If I report an accident for info purposes only, will affect my ins premium?

Jaxer

I had a "small" accident over the weekend with someone (where I was at fault). It's more of a scuffing than anything else, my car's probably come off a little worse than his - it was hardly visible.

The other guy was very aggressive initially before he calmed down and in the end we swapped details and he's going to contact me - he seemed happy to do settle it privately.

If it comes to anything less than £250 then I'll look to do it outside insurance and I have a couple of questions on this:

1) If do it privately, I'll ask him to sign a statement accepting that the payment is in full and final settlement of the accident and confirmation that no further claim will be made against me. Will this protect against a potential personal injury claim in 6 months time? (he seemed very clued up on the whole process - I got a vibe that he knows how to work the system).

2) If I report it to my insurance company and explicitly say I don't want to make a claim, will this affect premiums anyway? It's a real pain because I have another "open" claim going on from over a year ago (which was a "no-fault" as far as I'm concerned but the other party is disputing this so it's dragging on).

cyclonebri1

1 don't trust the other party, they lie

2 don't inform the insurer unless you absolutely fall out with the other party as it WILL affect your premiums,

3 If you are happy at the £250 mark get him to sign and accept payment in full for damage and no personal injuries asap, (but no doubt that can be challenged in court.

4 With your history you need to be more carefull, ;);););), no offence;)

McKneff

Some insurance companies do up the premium, some don't.

Ive had 2 no fault incidents in the past 2 years and my premium wasnt affected. I was with CIS at the time. I changed to Rias (aegis) and they dont either.

Sgt_Pepper_2

Have you factored in the cost of a hire car when the third parties car is in for repair?

Quentin

Jaxer wrote: »

.....If I report it to my insurance company and explicitly say I don't want to make a claim, will this affect premiums anyway? It's a real pain because I have another "open" claim going on from over a year ago (which was a "no-fault" as far as I'm concerned but the other party is disputing this so it's dragging on).

If you don't report it to your insurer, then you breach your policy conditions allowing them (or a future insurer) the opportunity of voiding your policy. So it's your call!

As far as personal injury is concerned, the third party has 3 years to make a claim against you, and no-one should give you a guarantee now they won't make a claim against you! (If the situation was reversed, and you were a completely innocent victim, would you be happy giving the guilty party any guarantee whatsoever?)

thenudeone

If you tell your insurers, you won't be able to deal directly with the third party - your insurers will insist on doing so, because they are liable.

Quentin

thenudeone wrote: »

If you tell your insurers, you won't be able to deal directly with the third party - your insurers will insist on doing so, because they are liable.

Ignore this. Tell your insurer and make it clear its for "info only"

It is up to the third party to decide on whom to train their sights.

If your insurer does get involved, you can always reimburse them (if it is cost effective), and thereby change the claim to non fault and get your NCD reinstated.

malkyh

1) If do it privately, I'll ask him to sign a statement accepting that the payment is in full and final settlement of the accident and confirmation that no further claim will be made against me. Will this protect against a potential personal injury claim in 6 months time? (he seemed very clued up on the whole process - I got a vibe that he knows how to work the system).

I don't think that will work to be honest. Maybe not the same but I had an accident where the other party admitted full responsibility at the scene. He gave me this in writing to submit to the insurance company and it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. They then came back and claimed that he signed the admission under threat and duress which was total nonsense.

2) If I report it to my insurance company and explicitly say I don't want to make a claim, will this affect premiums anyway? It's a real pain because I have another "open" claim going on from over a year ago (which was a "no-fault" as far as I'm concerned but the other party is disputing this so it's dragging on).

Unfortunately you may not wish to make a claim but he might so it's not as easy as saying you don't want to claim. In my experience even non fault claims affect your premium.

Jaxer

Thanks everyone. Lots of food for thought in the comments so far.

I'm with an Admiral group company and I've seen on google that the next premium will definitely be affected by an "info only" notification even if there's no claim.

I haven't heard anything from the other party yet so I'm not too sure how to play it. If I don't hear by Wednesday, I'll bite the bullet and notify the ins company just in case.

The personal injury thing is a real pain in the backside. We'd just moved off from traffic lights so the speed was nominal and the coming together was very slight (no body damage at all, just paint scuffing) - there's no way there was enough momentum or impact shock to cause whiplash etc, but these days, it seems a lot of unscrupulous people jump on the bandwagon.

thegirlintheattic

Jaxer wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Lots of food for thought in the comments so far.

I'm with an Admiral group company and I've seen on google that the next premium will definitely be affected by an "info only" notification even if there's no claim.

I haven't heard anything from the other party yet so I'm not too sure how to play it. If I don't hear by Wednesday, I'll bite the bullet and notify the ins company just in case.

The personal injury thing is a real pain in the backside. We'd just moved off from traffic lights so the speed was nominal and the coming together was very slight (no body damage at all, just paint scuffing) - there's no way there was enough momentum or impact shock to cause whiplash etc, but these days, it seems a lot of unscrupulous people jump on the bandwagon.

I'm with Admiral and my premium only went up £50 the first year when I had a non fault and a fault accident within a fortnight. That was with no NCB. My premium is not affected at all now (checked using comparison sites). If you do not inform Admiral of the accident you risk having your insurance cancelled or voided if they ever do find out.

thenudeone

Quentin wrote: »

Ignore this. Tell your insurer and make it clear its for "info only"

It is up to the third party to decide on whom to train their sights.

The third party can train their sights on whoever they like but since the insurers are liable for judgements made against their policyholder (and have deeper pockets) they have a legitimate interest in any claim which could result in them paying out.

If the third party admits responsibility and is prepared to pay directly for repairs, insurers will be happy to simply note the incident for information (this happened to me a couple of years ago).

However, if you admit to your insurers that you're at fault, your insurers will almost certainly NOT allow you to manage it yourself, because if you don't manage it correctly, and the third party sues you (the policyholder) then the insurers are liable under this law http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/151 even if they didn't know about the summons and weren't in court. They simply won't take the risk of that happening.

They may allow you to pay the cost and re-instate the ncd after they've finalised the claim.