Advice needed about car accident

roje

I was involved in a minor collision just before Christmas. I was driving along a dark side road (fairly slowly, thankfully) and hit ice and sleet (which I couldn't see). My car skidded downhill out of control, and I had a minor collision with another car (I bumped into his side panel). There is minor damage to both cars- his side panel is dented, my bumper has a bit of damage. There was a witness, who gave his details to the other guy (but not to me, which annoyed me a little, I thought it was his friend at the time!). I am willing to accept liability for the accident as I did bump into him, he wasn't at fault.

However, my excess is £400 including my voluntary excess, and I will lose my no claims if I go through my insurance as I don't have protected no claims- I've never been in an accident before so rather arrogantly assumed I didn't need it . We've contacted the other driver to offer to pay for his damage privately instead of going through the insurance- that way he has no excess to pay and we don't lose our no claims. He said the damage initially seemed to be around £250 worth (it's only a dented side panel which needs beating out) but he has assessors going over in a week. He said he'd contact us once he's seen them. He didn't make it clear whether he was open to the idea of us paying for his damage privately or not.

I'm unsure what to do now as I haven't yet contacted my own insurer- I didn't know if there was any need as it was such a minor bump and we'd planned to settle it between ourselves. Do I contact them and explain we may be settling it privately or do I wait until 4th when he contacts us again?

I have no idea how any of this works, I feel a bit embarassed about my lack of knowledge considering how long I've been driving for. Do the weather conditions make any difference to the claim? (I'm guessing not). If I report the accident, will my policy still leap up in price even if there is no claim? Is it sensible to settle it privately or not? If he is quoted the £250 expected, what do we do next? Does he still take his car to the approved garage but we just settle it directly?

lisyloo

However, my excess is £400 including my voluntary excess, and I will lose my no claims if I go through my insurance as I don't have protected no claims

This excess applies to the claim for YOUR car, not for the 3rd party car.
There is usually no excess on 3rd pary claims, although you will lose 2 years NCD.

He said the damage initially seemed to be around £250 worth

Quite often car repairs are worse than initially houghts.
I had a door damaged which could not be beaten out (the part that needed beating was immediately nehind a lot of the door mechanism so could not be done without being totally take apart). I had to have a new door at £500 and that was 1996 prices.

He didn't make it clear whether he was open to the idea of us paying for his damage privately or not.

It sensible to assess the damage first.
Perhaps it will be more expensive than first thought (very common).
It's sensible not to jump the gun here.

I have no idea how any of this works,

It's pretty clear you are liable.
There are two parts to the claim.
His claim which comes of the 3rd party section with no excess.
Your claim comes off the comprehensive section with an excess.
You don't have to claim for yours and hence no excess, but you will lose 2 years NCD from his part of the claim.
You will get "loaded" for the claim as well as loss of NCD but if it's your first accident it may not be huge.
You can tell by doing quotes on confused.com.
Put in zero accidents and your NCD.
Then edit and put in one claim and 2 years less NCD (you can edit so you don't have to put it all in again).
Then compare the prices.

Is it sensible to settle it privately or not?

Depends on the cost.
Was anyone in the car? Even though it's a monir bump there could be injuries. Might seem minor to you but there could have been someone with an already bad back or neck in the car. Injuries do not always present themselves straight away. Brusing or swelling takes days to appear plus people can be in shock.

If he is quoted the £250 expected, what do we do next? Does he still take his car to the approved garage but we just settle it directly?

I would first check the increases in your premium.
Yes you coudl settle direct but I would advise paying a solicitor to draw up a contract to say it's full and final setttlement (if you do it yourself it might not be legally binding) jsut in case further damage or injuries come up later.
Of course you have to factor in a solicitors bill into your costs.
But unless it was a parked car (and therefore injuries not possile) then I think it would be adviseable.
Alternatively if the bill is much higher then make a claim.
Bear in in mind you will have premium increases for many years.

If you settle direct you still need to inform your insurer as you have expreienced a "loss" so if may still icnrease your premium but you won't lose the NCD.
Again you can check this by addiing in the loss and not reducing the NCD.
So it's all quantifiable.

Hope that helps.

roje

Thanks so much for that.

A quick question about NCB- I don't know how it works, does my No claims reduce to zero if I make a claim, or do I just minus 2 years from the years no claims I have?

cajef

roje wrote: »

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He said the damage initially seemed to be around £250 worth (it's only a dented side panel which needs beating out) but he has assessors going over in a week.

Until he has had a quote it is not possible for him to give you an accurate figure for the repair.

As lisyloo has pointed out what seems like minor damage may not in fact be the case, the panel may be damaged too much to be beaten out, that is if there are any good panel beaters left these days, if it is a door that is damaged it may require a new skin and respray which could be considerably more than £250

roje

Thanks for that- so it's definitely worth waiting for the full assessment of the damage first.

lisyloo

Normally you lose 2 years NCB if you have an accident (if it's not protected).