Not happy **Repairs nearly complete**

[MGTurbo]

Was at the Huntington roundabout and was just about to pull off when this happens...




Believe me i am not tinky winky happy.

It was a 52 plate Vauxhall Astra who slammed into the back of me at about 15-20mph. I had already stopped at the junction and had been there for about 10 seconds because i was taking my time. God knows how he didnt see a bright red car

Me and Emma both have mild whiplash, and i am so shocked and distruaght i dont even know what to do next.

It's going to need jigging because the door gap has closed up and the rear quarter is rippled. It's otherwise ok and will need a boot panel and back bumper but this is going to take time. The guy admitted liability...

[Jonny 5]

Damn it

[Sie214]

proper Gutted for you mate.

Sie

[114gta]

That really sucks, was the guy driving with his bloody eyes closed?!

[Raistlin]

I assume he was insured etc?

Not the only consideration I know but important nonetheless

Pleased to hear you are both relatively unscathed, but Oh, that poor Maestro

[MGTurbo]

I assume he was insured etc?

Not the only consideration I know but important nonetheless

Pleased to hear you are both relatively safe

Yes he was insured. Notified my insurance company so that slow process is now under way. I will be pushing to get the car put on the jig ASAP and then i can replace the boot panel and get it sorted.

[agw_01]

Grrrrrrrr! Why do people always have to rear end nice cars! Why can't they go ploughing into some chavs' Fiesta! That Maestro was a beauty, I'm not suprised you're angry!

I hope you gave the guy a mouthful! That Maestro is worth more than his poxy little Astra ever will!

[rnash2002]

Thats bad mate.........i would put in a claim for the whiplash.

[Raistlin]

I wouldn't trust your insurance company to get all you are entitled to though Gareth.

They'll automatically be looking for the easy way out and until you can recover your excess, if any, will count a claim against you.

IMO you need to talk to one of the accident claim companies to get all you are entitled to

If I were you i'd probably just tell your insurance company "information only"

[dreaddan]

Bad news, glad it wasnt worse though.
<bad joke> HE was probably trying to read the badge on the back </bad joke>

[Craig]

That's awful. All the work you've put into getting that car to look so good gets ruined in seconds by an idiot who clearly should not be on the road.

I'm glad it was a low speed impact, though. Imagine if the myopic tw*t had shunted you into a busy roundabout ...

[al_roverMG]

yeah MGturbo i would do as has been said and if u have legal cover on your policy then push for damages. You will need to go and see ur GP just to get it recorded but this guy deserves to pay.

[MGTurbo]

I wouldn't trust your insurance company to get all you are entitled to though Gareth.

They'll automatically be looking for the easy way out and until you can recover your excess, if any, will count a claim against you.

IMO you need to talk to one of the accident claim companies to get all you are entitled to

If I were you i'd probably just tell your insurance company "information only"

It wasnt my fault though? The 3rd party insurance company is having the claim put to the from my insurance company. I stand to lose nothing in this situation, apart from my faith on other idiotic driver's on the road. I have legal cover on my policy and we will both be claiming for whiplash. I'm a little stiff in the neck at the moment but it really shock Emma up quite bad.

[Raistlin]

Gareth

It doesn't matte rto the insurance companies

As they say:-

"it's a no claim bonus NOT a no blame bonus"

If you make a claim your insurance company will hold it against your policy until YOU convince them to discount it - usually by providing evidence that the other party has paid your excess.

But in addition to that - what about your claim for injury, hire car, out of pocket expences?? What about if you lose pay because of having to take time off work?

I know the "injury lawyers" are pariahs (I've dealt with some of the solicitors who take on these cases) but you won't get very far on your own and your insurance company really DOESN'T have your best interests at heart.

[MGTurbo]

Gareth

It doesn't matte rto the insurance companies

As they say:-

"it's a no claim bonus NOT a no blame bonus"

If you make a claim your insurance company will hold it against your policy until YOU convince them to discount it - usually by providing evidence that the other party has paid your excess.

But in addition to that - what about your claim for injury, hire car, out of pocket expences?? What about if you lose pay because of having to take time off work?

