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Agreeing not to claim on insurance after knock? advice on process
steadynerve
Posts: 69 Forumite
Hi I knocked into someone reversing out of a space they were stationary parked at the time.
There was no damage on my car and some scratches on the other car. The other party said he would be happy not to go through the insurance claim route and i agreed this route as well. We still swapped names and numbers. He said he would send a quote for reapir if hed decided the damage warranted it after checking it over.
I was thinking there could be one of four outcomes.
1) he may decide to drop it and not get back
2) he may get back and i agree to pay the garage direct for repair( I must ask for some more quotes etc first details of his insurance just to see he has it)
3) I may offer him a lower amount in cash and he can keep this if he wants and not go ahead with the repair.
4) it may come back a horrendeous amount much more than my £200 excess in which case i will put it in as an insurrance claim. He could for example by tryig it on but he seemed a nice guy.
I am failry happy with handling the negotitations with him but am not so sure about dealing with my insurance comany.
Does any one know
1) am I obligied to report the knock to my xurrent insurer. I did ring up the claims line but they said i didn't have to report it unless i wanted to make a claim. Is this right?
2) at the moment i dont know if it will be a small sum (i'm hopin gthis less than £200) or a large some or nothing as he will forget about it.. If its a large some i will go throught he insurance compmany but will it me a problem if this is reported several moenth later when he getsback to me? The reason for reporting later being i didn't know how much was invloved or wether the other party wanted to pursue it via insurance claims.
I an thinking the advantage of deailing with it my self is subject to the other parties agreement i can settle with him and at the same time we can both agree it was a no fault claim on either side (ie neither party accepting liablility).
Wheras if we go through the insurence it will probably involve describing the aciident and i suspect the insurance parties willl then label it as a falut calim on my behalf.
My insurance is shortly expiring. i realsise that it will need to be reported at reneal time or ehen getting quotes if the quote asks for details of all accident and not just claims. i'm not trying to break the law (infact the opposite) i am just looking at minimising the cost going forward.
But even with taking out new quotes could i argue there is no accident to report yet as the other party has not informed me of any damage, made a claim or stated any need for repairs and may not. But then if he did come back later asking for damages or a claim needed to be made presumably i would then need to report it to my new insurer and they may take a dim view of nothing said earlier. Even if i pointed out at the time i wasnt sure if an accident/claim had occurred or not.
any advice appreciated.
There was no damage on my car and some scratches on the other car. The other party said he would be happy not to go through the insurance claim route and i agreed this route as well. We still swapped names and numbers. He said he would send a quote for reapir if hed decided the damage warranted it after checking it over.
I was thinking there could be one of four outcomes.
1) he may decide to drop it and not get back
2) he may get back and i agree to pay the garage direct for repair( I must ask for some more quotes etc first details of his insurance just to see he has it)
3) I may offer him a lower amount in cash and he can keep this if he wants and not go ahead with the repair.
4) it may come back a horrendeous amount much more than my £200 excess in which case i will put it in as an insurrance claim. He could for example by tryig it on but he seemed a nice guy.
I am failry happy with handling the negotitations with him but am not so sure about dealing with my insurance comany.
Does any one know
1) am I obligied to report the knock to my xurrent insurer. I did ring up the claims line but they said i didn't have to report it unless i wanted to make a claim. Is this right?
2) at the moment i dont know if it will be a small sum (i'm hopin gthis less than £200) or a large some or nothing as he will forget about it.. If its a large some i will go throught he insurance compmany but will it me a problem if this is reported several moenth later when he getsback to me? The reason for reporting later being i didn't know how much was invloved or wether the other party wanted to pursue it via insurance claims.
I an thinking the advantage of deailing with it my self is subject to the other parties agreement i can settle with him and at the same time we can both agree it was a no fault claim on either side (ie neither party accepting liablility).
Wheras if we go through the insurence it will probably involve describing the aciident and i suspect the insurance parties willl then label it as a falut calim on my behalf.
My insurance is shortly expiring. i realsise that it will need to be reported at reneal time or ehen getting quotes if the quote asks for details of all accident and not just claims. i'm not trying to break the law (infact the opposite) i am just looking at minimising the cost going forward.
