Slight bump this morning help

[den911]

] Hi, had a bump this morning in the snow, turning left of a main road very slow and cautious however a driver of a A4 had hazards on so I braked in what would have been plenty of time normally to stop dead this time the snow just slid me down the hill nothing I could wheels would just not go the way I wanted, the impact was no more than 10/15 mph I asked why she didn't roll forward to help me avoid her but she said car won't move, she did come out of car with a phone in her hand anyway that's another issue, I know I hit her my fault could do nothing about it, but in my opinion she was in the road with hazards on the phone, told me that car would not move etc, I moved it easy enough to move it out of the way to allow traffic to get though, but it's my word against her but I do record it to the police that I believe she was on the phone, anyway I checked for damage and took pics of both vehicles, hers had a couple of marks near rear sensors although it was only just light so could be a few more but nothing major, however it seems that my headlight took the bump and as snapped the bracket at the top, new or second hand headlight, also the wing as been twisted slightly and you can see the V were it as buckled... My issue is I don't no whether to to try and sort it myself or go through insurance after all that's why we pay for it, I have protected no claims etc, I could do with a bit of advice on possible cost getting parts myself and getting a body shop to fit or just leaving it to insurance, can't recall my access at moment, any help would be appreciated thanks, I will post some pics soon

 

[phateuk]

Gutted for you mate! I'll offer my best advice regarding the insurance stuff.. I've worked in the industry for 12 years as an engineer and although I'm not an underwriter or deal with claims much I know a fair bit..

So, an insurance claim will go against you regardless of fault or protected NCB. Assuming your excess is low, say £250 or so which you'll have to pay regardless of fault (usually), the claim however small and even if non fault will need to be declared for 5 years and as such will affect your renewal premiums in most cases.

As the damage appears to be minimal, to her car especially, I'd be leaning towards paying for it outside of insurance. You'll need to get quotes to fix both hers and yours. I would think hers would be very small, £200 or so at most you would think and yours is probably similar. As you said you can possibly get the parts you need second hand or cheap from a breakers yard and then get a body shop to sort the panels out. Bodywork can be done fairly cheaply if you can find a decent garage that'll do it without charging you a fortune. My mum recently scuffed all down the side of her Yaris along a drystone wall, with what I thought was fairly major damage across 3 panels and we got it fixed for £450 which I thought was very cheap considering it's also a pearlescant paint colour which is usually more expensive. You may be surprised it could be a fairly cheap job.

With regard to the point about her possibly being on the phone, it's going to be damn near impossible to prove this without a witness or dashcam footage. You'll be incredibly lucky to get the claim processed as a fault on her side and non fault for you when you slid into her car by the sounds of it and even if you somehow do, it'll still go against you at renewal regardless of fault. It's ******** I know, but that's how these insurers operate, they always win. Personally I'd only claim on my car insurance for major damage or a total write off.
The best you'll get is a 50/50 where each of your insurance covers your own car only and for the price of the excess and the claim Vs the cost of the repairs for the vehicles it's probably going to be cheaper for you to just settle it with her in cash. Yes this stings mate it really does, but at least this way you settle it once and move on from it rather than have to grit your teeth every time you renew your car insurance for the next 5 years and have to declare this claim.

Oh, and if you do decide to pay out yourself, don't tell your car insurance company. You're under no obligation to do so and some of them are cheeky and will put a notification down as a claim and register it against you anyway so don't bother.

Hope this helps. Happy to try and answer any questions you may have.

Sent from my SM-N986B using Tapatalk

 

[Audidi]

Good advice.
I feel for you OP.
Snow and ice = hope and pray.

 

[den911]

Thanks for the replies ,i think she is adamant that she wants to go via the insurance company that i can do nothing about..
Waiting for my insurance company to get back to me ,eitherway its a claim so i may as well let the insurance company deal with it ,don't fancy contacting them to ask about doing it outside insurance and to be honest i dont want to start messing around ..Its the wing that the issue the chrome grill could wait, the headlight i could source andiknowthe bumper as to come off for that ..