I know the "injury lawyers" are pariahs (I've dealt with some of the solicitors who take on these cases) but you won't get very far on your own and your insurance company really DOESN'T have your best interests at heart.

So you reckon i should contact one of these independant claim firms?

[Squaddiemodo]

that really sucks mate

just hope that they dont consider writing it off, i know that is what they look to do on older cars, especially if they need jigging.

i would have knocked his bleedin head off

[MGTurbo]

that really sucks mate

just hope that they dont consider writing it off, i know that is what they look to do on older cars, especially if they need jigging.

i would have knocked his bleedin head off

Most likely it will be written off. I didnt have an agreed valuation as part of the insurance. It's difficult to put a value on something so rare, but it's worth at least 3k as TBH, there isnt too many around in this condition. I will be getting a letter sent off by the club to prove it's worth and will be shopping around for the best quotes. It would probably come to 1500 quids worth, of course it will only cost me a few hundred to get it sorted as i will be repairing it once the jig work is done as thats something i dont have.

[BlueRover]

Don't touch a third party claim company, that's the reason everyone's premiums are going up all the time. Try the DAS legal system, usually part of any insurance policy and free to use. Go to see a solicitor as they claim their expenses on top of your claim and don't take anything in costs from your award. The only reason these claim companies exist is the blame culture prevalent in the USA, now common to this country too, forced the government to exclude compensation claims from the legal aid system forcing it into the private companies. You can tell they aren't decent companies as they don't employ proper actors to tell you about their products but the chief exec who just happens to be a fat, middle aged, balding, greying, pompous git (g i t just in case the swear filter gets rid of the previous word)

Accident companies annoy the hell out of me. Kill, kill them all....

[Raistlin]

So you reckon i should contact one of these independant claim firms?

What I am saying is:-

Your insurance company are out to protect nobody's interests but their own - pure and simple.

They don't care WHO pays as long as SOMEBODY pays and that's likely to be you, if you make a claim.

If you have legal cover through your insurance, by all means use them.

Otherwise, I'd do as everybody else does and use one of the specialised claim companies, unfortunaltely, your friendly neighbourhood solicitor is unlikely to be skilled or conversant in these matters, neither would they be in a position to know the best counsel to instruct should the matter go to court.

Bluerover, I agree with MOST of your comment but, pariahs that they are, it's probably the best way to get thorough compensation for ALL aspects of the incident.

BTW,

Anybody on the forum who knows me, would describe me as:-

fat, middle-aged, slightly balding and greying.

Those who know me well enough would get away with "pompous" as well, although I would have to challenge that one

Assuming you are going to end up that way eventually, do you have a problem with people who fit that particular despcription? :p

[fluke]

Anybody on the forum who knows me, would describe me as:-

fat, middle-aged, slightly balding and greying.

Oi!! thats me too, except the balding bit

[rover_214sei]

cor, that's trollied that is.

Might as well break it.

Give you a nifty for the pistons?

[fluke]

cor, that's trollied that is.

Might as well break it.

Give you a nifty for the pistons?

Shame thats a lovely example.

Pistons are worth double that

[MGTurbo]

Grow up guys. If you had spent 5 years perfecting a car like this you would quite rightly be very upset by it.

[Raistlin]

Grow up guys

Easy Tiger

I think you'll find quite a lot of serious opinion here mate. Some useful information as to what to do next as well.

Some people react to bad news with flippancy, it's only because they can't express their thoughts in a more appropriate way (maybe).

We all know what has gone into your Maestro, hell, I can still remember my trip in it

We are all aware that it is more than just the sum of it's parts.

[fluke]

Grow up guys. If you had spent 5 years perfecting a car like this you would quite rightly be very upset by it.

Yes mate, I have spent 8+ years building a car at a sum i care not to think about, all for some nice person to total it, and no amout of money can replace it, not that it came anywhere near what it cost.

But hey I made a joke
I'll try to be more grown up in future
You wish

[mach1rob]

I stand to lose nothing in this situation

Until insurance write it off, give you book price for it regardless of what its worth, and won't let you buy back whats left, and as you're claiming off the other guys insurance, they have no loyalty to YOU!

[Martin]

Ouch

Hope you get a good outcome in the end mate, glad you and the Mrs are ok.

