Hi, You have the name and details of the driver of the vehicle. You have the details of the witness to the accident (independant 3rd party witness). You have an admission of liability from the driver. You have a known relation of the driver also admitting the liability for and on behalf of the driver... The only reason they would want to deal directly with you is to limit their insurance costs or other insurance issues. Ok... So the car is worth? The repairs cost? Do you have agreed value insurance? From an insurance companies point ov view, they will write off a vehicle if the cost of repair is greater than the value of the car, unless you have agreed value insurance etc.. So... Do you go through your insurance co? It will affet you insurance premium, even though it was not your fault! Or do you "employ" a solicitor (no win no fee) to act on your behalf and skin these comedian for all they are worth.? The latter seems a good way to go. A solicitor has access to information you won't have. He can also add an amount to the claim to compensate you for increased insurance premiums as you will (should) delare the accident to your insurers.. Ergo: Sue the B*****d's Des. . . ;)

Get straight on to your Insurance company and the police. I've been caught out in the past ib a similar way. A guy that hit a car I owned previously said he would pay out of his own pocket but when I took quotes to him he delayed, eventualy it dawned on me he wasn't going to pay. When i went to my insurance company they were up in arms why I'd left it so late etc. and not notified them sooner. It was a real nightmare to get them to sort it out. Go to your local police station and report it they may tell you that you don't have to. But explain that you feel the old gut may be without insurance (doesn't matter if he does or not) all you want is a report number for the insurance. Hope this helps good luck Tony

As above - contact your insurance company as soon as possible. Follow that up with a call to the police. The longer you leave it the less likely the insurance company will help.

My feeling is they think your car is an old banger that will get fixed up with parts from a scrappy - just go throught the insurance, but you probably lose your no claims until the insurance company recovers costs from the other side.

Sorry to hear about the damage :( I don't want to sound callous, but what are the odds that the son who deals with all his father's affairs has a major heart attack at exactly the point where you are needing to deal with him over damage to your car. Sure it could have happened but it's hardly likely. I smell a rat. Cheers, John

If he gave you $$$ upfront then its fine but I would never have accepted this. I would have made a police report, then get the insurance in. I rather do it the 'right' way than to have these headaches you are having now. Its just not worth it. I would from now, do it the legal way just to cover your side and to make sure that the end result is up to your satisfaction. If the son has a heart attack (rather suspicious), dealing with another son, old father driving a car that wrecks it and your car.. well I just got to ask this. Was the dad insured to drive the car in the first place? Did he pass his eye test? Have a license? Whose car was it? Did it have MOT, blah blah blah. Des (CTCNetwork) said it well. Get legal help. cheers

Phone calls 

I would call the hospital to confirm he has been admitted. The person responsible is the person behind the wheel. The fact the son has verbally agreed to take the responsibility is questionable. It is not unreasonable to wait a couple of days to get the procedure moving. 24th April when the accident happened is now taking the michael. In this case and as others have said, it smells of a rat. Perhaps the old gent will realise you wont knock on his door for fear of putting him in the same hospital as his son with the same medical problem, a heart attack. At the end of the day you have waited a reasonable time, the old gent is responsible you need to tackle his insurance company immediately. Advise them also that you will be looking at legal action against the driver and/or his insurance company for loss of no claims and inconvenince. The police will do nothing about it as the driver has complied with the HWC and RTA in handing you his details and no ambulances were needed. It is now a civil action which is where your valuable witness comes in. Diarise everything, keep an accurate account of the whole affair. Good luck V70 driver