Car Accident - Do We have to involve the insurance?

Nina.thomas

Hi All,

Looking for some advice. Whilst driving today a car pulled out from an opposite junction straight into me (

claims he didn't see me as he was blinded by the sun). No one was hurt, with no damage to his car. My car was hit on the drivers side passenger door. We exchanged info., he stated it was a company car and would be in touch. As I had to drive past my garage to get home I popped in to check when I picked my children up they wouldn't fall out the door or anything going round a corner! (Us mothers worry) He assured me the door was fine and he could 'pop' it if I wished. We discussed the insurance claim as I said that because I have only been driving 2 years my excess is £350. He said that an insurance company would probably say a new door was needed and then required paint work in total about £1000. Needless to say at this time of year and with the credit crunch I don't have £350 lying about. He then said if they guy would agree to pay he could fix it himself for about £250, no need to go through the insurance thus saving my no claims and it would make no difference to my insurance next year when I renew.

So I suppose really what I'm asking is what would you do? I did phone the gentleman who had hit me and said if you don't want to involve the insurance companies, fine with me, I can send you a bill. He agreed this would probably be best for both of us but as it was a company car he would have to do what they wanted. He said he would aske them and be back in touch.

I also did theory questions with customer services rep.(Bell Insurance) who said that the £350 I have to pay whatever, if not my fault I would get it back at a later date but that yes, it would go against me for renewing my insurance next year. My insurance a year is £350p.a. as it is.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. So involve insurance or sort out ourselves. Advice please

Nina

suzybaby2001

Nina.thomas wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for some advice. Whilst driving today a car pulled out from an opposite junction straight into me (

claims he didn't see me as he was blinded by the sun). No one was hurt, with no damage to his car. My car was hit on the drivers side passenger door. We exchanged info., he stated it was a company car and would be in touch. As I had to drive past my garage to get home I popped in to check when I picked my children up they wouldn't fall out the door or anything going round a corner! (Us mothers worry) He assured me the door was fine and he could 'pop' it if I wished. We discussed the insurance claim as I said that because I have only been driving 2 years my excess is £350. He said that an insurance company would probably say a new door was needed and then required paint work in total about £1000. Needless to say at this time of year and with the credit crunch I don't have £350 lying about. He then said if they guy would agree to pay he could fix it himself for about £250, no need to go through the insurance thus saving my no claims and it would make no difference to my insurance next year when I renew.

So I suppose really what I'm asking is what would you do? I did phone the gentleman who had hit me and said if you don't want to involve the insurance companies, fine with me, I can send you a bill. He agreed this would probably be best for both of us but as it was a company car he would have to do what they wanted. He said he would aske them and be back in touch.

I also did theory questions with customer services rep.(Bell Insurance) who said that the £350 I have to pay whatever, if not my fault I would get it back at a later date but that yes, it would go against me for renewing my insurance next year. My insurance a year is £350p.a. as it is.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. So involve insurance or sort out ourselves. Advice please

Nina

Hi,
I've been driving 3 years and I've had 2 accidents. I would say involve the insurance with this as the bill for your car could be more than you've been quoted and the guy may not pay up. Although it may well go against you next year, my first accident was 3 months after I got my car and it was 50/50 blame and my insurance went up about £100. I went on all the price comparison sites and got it back down to what it was originally. My second accident was last year and was my fault, the other car was written off and mine was on the verge of being written off. The insurance I was with doubled the quote for the year after, I again went on gocompare, moneysupermarket and comparethemarket and it was £50 more than the previous year, being completely truthful with who's fault it was and how much the damage came to. For peace of mind I would go through the insurance, when you compare the prices for your next quote you will enter the details and say it wasn't your fault.

Quentin

You don't need to claim off your own insurance if the third party is accepting liability. And you don't need to be getting a cut price job done if the accident is not your fault!

You could claim direct off the third party or their insurers. You may have more expenses than the garage bill (eg car hire), so ask them to agree to reimbursing all your costs incurred as a result of the accident. (Though be prepared for them wanting sight of the invoices before reimbursing you).

(Your insurer is not saying they will give you back your excess "at a later date" - in fact it will be up to you to claim this back from the third party).

