Car Accident - Cost of Repair to me & car??

C

Cahir

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Car Accident - Cost of Repair to me & car??

On Wednesday morning I was driving to work on the m1 when somebody decided to drive into the back of my car. (A few cars up someone pulled into the lane causing all the following cars to brake - guy behind me was obviously too close and hit me).

Anyhow, the bloke who hit me has accepted responsibility and said he'll pay for the damage - amazingly only the bumper was damaged to the tune of €1400.

I felt fine immediately after the accident, except for the shock which meant that I spent a lot of Wednesday randomly bursting into tears. A few hours after the incident when I was getting a quote for the repair I noticed that my neck felt sore so decided to make a doctors appointment to check it out. By the time I got to see the doctor I couldn't move my head very far to the left and she said that I have a soft tissue injury to the neck and I'm not allowed to drive until I can turn my head, hence I've been off work and on painkillers since the accident. She said that I should know in a week or two whether or not I'll need physiotherapy.

Anyway, my question really is about the cost of repair to me if I do end up needing physio. The bloke who hit me has said he'll pay for the car no matter where I want to get it fixed. He doesn't want to go through his insurance company which I totally understand and I have no intention of trying to claim money from him that has nothing to do with the accident.

So, what happens if he pays for the car damage, say next week or the week after, and then I end up needing physio? Can I go back and ask him to pay the medical costs? If he refuses can I go through his insurance even though he'll already have paid for the car damage?

Sorry if the above is all a bit waffly - I'm still not really myself at the moment.
 
That's what insurance is for

Cahir,

Your consideration for this guy is understandable but unfortunately you must put yourself first. You have already incurred the cost of 1 doctor's visit, medication and time off work. Who can say how long this recovery will take? Do you think if the shoe was on the other foot that anyone else would go to such lengths to avoid a claim going thru another's insurance policy.

Everyone is required by law to report all accidents to their insurers. If this necessitates your No Claims Discount being put on hold until the claim is sorted then so be it.

You must contact your insurers and get their advice regarding this matter and let them look after it. That's what you pay your premiums for.
 
Re: That's what insurance is for

You must contact your insurers and get their advice regarding this matter and let them look after it.
Click to expand...
While I agree with the thrust of the last post, I wouldn't necessarily agree with this last point. You have three choices about how you handle you claim (assuming that you have comprehensive insurance).

1) You claim off your own comprehensive insurance, and leave your insurance company to fight it out with his insurance company, or
2) You claim directly off his insurance company
3) You engage a solicitor to manage the claim directly off his insurance company on your behalf.

If you choose option 1, you may well hit your own no-claims bonus, which after is just that - a no-claims bonus, not a no-blame bonus. This will depend on the exact terms of your cover and no-claims protection or step-back options may reduce the impact.
If you choose option 2, you have a bit more hassle, and you have to bear the risk that you as a non-claims professional are dealing with professions who manage these claims for a living every day of the week.
Option 3 gets a professional working on your behalf, but does incur legal costs and may make the insurance company more defensive & careful.

My wife had a similar accident a few years ago and needed some checkups and a couple of physio sessions for her neck. I went for option 1 and I was surprised how easily/quickly the insurance company paid out for the cost of the car repairs and the small amount of medical costs incurred.
 
...

Option 3 isnt quite correct. You could apply to PIAB, you can get the form off their site and claim for your bills etc. There is no need to use a solicitor. Unfortunately for the other driver whichever option you take his no claims bonus will be affected.
 
Re: ...

Thanks Sol - The PIAB weren't around when I last had to deal with this, so I had forgotton about that option.
 
Insurance

Thanks for the replies.

I hadn't even considered going near my own insurance company. If I did, would that be likely to affect my premium? Earlier this year I changed insurance companies in the middle of a policy because the old company wouldn't insure my new car. Because of that I lost a years no claims bonus discount but it was only worth about €50 so I'm not too bothered about losing that but the last thing I need is for my insurance to go up because only one company will insure my car so I can't shop around!
 
Insurance

Your own insurance company will not pay for injuries to the driver of the vehicle (rainday, was your wife a passenger?) so option 1 isn't really an option for claiming your physio etc.
 
insurance

I had a similar type accident hit from behind by a neighbour I agreed to let her fix my car but while trying to get best quote my neck and back started playing up my doctor told me my neck injury could take years to clear up so I had to claim off her insurance she has never spoken to me since and 9 years later I am still having neck and back problems, so think carefully and be guided by medical and legal advice
 
Re: That's what insurance is for

Hi All, I had similar earlier on this year, it involved 4 car's. I was hit from behind at great speed whist I was at a red traffic light. Being never in a car crash before it was very frightening. I was hit and pushed into two stationery car's in front of me. It so happened that the car that hit me, was insured by the same insurance company as I am. I found them to be a 'nightmare' to deal with. In the end I got legal represention for this accident. My car was written off, I have medical bills of about €5,000 so far, and I am still in agony with my neck and back. With regard to the injuries, I have been told that they may never go away. But I still have to persue some type of cure, which means seeing quiet a lot of consultants. As these are very expensive, I am certainly in no hurry to settle with the insurance company.
 
Cahir

As an aside to your main question, you say that you were out sick from work as a result of this accident. Did you claim Injury Benefit from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. This is different from Disability Benefit and may help with some of your medical expenses.

It's important that you lodge a claim with the Department at the time of the accident. It will be much harder in years to come to provide evidence that you hurt yourself on the way to work than it is now.

In addition to Injury Benefit, if the injury lasts more that 6 months you may then be eligible for Diablement Benefit. Where an Occupational accidents happens, even if you were not out sick at the time, it is advisable to lodge a claim with the Department just in case the injury re-occurs in the future.


Don't get me wrong, I detest the compo culture, but you are the innocent party and were injured while going to work. If you are a PAYE worker you have contributed to the Social Welfare Fund you should have no hesitation in claiming from a fund that you have contributed to for just such an eventuality.

Have a look at these links

www.welfare.ie/publications/sw30.html

www.welfare.ie/publications/sw31.html

In addition, as you are now into personal injuries and loss of wages, I think you should ring the person that crashed into you and explain that you have since developed an injury that has meant that you have to stay off work and that you have no option but to notify your insurance company.

I think you have to look at the whole problem another way. Why were you and the other person paying car insurance, in the first place, if not to cover situations such as this.


Murt
 
Hi Murt,

Yes I sent in a claim to the social welfare place but opted for it to get sent directly to my employer as they still pay me when I'm off sick.

I was away for a couple of weeks and my neck got a lot better - now it's only a little bit stiff the odd morning.

Still haven't gotten the car fixed because I was away but I plan to get that done next week. I've decided not to go through my insurance company at all because I don't want to lose my no claims bonus or have my insurance go up. Also, I want to get the car fixed as soon as I can and don't want to wait a few years for the insurance company to pay up.

I went for a massage about a week after the accident and found that to be a great relief and I've another one booked for Thursday so at the moment I'm just glad that I wasn't more seriously injured.

The worst thing about the whole accident is that I'm quite nervous whenever a car is driving close behind me now. I find that's making me leave double the amount of required space between me and the car in front in case they do suddenly break and I need more room because of the idiot up my ar*e!
 
If the accident was someone elses fault, then you claim off their insurance, and your no-claims bonus isn't affected, surely?? I was in an accident like this (except that I was the party at fault) and the insurance paid up within a few months, as far as I can remember.
 
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