what a nightmare!!

[way_z]

Ah man I can't beleive it!? Last night driving through central london, I was coming down a narrow street and played chicken with a crappy black renault clio.. made them tuck in to give me way and as i went past they smacked into my rear drivers side door!! then as I got out to exchange details, saw it was some dumb blonde with a fluffy pink steering wheel.. she just drove off nearly running over my foot!! I managed to note down her plates then saw a flash BMW that was behind her, i went up to it to ask if they could be a witness.. they sped off too!? so called the police to report it... next thing i know the flash BMW had come back round and a man looking like James Bond dressed in a tux'n'everything steps out and in a very sophisticated manner tells me he chased down the clio, took down the plates, tried to make her stop and then agreed to be a witness.. what a hero?!

I called up my insurance company today and they weren't helpful at all! They said I gotta pay up my excess, which is £220, and then pay another £250 on top coz I'm a young driver and THEN they'll pursue the case!?
Not happy with my insurance company dealing with it, i went down to the police station and probably met the nicest copper you could ever meet! was really helpful, gave me some sound advice, even found out more details about the clio telling me its registered and got fully comprehensive insurance! he advised me to go round get quotes for the damage, report it through the police and then they'll instruct insurance company to pay up and then they'll prosecute the driver for driving off!

I am worried tho that if they wanna inspect the damage they'll see I've modified the car.. having said that, nearly all the modifications have VAG part number except for the tints, lowering springs and exhaust.. would they still consider it to be modified?? my mates reckon they wont notice the mods cuz it looks like a GTi.. what do you guys think??

[ModifiedMadness]

I wouldn't put it past them mate, all depends what the inspector is like if they send one out.

With regards to having to pay the excess sadly that's just the way insurance companies work, someone hit my mum and dad's car which meant them paying the £250 while the insurance sorts it out.

[paulzpolo]

its best to tell insurance of any mods even if they are off another model, ie gti, had a mate once who had small engine renualt 5 and made it look like a turbo all the kit wheels ect, had problems trying to claim cause he never told em.
if the damage is just to door and not extras off gti there shouldnt be a problem,
it cost very little extra to insure mods if just cosmetic sometimes nothing at all

[Dee-vub]

I wouldn't put it past them mate, all depends what the inspector is like if they send one out.

With regards to having to pay the excess sadly that's just the way insurance companies work, someone hit my mum and dad's car which meant them paying the £250 while the insurance sorts it out.

Yeh but surely you's claimed the exces back. Thats what happenend with me when my first polo got written off. I payed my excess, they followed through with the claim....the other guy got charged with careless driving and the sent me back the excess from the other company. £450 or something along with the £4100 i got for my 1 litre It did only have like a genuine £8000 miles or somethin on it.

You should tell your insurance about the little mods you have done, but i seriously doubt they'd come out to inspect something with such minimal damage.

You'll be fine!

[ModifiedMadness]

They'll get the excess back yeah, but it's just the ball ache of having to hand over £250 initially for something that wasn't your fault.

[colour_concept]

bit of a old thread but wanted to ask a question regarding insurance.

i recently was involved in a crash with another car. i was pulling out of a road which he was driving along. i did everything i should before pulling out, (stopped, looked both ways, slowly pulled out) but somehow we still collided and the front of his car went straight into my driver side wheel.

not sure of the exact damage but the axle or sumthin is buckled so the wheel doesnt sit straight.the wheel is angled in by about 20-30 degrees (quite a bit but was just barely drivable to my house) (crash happened down the road from my house)

so got the guys details etc, he had minimal damage to his car. rang him up later on that day and said i dont want go thru insurance (my premiums will go up, high excess etc etc). he was fine with that and we met up to inspect the damage on his car which i was willing to pay for.

he said hell get a few quotes on cost of repairing his car and would get back to me. thing is its been a good few days, and no phonecall fom him, ive tried ringing him but i keep getting a message saying "this number is incorrect. pls try again" the number 100% works as ive rung him on it before. i tried ringing from other phones but still the same message

problem is im now in a dilemma, it will cost about £60 for a new headlight for him and im willing to fit it on for him myself. however i cant get thru to him on the phone and i dont have his address.

so basically, im still going to get my car done privately, but im worried that if i pay £300-£400 for repair on my car and then he decides to go through insurance, i might have to pay an excess of £450. meaing im shelling out a good £800

i wanted to ask, if he goes thru insurance after ive fixed my car, i can tell my insurance company i dont want my car repaired, would i avoid paying my excess??

also i got his plates so even an address would be helpful, i just need to contact him and sort his car out, at least that way i can get my car up n running again.

[colour_concept]

main points are:

- i pulled out of a side road, but did look carefully and come out slowly
- he was on the phone (i cant prove this, however i did have 3 ppl in my car all willing to be witnesses)
- he was going kind of fast but nothing major
- i cant ring him anymore so no form of contact
- my cars repair will cost about £300-£400, still cheaper than paying £450 excess (and premiums going up next year)
- no police were called to the incident so i cant prove the phone dilemma, but can his network (O2) prove he was using the phone??
- i he tells his insurance company, will i have to pay my excess even though i tell them i dont my car repaired ??

has this happen to anyone before, any tips, any suggestions??

[Arnoldo]

Tell him to pay for his own damage or u will put it through the legal system as u have 3 witinesses he was on the phone.

[colour_concept]

can i do that? thru the legal system?

what if he decides to change his mind and goes the insurance route, unless i can prove to his and my insurance that he was on the phone, theyll blame me as it was his right of way. from what ppl are telling me insurance companies wont bother tracing his calls unless it was a serious accident.

the thing is im not 100% sure he was on the phone, as soon as we colided i looked at him and could see his hand to his head as if he was on the phone. im fairly confident he was using it and so are 2 of the 3 guys in my car at the time.

not only that but when we were exchanging details, i took his number and dialled it, he then went into his car, reached down to get his phone. it looked as if he had dropped his phone in the car when the accident happened to avoid being caught on it.

i even blamed him saying he was on the phone, and he didnt admit to it but he didnt deny it either. twice i have said "you were on the phone" to him and on both occasions he didnt deny it at all.

[Arnoldo]

Go to a solicitor possibly and see what they have to say about the whole thing. They would be able to advise u best.

[Bepe]

the thing with the people in your car they are not inderpendent witnesses, but if you can prove time of incident and them to inspect his phone activitiy then you may have some near concrete evidence mate

[samwisemcganji]

Dont play chicken

[Bepe]

he wasnt, he was his bagpipes