Minor Car Accident - What Should I Do?

[Tomtomtom69]

On the 21st of October I was driving a Lao registered rental in Phitsanulok province bound for Mae Sot. At around 5.30pm, 50km east of Phitsanulok, this stupid lady driving a black, previous model Honda City with registration กจ2598 พิษณุโลก (Phitsanulok) crashed into the back of my Ford Ranger truck. The damage to my rear bumper was superficial, only had a couple of scratches on the paintwork and a small hole, although the number plate was bent backwards and upon removing the bumper, the area just behind the bumper cracked. I got the bumper fixed the day before returning the car to Laos, in Nong Khai, just 15km short of the border.

The lady and her boyfriend gave me 1000 Baht for the repairs, although I knew this would not be enough and at first pleaded for more money. The boyfriend also claimed he would send me the remaining funds should the repair bill be higher than 1000 Baht, which every sane person already knew it would be. When I first called him about 2 days later, the boyfriend was drunk and didn't recognize my story. Some days later after returning from Laos and returning the car, I called again and this time he acknowledged what happened and complained about the "high price" of getting my bumper fixed. He claimed that to fix his hood (bonnet) which was totally wrecked cost only 2500 Baht, so my bumper repair cost of 2200 Baht was too high. This whole saga was very inconvenient for me because as a rental vehicle I was under pressure to rent for the shortest time possible without incident. Not only that, but I rented for business purposes and had a lot of driving to do as I had to transport some material for a business of mine from Thailand to Vietnam via Laos, hence the need for a Lao vehicle since Thai vehicles can't enter Vietnam.

However, I made a big mistake by not contacting the insurance until after I returned the car - the insurance company needs to see the car before they will issue a refund for the repairs made despite all my before/after pictures and a copy of the policy. It's not too late to do so, but I would need to rent the exact same car again and be somewhere in Thailand with the car and before the expiration date of the policy before that can happen. So unless my company sees a need to rent again in the meantime, this is unlikely to happen.

Long story short, the people who drove into my car are now not answering my calls about the remaining 1200 Baht they owe me. Yes, it's not much money, but it's about the principle. I want them to owe up to their obligations. I have a friend who is a policeman in Bangkok who said he could help, but given that I'm not based in Phitsanulok and just returning there would cost as much money as I'm claiming.

Anyone have any advice and/or similar stories? I have learned a sobering lesson from this: even if it's only a small ding, ALWAYS contact the insurance immediately and never trust anybody. Too many people in this country lie.

[Sydneycraig]

Is it worth your time and trouble ? If it was me then, no so I would chalk it up to experience and move on.

[stoneyboy]

Sorry Tottenham are on the brink of conceding a goal,I may respond after full time.

[guzzi850m2]

Yes it's too late now and why bother for 1200 bath, it's a relative cheap lesson.

[Tomtomtom69]

@Sydneycraig, well, I'm kinda doing that but I thought I might post my experiences anyway. The thing is, it could have been a lot worse financially or otherwise. This whole incident has shattered my faith in some people here. Just saying.

[Tomtomtom69]

@stoneyboy, haha OK keep watching your football game then. If you can offer your own experiences/suggestions (although I'm guessing like everyone else, you'll probably just say this was a cheap lesson for me and I should move on), then I'd be keen to read your comments.

[mogandave]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

[fatfather]

Accidents with a rental car always require a police report. My experience is (with international car hire, also here in Thailand) that their repair costs are fair. To claim money back from the party who caused the accident will then be the insurance's business.

Fatfather

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[Payboy]

Sorry Tottenham are on the brink of conceding a goal,I may respond after full time.

Well at least you didn't say OP has to wait for your response until they win the league title.

[phutoie2]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

I cannot believe the past participle of "get" is still in use in the 21st century.

[HappyInCM]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

I cannot believe the past participle of "get" is still in use in the 21st century.

And why is that? The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English.

Although I tend to avoid that usage myself, I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on other people's use of English, especially when it's correct.

[stevenl]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

I cannot believe the past participle of "get" is still in use in the 21st century.

And why is that? The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English.

Although I tend to avoid that usage myself, I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on other people's use of English, especially when it's correct.

Also in British English I think 'gotten' is correct, albeit old fashioned.

[Payboy]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

I cannot believe the past participle of "get" is still in use in the 21st century.

And why is that? The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English.

Although I tend to avoid that usage myself, I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on other people's use of English, especially when it's correct.

Also in British English I think 'gotten' is correct, albeit old fashioned.

Gotta hand it to you guys for your linguistic skills.

[mogandave]

I think you're lucky to have gotten the thousand.

I cannot believe the past participle of "get" is still in use in the 21st century.

Did you mean to say can't?