For some inexplicable reason I sometimes use my wife's Yaris - maybe it's just to properly remind myself that the wait for my, sorry 'our', Yeti was well worthwhile and to top up my smug level. Anyway, I was doing the morning school run in the Yaris and had just stopped at a roundabout when the car behind me hit the driver's side corner of the back bumper. It was the most gentle of impacts and on getting out of the Yaris I could see that its bumper just had scratches with the paint totally off in a couple of spots and that the bumper was a little loose. No big deal, maybe just a hundred pounds or so - nothing for anyone to get upset about. Even if the other driver was uninsured, I've got 9 years of protected no claims and the only hassle would be the kids being a bit late for school and inconvenience of arranging repairs.

However, the other driver kept repeating that the damage to the Yaris would just polish out with T Cut, refused to give me his name or insurance details, tried to stop me from taking a picture on my phone of his car, told me it was my fault for braking sharply (I didn't) and then informed me it should be less than my excess for me to get the Yaris fixed. Apparently I'd get ripped off if I went to a 'normal' garage to get fixed under my insurance. It was at that point I'm ashamed to say the kids may have overhead some words which I would like to think they don't know yet, but probably do. I wasn't that bothered about the damage, just relieved no one was hurt, but I don't like someone blaming me when it wasn't my fault and also deliberately trying to con me. I then made sure the other driver saw me writing down his registration number, finally got a picture of his car and told him if he didn't tell me his name, number and insurer, I would go straight to the police. He then grudgingly gave me these details and said he'd want a garage he knew to look at it and to fix it. He then started complaining about his car to which I said I didn't give a **** as he had run into me. (On speaking to my wife's insurer later it would have been good if I had also taken a picture of the scene and not just pictures of the damage to each car and also got some witnesses. The insurer also asked me the sex and approximate age of the other driver - this made me wonder if involved in an accident you should take a photo of the other driver, but I guess that could be an unsafe thing to do.)

When I got home I looked at the Yeti and my first, rather selfish, thought was that I was glad that I took the Yaris instead of my (precious) Yeti getting damaged. However, on second thought I suspect the more practical bumper on the Yeti would not have been damaged and all of the hassle would have been avoided. Does anyone have experience of how robust the Yeti bumpers are?

Later the other driver phoned me to tell me that he had spoken to a friend who was a policeman and he'd been advised that it was far safer to contact his insurer than arranging repairs himself and that I should contact my insurer which I was going to do anyway. In the evening, I got a phone call from his insurer, Elephant. The claims handler was very friendly and immediately said their policyholder was at fault, asked if I and my kids were OK (presumably in case of any later fraudulent whip-lash claim) and then said he would arrange for the Yaris to be repaired and my wife would be given a hire car. When I told him I had already spoken with my wife's insurer, Direct Line, who were arranging the repair he became a little bit pushy that Elephant should fix instead. This surprised me, as I'd already explained to him that it was really just the smallest of bumps. As a last tactic he offered to send my wife a cheque for £400 to settle things there and then. If we hadn't already spoken to Direct Line and arranged the repair, we may have been tempted. Also, I'm also not mechanically minded and so not 100% sure if there could be potential for unseen damage behind the bumper. It's been a while since I've been involved with an insurance claim - I presume this is normal insurer practice these days, but wonder why?

Calum

No expert on insurance but your right to suspect hidden damage behind the bumper, more than likely it will be OK but best to get it checked out.

Regards,

TP

My 2p.....

Go thorough your own insurer and pursue the other party for uninsured losses.

Write to him by Recorded delivery and tell him he is responsible for the damage and any unforeseen expenses you incur.

That £400 offer from Elephant sounds very dodgy to me.... you'd be surprised at repair costs today.

Trust no-one in these circumstances!

For some inexplicable reason I sometimes use my wife's Yaris - maybe it's just to properly remind myself that the wait for my, sorry 'our', Yeti was well worthwhile and to top up my smug level. Anyway, I was doing the morning school run in the Yaris and had just stopped at a roundabout when the car behind me hit the driver's side corner of the back bumper. It was the most gentle of impacts and on getting out of the Yaris I could see that its bumper just had scratches with the paint totally off in a couple of spots and that the bumper was a little loose. No big deal, maybe just a hundred pounds or so - nothing for anyone to get upset about. Even if the other driver was uninsured, I've got 9 years of protected no claims and the only hassle would be the kids being a bit late for school and inconvenience of arranging repairs.

