minor, minor bump - mega cost and worry

vwallis

I need some advice - please.
My husband was in queue of traffic when the car in front moved forward and slammed the brakes , my husband also moved forward only to hit the back of the car. The driver, said he had thought the car in front of him was about to move off - and didn't. Anyway, my husband gave his details due to the agreed two dints ( from the number plate) on his bumper . The other driver said he knew a good garage in his area and would get a quote, as the damage didn't look expensive, and he's used this garage before who were reasonable- 'much cheaper than going through the insurance'. (My husband has a £300.00 excess)
This morning he's called to say that there's a dent behind the bumper ( neither he nor my husband had seen it) and that the garage has quoted £450.00 - but if it is an insurance claim then the cost will be £1,100 - I am totally confused. I would think the cost would be the same either way?
I hope the other driver is not 'trying it on'
If you were in my situation -what would you do?
thanks in advance

colino

Put it throgh the insurance and let them do what their paid for. Either way it will cost you the £300.

Quentin

colino wrote: »

Either way it will cost you the £300.

No.

Your excess doesn't come into this. You will only have to pay it if you make a claim for the cost of repairs to your own car.

Let your insurer deal with this, they will ensure the third party isn't trying it on, and ensure any possible future claims (eg whiplash) are dealt with.

You need to inform your insurer about the incident now.

Tell the third party you have passed this on to your insurer, and suggest he does the same. Then pass on any correspondence you get over this to your insurer to handle.

Flying-High_2

Do it through the Insurance... thats what you pay it for... You wont pay any excess like said unless you claim for your own vehicle. The drop in NCB if unprotected shouldn't make much of a difference as paying out of yur own Pocket... Getting renewal quotes just after my claim in 06 with and without the claim and the NCB I would have had.... £2ks worth of damage IRC was around £30-50 difference.

msmyth18

I would put it through the insurance- When i had a accident and my car was written off i only paid a third party excess because i wasnt claiming for my vehicle maybe yours is similar

property.advert

Are you trying to say that third party cover has no excess ? Really ?

I would get his car to a garage of my choice and see what it is really estimated at. Then if doing it privately, he will need to sign a disclaimer. Would you use the insurance ? perhaps but the decision is not as simple as previous posts make out.

If you are on 40% no claims and would achieve 50% this year and your premium is £1000 now then the true cost, presuming no future accidents is thus:

Excess to pay now = £300
Year 1 £1000 * 50% = £500 (as you will lose your current 40% no claims)
Year 2 £1000 * (60%-30%) = £300
Year 3 £1000 * (70%-40%) = £300
Year 4 £1000 * (70%-50%) = £200
Year 5 £1000 * (70%-60%) = £100

So even if premiums stayed level (!) and your maximum no claims achievable was 70% (I have heard of 90%) then the total extra cost on your insurance bill would be £1700 plus whatever loading they will put on your insurance simply because you had an accident. That loading then raises the premiums going forward, as will the inevitable price rises. Altogether, you are looking at over £2000 as a certainty.

However, you cannot have insurance and only ever claim for a right off or complete loss. If that were your methodology then you would have a £1000 or more excess. What is certain is that all companies ask about claims in the last 5 years so you have to put your past and prospective claims history into the equation as well.

The answer is not always as clear as it at first seems.

Quentin

property.advert wrote: »

Are you trying to say that third party cover has no excess ? Really ?.......


Excess to pay now = £300

No-one is "trying" to say there is no excess to pay for a third party claim - it's a fact! (Whether you have a 3rd party or comprehensive policy)

As already advised there is no excess to pay if the only claim is for damage to the third party's property. Really!

So there is no £300 excess to be considered!

And your figures don't take into account the possibility that the claim will end up higher than the suggested sum (there may be other costs/hire car/travel costs/future claim for whiplash/more damage found whilst doing the job).

You wrongly say that we "certainly" have to declare our claims over the last 5 years to "all companies". In fact it is usually over the last 3 years.

If the cost is reasonbable, and the OP wants to retain his NCD, then he can always reimburse his insurer the cost of the claim. (Though this needs to be looked at against the possibility of another claim coming along anyway!)

vwallis

Many many thanks to you - I had no idea about excess only being paid if claiming on own car, and there's no damage whatsoever to my husbands car.
I've checked his policy and he has 9+ years No claims - but he's not got it protected!
Looks like we'll be in touch wih the insurance company, as we hadn't thought about 'other' costs, as that's quite frightening these days, and depending on the cost, offer to pay to save the No claims.

On a more light hearted note - the person my husband pranged was ....... our bank manager.

Thanks all again - you've really eased the worry- from both of us.

Gloomendoom

Quentin wrote: »

Your excess doesn't come into this. You will only have to pay it if you make a claim for the cost of repairs to your own car.

This is exactly what happened to me in the same situation. Tapped a Fiesta from behind (my fault). No damage to my car but a hardly believable £1500 for the Fiesta.

Went through the insurers and it cost me nothing.

property.advert

Quentin wrote: »

You wrongly say that we have to declare our claims over the last 5 years to "all companies". In fact it is usually over the last 3 years.

Utter rubbish. Less than 10 minutes ago I went through a few online resources and they all asked not only about claims in the last 5 years but also accidents. This specifically requires you to inform them about accidents where you did not claim on the insurance as well as those where you did.

Your facts are woefully out of date and totally inaccurate.

Quentin

property.advert wrote: »

Your facts are woefully out of date and totally inaccurate.

Bit rich coming from someone who posted this utter rubbish:

property.advert wrote:

Are you trying to say that third party cover has no excess ? Really ?.....What is certain is that all companies ask about claims in the last 5 years

No doubt some insurers ask for 5 years history.

But until you have tried them all, maybe you shouldn't try this pointless point scoring!

I don't have the inclination to engage with you by wasting time looking. But I do know direct line only want 3 years history.