Decided to go the insurance route on the car bump I had last weekend. Her boyf came back to me saying his (possibly dodgy) garage could do the job half price after I left them with the quote. **** that, I want a part that's going to definitely be genuine, new and fitted properly. They're just trying to wrangle out of paying and it'll be too much hassle dealing with them I think.
All you had to say is you wanted a neutral venue to ensure a proper job was done. Going through the insurance is a ball ache and despite it not being your fault, you'll have to declare it for the next five years when you seek new cover. The insurance route keeps everything professional and above board too though.
About a decade ago- my across the street (side of house- across the street... lived on a corner back then) neighbour of all people- ran into the back of my car at a traffic light. Very minor damage. She isn't someone I had ever talked to before- just waved at occasionally when working in the garden from my house. Very trashy lady- different man staying over at her house every night... her flower beds were filled with bright red painted gravel around the flowers. Anyhow- figured not much damage- just a bent rear bumper- she claimed to be in hurry couldn't wait on police (turns out she didn't have insurance) agreed she was at fault and she would pay and gave me her number- I figured I'd let her go- and I drove down (less than a mile) to the police station just to file the report. Police gave me some forms (which my insurance company told me were incorrect ones- and that can't do anything after the fact- have to call police to the site). Still figured... no worry- she's my across the street neighbour- not like I don't know where she lives. Got quote- $300 - told my across the street neighbour (Rita) and she said her cousin had a shop and would fix it for less. (Cousin hadn't seen the car so how could he know?) I said, no, I wanted it done by a real garage- not some individual. Next day, I saw her standing in my driveway looking at the car with her latest beau (assume that's who he was). Went out to talk to her. "We've decided you must have rolled back into us" "That's ridiculous, you agreed you were at fault and agreed to pay!" "You think I'm a stupid n***er don't you!" (she was black- although- really made no difference to situation and no idea why she said that or brought that up. I do suspect if I were black she probably would have been more cooperative though. A lot of black people around here hate white people with a passion- much more black on white racism than vice versa- but it's not politically correct to talk about that here- and whites are the minority anyway). Then they both turned round and stormed off... I did call the police (figured I had to after that comment from her)- they visited her, told me that she has no insurance (it is illegal here to drive around without insurance) - but can't do anything about it because she isn't currently in her car. I did get the car fixed for free... my dad took the bumper into his office and got one of the lads in the factory there to bend it back into shape- and we put it back on together... so it didn't end up costing me... but lesson to me and everyone... ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE- always get the insurance taken care of immediately. Even your across the street neighbour can be an arse.
Yeah, I should have rung police at the scene as there were no witnesses. All the cars behind drove around and went on their way. People are very predictable when it comes to this sort of stuff. They'll play nice on the surface but when it gets serious show another side. I know that these are probably going to contort it now and say I stopped too suddenly now which is b/s. They can't have been more than a couple of feet behind me in wet conditions with poor visibility. As soon as I texted the quote earlier the guy rang me immediately and texted. I got back to him via text telling him the route I was going and no response, been silent a few hours now. Hmmmm. I guess they're getting plan B together.
I did similar in the only accident I've been involved in. The other guy said he'd ring the police and used his mobile to do so. When he put the phone down he claimed they'd told him that if everyone was safe then clear the road and just exchange details for the insurance to deal with. I thought nothing of it at the time and it was only afterwards that I thought about it. The police would have come out as they wouldn't expect civilians to know if a car is safe or not. When I got back in my car my mates confirmed something else I'd suspected, the other guy seems to be acting strange almost like he was under the influence of something. Of course, the other guy had already gone by then too. I put all this down on the insurance form. He claimed I'd incorrectly turned right when there was enough time because he was arriving (this was true), and I claimed he was speeding because I believed there was enough time for me to pull out (I found out later that he claimed to have come out of a street just fifty yards from the junction, impossible for him to be even doing the speed limit from there) and the above stuff too. Never heard anything from it. I never chased it up because there car I was in was my first car and had only cost me £150. I'd managed to replace it for just £250 too
G'Mornin ya batards! Good news is; we're one day closer to steak day Bad news is; it's only Wednesday
By 'steak day', I mean Friday where I only do half day and usually end up going to the pub in the afternoon for dinner. I usually get the steak
