Car damaged twice this month, what to do please!

mrme

Hi,

I'm a pretty new young driver so have not had to deal with things like this before so if anyone could advise I really would appreciate it. Any mistakes/bad decisions made now could be very costly for me being a young driver

So at the start of the month my neighbour put a rather nasty dent in my car door. Very annoyed as it is a brand new car that I have spent an awful lot on & it is my pride & joy. She has been ok about it & said get some quotes & she will pay to have it sorted without involving my insurance company. Long & short of it is car is going in on Wednesday and she will pay... it's the cheapest quote & they varied wildly so hope a proper job is done.

Anyway tonight someone drove into the back of me at a roundabout :mad: It doesn't look too bad but the paint has split & I can see it costing a fair amount to put right (well as right as it can I know it will never match) She doesn't want to go through insurance but I think I want it to as I want the job done properly.

I just renewed my policy and it specifically said have I claimed in the last x years regardless of fault. Does that mean going through her insurance will increase my premiums? I can't let that happen as it costs enough already

Clearly not having much luck right now, trying to put things into perspective - I know it's just a car but as I said I have put all of my savings into it and have had it for a matter of months so I am rather annoyed & upset I want to keep the car looking as good as I can and don't want a bodged job

Thanks for any advice

McKneff

First of all calm down.

Regarding the first incident, if the lady has admitted responsibility and has said she will pay for it. The first peice of advice i must give you is that you have to inform your insurance company, it is in your terms and conditions that they must be informed of any incident. If you dont, it means you have broken your contract with them and it can invalidate any future claims. All insurance companies use a national data base so your car may flag up in the future. It doesnt necessarily put your premiums up, some companies do and some companies dont.

Your second incident, has the third party admitted responsility, if so, you can deal directly with their insurance, they will instruct you to get a quote, you are within your rights to take it to a garage of your choice, dont let them bully you into anything else, if its a brand new car,
presumably you will have a warranty with it, taking it elsewhere other than where you bought it from could invalidate your warranty. Again, you have to inform your insurance company. Make sure when you inform them that it is for INFORMATION ONLY at the moment.

Dont be too down, its only metal and it can be mended.
If you need any more advice come back again and remember to get everything in writing.

Let us know how you get on.

This has happened to me - 3 times in 15 months so Ive been there.

Quentin

Having no fault claims on your record could increase your premiums in future, but you should shop around at renewal time for the best deal irrespective of your claim record.

You breach your insurance policy conditions by not informing your insurer about these incidents, which could lead to trouble for you in future if they discover you haven't complied, or not notified future insurers about your accidents.

mrme

Thanks for the advice, I just let my insurer know about the first incident & after I did she said I should have kept my mouth shut as it will increase my premiums... (I don't mean that to sound sarcastic by the way if that's how it reads) Pretty shocked she said that to be honest

McKneff

She was very wrong to say this and it was the worst possible thing to say. She is completely wrong for the reasons I outlined.

You must, must, must also inform them of the 2nd one,

Imagine this.

You dont tell the insurance company.
You deal directly with the other insurance company who put the details on the national data base.

You have an accident in your nice new lovely car, you write off your car, write off the other car, kill or injure someone.
Try to claim off your insurance company for all of it.

They say your previous accident has flagged up and you did not inform us, your claim is denied becuase you broke your contract.

How are you going to pay the other driver for is car, their costs, their compensation claims, then of course there is your car.

Just shop around next time round. Not all companies up their premiums. I was with the coop, and then with aegis,
none of the 3 incidents put my premium up. So chin up,

Hope it all goes okay for you.

scheming_gypsy

i agree with the insurance girl; you shouldn't have said anything about the first one as it doesn't exist in the insurance world.

Regarding the first incident, if the lady has admitted responsibility and has said she will pay for it. The first peice of advice i must give you is that you have to inform your insurance company, it is in your terms and conditions that they must be informed of any incident. If you dont, it means you have broken your contract with them and it can invalidate any future claims. All insurance companies use a national data base so your car may flag up in the future. It doesnt necessarily put your premiums up, some companies do and some companies dont.

and that is an absolute load of guff.
Car bumps another car and it's repaired down the garage, paid for cash by the neighbour; and you've just muttered something about it invalidating any other claims and national databases? how can a repair that hasn't gone through insurance be on any database?

You need to inform them of the second accident as it'll be claimed through her insurance so your insurance will need to be informed. and that is an actual insurance claim, unlike the first which was a neighbour bumping your car and repairing it for you.... If one of your friends broke your iPod and bought you another to replace it, you wouldn't tell your house insurance 'just for information'.



Unfortunately McKneff has just given you a premium increase for the next few years because you've told every insurance company that you're a liability and have the potential to cost them money.

no-oneknowsme

Scheming-gypsy is correct.

We all KNOW that we are suppossed to inform our insurance co of any incidents that may lead to a claim being made on our policy...however....sometimes these things CAN get amicably sorted out between the two parties without involving the insurers.

I myself have done this when a neighbours Brother reversed into my car outside my door.

McKneff gives that same speech to EVERYONE who comes on here asking about this kind of situation....

I on the other hand would point out to others that whilst it is the *correct* thing to do it is not always what people actually do (myself included) It is however a risk that you take and each individual must decide if they want to go down the route of not involving their insurers.

McKneff

Car bumps another car and it's repaired down the garage, paid for cash by the neighbour; and you've just muttered something about it invalidating any other claims and national databases? how can a repair that hasn't gone through insurance be on any database?


I agree with that, you need to re read my post.
I was talking about the 2nd incident.................

The OP said he had already informed them of the first one.

and I say things, I dont mutter...................

McKneff

McKneff gives that same speech to EVERYONE who comes on here asking about this kind of situation....

But it's correct advice. So what is your point.

And i really wish people would read posts properly, not all insurance companies up their premiums for
a non fault accident.

I have had 3 in 15 months with the Coop and Aegis and they have not upped my premiums at all.
apart from the normal annual increases.

mrme

Ok so looks like I should only have informed them of the 2nd accident - they would never have known about the first. It has increased my premiums by over £200 already so god knows what a 2nd will do... I'm 22 so that is the problem I suppose.

The whole system is unfair, not only have I got 2 lots of damage to my new shiny car which will not look right (it's white... enough said) I am going to be paying a fair bit more to insure next time even after finding the best quote.

scheming_gypsy

McKneff wrote: »

Car bumps another car and it's repaired down the garage, paid for cash by the neighbour; and you've just muttered something about it invalidating any other claims and national databases? how can a repair that hasn't gone through insurance be on any database?


I agree with that, you need to re read my post.
I was talking about the 2nd incident.................

The OP said he had already informed them of the first one.

and I say things, I dont mutter...................

ahem...

McKneff wrote: »

Regarding the first incident, if the lady has admitted responsibility and has said she will pay for it. The first peice of advice i must give you is that you have to inform your insurance company, it is in your terms and conditions that they must be informed of any incident. If you dont, it means you have broken your contract with them and it can invalidate any future claims. All insurance companies use a national data base so your car may flag up in the future. It doesnt necessarily put your premiums up, some companies do and some companies dont.

.

that was your first reply. After you'd posted the OP said they'd 'just' let their insurer know about it which makes it sound like:
they post
you post
they tell the insurance