Will my friend have to pay excess?

piggeh

This is probably a bit of a nooby question. If a person, let's say a close friend, was involved in a minor vehicle collision, their own vehicle receiving minimal damage and they decide not to claim for a repair. If the other driver makes a claim for repairs and it was my 'close friends' fault, would my friend need to pay their excess, or would it just be paid by the insurance company? Is your excess only for if you make a claim rather than claims against you? It's my understanding that there's no need to pay excess but just want to make sure!

Quentin

If the only claim over this comes from the third party, then your friend won't pay any excess.

mcjordi

there are a couple of companies iirc that charge a third party excess (im sure bell are one) but generally no there is no excess to be paid unless your claiming for your own damages

piggeh

Thanks for clarification, that's a relief. Worked out my premium wont go up by much on renewal so one less worry For my friend, I mean..

Quentin

If you currently have a no claim discount, then this will be affected and normally this does mean the premium is higher. A claim means no NCD is added for the current year plus your existing NCD is reduced by 2 years (from a max of 5 years)

piggeh

I had 6 years NCD so I guess it would reduce to 3? Not sure if its protected or not though, might have paid the extra to do so. I looked at renewal premiums and it seemed to affect things by about £10 a month but maybe less if I haggled them down! Tis not too bad.

vaio

You’re right about the excess, that only applies to claims for damage to your own car.

Having said that, if the TP does claim then your NCB and base premium will be affected so if the damage to your car would cost more than the excess to repair then you should claim for that too as it won’t make your premiums any worse.