Just been hit - advice please!

[sporting wood]

A guy has gone in to the back of my in my mk2 on the way home from work today. The bumper has been pushed in (in the middle) so I'm guessing the irons are bent and it'll need replacing. I haven't taken the bumper off to check behind there but that maybe creased. The damage is slight but he's gone in to the back of me while queuing to get on a roundabout and I don't want to drive around with a dent however small, it wasn't my fault and I want it sorted.

He is up for settling with no insurance involved, I've never had an accident before and I'm not sure what this will mean for my rights, etc. If I go down this route and he messes me about can I then still claim? What would you guys do? All I want is the car sorted. If I notice any creasing behind the bumper I think it'll have to be the insurance route because then it's likely to be costly and a write off but I'd really like to know if others have experienced anything similar.

Also if anyone has any idea of the cost of a mk2 big bumper (genuine) and then any relevant spray costs I'd really appreciate it.

Cheers

[Guy]

i was hit yesterday by some lass coming out of a pub... front bumper is all to c0ck and was in a repair place today and they said that the irons were bent

as long as you have the guys full details then get a quote from somewhere for a professional repair... tell the bloke who hit you and get him to agree BEFORE you get the work carried out (show him the written quote) and both of you can then decide whether it is better to claim or just sort it with a cheque/cash before you get the work done

my quote will be somewhere in the region of about £350 (even though on the surface it looks like a light scratch)

if he starts mucking you about ask for his insurance details and slap in a claim against him

be fair, keep it friendly and nothing bad should happen 

[Jonnys07]

I can understand why he doesn't want to go through insurance. I went up the back of someone (not the missus before anyone comments on this!) and it'd have raised my premium by about £3000 if he'd have wanted to claim. He wanted £100 even thought I dont think anything was wrong with his car. I paid as losing £100 was better than £3k.
I also got him to sign a piece of paper stating that he'd agreed to settle and therefore couldnt claim in the future (not sure whether it'd suffice had he tried to then claim anyway?)
On the other hand, the only thing I'd say is if you agree to repair it not through insurance and then at a later date found something that'd been missed or any further damage found, would he pay up for this?(probably not!)or would you end up paying for something that could've been resolved in the first place?
You dont stand to lose anything by going through the insurance as you've done nothing wrong. I know accidents happen but he shouldn't have hit you!He can't complain if you decide to go through insurance and also it's less hassle for you!

Hope this has made some sense and has helped. Good luck with your decision!

Jon

[Mikester]

Go through insurance, you wont loose out. And it will stuff him over and make him drive better from now on. Just make sure he doesnt claim you braked to hard so he hit you or something like that.

But through the insurance, you can only win, get the best job done on it, and its paid for garanteed.

[jamie_pyrite]

The way I see it, if it's an older man/woman who probably has protected NCB, then definately go through insurance. If it's a canny person who's genuinely sorry and is alright, but is young and desperately needs his NCB, then I'd give them some sympathy and go with out of insurance as long as things were signed, etc.

[Mikester]

The way I see it, if it's an older man/woman who probably has protected NCB, then definately go through insurance. If it's a canny person who's genuinely sorry and is alright, but is young and desperately needs his NCB, then I'd give them some sympathy and go with out of insurance as long as things were signed, etc.

Word, i like your thinking, i wish the person done that when i hit into them