You shouldn’t lose NCD if its protected.

Since when did motor insurance change and start covering car parks?

No obligation for anything apart from your conscience 😉

You sure its £600 worth of damage, I’d get another quote from your own choice garage if you are likely to be offering a personal settlement

Neil F your insurance goes up as its still a fault accident..yes…. It will go up for c3-5yrs depending on the insurer.

If you damage a alloy that needs replacing do you tell your insurer? Where do you draw the line?

Protected NCD is an industry con. Protected no claims discount sir but we still put your insurance up.

If there’s no CCTV, then deny everything, if they come back at you point out there’s no damage to your car, so how could you have been responsible for the damage to hers? she must have reversed into a post or something… 😉

Who you gonna believe me or your lying eyes

FWIW what I wrote up there is advice from the claim solutions agency I’m using. I didn’t have an accident. My car was parked, the van drove in to it. An accident is described as an event which could have been avoided. I’m in no way accountable, my car was parked with no driver. Therefore I don’t need to notify my insurance company. I’m asking the van driver for compensation to repair my car. He may use his insurance to cover this cost.

This would be the same as if you damaged your car parking it in your garage. You could have it repaired at your expense or claim off your insurance. You don’t have to tell them anything. Whatever it says in the policy. This is the same as your house contents insurance. Do you tell them every time you break a glass?

almightydutch – Member

You sure its £600 worth of damage, I’d get another quote from your own choice garage if you are likely to be offering a personal settlement

I was surprised with the quote for my 12 year old Polo. £930 of damage. Only a small crease in the front wing, scratched indicator and bumper. Turns out it requires a new wing and indicator and then to paint the drivers door, wing, bumper and bonnet. OTT but it would be no difference if it was new.

Your insurance company will decide who was at fault regardless of what you say. So I’d just leave them to it. This will most likely go knock for knock as you were both moving.

It’s a supermarket car-park, the chances of cctv being in operation are high to nailed-on.

It’s not your choice to make. A popular misconception is you can ‘admit liability’. It’s not your choice to make. The insurance companies decide who is liable

Not sure if it’s just semantics, but when someone wrote my car off in 2004 (could have been argued if they had wanted, the situation wasn’t clear from an outsider) the father of the lad spoke to me at the side of the road and admitted he was at fault (which obviously I knew and was a bit angry about). I rang my company and explained how things happened, then my insurance rang me the next day and said “The other driver has officially admitted liability and so this is being put through as non-fault on your part, no questions asked, go visit this doctor for a full medical review”. I have a letter worded to that effect too somewhere in my records.

Since when did motor insurance change and start covering car parks?

Always has. Any (even privately owned) land where there is regular public vehicular access is covered AFAIK.

Whatever happens with the insurance be prepared to change insurers when it comes to renewal time.

After my prang last year when the 3rd party admitted liability, eventually even though it was cut and dried, Admiral really tried to sting me big time on the renewal. Aviva insured me and my other halfs car for LESS than the renewal.

Their loss but it did pee me off at the time.

Treat insurance companies like mushrroms, in the dark and fed on shit!

Their latest one is replacement windows. They agree a bulk purchase price, add some on to the policy to make up the difference, then charge you £75 for a replacement (which is more than you can get a std windscreen fitted for if you shop around hard.

Then they have the cheek to ask if you have had a windscreen claim – Get Stuffed.

They dont exchange info either, not between underwriters for sure as its commercially sensitive information, so thats all bull too.

Whole thing is a joke