Should I Pay Up?

Toon

Back in November I was involved in a car accident with a mobility scooter. Basically, I had parked up whilst my wife had went to the shop to get some baby food whilst I stayed in the car. She came back, I reversed a little to get out of my space and was about to drive off until I heard a loud thud on my windows. The thud was actually from an old woman who had been running after me and started shouting "you've run over my scooter". Well, the old woman had only parked her scooter less than a meter behind my car and even when i checked all mirrors and over my shoulder, these scooters are so small it was impossible for me to see and I had drove into it. Nothing major (it was still standing up) but there was a small crack on the footrest and also a dint and scratch on my bumper.

Anyway, her insurance company "Premier Care by MBL) have told me that the repair is around £400 including call out charges etc but they will "accept half towards the cost of our insured's costs" or "we can put the claim through your insurers and let them decide whether or not liability lies with you or our insured". She then goes on to say "I do believe this would be unsuccessful on your part and you may loose any no claims bonus that you may have accumulated."

My bonus is covered and I'm wondering what to do?

MORPH3US

AFAIK, if it was in a private car park then your insurance company might say that its knock for knock in which case you'll get away with it.

On the other hand it was your fault really and its only £200 so you might as well pay up because if you put it through your insurance and they do pay out, you might not lose your NCB if its protected, but you will have to declare an accident in future which will automatically bump up the premiums by LOTS for the next 5 years!

M

dunstonh

Also, if you put it though your insurance company, you will pay an excess and you wont get that back. Added to the increased premiums, you would lose out.

Even though you didnt see it, the responsiblity is still with you.

exil

You still have to inform your insurance company even if not claiming.

Gem_

You do have to declare the accident in future insurance quotes etc but if you pay up in full then it is called a "no fault claim" rather than a "fault claim" and does not effect your no claims bonus or put your premium (well it probably will put your premium up because everything we do seems to put insurance premiums up!).

I know this because I had a bump which was so small that the repair bill was about the same as my excess so I just paid up (was totally my fault as I stalled in queue of traffic and cracked the bumper of the car infront ... ).

I paid up through my insurance company but because I paid in full there was no excess. I suggest you do talk to them first and see if they agree with the letter, after all the womans own insurance company are hardly going to encorage you to contest the claim!

Good Luck

G

mattymoo

MORPH3US wrote:

AFAIK, if it was in a private car park then your insurance company might say that its knock for knock in which case you'll get away with it.

On the other hand it was your fault really and its only £200 so you might as well pay up because if you put it through your insurance and they do pay out, you might not lose your NCB if its protected, but you will have to declare an accident in future which will automatically bump up the premiums by LOTS for the next 5 years!

M

No such thing as knock for knock these days. Abolished in the early 90's. The location of the incident has no bearing on it either.

You are correct though, it is the OP's fault because reversing carries a greater onus on you to take care.

If I were the OP I would probably pay the £200 and be done with it. Protected NCD often comes with caveats like "3 claims in 2 yrs and you lose the protection". Worth checking the small print.

jackieb

mattymoo wrote:

No such thing as knock for knock these days. Abolished in the early 90's.

I wrote off my car in 1999. There was black ice on the road, the first car braked and skidded 360 degrees. I was the middle car of 5. When the police came he said it would probably be knock for knock. I got a letter from the girl in the first car's insurance company claiming that it was my fault, but nothing came from it (she was driving her dad's car under her own insurance so only covered 3rd party. I think they were just trying it on). My insurance didn't pay her claim, it only paid my own. The car in front of me didn't claim off my insurance, I didn't claim from the driver that hit me behind. That was knock for knock.

mattymoo

jackieb wrote:

I wrote off my car in 1999. There was black ice on the road, the first car braked and skidded 360 degrees. I was the middle car of 5. When the police came he said it would probably be knock for knock. I got a letter from the girl in the first car's insurance company claiming that it was my fault, but nothing came from it (she was driving her dad's car under her own insurance so only covered 3rd party. I think they were just trying it on). My insurance didn't pay her claim, it only paid my own. The car in front of me didn't claim off my insurance, I didn't claim from the driver that hit me behind. That was knock for knock.

Trust me, it wasn't.

Back in the 70's and 80's insurance was dominated by the likes of Norwich Union, General Accident and Royal Insurance. Their client portfolios were all similar.

They felt that the recovery of money from another drivers company would be a swings and roundabouts exercise. You pay out today, the situations reversed on the next claim though. So to stop this money circulation exercise they came up with the K for K agreement.

Drivers were still free to recover their uninsured losses from negligent parties and doing so meant you also kept your NCD intact.

Then along came the likes of Direct Line and Churchill. They cherry picked the best customers - non mod cars, no claims history etc. They felt the K for K agreement would work against them because their drivers would probably be innocent parties in a larger proportion of the claims.

They entered the market in the late 80's and by 93 the K for K agreement was dead.

In your accident it sounds like everyone simply lost control and slid into each other. They probably decided not to sue each other because they could not prove negligence.

The one person who did have a chance though was the girl at the front. She had an accident and strictly speaking, if you were all driving according to the conditions you should have been able to stop in time.

Bossyboots

dunstonh wrote:

Also, if you put it though your insurance company, you will pay an excess and you wont get that back. Added to the increased premiums, you would lose out.

Even though you didnt see it, the responsiblity is still with you.

You only pay the excess on claims you make for your own damage don't you, not when a third party makes a claim.

jackieb

Roads not gritted. I was driving in the country at less than 40mph with plenty of space between me and the car in front. I make a point of leaving a BIG space. She braked when there was nothing in front of her, on a clear bit of road and she lost control. I didn't brake at first, I changed down gears (that shows you how much space there was). Then I started braking gently, and there was nothing. Eventually, I was pumping the brakes before I hit the car in front. When I got out of the car I slipped. The roads were in a terrible condition.

Sorry, I feel the need to excuse myself. I do take your point and I don't doubt you're right about the knock for knock because i don't know very much about insurance. I was just going by what i thought and what the policeman told me. Nothing came from that girls claim against my insurance company anyway. She probably tried it on with all of the other 4 cars involved. She was 18yo driving an unfamiliar big car.

mattymoo

JackieB - been there as well. Balletic slide sideways down an ungritted road.

Fire brigade 200 metres ahead pulling another motorist out a ditch - they all looked up and thought I was about to join them in the ditch.