However, the other driver kept repeating that the damage to the Yaris would just polish out with T Cut, refused to give me his name or insurance details, tried to stop me from taking a picture on my phone of his car, told me it was my fault for braking sharply (I didn't) and then informed me it should be less than my excess for me to get the Yaris fixed. Apparently I'd get ripped off if I went to a 'normal' garage to get fixed under my insurance. It was at that point I'm ashamed to say the kids may have overhead some words which I would like to think they don't know yet, but probably do. I wasn't that bothered about the damage, just relieved no one was hurt, but I don't like someone blaming me when it wasn't my fault and also deliberately trying to con me. I then made sure the other driver saw me writing down his registration number, finally got a picture of his car and told him if he didn't tell me his name, number and insurer, I would go straight to the police. He then grudgingly gave me these details and said he'd want a garage he knew to look at it and to fix it. He then started complaining about his car to which I said I didn't give a **** as he had run into me. (On speaking to my wife's insurer later it would have been good if I had also taken a picture of the scene and not just pictures of the damage to each car and also got some witnesses. The insurer also asked me the sex and approximate age of the other driver - this made me wonder if involved in an accident you should take a photo of the other driver, but I guess that could be an unsafe thing to do.)

If you have not already done so, I would suggest that you check that the fuel gauge is still working. I had a garage years ago and it's suprising how many fuel gauges get damaged regardless whether it was a front end or rear end bump.

Gerry

When I got home I looked at the Yeti and my first, rather selfish, thought was that I was glad that I took the Yaris instead of my (precious) Yeti getting damaged. However, on second thought I suspect the more practical bumper on the Yeti would not have been damaged and all of the hassle would have been avoided. Does anyone have experience of how robust the Yeti bumpers are?

Later the other driver phoned me to tell me that he had spoken to a friend who was a policeman and he'd been advised that it was far safer to contact his insurer than arranging repairs himself and that I should contact my insurer which I was going to do anyway. In the evening, I got a phone call from his insurer, Elephant. The claims handler was very friendly and immediately said their policyholder was at fault, asked if I and my kids were OK (presumably in case of any later fraudulent whip-lash claim) and then said he would arrange for the Yaris to be repaired and my wife would be given a hire car. When I told him I had already spoken with my wife's insurer, Direct Line, who were arranging the repair he became a little bit pushy that Elephant should fix instead. This surprised me, as I'd already explained to him that it was really just the smallest of bumps. As a last tactic he offered to send my wife a cheque for £400 to settle things there and then. If we hadn't already spoken to Direct Line and arranged the repair, we may have been tempted. Also, I'm also not mechanically minded and so not 100% sure if there could be potential for unseen damage behind the bumper. It's been a while since I've been involved with an insurance claim - I presume this is normal insurer practice these days, but wonder why?

Calum

That's unfortunate! Hope everything is sorted now. It really annoys me when it is clearly his fault, evern if you brake abruptly to avoid a collision in front, he should have been leaving some distance from your car, or pay more attention.

I am no expert in this, but my brother was involved in an accident recently, the truck actually made a massive dent on his front wing and bumper. It was right to take photographs and registration, as this would aid police/insurance company to chase up the cost from their end.

Since it took place late in the evening, the truck driver (who is an emloyee of one of the largest recycling firms in London, we later found out) gave the company details and names etc immediately. My brother informed his insurance company about the incident and not to make a claim yet as it would be easier for the other insurer to sort out payment etc.

However, what really annoys me is that my brother's insurance company (Elephant/Admiral) insisted that it should be handled by an accident management company (if you search on Honestjohn, there are lost of information regarding these firms) and the accident management company insisted that he takes a car from them eventhough his car is driveable. He insisted that he didn't need one since he may be eventually responsible for the credit hire cost if the other person is not insured or their insurance won't pay out. What annoys me more is that in the policy, it clearly says they will only provide a car if his doesn't work or is totally broken, in which case it isn't.

Eventually, the other driver's insurance handler sorted everything out and looked at the car etc and he dealt with my brother diretly and everything is sorted within 2 weeks.

