Motor ins. expert needed - advice please.

woj101

I'm inexperienced in motor insurance claims and have just got a slightly unexpected and relatively hefty repair bill. If someone could spend a few minutes of their time to consider my case, I would be most grateful.

About 10 months ago I got a bit dozey in my car and rolled into the back of van at a roundabout, resulting in minor body and paintwork damage.

About a month later I got a letter from some solicitors saying their client were looking to me cover their loss. As I was only driving on 3rd party insurance under my Dad's name I was keen to avoid an insurance claim if possible cos I didn't want it to affect my Dad's premium. Therefore, I asked for a quote for the repiars to see if it was better for me to cover them myself (and did not even notify my insurance company).

Today, having thought the claim had been dropped because I hadn't heard any more, I was delighted to receive a letter detailing the loss, totalling more than £620. Therefore I need to know:

- will my insurance company (CIS) accept a claim 10 months after the accident if I haven't notified them of it yet?

- will the affect on my premiums (I have since taken out my own policy based on no previous claims) be more than the costs in the long term?

- are these sort of costs negotiable between myself and the solicitors? If so, what would be a reasonable offer to make?

- can they demand that I pay within 7 days, given that I haven't heard anything for about 8 months?

I realise the answers to these questions probably depend a lot on the individual circumstances, but any guidance would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

duart

Hi

If you grovel nicely to CIS they may pay the costs but be prepared for some hard questions such as why didn't you tell us at the time/breach of policy conditions which require prompt reporting of all accidents etc.

If CIS are your current insurance company then you might get an even harder time for not telling them about the accident when you took out your own policy.If your policy is with another company then strictly you should have told them when you took out the policy.

I cannot say this will affect your CIS premium for the future but it might be cheaper in the long run if you are still insured with CIS to pay this one yourself.The solicitors should listen to reasonable suggestions like paying it over say two years at £25 per month.But if you agree this make sure you keep to the payments as some solicitors will zap a summons and a judgment on you before you can even say CCJ ! The overall amount to be paid will not be negotiable.

I am assuming that your own policy is with CIS but if not let me know as this is a slightly different scenario.

Hope this helps.

woj101

Thanks for that.

No, my policy is not with CIS anymore. When I took this out I declared the accident but as I had not made a claim at the time the new policy was arranged, there was nothing more to declare.

My new policy's premium for this year was around £360 - but all the over quotes I had were over £600 (mostly £750+) - just for 3rd party. I am 24 so am imagining adding this sort of thing to my claims history would bump the premium quite drastically for the next few years and end up costing me much more in the long run. But this is just my ignorant speculation so your advice is very helpful - thanks.

Thanks very much for your comments. Much appreciated.

duart

Hi again

As you are no longer insured with CIS and you have told your current insurance company about this accident then asking CIS to deal with it should not affect your own premium.If you do ask CIS to deal with it expect grief and hassle from them but under the Road Traffic Act they would have to pay it even although you didnot tell them at the time.They would ask your dad to pay back some extra premium because he will now lose his NCD.The amount will depend on how much NCD he has and whether it is protected or not but might well be less than paying the £620.00 yourself.

Best of luck