Bumped a car and now the driver is claiming a stupid amount of money, advice please?

Question

A couple of weeks ago I was pulling out of a junction and scraped a taxi. The front of my car scraped past the side of his car resulting in scratches on both cars. This however is the full extent of the damage. The accident was not a crash and did not occur at high speed and therefore there arent any dents on either car. However i received two solicitors letters this morning, one with regards to the taxi driver and the other the car owner. The owner is claiming for car damage, which is fair enough however the driver is claiming that he has been hiring a car at a cost of £95 a day plus VAT because his car is unfit to drive. The fact that the car is unfit to drive is a complete lie! He is purely trying to get as much money out of the sitution as possible. He is also claiming for whiplash which he cant have sustained due to the low speed i was travelling. Can i prove that he simply wants money ? if not will my insurers pay for the 'damage' ?

Answer 1

Turn in the claim to your insurance company and let them handle it.

This is what insurance is for.

Answer 2

Seeing no damage externally doesn't mean there's no damage. Internally (bolts and nuts) there are parts that have been dismantled. Anyways, on your question. The driver can claim his (out of the pocket) bills for renting cars since it's his job. But! He can claim it to your insurance company IF your policy have a coverage of Loss of Income. Nonetheless, every nation has its own policy. You can check it with your insurance company to settle everything. Just ask (the driver) to present receipts. Good Luck

Answer 3

This one sounds like  a gouger and opportunist .. trying to suck money out of you.. I know you don't want  to do this,  but  report it to your insurance company. Also the next time you are involved  in any kind of accident,   file a police report .. for your own protection.. because unless you get the insurance company involved now you are going to have one big headache with this guy and his company

Answer 4

Just refer the matter over to the insurance company.  They will pay the owner and the driver only what they are entitled to receive.  This is what the claims adjuster does every working day of the week.  I have seen plenty of bogus, unrelated and inflated claims.   Just because the claimant asks for compensation does not mean he is entitled to it, or will receive what his "demand" may be.

Answer 5

take it to your insurance company because they will take action about it.  insurance companies do a better job on weeding out stuff like this.  also tell them on what has happened in the accedent and any thing else go from there.

Answer 6

It's not about "unfit to drive".  The point is, to repair the car, it will be out of service a least a week.

Even if they don't repaint the job, they're still entitled to the "loss of use" bit.  You're lucky he's not requesting loss of earnings on the car!!

Him wanting money is irrelevant.  You hit him. Your insurer should be handling this claim, not you.  Turn over the letters.  Let them worry about it.  This is why you have insurance.