Car insurance - to claim or not to claim

clouty

Hi all,

I'm hoping there's a font of car insurance wisdom here. Last Friday, 31st August I had just parked, legally, in a residential road. My engine was off and the handbrake was on. I was looking at my map, to make sure I was in the right place, when I was shunted by a volvo that had reversed out of her drive on the opposite side of the road, and it damaged my rear bumper.

She got out of her car, and shouted 'that's a stupid place to park' but it was absolutely not. I took her details, and as I was feeling a bit shook up I said I would call her monday and let her know what I was going to do.

I have their address (natch) reg number, name, and a piece of paper that she signed which says 'I backed into the offside bumper of (my car's details) whist it was parked on (address). There is minor rear bumper damage' - she signed it and the scrap is dated. It's going to cost about £200 to repair. My car was dent-free before (on a V plate!) and I want it fixed.

They are not picking up their phone.

So, my question is, (as its ages and ages since I last claimed on my insurance) will it impact on my full NCB if I instigate proceedings against her? Or how to handle this? I wanted to give them the option of just paying my garage bill, without involving the insurance companies. I'm fully comp.

Thanks for reading!

forgotmyname

If they claim all the costs back you shouldnt lose your no claims but the premium is likely to rise.

If they dont answer the phone then there is little else you can do.

Maybe they contacted their insurance already and your insurance are wondering why you have not contacted them yet?

Quentin

Although you do need to inform your insurer about the incident, try and avoid making a claim over £200.

You will have to pay your excess and then claim that back off the third party, so do try claiming directly from the third party insurer.

Find out who the insurer is (if they don't answer the phone, then you can find out who the insurer is from askmid - costs £4 which you can add on to your claim).

Contact the insurer and see if they have an innocent third party claims department who will look after your claim, provide a replacement car whilst yours is being repaired etc. You can insist on your choice of repairer.

clouty

Fabulous! Thank you so much, Forgetmyname and Quentin. I now have their insurers name xx