Edit: Not sure if you are familiar with this test they do in America:

Edited 28 May, 201115 yr by My_Yeti

In any accident you need to have the car looked at.

I've seen several where the bumper has deformed, damaged the car structure behind it and then popped out again.

Sure, it looks OK, but you'd be surprised how much a car bumper can deform before returning to it's original shape.

We had a company vehicle that looked fine after a light bump, but you couldn't get the spare wheel out afterwards as the well has been pinched.

Insurers wil be pushy quite often as if they farm your claim out to an accident management company they get a back-hander. The insurance companies promote this and yet it's one of the reasons premiums are going up and up... :wonder:

In any accident you need to have the car looked at.

I've seen several where the bumper has deformed, damaged the car structure behind it and then popped out again.

Sure, it looks OK, but you'd be surprised how much a car bumper can deform before returning to it's original shape.

We had a company vehicle that looked fine after a light bump, but you couldn't get the spare wheel out afterwards as the well has been pinched.

Insurers wil be pushy quite often as if they farm your claim out to an accident management company they get a back-hander. The insurance companies promote this and yet it's one of the reasons premiums are going up and up... :wonder:

Agree with CT17 all can look OK but isn't always. If you ever have a bump don't just look at the cosmetic and assume all is OK. If you're not upto checking everything yourself, make sure you get the car checked over properly at a dealer and don't let the other party escape without getting their details. In my opinion the Yeti's bumper area isn't as tough as it looks.

As well as the cosmetic, make sure anything attached to the bumper, or around it such as the mounting points, bumper bar and skin are still connected, clips, parking sensors, exhaust silencer/ mounting, reflectors, tow bar, boot floor are all still OK. I found out to my cost on my old A3 just how much replacing a single parking sensor cost. It was working pre bump and all looked OK post bump. I didn't get the other parties details.... when I put the car in reverse the warning for esp/parking sensor failure came up on the dash. Too late... parts, labour, painting, waiting for parts / time off work - I had to pick up the bill. It wasn't cheap. My advice would always be to get the other parties details, If alls OK then the other party have nothing to worry about.

This is a wonderful can of worms, and as an accident investigator for the insurance industry this is my 'bread and butter'.....

You must report ANY incident, damage or no damage, person walking into your car....absolutely anything or you are breaking the terms of your contract with the insurance company. You do not need to involve them, but they do need to know about ANY incident.

With all the claims going on these days you must remember that if somebody decides they were involved in an accident that wasn't their fault they have 3 years from the date of the accident if over 18, or 3 years from their 18th birthday to make a claim.

The insurance companies I work for routinely send me out to see their insured if they have been involved in any incident with a vulnerable road user - pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist, whether or not they are making a claim. Who can remember what happened in an incident 10 years ago? That could potentially happen - an 11 year old runs across the road into your car. They then have until they are 21 to make a claim......

Back on topic....

You do need to have the vehicle checked out by a reputable garage and 'not a mates garage' of the person at fault.

The third party insurance quite often will approach you direct if their insured was at fault as mentioned above, but if you have sustained personal injury you will rarely be offered enough Physio etc. and you will need to go through a solicitor (conditional fee agreement) or your own Insurance. Legal expenses pay for these. You will more than likely be better off finically using a solicitor, but it will take more time.....

It always helps the insurer if you can take photos of the scene as well as damage, and also who was in the other vehicle - we've all heard of claims for 4 people having whiplash when there was only 1 person in the car at the time of the accident....

Use your mobile phone on video and just wave it around the area whilst gesticulating with the third party, recording what they say and getting photos of all involved......It will all help if they deny liability.

Some of you will know I have vehicle drive recorders fitted to the front and rear of my car, to help in times of liability dispute. I am also now a 'F1rst' member of the IAM.

I am not a fan of credit hire. I see claims regularly for £25,000-£35,000 which I have to investigate. You are ultimately responsible for the hire charges if the other insurance company doesn't pay up for whatever reason.....

That's my 2p's worth.....

