Car Insurance Claim - need some advice

maresca01

Basically I was at a junction, pulled out slightly and didn't see a car coming from my left. my car hit the other car, rear passenger door. noone was hurt but the other car's rear door was damaged. My car has a small scratch on the bumper.

the other driver has given me the option of settling this outside of insurance companies. He has a got an estimate from a garage for £2000!!

I know the accident was my fault and so I'm wondering if it does go through my insurance, how much roughly my premium will go up by?

or should i just pay the £2000 and keep my premium down?

Quentin

This sounds a big job, so the cost could well be more than just the repairs (eg hire car may be involved whilst the car is in dock etc).

You can do some virtual quotes online with and without the lost NCB (you will still need to declare the incident even if you pay the repairs yourself) and see what difference it makes to the premiums.

mcjordi

Insurance mate.. theres nothing stopping the other driver putting in a claim for injuries... just let your insurer deal with it.. if the amount is affordable you may be able to pay your insurer back and retiain NCB etc.

McKneff

insurance every time, I think they have 3 years to put in a personal injury claim, if you do it privately and then they put in a claim at a later date, boy, will you be in trouble.

It is in all insurance documents that you have to inform your insurance company of all incidents.

maresca01

Thanks for all the replies, I think insurance is probably the best option. I just hope my premium doesn't go into the thousands, it's taken me a while to get it in the 500s!

InsideInsurance

run some dummy quotes through the aggregators with slightly altered personal details to see what the premium impact is going to be. At £2k + the potential for credit hire and injury claims I would be surprised if it is cost effective to settle privately

mustbesavvy

Always the insurance.