 

[Audidi]

Ah well that’s a pity.
Hope the claim goes as best as these things can for you mate.

 

[phateuk]

Thanks for the replies ,i think she is adamant that she wants to go via the insurance company that i can do nothing about..
Waiting for my insurance company to get back to me ,eitherway its a claim so i may as well let the insurance company deal with it ,don't fancy contacting them to ask about doing it outside insurance and to be honest i dont want to start messing around ..Its the wing that the issue the chrome grill could wait, the headlight i could source andiknowthe bumper as to come off for that ..

If that's the case then and your insurance company is already involved and she's adament she wants to go through them then try and throw everything at them/her about her being on the phone and not paying attention and that she seemed distracted and all that crap, I'd just prepare yourself for it going against you as a fault claim and hope for a 50/50.

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[den911]

I have sent her a pleasent message asking if she wants me to pay for her damage (providing its not a silly price) as to not have her go to her insurance company i can only try, i know i ran in to the back of her something she was very quick to tell me when i mentioned she was on the phone ,hazzards on staionary middle of road ,i broke in plenty of time i just had no control in the direction of my car ,when i asked why she didnt move when she so me coming down she said her car would not move and just looked at the tyres ,i got in and moved it very easily...In my opinion she so the state of the road pulled up put hazzards on and made a call to someone as she was still talking to them when she got out and walked towards me.. It was dark i could see the phone screen was bright as well,she was not happy when i mentioned the phone ,i have it on record with the police that i believe she was on her phone ok she was stopped with hazzards on,but why put hazzards on in the first place as she was not broken down ..This could have been avoided,yes accidents happen but if she pulled up at the side of the road it would not have happened i had a car parked to the left a van on the right i had no choice but go straight at her..going to try and get some quotes for my car ,if my wing can be sorted the rest is not a big immediate issue,,,Ps if anyone wants to know why i called the police in the first place it was because she had hazzrds on she told me car would not go (her words) and as it was blocking the road ( i reversed and pulled to the side of the road) and i used that to tell them it was blocking the road no injuries etc ,i used this to mention the phone )..

 

[Audidi]

That message you sent to her could be used against you with the police to show you were admitting fault.

 

[den911]

If she claims she claims,and to be honest with it being minor i dont think there will be a big investigation ..I drove in to the back of her nine times out of ten i am at fault ,anyway headlight damage does not apear repairable ,its a used or new one ,wing looks like (if i can shift the t30 bolts ) it could be sorted as no damage to the wing its just been pushed uo out of position so hopefuly that can be salvaged ,the headlight being out of line also made it look worse than it is i hope..Will just have to keep my eyes open for the chrome grill trim

 

[45bvtc]

"so I braked in what would have been plenty of time normally to stop dead this time the snow just slid me down the hill nothing I could wheels would just not go the way I wanted"

Such a GREAT reason to fit winter tyres in these conditions

Did a 09.30 50-mile run yesterday on 4-inches of snow, snow, snow: journey took 5-minutes longer than our typical summer run and fabulous traction (acceleration and braking) ALL the way: Audi SQ5 running 9J rims and 265/40 21 Continental TS860S winter rubber:

Good luck with your claim, hope all works out positive for you - but maybe a set of winter rubber on yours would have saved a lot of heart ache and ongoing insurance cost...

 

[samisnake]

Think you're clutching at straws with the whole phone thing. As long as she weren't driving while using it it's a non starter.
Plenty of legitimate reasons why she could be in the road with hazards on, you went into the back of her.

Take the L, learn from it. Could possibly make a positive out this situation depending on what the insurance say.

 

[den911]

Double post

 

[den911]

Double post

 

[den911]

Double post

 

[45bvtc]

Just a simple observation but why oh why would you drive around on 'summer' rubber in these conditions anyway; brake/slide on snow wearing summer rubber well who'd have thought it?

