Car Insurance - Can I claim if the accident happened over a year ago?

MJaye

Hi All,

I had an incident about 18months ago when a lorry scraped down the side of my car while we were going round a roundabout. It wasn't my fault, but unfortunately he didn't stop and I wasn't in a position to chase after the lorry or get the registration. It wasn't too bad and I didn't have the money for the excess at the time so I left it.

Since then, probably about 15months ago, I reversed into a bollard and made quite a dent that I want fixed. I have protected no claims and would like the work done to the car. Can I claim under my current car insurance? Should I make out it was a recent incident?

What's the best and cheapest way to go about getting my car fixed? The car is probably worth about £2500-£3000.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks
MJaye

cardinalbiggles

MJaye wrote: »

Hi All,

Should I make out it was a recent incident?

That would be fraud.

However, you can ask the bodyshop how much to fix/touch up the old damage as they will already have paint mixed of the correct colour.

MJaye

Ok if that's fraud, what if I told the truth about when it happened and I wanted to make a claim to fix the damage? Would the insurance company not want to know or would they repair the damage if i pay the excess?

The dent in the back of the car is more than a bit of touch up paint.

TadleyBaggie

Were you with the same insurance company then as you are now?

forgotmyname

When they inspect the damage they will probably tell its not recent.

Then the questions start. You failed to disclose an incident..

MJaye

It's a different insurance company.

Really the answer is I can't claim on the insurance and would need to pay for the damage to be corrected myself.

It's done about 82K miles now so might be worth leaving it and hope it doesn't rust so badly that it fails the MOT.

andygb

MJaye wrote: »

It's a different insurance company.

Really the answer is I can't claim on the insurance and would need to pay for the damage to be corrected myself.

It's done about 82K miles now so might be worth leaving it and hope it doesn't rust so badly that it fails the MOT.

You seem to know the answer already.;)
I don't know how much salt they put on your roads in Spring, Summer and Autumn, but I would be amazed if your car corroded that quickly to fail its next MOT, if there wasn't a substantial corrosion problem already.:eek:

MJaye

Deep down I knew the answer, but was just hoping someone might have a different one and one that I preferred ;-)

It'll be fine for the next MOT, but not sure how many years I'll get out of it. If it can last another 5 years then I don't think the value will be much different whatever the condition.

adamc260

Hopefully you told your new insurer about the incident and didnt think 'well because I didnt claim I dont need to inform them'... or did you?

Sgt_Pepper_2

adamc260 wrote: »

Hopefully you told your new insurer about the incident and didnt think 'well because I didnt claim I dont need to inform them'... or did you?

Both incidents.;)

tim9966

Get a few quotes from a body shop. You might find it's not too expensive to repair.