Martin

[SubCat001]

Gutted for you mate Certainly looks repairable.

cor, that's trollied that is.

Might as well break it.

Give you a nifty for the pistons?

What at thoroughly worthwhile contribution to the thread

[Podman]

I stand to lose nothing in this situation

Until insurance write it off, give you book price for it regardless of what its worth, and won't let you buy back whats left, and as you're claiming off the other guys insurance, they have no loyalty to YOU!

They normally "give" you the car park if your claiming on somebody elses insurance. Especially if your thrid party. Then the car is yours to rebuild. Often if you can prove it's a rare car and was in very good condition you "CAN" get tehm to sort it out, but they always say no first and will offer you like 500 quid or summut daft, push all the way m8. They'll try every thing to get out of sorting it in the way it deserves. And yes calaim from everywheer for everything you can ! Sue the other driver personally if you haev too. Get the car sorted at all costs to anyone else, after all it aint your fault.

[Si]

[MGJohn]

Gareth,

I've already responded to the thread over on Triple-M.

Your claim is ALWAYS against the other driver - after all, it was he who caused the accident, not his insurance company.

In your position, I'd write a letter to him holding him 100% responsible for the damage to your car, and the personal injury to you and Emma. Keep a copy for your legal people and Insurance company.

When some dozy cow ran into the back of my wife's stationary MG 1300 Metro some years ago, the woman involved was very self-important and in an obvious hurry so didn't want to hang around dealing with such trivia - she was far too important for such things.

My wife soon put her straight on that as she was wholly responsible for the incident. Later, we wrote a letter to her holding her 100% responsible for causing the damage to my wife's MG.

A day later, her husband phoned us and was very irate that we held his wife responsible - after all, that's what insurance companies are for apparently.... for Crisssakes!!

Oh, I see, we can crash around irresponsibly without due care and attention - that's all well and good because that's what Insurance companies are for..... Good grief.

There are folks out there like that. Lots of them! However, I soon put him right on that - telling him that for all we knew, his wife may not have been insured. The claim was against her, NOT her insurance company. She alone was responsible for the incident. These people were not ignorant or poorly educated. Quite the opposite in fact. However, their attitude stank!

There's far too many folks out there with distorted values. Add that to the fact that far too many are also stressfully chasing money on our roads today. Those values and stresses in combinations are a recipe for things to continue getting much worse.

No amount of speed cameras will change or even improve these things. Unless something is realistically done to curtail 'bad driving' in all it's stressful present day forms - things can only get worse!

Prince Charles spoke about this sort of thing recently. He has a point .... not far removed from the way things are not only on our roads, but in many aspects of today's over-pressurised ways of life!

[Big T]

The next step is very dependent on your insurance company - I was with NFU (to many 4wds in the past ) when an A1 condition an early 4 door range rover got hit by a gypo wagon (False plates etc). The assessor gave me a cash value upto the maximium he could with out a right off (75%) of value - which enable be to get repaired to a standard that I was happy with.
If he hadn't then the cost of the bonnet alone via the insurance company would have written it off - although not perfect, may mean that the lose isn't so bad. Its an option to discuss with the assessor.

If youre local to huntingsdon - it was reputed that there was a rig in the garage at the top of the mad mile near the base. May be useful if you have a cash settlement and if the/a garage is still there

[T16 Dave]

I stand to lose nothing in this situation

Until insurance write it off, give you book price for it regardless of what its worth, and won't let you buy back whats left, and as you're claiming off the other guys insurance, they have no loyalty to YOU!

I can vouch for that only too painfully

Oh well, remember, it's only metal, no matter how much you love it, life sends these things your way some times

[defiant11]

I can sympathise with your predicament.
After somebody hit me last week, I have fortunately had my car damaged approved by my insurance company to be repaired.
I was half expecting them to try and right it off as a lot of much newer Rovers are, due to parts problems etc.
I hope that your claim goes smoothly.

Carl

[BlueRover]

I am also fat, middle aged, balding and greying but I wouldn't try and keep someones compensation ie, you get £5800 and I keep £5,350 of it as a thank you. Leeches the lot of them.
See a solicitor as they are regulated by The Law Society.