You still need to report the accident now to your own insurer, whether or not you are going to make a claim. If you don't claim off your own insurer, then your no claims bonus is unaffected, though your premium could increase as a result of this accident on your record.

(And if you do claim, and your insurer is able to later recover their outlay in full from the third party, then your NCB would be reinstated)

cogito

though your premium could increase as a result of this accident on your record.

Exactly the reason why I didn't tell my insurers about an incident when another vehicle collided with my parked car. The other driver paid up without argument.

ginvzt

I had 2 claims in my 1st year (one 3rd party fault - someone drove into my back at the round about, and as it was my luck, the courtesy car was damaged by someone opening their door in the car park to strongly - scratched paint, went down as vandalism, as person didn't stick around). Imagine my surprise, when my car insurance stayed the same. (It is at about £350 mark) I had £50 excess and it remained the same.

Now, I have moved house and had to fork out nearly another £300 to cover the change of address as the new area is that much more dangerous!!!! (Not really - it is a new build village in the middle of nowhere)

Quentin

cogito wrote: »

Exactly the reason why I didn't tell my insurers about an incident when another vehicle collided with my parked car.

In fairness to anyone reading this thread for advice, it should be pointed out that if you don't tell your insurer about any incident (loss etc) then you are in breach of the insurance conditions, and could end up finding the policy has been voided.

And of course, away from the scene of an accident, many "guilty" third parties discover reasons why they feel they can renege on any kerbside agreements, and come up with a different story to twist the truth.

Your insurer also needs to be informed about all incidents so they are "in the picture" should a claim turn up months/years later.

slipp_digby

Quentin wrote: »

In fairness to anyone reading this thread for advice, it should be pointed out that if you don't tell your insurer about any incident (loss etc) then you are in breach of the insurance conditions, and could end up finding the policy has been voided.

And of course, away from the scene of an accident, many "guilty" third parties discover reasons why they feel they can renege on any kerbside agreements, and come up with a different story to twist the truth.

Your insurer also needs to be informed about all incidents so they are "in the picture" should a claim turn up months/years later.

thanks for this post of sanity. I constantly see advice on these boards telling people to not go through their insurance company and not to inform them about incidents to prevent premiums increasing. when this is clearly a fact which needs to be disclosed to your insurers.

cogito

and could end up finding the policy has been voided.

Only insofar as the accident in question is concerned.

In this case, the damage came to £150. Why would I bother to inform insurers over such a trivial matter and, more to the point, why would they even care if I didn't? Why are some posters on here so keen to present insurers as bogeymen?

Quentin

cogito wrote: »

Only insofar as the accident in question is concerned.

No.

You agree that you will inform your insurer about any "insurance related incident whether or not they give rise to a claim". (Or similar wording).

No matter how "trivial", a breach by you of the conditions does allow them to invalidate your policy.

Read your obligations in the policy (though you know what they are!)

No-one said they are "bogeymen", but your poor advice was corrected.

cogito

Details of any incident which could give rise to a claim under the policy, actually.

I can just imagine the discussions in the claims department. 'Ooooh, cogito didn't tell us he got his car scratched yesterday. What shall we do? Yes. let's cancel his policy. That will really show him not to mess with us.' Of course, they do this all the time.

I'm not saying you're wrong but I find that in practice, insurers do tend to behave sensibly on the whole and not look to interpret their policies with complete disregard for common sense.

Nina.thomas

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the helpful replies. I've just spoken to my insurance. We went through the accident, what happened, who was at fault and all details and the very helpful lady suggested that yes, because of my high excess it would be better if we could sort it out personally without involving them but I was right to phone and inform them of the circumstances.

If we couldn't agree what to do then we discussed my other two options.

1) Say forget it and have a merry christmas! OR

2) Claim, I'd have to pay my excess which by the way is £600 not £350. made up of £250 + £350 voluntary (my bad but your learn) :eek: which I could then try and claim back, be without a car while the repair happened (no courtesey car to keep costs down) and effect my renewal next year all the time considering the repair will most likely cost less than my excess.

Needless to say if we can't agree option 1 is looking best. I know what Santa will be doing with my Xmas money this year! Oh well. You live and learn!

Thanks again for all the advice.

Nina xxx:beer: