Will we lose 10 years no claims after minor accident?

seagull77

My husband parked his car as usual outside work yesterday and a couple hours later a policeman came in to inform him that his handbrake had failed and it had rolled down the hill causing minor damage to a car that it hit. They took his insurance details so he didnt have the chance to just pay for the repairs himself. Our car passed its MOT just 2 weeks ago! in the MOT it was noted that the handbrake was loose but not enough to fail the mot.
We are worried how this will effect his 10 years no claim bonus (unprotected) we have bargain bucket insurance and have to pay £200 excess anyway which is probably more than it would cost to repair the other car. Is there anything we can do as really cant afford for premiums to go up massively? any advice/information welcome as i am a non driver and completely clueless on such matters, thank you.

vaio

standard is you lose two years from what ever maximum your insurer allows, generally that's 5 so you'll drop to 3 next renewal

generally excess is only payable if you claim for damage to your car, finally, your no claims won't be affected if you pay the costs, either direct to the other driver or repay your insurance company whatever it cost them.

Whatever happens you will have to declare it in future so expect a hike in base premium as well as the lesser discount if you do end up with less NCB

vaio

did the handbrake fail or did he forget to set it?

McKneff

What was this 'minor damage'

Minor damage can cost a fortune, I had minor damage to a car that someone hit, around a 2 inch scrape down to the metal. The whole panel had to be replaced, painted etc and it cost ove £1k .

Any 'incident' has ot be reported to the insurance anyway, its in the terms and conditions of any policy, if it is found out later that someone hasnt, the consequences can be astronomical for years.

seagull77

thanks for your answers that's really helpful. I'm assuming the minor damage won't cost thousands as was just a few scratches and a small dent to an old Fiat!

McKneff

Dont mean to be rude, but the cost to mend an old fiat can be just as expensive as dealing with scratches and a dent in a new one to be honest.

The labour and material costs can be the same.

forgotmyname

Was he not taught to ALWAYS leave the car in gear when parked.

It would have only moved a small amount even if he left the brakes off.

Quentin

You won't lose any NCD if you reimburse your insurer their costs (and don't claim for your own damage).