x

[Bubble1982]

xx

[sars]

I had my rear bumper replaced 3 weeks after getting it new, cost about £600 4 years ago and a non BMW repair specialist....

....and no not a parking incident, a lorry from Romania rolled into it whilst stationary on the motorway

[simonlpearce]

Regardless of whether your insurance are involved or not, you still have to notify them and even if you don't and go via a 3rd party claim, it will be recorded on a database.

My mrs was rear ended and the car written off and her premium still went up. If you have already told your insurer then they will likely have already logged it.

[Stark]

I have had a rear bumper done and bought it second hand 2 years ago, all done about £350

[dr_john]

If he ran into the rear of you, it's his fault, no contest. Especially stationary at traffic lights.

It happened to me a few years back, a guy in a 3 series (bloody BMW drivers I thought) ran into the back of my Rover while I was stationary waiting to make a right turn. As we exchanged details he made it clear that he thought it was my fault (somehow!), however his insurers coughed up very quickly without argument.

[TitanTim]

Fit a dash cam, worth it's weight in gold should the worst happen and people play silly beggars denying fault.

Tim.

[E89_Gaz]

A good idea although he was hit from behind?

[Zed Five]

Does the roof still all work ok???

[xpar1]

Fit a dash cam, worth it's weight in gold should the worst happen and people play silly beggars denying fault.

Tim.

I was just about to suggest the same

A good idea although he was hit from behind?

You can get cameras with both forward and rear facing cameras.

[shortfuse 2]

there fault no contest they will pay the costs .

[dr_john]

A good idea although he was hit from behind?

That occurred to me as well although on second thoughts a forward facing camera would probably pick up the impact motion and the fact that he was stationary at the time. Do they record audio as well? That could help.

[TitanTim]

A good idea although he was hit from behind?

That occurred to me as well although on second thoughts a forward facing camera would probably pick up the impact motion and the fact that he was stationary at the time. Do they record audio as well? That could help.

Yes they record sound and some now have a G Shock sensor which detects sudden or severe movement and automatically saves the film, as opposed to it being over recorded as they work on a loop once the SD memory car is full.

Fitted this one over the weekend http://www.carcamerashop.co.uk/mini-0803.html which is small and nicely discreit. Fitted at the top of the screen and ran the cable behind the roof lining down the edge of dash and then under the dash trim to a 12V power outlet in the passenger footwell. It starts recording as soon as you open the door and powers off a few minutes after the car is locked so basically fit and forget. I appear to be getting alot more aggressive drivers since I've swapped to the M135i hence fitting the cam. Any silly beggars with dangerous driving etc I catch on cam will sent the film with reg no to the Police, not that they'll do anything. I think if involved in a non fault accident any film would be invaluable as evidence.

Tim.

[InvisibleName]

Regardless of whether your insurance are involved or not, you still have to notify them and even if you don't and go via a 3rd party claim, it will be recorded on a database.

My mrs was rear ended and the car written off and her premium still went up. If you have already told your insurer then they will likely have already logged it.

I'm not sure you're correct. Where does it say that if you get a repair done on your car, you have to inform the insurance company even if you don't make a claim???

[simonlpearce]

Regardless of whether your insurance are involved or not, you still have to notify them and even if you don't and go via a 3rd party claim, it will be recorded on a database.

My mrs was rear ended and the car written off and her premium still went up. If you have already told your insurer then they will likely have already logged it.

I'm not sure you're correct. Where does it say that if you get a repair done on your car, you have to inform the insurance company even if you don't make a claim???

If he is claiming off the other parties insurance, then it will get logged on a database. When he comes to re-insure the following year it must be declared as a non-fault claim. They will check the central database and if they weren't notified your insurance could be void or you could get an increased premium.

Sure if he get's it repaired off his own back then this is a mute point, but from the OP it would seem the insurance have already been told so it will be recorded regardless.

At least thats what i was trying to say originally but probably didn't explain too well.

[Bubble1982]

Thanks for all the feedback and helpful thoughts folks.

After an initially painful start with Admiral - who directed me towards a company called Albany Assistance to handle no fault claims (More on this in a moment) they so far seem amenable to me using my choice of garage (not a main dealer, but a specialist BMW indy I've used many times before and rate more highly than the main dealers)

Basically the process from here is that Admiral will chase down the other side's insurance company for admission of liability (which they think is straightforward given the amount of evidence I've presented and the circumstances of being stationary at a red when hit). Once this is in place, I will not need to pay the £350 excess, nor will my no-claims bonus be affected I am told.

Helpfully, they are chasing down the admission of liability before I need to formally decide if I wish to make a claim. Given that the bumper alone appears to be c.£500 for a genuine BMW one it makes sense to claim. Spraying it in the correct colour and fitting will be extra, and then we can add VAT onto the whole lot for good measure.

Regarding Albany Assistance, a quick warning for anyone on here that ends up making a no-fault claim through any of the Admiral group insurance companies. You are initially told on the phone that there are two options:

1) Make a claim under your own policy, which will see you paying your excess and losing your no claims bonus, or

2) go through their third party no fault claims handler (Albany) for which you will not need to pay any excess nor will your no-claims be effected.

... a no brainer for option 2 right? Well not so fast.....

When you read the small print, what Albany seek to do is have you enter into a 'repair finance agreement'. This basically means that that they front the cost of repair work, and then chase down the recovery of that cost from the other sides insurers, so far so good right?.... again not so fast.../

If Albany then fail to recover the cost from the other side within 49 weeks, the finance agreement comes back to bite you, and they recover the cost direct from you instead . That cost can be a multiple of the actual repair work, as it can also encompass the cost of a hire car + interest at very high APRs while they do all of this.

Luckilly alarm bells starting ringing and I said I wanted to think about this before agreeing and to read the small print - a quick dig around the internet and you'll find horror stories of people being on the hook for tens of thousands of pounds from these guys after they failed to recover the repair and hire car costs from the other side. There's a complete conflict of interest in how this whole arrangement is set up, because Albany's profits increase for every day they spend delaying the process and b) there doesn't appear to be any incentive to recover the cost from the other side, as they know i'm on the hook if they dont.

To my mind at least this is an aggressive finance provider masquerading as a vehicle repair / care hire / claims handler and this type of arrangement should be avoided at all costs.

What I wasn't told, but found out after challenging admiral is that there is actually an 'Option 3' - where Admiral will first contact the other sides insurer and seek to establish liability. Once this is in place, you can proceed with a claim under your own policy, dodging Albany and all that nonsense entirely, safe in the knowledge that the no-claims will be ok, and that the excess will be waived.

they're actually being very helpful now - but it is annoying that you have to jump through so many (potentially costly) hoops and find all of this out for yourself. It's the first time I've ever had to make a claim, so hopefully I'll be more knowledgeable now if ever something like this happens again.