Car insurance: claim twice? - please help

singlemindedly

Hi moneysavers, I hope you can help me with a bit of advice.

I took out my car insurance in May, fully comprehensive, and paid in full for the year.

In August I had a minor accident where I scraped a parked car's bumper, and unfortunately the owner was extremely unreasonable and intimidating so there was no way we could settle this outside of the official channels. There were just some scrapes on the bumper, not even the paint come off, no denting; but this woman was out to milk it and milk it she did. They must have exchanged her bumper entirely (because I phoned up and asked what the bill was and it came to over £570 - PLUS they gave her a rental car for the duration of repairs!!)... anyway, that was the first claim.

This weekend, I backed out of another parking space and the person next to me had backed out before me, and I failed to see her. So again, a bumper scratch. This time, however, this lady was very nice and said she'd get a quote for the work and let me know so I could pay it, before she will call the insurance (we did exchange details, of course).

Now I wonder... it's not like I have a no-claims bonus to lose any more, so it would seem logical to just let insurance handle it. On the other hand, I'm afraid. I'm not a bad driver (both incidents are parking accidents!) but two claims in one year make me worry that my insurance will go up hugely next year or I may be rejected altogether...?

Do you think it would make sense for me to pay the money (probably around £200) or should let insurance do it? What effect will it have on my renewal? I imagine they can't put up my rate now, during the year, can they - as I've paid until May '09?

Many thanks... Susanne

Quentin

You can't blame your first victim for wanting to get her car put right properly! Whatever you felt about her attitude, to anyone not involved it was quite acceptable - some clown had just driven into her and then wanted to do a deal with her to keep the costs down! (They wouldn't have replaced the bumper unnecessarily, and why should she be without a car whilst hers is in the bodyshop?)

To answer your query, it won't make much difference if you do this properly (even if you pay the money yourself, you still have 2 at fault incidents on your record.)

Do some virtual quotes now on-line to see what your premium will be with fault accidents, and you might think about going back to the buses next May!

tinkerbell84

singlemindedly wrote: »

I'm not a bad driver (both incidents are parking accidents!)

Parking is part of driving.

If you can't reverse out of spaces, reverse in and you'll never hit anything on the way out!

How can you not see another car?!

gaz_jones

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

Parking is part of driving.

If you can't reverse out of spaces, reverse in and you'll never hit anything on the way out!

How can you not see another car?!

I was driving through the middle of a car park and a lady pulled into the side of my car when pulling out of her space. She wasnt even reversing out the space!! Now thats bad driving!

As for OP, I would suggest doing virtual quotes online and see what the difference would be. That way you'll know whether it works out cheaper to claim on insurance or pay yourself.

lisyloo

PLUS they gave her a rental car for the duration of repairs!!

If you damage someone else's car then of course they will need a rental, whilst it's being repaired. Why should they be inconvenienced because of your mistake.
They didn't profit from this, in fact they were probably put out a little by having to change cars.

I'm not a bad driver (both incidents are parking accidents!)

Everyone makes mistakes and I'm not perfect, but I think you need to take this a bit more seriously.
What if you didn't see a child below bumper level :eek:
You need to consider what you did wrong and set about changing your driving/parking habits.

I've had bumps in the past so I'm not being holier than thou, we are all human, but I've put effort into improving and your attititude towards this is not correct.
It mightbe just a bumper this time but what if it's a child next time??

If you want to improve there are organisations that can help and you might even save money overall because some courses give you insuracne discounts.