Car insurance claim- minor damage (not my fault)

B.Inky

Hi,

I have a question about insurance claims after a car accident. Someone drove into the back of me yesterday as I was coming out of a car park. I was just about to pull out, but someone in the queue further back decided to be impatient and overtake the rest of the queue. So I stopped to let them past (had no choice!) but the driver in the queue behind me wasn’t looking and drove into me.

I understand that legally it’s the other drivers fault automatically when they drive into the back of someone. There’s only minor damage to my car- total cost of around £80. We swapped details at the time, so I have her address. I’ve been told that I shouldn’t claim through my insurance, as even though it’s not my fault it would still be a ‘claim’ and I don’t want to lose my no claims bonus (after driving for 4 years, the premiums have just got down to an affordable amount). Would it be the right thing to do to write to the other driver and ask them to pay? If she decided to claim on her own insurance- would my premium still be unaffected?

Thanks,
B. Inky

dogbot

Hello,

You must declare the "incident" to your current and future insurers anyway. You must declare all accidents you are involved in, regardless of fault. If you are not to blame your premium won't go up or if it does only a tiny amount.

For a small amount they may choose to pay you directly. Get a garage to look at the vehicle and provide a quote to repair the damage. Give her a call and let her know the amount and that of course you want it repaired. She can then decide if she will pay you directly or not.

Quentin

Also ask her to pay for a hire car whilst yours is in for repair, and point out that any other damage/costs related to the incident will also be down to her (ie. don't tie yourself into just accepting £80 to close the matter, as there may be more costs involved). There may be more damage become apparent when the car is in for repair!

However this gets paid (by the third party or their insurer) won't affect your own insurance premium, though as already advised you do need to inform your own insurer, and the incident may affect future premiums.

Torby

dogbot wrote: »

Hello,

You must declare the "incident" to your current and future insurers anyway. You must declare all accidents you are involved in, regardless of fault.

Why?...if the other party offers to pay for the damage....I wasn't aware that there was an "obligation" to notify anyone other than the police...and only then if there was a injury to person or persons....

By your statement....everytime you get a small bump or scrape in a supermarket or multi story car park....you should notify your insurer...in 99% of cases like this, the culprit isn't even available....so by your reckoning you will be bumping up your own premiums and still not repairing "small" accidental scrapes.

I'd love to find out more about this...can anyone else shed some light on it?

Quentin

Torby wrote: »

I'd love to find out more about this...can anyone else shed some light on it?

Have a read through the conditions of your current motor insurance policy and you will see you are bound to inform them of any incidents you are involved in irrespective of whether or not a claim resulted.

Torby

Quentin wrote: »

Have a read through the conditions of your current motor insurance policy and you will see you are bound to inform them of any incidents you are involved in irrespective of whether or not a claim resulted.

so as I said, even a minor scratch/bump in a carpark, may have been a supermarket trolley or some schoolmom in a 4x4 that didnt hang around to find out.....lol....your ins company must be informed?.....

I wonder what the implications of NOT telling them your car was scored by a Tesco trolley may be?

Quentin

If you break the conditions of your policy you run the risk that at some time in the future the breach will return and bite you!

But finding a trolley scratch on your car in a car park is something that most people would accept as wear and tear!

Anihilator

I dont actually agree that liability is cut and shut here.

It is not automatically the persons behind fault. It normally is but if the person in front acted negliently causing the accident then it can be contested. You stopping to accomodate someone elses poor driving is questionable.

You should have let the impatient driver wait in the dangerous position they got too. If I was the person behind I would be contesting it.

Lavendyr

Anihilator wrote: »

It is not automatically the persons behind fault. It normally is but if the person in front acted negliently causing the accident then it can be contested. You stopping to accomodate someone elses poor driving is questionable.

You should have let the impatient driver wait in the dangerous position they got too. If I was the person behind I would be contesting it.

Although I agree that it's not necessarily open and shut and that the other driver could contest liability, I don't think that stopping to avoid being hit by someone else's bad driving is questionable in the slightest. The person behind should have been looking where she was going and paying more attention. Moreover, it was a car park - people often have to stop or slow down unexpectedly.

OP, check your documentation- you may well have to report it to the insurance company. However the other party should contact her insurance too, and if she is found liable for the accident, her insurance will pick up the claim. It won't show as a claim on your insurance in that case (as you will claim on hers, effectively), but it will be recorded as an 'incident' and could affect your premium. Hope that helps.

B.Inky

Thank you for the replies, I forgot to check back to see them!

I have reported the accident to the insurance company, who have made a note on their file, but I’m not pursuing a claim (yet). The insurance company said that if it is the other person’s fault and they recover the money for repairs then it won’t affect my premiums.

There is no way that I couldn’t have stopped. The other car was in my way and if I hadn’t stopped then I would have driven into him. We were all literally going about 2 miles an hour and stopping and starting as you do when you’re queuing to get out of a car park. The car behind didn’t hit me immediately- they were stopped and she admitted that she was looking right down the street for a gap in the traffic. It wasn’t as though I slammed my breaks on and she didn’t have chance to stop. I stopped to let the other car push in (which I had to), she assumed I’d gone into the road and drove into me while not looking where she was going. I don’t think there’s any doubt at all it was her fault (although it clearly wouldn’t have happened if the other car hadn’t pushed in).

I wrote to the girl to ask her to pay and have had no reply. I’ve given it a week and a half. I’m just not sure what to do now. I don’t see why I should have to pay for the damage myself, but then it’s only a small amount of money and I’m worried that if I claim through my insurance and she denies it, or has given me a wrong address or something then they won’t be able to get the money back and my premiums would go up. What would anyone else do?

Thanks,
B.Inky

Quentin

B.Inky wrote: »

The insurance company said that if it is the other person’s fault and they recover the money for repairs then it won’t affect my premiums.........

I wrote to the girl to ask her to pay and have had no reply. I’ve given it a week and a half. I’m just not sure what to do now. I don’t see why I should have to pay for the damage myself, but then it’s only a small amount of money and I’m worried that if I claim through my insurance and she denies it, or has given me a wrong address or something then they won’t be able to get the money back and my premiums would go up. What would anyone else do?

Get your insurer to put in writing to you that your future premiums won't be affected providing they recover their outlay from the third party. (The agent who told you this may have mislead you, as it is your NCD that would be unaffected, but your premium is usually affected by your driving history incidents, including these type of incidents).

Though you say the damage is £80 to fix, so making a claim from your own insurer is pointless - won't your excess be more than that?

A week and a half is not long enough to expect a reply, but you can contact the third party insurers direct, tell them you hold their insured responsible, send them a quote for the repairs, and ask them to confirm they will refund all your costs associated with the incident.