Car insurance, to claim or not to claim advice pls

boqq_2

So yesterday someone reversed into our parked car. Luckily one of us was in the car or we wouldn't have noticed until it was too late. Anyway she decided that she wants to pay for the damage so as not to lose her no claim bonus. Now the question is should I trust her and if she changes her mind will I still be able to claim or is there a time limit. Someone said t was illegal not to notify the insurance. Is this actually true? As you can see I've never been involved in an accident before...

BertTheRaccoon

You strictly are expected to notify your insurer of any incident within a reasonable period of time of the incident.

You are also expected to notify any insurer who you get a quote from of any incidents as well as claims.

If the other party is just wanting to deal with you directly, then fair enough. If you see that they are likely to just pay the bill for the repairs without hassle, then let them sort it out.

The benefit to allowing them to do this is that if you involved either her insurers or your own, even though this was a non-fault accident for you, odds are your premiums will go up next year. Madness I know.

So you need to decide if you do this "off the books" and everybody keeps quiet about it to insurers so neither of you ever get penalised for the incident, or if you put it through the formal channels and volunteer the information when getting quotes for the next 5 years.

If I was in your position and the other party appeared like they will just pay up without hassles and excuses, then I'd do it off the books.

Yes you would technically be making a misrepresentation to any future insurers for the next 5 years when you say "no" when they ask "have you had any accidents or claims in the last 5 years". But if there was no way of them finding out, then sod it.

it is like if you caught your gatepost with your car and put a little scratch on the wing. You use a touch up pen to sort the scratch or use one of the smart repair people to sort it out for cash. You wouldn't bother telling your insurers about it, unless you were mad.

Quentin

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

.......it is like if you caught your gatepost with your car and put a little scratch on the wing. You use a touch up pen to sort the scratch or use one of the smart repair people to sort it out for cash. You wouldn't bother telling your insurers about it, unless you were mad,,,,,

This is a poor analogy with the op's situation.

If course we aren't expected to report to our insurers everytime we repair a self inflicted scratch!

The op has been in collision with a third party which is entirely different.

You see many posts from members in similar situations who find the attitude of the third party changes away from the scene.

The tp gets advice down the pub, then decides to either dictate where the repair is carried out, changes the story and denies responsibility, or even puts in an injury claim.

For peace of mind it is better to put in a claim direct to the third party insurer who will be keen to help and also sort out replacement car, cover other expenses etc.

If the individual is genuine, then they can still reimburse their insurer to retain their NCD, and there will have been no worries for the injured party.

But if the individual turns awkward then you have your own insurer to deal with any claim they come up with.

chanz4

Quentin works for an insurance company, however get the cash first to repair if done dont tell. Its not law to tell them just a clause to make money out of you

mableswift

For peace of mind it is better to put in a claim direct to the third party insurer who will be keen to help and also sort out replacement car, cover other expenses etc.

If the individual is genuine, then they can still reimburse their insurer to retain their NCD, and there will have been no worries for the injured party.

ariba10

If you tell your insurers about the accident, my experience is that your premium will go up at the next renewal.

The fact that you were involved is enough.

Poppie68

ariba10 wrote: »

If you tell your insurers about the accident, my experience is that your premium will go up at the next renewal.

The fact that you were involved is enough.

This happened to me, i was stationary at traffic lights and when they turned green the car behind was too inpatient to wait and slammed into the back of me...next renewel my premiums went up as well.