[thomo14]

Hi all,

My girlfriend took a day off work to go to a job interview in her company car and had an accident in the car park of a rival company before her interview. It was only a minor accident where she slow reversed into the car behind (travelling about 3-4 feet max). There was no damage to her car but the car behind may have suffered a cracked number plate and though was no sign of further damage.

As my girlfriend was now running late for her interview inside she quickly exchanged details and explained that she would happy pay for the minor damage of the number plate wihout contacting insurers as it was a company car and they would want to know what she was doing at their competitors head office on her day off!

The person agreed and said she would be getting her brother to look at the damge and she would phone.

She hasnt phoned and has instead contacted her insurers which has left my girlfriend in a very difficult position and may have put her job at risk.

She is going to try to contact the other driver to try and pay outside the insurers but as she has contacted her insurer is she now without the option to pay without getting them involved?

Please help/advise?

[paulyoung666]

cats out of the bag now , nothing can she or should she do apart from go along with the insurance claim and see what happens , attempting to cover anything up would only make things worse .............

[njdbaxter]

but cant reversing into the front of a car cause other damage, not just body work, which cant be seen, so always best getting it checked over by a garage first

are you allowed to use the company car when off work?

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by njdbaxter

but cant reversing into the front of a car cause other damage, not just body work, which cant be seen, so always best getting it checked over by a garage first

are you allowed to use the company car when off work?

forget about the damage , the OP is trying to get the GF out of trouble somehow ...........

[mikeossy]

Too late the other parties insurance company will already know who the GFs car is registered to and know who the insurance is with and will have instructed the legal team to contact them asking for details hence that will go to the company she works for and straight to her no doubt they will be asking for an explanation as to why it wasn't reported! So all she can do is come clean and try to salvage what she has !.

[PCthug]

Was the other driver in the car at the time?
If she was i can guarentee she will be claiming for whipcash, hence contacting her insurance company.
Was the other car moving? If so say that she was moving too and the insurance may go knock for knock and both of you could lose out now (her more so, will teach her a lesson).

What an idiot for reporting such minor damage.
You can still sort it out without insurance companies as they wont be bothered if you pay. You are supposed to declare and collision, regardless who was to blame, what the outcome was and who pays, but the insurance company wont be as bothered if they are not paying anything out.

She could say that she was checking up on competitors (and may even get some brownie points), or say her friend works there.
She could even say she went for an interview (if she gets offered the job) and may even get a pay rise to keep her there.
It was her day off and no business of her employers what she was doing.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by PCthug

It was her day off and no business of her employers what she was doing.

as long as she was allowed to use the car for such purpose i suppose you are right ...........

[mikeossy]

It's really no wonder ca insurance is bleeding high because you have numpties like this claiming for small damage that could be settled without insurance getting involved, my father had a minor scrape with 15year old discovery a couple of weeks back, he edged out as they cut the corner my fathers fault as he shouldnt have edged out the said junction and damaged HIS grille, the other car the disco had no damage but a minor paint trace from my ads blue Volvo bumper on the discos chequered plating which was on the lower half of all doors, no one injured ! Guy stopped took one look said "ah no bother mate it's nothing" and drove off!
Friday letter from his insurance! They wish to claim! No doubt for whiplash!.
I've learnt a lesson here, always take details, always take photos and never take the other parties words as gospel!.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by mikeossy

It's really no wonder ca insurance is bleeding high because you have numpties like this claiming for small damage that could be settled without insurance getting involved, my father had a minor scrape with 15year old discovery a couple of weeks back, he edged out as they cut the corner my fathers fault as he shouldnt have edged out the said junction and damaged HIS grille, the other car the disco had no damage but a minor paint trace from my ads blue Volvo bumper on the discos chequered plating which was on the lower half of all doors, no one injured ! Guy stopped took one look said "ah no bother mate it's nothing" and drove off!
Friday letter from his insurance! They wish to claim! No doubt for whiplash!.
I've learnt a lesson here, always take details, always take photos and never take the other parties words as gospel!.

never heard the one about no obvious damage after a rear end shunt , and a day later you find you cant open the boot because of unseen damage , modern cars are designed to destroy themselves to protect the occupants , modern bumpers and paint spring back very well , hiding obvious damage ......

[penno116]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

never heard the one about no obvious damage after a rear end shunt , and a day later you find you cant open the boot because of unseen damage , modern cars are designed to destroy themselves to protect the occupants , modern bumpers and paint spring back very well , hiding obvious damage ......

I've heard that one... Usually out of the mouth of a no win no fee ambulance chasing solicitor!

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by penno116

I've heard that one... Usually out of the mouth of a no win no fee ambulance chasing solicitor!

take your chances if you get rear ended then ................

[colin1984]

'take your chances if you get rear ended then ................'

Need to totally agree, shouldn't be taking the chance. My first car was a Ford Ka and I got rear ended sitting at a junction waiting to exit a car park, got out and had a look, no visible damage. Told the other driver there was no issue and no harm done. The following weekend I was cleaning the car and when opening the boot found that the a**e of the boot looked like a mountain range. Later got told (when the car was in for repair) that the car was designed to 'crumple' as a safety feature. I hadn't taken the other drivers details and had to claim on my own insurance.

On the point of trying to tear into people who make insurance claims based on what you may or may not decide isn't really that much damage. Couldn't agree less, no reason they should have to put up with 'only a scuff' or 'minor paint damage', if it wasn't there before then there's no reason they should have to accept it being there now because somebody else hit them!