XSeries-forum

Got the pleasure of a 15 plate 3 litre diesel msport for a while. Thats the good bit.

Bad bit is that i got into my car on Monday to see a note on the windscreen saying my car had been hit by another driver who stopped to look at the damage but left without leaving a note. Thankfully he stated in the note the reg, model and colour of the car that did the damage and a description of the driver, and left his contact details. There was a dent in the wing, damage to the bumper, fog light and sensor bent in, and had caused a gap between the bumper and wing

Took it to a local car body shop who said they can do it through their insurance company without involving mine. They would make the claim against the guy who did it and I wont have to pay anything and get a hire car while its being done, again paid for by the guy who did the damages insurance.

Does anybody have experience or this kind of thing? Is there any chance some of these costs could come back to me e.g. if the driver wont admit to doing the damage or if the witness doesnt want to get involved? Insurance company doing it is called kindertons

Cheers

"my" x5 ride for while -

What bad luck, sorry to hear that 
Sounds as if the witness would be happy to corroborate your claim as he went to the bother of leaving his contact details.
Hope it gets resolved swiftly.

Mars

how have you got on re: claiming against him! what a low life!!


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Yes it can come and bite you on the arse and you could get stuck with the hire car bill which trust me will be massive !

IF they can't find him or they do find him and he is un-insured (maybe the reason he drove off) then somebody has to settle the bill and that can only be you

Your insurer won't pick up the bill for the car hire either because they only provide group A type cars eg Corsa

To give you an idea of cost and I'm testing my memory a bit here, but I had a 7 series BMW has a hire car a few years ago via an insurance company, and I think the daily cost was about £400/day

I wouldn't take it unless 100% sure that they are going to pay !

Kindertons are not an insurance company but an 'Accident Management Company'.  As 535dboy says, be VERY VERY careful or you will end up footing the bill with no recourse against anyone else.  You're basically dealing with an 'Ambulance Chaser' who is only interested in making money....and lots of it with no care who it comes from.

There have been plenty of horror stories about this sort of event costing drivers dearly.  Have you done an on line check of the registration stated by the witness?  Does it match the vehicle type and colour?

If I was you I would hand it back asap.  Your own insurer will walk away.

Thanks everyone. Just got off the phone with kindertons. They "guaranteed me 100%" that no costs would come back to me.

The vehicle that did the damage is a hire car due back to Gatwick 6th Sept. Which I suppose might make it a bit easier for them to claim back the money

Seems legit enough but still bit concerned there might be a bill waiting for me somewhere

Ask them if you could have the 100% guarantee in writing just so your solicitor can just give it that once over.
Still sounds a bit too good to be true...but I suppose it could be legit, I hope so.

Mars

As Mars States above in writing 100%,you need confirmation it's not going cost you any £££

I've used a similar company twice in the last year (Accident Exchange) for this type of credit repair, after I got "rear ended" on two different occasions. I had the same reservations that have already been mentioned, but, I've had no issue. I asked them for a guarantee that if the at fault driver's insurance didn't pay up, I wouldn't be chased. They explained that they would provide me with a documented guarantee that I would not be liable if they couldn't recover their costs, which I went over with a fine-toothed comb and all was good. The only way they can legitimately hold you liable for any costs is if it turns out you've not been straight with them. They make the decision on whether to provide you with the credit repair and credit hire based on what you tell them - if it's pretty clear that the third party was at fault, they will take on the work. It sounds like this is the case for you?

This is based on my own experience with Accident Exchange; I'm not sure what other companies are like but I would imagine they are fairly similar. Bear in mind you still have to notify your insurance company even if you are not going through them for the claim.

Also bear in mind that I think it is you taking out the hire agreement in your name and if the claim takes a long time to settle this will / could appear on your credit rating ...

Thanks also got the guarantee about costs not coming back to me in writing too

good news then [emoji106]

Make sure it's quality work done on your car by this bodyshop... I used a similar firm called Albany Assistance  (although the 320d MSport was nice, the wrong shade of black on one door of my 520d wasn't, along with 'costs' the garage tried to pass on to me despite the fact the Accident Management firm were supposedly footing the bill)