Small Car Prang and Insurance

madred

Dear All,

My wife had a small prang in our car last week, when she scraped our bumper against another car, there was little damage to our car besides some minor paint transfer.

The damage to the third party car was a scartch to the bumper and several small scratches to below the bumper, which matches the other side of his car (nothing to do with us). We asked him to get three qutoes, which he got one for £140 and said if we wanted any other we would need to get them ourselves, which we set about ringing garages etc. Non would come out to see the car as they wanted it to be brought to the garage. The third party wouldnt take it.

Anyway before we had chance to do anything else he had the car up his drive and did the repairs himself. i.e.t-cutted the sratches out and touched up were required - it looks a bit messy.

Now he wants to go through the isurance, I have plenty of years no claims 8+ but no 'no claims protection'. My first question is how may years no claims will I loose if he claims? Wouldnt a claim on his insurance also cost him his policy excess? Also he as already attempted to do the work himself would the insurance still cover him? His bumper was already in a state and most policy documents state the car cannot be improved if a part is already damaged beforehand.

Any help much appreciated? I need to give him a call, so help which ASAP would be very very helpful.

Thanks,

Mad

Bossyboots

I don't see how he can claim on your insurance now as he has tampered with the damage but he is within his rights to make a claim on your insurance so you have no choice but to provide your details. It is an offence not to do so. You will have the opportunity to explain to your insurance company that he has touched the bumper up and that it was in a state prior to the collision. He may successfully argue (lie) that your wife did all the damage so don't be surprised if he tries that one.

As for his excess, if his insurers successfully claim against yours, your insurers will refund it.

shelly

Personally I'd ask him if he will settle for the £140 cash. I know your ins won't go up by £140 but it will go up at renewal and you will lose some or all of your NCB.

Bossyboots

Sorry I had to nip off. This may be a way of getting you to cough up the £140 which in the long run probably will be cheaper than the loading on your policy although I think you are being stitched up.

madred

Thanks for you replies,

I have spoke the third party (retired used car salesman). I have give him my details. He has already started insurance proceedings, but I managed to talk him into giving me a few days to try and sort it out.


My father-in-law is a mechanic and knows a man who is going to go and have a look for me. Hopefully I get it sorted for less than £140.


Many thanks again,

Mad

gyzmo

I would always recommend avoiding private settlements. should something go wrong later, the third party can come after you, and you will have prejudiced your insurers position, meaning that they may not be able to help.

It is difficult to say what effect a claim will have on your policy, including your NCD. Each company has its own terms, and would only be able to price your policy about a month before renewal.

It would be best to allow the insurers to handle the case. You can then pay them the costs incurred (which may include a courtesy car) meaning that it wont count as a claim on your policy, but check with your insurers that they do allow this. Most do.

Astaroth

For most insurance companies, if you have max no claims discount (of 5 or more) then you will drop down to 3 years after a fault claim. This does vary between insurers as some insurers now have a max NCD discount of higher than 5 years (though these can be a con as some dont give as bigger discount at their max of 8 years as other do at their max of 5)

Private settlement is an option and depending on what the other party is like it may or may not be the best option.

Whilst he is perfectly entitled to go through his insurance you are equally entitled to settle directly with his insurance company and not involve your own.

A third alternative is that you allow your insurers to handle the matter and then "buy the claim back" - ie reimburse them the amount that they have paid out - most insurers do allow you to do this and it then counts as a non-claimed at fault accident but check with your insurers before assuming they will allow it if this is the route you are most interested in.

Irrespective of how you decide to deal with the incident remember that you must inform your insurers of the incident. If he has reported the incident to his insurers your details will already be loaded to a national database and so it would be easy for your insurers to "catch you out" if you "forget" to tell them about it at renewal (if you dont claim through them)