Notifying car insurance of accident but then not claiming - premiums?

pault123

Someone drove into my alloy wheel yesterday pulling out of a minor side road when I was on the major road already half way past them!

I've had a garage inspect the wheel and its ok apart from scratches - which can be repaired/refurbed for £100 or new alloy for £200.

The gent wanted to settle "outside of insurance"

If I notify my insurance of the accident but then settle direct with the gent, can I legally tell my insurance i've settled directly?

Will a notification of an accident with no claim filed against it, which wasn't my fault increase my yearly premiums?

What to do

vaio

I'd double check there is no suspension/tyre damage too.

As for the insurance, some firms will load you for a no claim incident some don't. As always, shop around

Quentin

pault123 wrote: »

The gent wanted to settle "outside of insurance"

If I notify my insurance of the accident but then settle direct with the gent, can I legally tell my insurance i've settled directly?

Will a notification of an accident with no claim filed against it, which wasn't my fault increase my yearly premiums?

What to do

Beware any changes of mind from the gent once he gets away from the scene!

You can just tell your insurer of the incident, and stress to the that you do not wish to make a claim by ensuring you mark the letter "For Information Only", and put in the body of the letter that you aren't making a claim at this stage.

There is the possibility this incident will affect next year'spremium, but as always the advice is to shop around for the best deal available at the time.

As already advised, get the car properly checked out, not just the alloy before accepting any cash settlement over this.

Premier_2

If you secure full recovery of any damage, you shouldn't normally be penalised when you come to renewal.

Why not pass it to your insurers? After all that's what you pay them for (assuming you have comprehensive cover).

If the other driver wishes to reimburse you directly, he can still do that rather than pass the claim to his insurers.
... and if he changes his mind after thinking about it, you won't be in the embarrassing situation of explaining it to your insurers later.

tali

As above says if you secure full recovery of any damage, you shouldn't be penalised at all when you come to renewal.
Personally , i would consider it "illegal" if they did

raskazz

tali wrote: »

As above says if you secure full recovery of any damage, you shouldn't be penalised at all when you come to renewal.
Personally , i would consider it "illegal" if they did

On which point of common law or statute would you consider it 'illegal'?

olly300

Premier wrote: »

If you secure full recovery of any damage, you shouldn't normally be penalised when you come to renewal.

Why not pass it to your insurers? After all that's what you pay them for (assuming you have comprehensive cover).

If the other driver wishes to reimburse you directly, he can still do that rather than pass the claim to his insurers.
... and if he changes his mind after thinking about it, you won't be in the embarrassing situation of explaining it to your insurers later.

Because the OP will be breaking the T&Cs of their insurance policy.

This if later found out by this or another insurance company could make their insurance void or make any subsequent insurance claim void.

olly300

tali wrote: »

As above says if you secure full recovery of any damage, you shouldn't be penalised at all when you come to renewal.
Personally , i would consider it "illegal" if they did

They are likely to penalise the OP as it is an accident which caused damage. And statistically if you have one accident you are likely to have another such one.

If there was no damage then it would be an incident. Some insurers will raise premiums due to this whilst others won't.

pault123

Well it seems the insurance company didn't want to be "notified" unless I actually wanted to make a claim

So i'm now waiting on the gent to decide if he wants to settle directly with myself, if he says no then i'll claim with the insurance company.

I suppose I should just claim with the insurance company and not offer to settle directly but I thought it would do the guy a favour in terms of him not losing his no claims etc./paying his excess

Quentin

pault123 wrote: »

Well it seems the insurance company didn't want to be "notified" unless I actually wanted to make a claim

Check your policy conditions and you will find that whoever told you this from your insurer has mislead you badly.

You do need to inform your insurer of all incidents, whether or not they lead to a claim.

Quentin

pault123 wrote: »

I suppose I should just claim with the insurance company and not offer to settle directly but I thought it would do the guy a favour in terms of him not losing his no claims etc./paying his excess

You say in your op that the max cost of repair is £200.

It would be pointless making a claim for this amount as you would have to pay your excess and potentially may lose some NCD should there be a dispute over liability.

Just claim this all direct from the third party's insurers. The "guy" won't have any excess to pay with regard to your costs, and can always reinstate any NCD he loses by reimbursing his insurers the cost of your claim.