Mike

Calvin, I wish I was as easy going if someone drove in to my car........."I could see that its bumper just had scratches with the paint totally off in a couple of spots and that the bumper was a little loose. No big deal, maybe just a hundred pounds or so - nothing for anyone to get upset about. Even if the other driver was uninsured, I've got 9 years of protected no claims and the only hassle would be the kids being a bit late for school and inconvenience of arranging repairs".........

I think others have covered the topic and I have little to add except to say that I am afraid nowadays that by virtue of informing your insurer of any incident, however minor, I would be seen as an increased risk purely because I have notified them of an 'incident' and would expect a premium increase. Obviously I note rockhoppers observations and agree that you 'have' to notify pretty well anything that occurs to the car, but if it was very minor and I was not at fault, I would do so .... but with much apprehension for the reasons just given.

The question of whether to fit a 'Roadhawk' camera, or similar, (as mentioned by rockhopper) is currently in my mind. There are two versions - one (RH1) covers the front view and the other (RH2) covers the front and inside the car, and gives a (limited?) view out of rear and side windows.

I'd be pleased to hear the views of rockhopper and/or anyone else (maybe a fresh topic, or a link to previous topics?)... to shed light on the use of the in car cameras. Other forums mention them, I've noticed.

Questions for me would include the wiring (whether to hard wire it) and how easy it is to site the RH2 without obstructing the view out at the same time covering the inside and rear views. The Yeti's power outlet is switched and so you couldn't keep it on to monitor the carwhen parked without providing a permanent(switched) supply and the question of power drain arises........also you'd presumably need a larger (up to 16gb) SD card to cover periods of extended parking in order to store the images?

No wish to extend the camera topic here and hog the thread, so enough said on here, I think, unless, as mentioned, it's brought up to on a fresh thread, but it is somewhat relevant to the thread in view of the fact that a camera might have saved Calvin some grief if he'd had one ....

Calvin, I wish I was as easy going if someone drove in to my car........."I could see that its bumper just had scratches with the paint totally off in a couple of spots and that the bumper was a little loose. No big deal, maybe just a hundred pounds or so - nothing for anyone to get upset about. Even if the other driver was uninsured, I've got 9 years of protected no claims and the only hassle would be the kids being a bit late for school and inconvenience of arranging repairs".........

I think others have covered the topic and I have little to add except to say that I am afraid nowadays that by virtue of informing your insurer of any incident, however minor, I would be seen as an increased risk purely because I have notified them of an 'incident' and would expect a premium increase. Obviously I note rockhoppers observations and agree that you 'have' to notify pretty well anything that occurs to the car, but if it was very minor and I was not at fault, I would do so .... but with much apprehension for the reasons just given.

The question of whether to fit a 'Roadhawk' camera, or similar, (as mentioned by rockhopper) is currently in my mind. There are two versions - one (RH1) covers the front view and the other (RH2) covers the front and inside the car, and gives a (limited?) view out of rear and side windows.

I'd be pleased to hear the views of rockhopper and/or anyone else (maybe a fresh topic, or a link to previous topics?)... to shed light on the use of the in car cameras. Other forums mention them, I've noticed.

Questions for me would include the wiring (whether to hard wire it) and how easy it is to site the RH2 without obstructing the view out at the same time covering the inside and rear views. The Yeti's power outlet is switched and so you couldn't keep it on to monitor the carwhen parked without providing a permanent(switched) supply and the question of power drain arises........also you'd presumably need a larger (up to 16gb) SD card to cover periods of extended parking in order to store the images?

No wish to extend the camera topic here and hog the thread, so enough said on here, I think, unless, as mentioned, it's brought up to on a fresh thread, but it is somewhat relevant to the thread in view of the fact that a camera might have saved Calvin some grief if he'd had one ....

Have you read this thread?

Have you read this thread?

Thanks for finding my link.

Thanks for finding my link.

I'm glad someone posted that link as I couldn't remember which cameras were used!

Have you read this thread?

Oh dear. Yes I clearly did.....and contributed with a couple of posts too. But as senility advances I'd kinda forgotten. Thanks for the pointer towards the thread.

Thanks for all the informative replies - the collective knowledge and helpfulness of those in this forum is impressive.

A couple of important things..