8P RS3 summer/winter rubber difference, can you see the difference:

And it's ALL you have in sub 7ºC conditions, snow covered or not

I'd make winter rubber a legal requirement here in the UK, period.

Any 'I couldn't stop officer, it was the snow that did it' on summer rubber then 100% your fault! Period!

Not like it has never been posted before: over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

 

[samisnake]

Cos not everyone has the money or space to keep 20 sets of wheels for different occasions

 

[45bvtc]

Cos not everyone has the money or space to keep 20 sets of wheels for different occasions

100% true, I do get it having driven around on summer rubber in winter for more years than I'd admit to: but for the last 10-years I have had the funds and can only express my own appreciation of the difference of winter rubber in sub 7deg C conditions

Just FUN to go out on snow, laughable even, and get home safe...

BUT BACK top Den911's issue: had he a set of winter rubber fitted and been unable to 'slide into' then at what cost saving might that have been? Plus, he'd have been saving his summer rubber for summer use! Now he'll be looking at more £s for insurance, Swings and roundabouts, a stitch in time, whatever works! For me, I've winter and summer rubber for each of my Audi cars, and that works for me.[/QUOTE]

 

[45bvtc]

100% true, I do get it having driven around on summer rubber in winter for more years than I'd admit to: but for the last 10-years I have had the funds and can only express my own appreciation of the difference of winter rubber in sub 7deg C conditions

Just FUN to go out on snow, laughable even, and get home safe.

RS3 fun in the snow a few years back:

200mm of snow just ain't gonna stop me (75-years and onward) going out, lol

But for sure I'll be wearing the appropriate wear!

As you can tell my sympathy has long been exhausted...

 

[abmat]

Just a simple observation but why oh why would you drive around on 'summer' rubber in these conditions anyway; brake/slide on snow wearing summer rubber well who'd have thought it?

8P RS3 summer/winter rubber difference, can you see the difference:

View attachment 214010

And it's ALL you have in sub 7ºC conditions, snow covered or not

I'd make winter rubber a legal requirement here in the UK, period.

Any 'I couldn't stop officer, it was the snow that did it' on summer rubber then 100% your fault! Period!

Not like it has never been posted before: over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

could you sound anymore patronising and sanctimonious

 

[45bvtc]

could you sound anymore patronising and sanctimonious

It has been a hard year for us, you have no idea, and maybe next year will be worse! I'd love to help everyone but sometimes truth is where it's at! Some here on ASN will know where 'we' are coming from. Happy New Year and good luck to ALL!

 

[abmat]

It has been a hard year, you have no idea, and maybe next year will be worse! I'd love to help everyone but sometimes truth is where its at!

Oh believe me I do. And it’s not truth, it’s just preaching. Which isn’t helpful. But you sit there in your lofty perch, just mind you don’t fall off.

 

[den911]

Up until the last couple of years i used to own 4x4 vehicles and a second car mainly because a lot of my work was spent in and out of farmland hills and dales ..I was a professional wildlife photographer and i can tell even a Nissan Xtrail with diff lock can slide on snow ,i know i have done it ..My bump would have happened even with winter tyres as i had a simalar experience with a series 1 BMW with Goodyear winter tyres on that was on private land on a lane ,all depends whats under the fresh snow andi had ice ,looking back my problem was i had nowere to go ,i had a car to the left a van to the right and she was bang in the middle of the road were do you steer you don't its just foot on the brake and try and stop and control ..We get snow a couple of times a year and i have just put a full set of tyres on late September ....My accident happened at 8.00am and by dinner time a landrover rolled back and hit a 10 year old girl..

 

[samisnake]

View attachment 214012

200mm of snow just ain't gonna stop me (75-years and onward) going out, lol

But for sure I'll be wearing the appropriate wear!

As you can tell my sympathy has long been exhausted...

tbf if we had snow down south like that, id be using winter tyres.