But even with taking out new quotes could i argue there is no accident to report yet as the other party has not informed me of any damage, made a claim or stated any need for repairs and may not. But then if he did come back later asking for damages or a claim needed to be made presumably i would then need to report it to my new insurer and they may take a dim view of nothing said earlier. Even if i pointed out at the time i wasnt sure if an accident/claim had occurred or not.
any advice appreciated.
0
Comments
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The agent you spoke to has mislead you. Check your policy and you will see that you must report all incidents that could lead to a claim, even if none is made.
The third party isn't going to agree with you that the incident wasn't your fault (especially if you are paying his costs). But that doesn't really matter - what is important is that you are able to conclude the matter properly when you pay him off, and that he doesn't sting you for extra costs you aren't expecting.
For this reason it is better to let your insurer deal with it. If the sum involved is reasonable, you can still preserve your NCD by reimbursing your insurer and thereby not having a claim on your record.
Your insurer will ensure the matter is concluded properly too!0 -
Thansk for your reply.
thats what i thought i'll check the policy. But then i have phoned the company and they have told me not to report it so really i think i have acted reasonabley already, And if ever challenged would think this would be a very reasonalbe postiion to state. I shouldn't have to force them to take the details!!
I don't think it would be to much of an issue for the other side to treat as no falut on either party. They would be much more concenred with the monetary settlement. I would need payment to end the matter fully and finaslly so it wouldn't really make odds either way if the the ohter party agreed to no falut on both sides rather than falut on one side.
The trouble with letting the insurance company hadle things is they are not paying if the claim is less than £200 - my excess - so have little incentive to keep costs down in these circumstances.0 -
if you have given your details to your insurance company whilst asking your query, you can bet that should you come to claim in the future you will be hit with "We are aware that you were involved in an accident but failed to report it to us; no insurance cover for you!"
You are obligated to inform them of an accident even if you don't intend to claim.
Interpret that as you will, if it were me and i had hit my own property i wouldn't inform them and would repair myself. If a second party were involved i would inform them.0 -
steadynerve wrote: »The trouble with letting the insurance company hadle things is they are not paying if the claim is less than £200 - my excess - so have little incentive to keep costs down in these circumstances.
Again it looks like you have been mislead.
If your insurer deals with the third party, then you wouldn't have to pay your excess (as this is only payable if you claim for damage done to your own car).0 -
steadynerve wrote: »Thansk for your reply.
thats what i thought i'll check the policy. But then i have phoned the company and they have told me not to report it so really i think i have acted reasonabley already, And if ever challenged would think this would be a very reasonalbe postiion to state. I shouldn't have to force them to take the details!!
You should comply with the policy (not with what someone has incorrectly told you over the phone).
Should an issue develop in the future over this (eg a claim being refused due to you not declaring this incident) they will deny the phone conversation, and refer to the policy condition requiring full declaration!0 -
Thanks for your reply Quentin. I've seen a number of threads to do with car insurance you have commentedon . Can I ask do you have any paid employment connections with the insurance industry?. Your posts seems to be very pro insurance companies and their policies and i;ve come across no critisms of them which arises my suspions.0
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If you have suspicions about the advice given, then ignore the advice! It's your choice!0
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Hi Quentin I notice you ignored my question about whether you had any paid links to the car insurance industry.
I realise everyones advice is just that advice to be taken or not. But I've noticed you post on nearly all car insurance related issues and the advice you give is very simialr to what someone who was being askedto promote the car insurances industry view of how thinks should be done. Its obvoulsuy the case that one way of dealing with an incident is to report all the details to the insurance company and let then handle it. however that may not be th best money saving optoion. There may be other perfectly legal option s to take. I've seen many people starting threads trying to explore these other options and you are keen to contribute that there is no other option line
My susisisons aren't on your advice but on your motive. Can you answer the question directly? After all you seem to be a strong advocate for sharing all information with the insurance company openly but yet surprsingly defense and evasive when a simple question is put politely to you.0
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