1. If you decide NOT to pursue the claim through your own insurance (i.e. if the third party offers to settle in full etc) you MUST tell your insurance company - if you don't they will have marked a claim against your record and it will effect your next premium and no claims bonus (protected or not)

2. If you successfully recover your excess and costs from the third party TELL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY !! that way you keep your NCB and no loading is attached for a claim..

Hi Calv123

I had a similar 'minor damage' issue with Hetti only a few months into our relationship : a 'Tesco kiss' (actually in the office car park) to the rear bumper, off-side corner. I and the other car actually reversed into each other slowly at right angles (I didn't see him in my mirrors and the reversing alarm didn't have time to pick him up!)

No obvious damage to either car so we thought all was well went on our respective way without swapping details. Next time I opened the boot though I noticed a slight mis-alinement of the panels just above the bumper to the right, below the light cluster (a 5 mm gap), and then realised the rear off-side wheel arch was creased a bit. Apparently the 'shock wave' of the impact had travelled across the rear quarter panel from the bumper and done the damage. On closer inspection the lining of the wheel arch underneath was creased as well!

I was going to my dealer for something and asked them to look. 3 days and £150 ins. excess later (I've no idea of the full cost) Hetti was better again!

Yes I know I should have checked Hetti much more closely at the time, swapped details, reported it, taken photos etc. I will next time (there's bound to be a next time!). But to answer your opening question, Yeti bumpers are probably too robust - it wasn't damaged at all!!

Trev

We have better cameras in Taiwan for much cheaper, they are full HD with wide angle lens so you can see more, they mount behind your rear view mirror and record onto SD cards the minute you turn on the ignition.

Very useful here in Taiwan given the horrible driving standards.

Edited 30 May, 201115 yr by pending-change

Great idea that pending, would save a lot of hassle.

We have better cameras in Taiwan for much cheaper, they are full HD with wide angle lens so you can see more, they mount behind your rear view mirror and record onto SD cards the minute you turn on the ignition.

Very useful here in Taiwan given the horrible driving standards.

'

There are UK sites that seem to specialise in far East products cheaply....'dropshiponline' for example. I wonder if we can buy the sort of thing you're referring to in the UK? The warranty would be a bit doubtful, but if it was cheap enough it might be worth taking a chance

'

There are UK sites that seem to specialise in far East products cheaply....'dropshiponline' for example. I wonder if we can buy the sort of thing you're referring to in the UK? The warranty would be a bit doubtful, but if it was cheap enough it might be worth taking a chance

My dad in law uses it on one of his trucks in malaysia, he owns a shrimp farm and quite a few kgs goes 'missing' on the journey from the farm to the freezing factory, works a treat.

His one is a double camera, faces inside the cockpit recording outside and in at the same time.

Was thinking about importing (or should i say exporting ) them to the uk, wasnt sure if there was a market for it.

Prices vary from £30-£120 for ones with double camera and GPS tracking.

Some of them are full hd instead of 720p and have improved night vision.

My dad in law uses it on one of his trucks in malaysia, he owns a shrimp farm and quite a few kgs goes 'missing' on the journey from the farm to the freezing factory, works a treat.

His one is a double camera, faces inside the cockpit recording outside and in at the same time.

Was thinking about importing (or should i say exporting ) them to the uk, wasnt sure if there was a market for it.

Prices vary from £30-£120 for ones with double camera and GPS tracking.

Some of them are full hd instead of 720p and have improved night vision.

I would be interested.

Very much agree with 'Rockhopper's points and a few others.

My advice is have the vehicle properly inspected by a garage of your choice and don't enter into any dialogue with the other party other than to inform them that any correspondence will be passed onto your insurance company.

Whilst you are not claiming any personal injury doesn't mean that the other party might not although their chances of compensation are some what limited considering they ran into the rear of you.

Always try to grab an independent witness if at all possible, I know it's not the first thing that comes to mind but they can certainly tip the balance in any dispute.

If this occurred in an urban area check if there is any CCTV coverage that might have captured the incident.

Take photo's using your phone, of the vehicles in situ, damage and if possible the other party.

Even now I would sit down and jot down for your own use the details ie time, date weather, description of incident and other driver. These will greatly assist if this rears it's ugly head in the future.

I would be interested.

Right, i shall look into it with some more depth and try to find the best model for the price.

Obviously needs to have english, my dad-in-laws did but it auto started with chinese.