Hi, so my son nudged a car in the rear bumper. The car behind had the owner in it. Both parties got out of the cars and looked for damage, both agreed there was none and went on their way. 6 hours later my son receives a message on Facebook from the other driver saying he had noticed a big split in his bumper. We went and looked at it, not convinced the damage was caused by my son but can’t prove otherwise. We asked if they’d be prepared to settle without the need for insurance companies as my son is in first year of driving and has a £600 excess. They agreed. He got a “quote” from a garage he uses for £500. And told me to call the garage to let them explain what the costs were for. I did and got a mouthful from the bloke saying how dare I ask him To prove it. He also admitted he hadn’t seen the car and was “guessing” what damage there might be under the bumper. I got another quote and that was £300. Now they’re threatening to go through the insurance.

My question is...if we do pay the £500, would a letter signed by both parties stating they won’t make any further claim etc be enough for them not to be able to go through the insurance?

Thanks in advance

I bet they won't sign anything and as soon as you've given them the £500 they'll put a claim through for personal injury.

These characters are spiteful, so you've got very little choice.

Contact your insurance.

The excess is for damage to your car, for third party they sort it out and you don't pay anything (then they double your insurance for the following 5 years)

Make sure you tell your insurance about the assessed £500 damage and if you can give them proof.

At least they won't be able to get a new car out of this.

£500 for a bumper???

What car was it?

Go thru insurance.

Classic double whammy s.cam

Any uninspected damage can onl oy be a cost estimate, not a quote.

Your son is required to exchange Ins details with other driver pdq and notify his Insurer of the 'accident' whether or not his excess is at risk.

£500 for a replacement plastic bumper + fitting may not be excessive, but can still be a [problem]. Ask other driver if he will allow your named garage/repairer to inspect the vehicle.

I bet they won't sign anything and as soon as you've given them the £500 they'll put a claim through for personal injury.

These characters are spiteful, so you've got very little choice.

Contact your insurance.

The excess is for damage to your car, for third party they sort it out and you don't pay anything (then they double your insurance for the following 5 years)

Make sure you tell your insurance about the assessed £500 damage and if you can give them proof.

At least they won't be able to get a new car out of this.

£500 for a bumper???

What car was it?

07 plate old shape Ford Fiesta! Not a mark on my sons car.

Thanks for all the advice. The other driver is apparently going to our garage this morning for a quote.

My wife was in the same situation a few years ago.

The other driver demanded £250 On the spot, not a mark on our car and the other car was a scrap with not a single panel or bumper in ok condition, bumps and deep scratches everywhere.

We refused to hand over the £250 and said to get a quote.

Quote came at £250, strangely.

I said I was going to the garage to pay it there and then, I was 5 minutes away.

They said no, give us the cash.

Eventually we didn't pay and informed our insurance.

They ended up paying £5k for a personal injury without investigating this 1mph accident.

Whiplash at 1mph???

4 years later our insurance premium is still double than it should be.

Moral of the story: they're out there to sc.am you.

Fit a dashcam and record all calls, that6the only protection you have.

My wife was in the same situation a few years ago.

The other driver demanded £250 On the spot, not a mark on our car and the other car was a scrap with not a single panel or bumper in ok condition, bumps and deep scratches everywhere.

We refused to hand over the £250 and said to get a quote.

Quote came at £250, strangely.

I said I was going to the garage to pay it there and then, I was 5 minutes away.

They said no, give us the cash.

Eventually we didn't pay and informed our insurance.

They ended up paying £5k for a personal injury without investigating this 1mph accident.

Whiplash at 1mph???

4 years later our insurance premium is still double than it should be.

Moral of the story: they're out there to sc.am you.

Fit a dashcam and record all calls, that6the only protection you have.

Insurers are all fiddling claims, the whole industry is a multi billion pound [problem] that we're forced to pay.

Simple bumps that cause absolutely no damage end up having bills that are in the thousands because the insurers body shop will inflate what work needs doing at an inflated price, then the hire car companies get a slice of the pie with inflated car hire costs, and of course the personal injury claim because the human body is unable to cope with the stresses of a 5mph collision.

I have property abroad in Europe, in which the country in question cars are insured and not people, there's no claim culture, no personal injury parasites, everything is good value for money.

Makes you wonder what is wrong with rip off Britain nowadays.

They should start investigating claims instead of paying off without batting an eyelid.

If they follow drivers claiming to suffer from whiplash and they see them playing football they should report them to the police for fraud and not pay out anything.

Unfortunately the only winners here are the insurance companies and that will be it until a strict legislation is passed, especially on how much they can charge.

Every time I have to renew my insurance I feel depressed being ripped off in a perfectly legal way.

even when you have expert witnesses to support your side of the story the insurer will pay out on a claim that is worth less than say £2k as it isnt woth their time to do the full paperwork, collate evidence, and so forth. many years ago they employed ex-coppers to investigate potentail frauds and teh use their experiance to present a court case but they dont employ anyone themselves so in serious cases they outsource the dodgy claims to otherspecialists who needless to say charge a fair bit so not sconomical for the majority of this type of overegging the pudding by a garage trying to make a dishonest wedge. even if you have all of the evidence to support your side it somethimes goes wrong because the judeg just doesnt like the claimant or defendant. Seen that in a couple of cases involving friends of mine so no wonder people just let the insurers do what they like

Ok, so if we did go down the road of settling outside the insurance, would this letter (signatures witnessed by independent) be ok? Obviously it’s just a template letter and information needs to be changed etc.

Dear Name of Injured Party:

This is a formal letter of agreement for payment for the damage I caused to your car on DATE. I backed into the side of your car in the parking lot at ADDRESS and damaged the driver’s door. In our telephone conversation on DATE, we agreed that the full and final settlement amount for the cost of repair is AMOUNT. I agree to pay this amount with a personal check on or before DATE. Once this payment is made, you agree that I do not owe you any more money.

When you sign this letter, you agree to release me from all present and future claims.

I have enclosed a copy of this letter for you to sign and return to me. Once we have both signed this letter, the agreement is final.

If you have any questions, or would like any changes in this letter, I can be reached at Phone Number or at Email Address.

Sincerely,

Signature of Responsible Person

Printed Name of Responsible Person

List of Enclosures: Copy of the letter

No personal injury was sustained by anyone involved in this incident.

Add this.

Just a small thing, but it's personal cheque (rather than check) and adding king12345's suggested line to cover yourself a little more.